Work Horse GT1600 restoration and conversion to Hydro

[ebinmaine 67,398]

6 hours ago, cleat said:

Don even sent me this cool decal.

 

 

 

Cleat, you ever get the chance to shoot the breeze in person with Don you take it. 

He's an alright guy. 

 

 

[Ed Kennell 38,114]

1 minute ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

Cleat, you ever get the chance to shoot the breeze in person with Don you take it. 

He's an alright guy. 

 

 

              X2

[c-series don 8,687]

@cleat @ebinmaine @Ed Kennell I’m just wrapping up a very long day and read your comments. Thank you for the compliments, they certainly made me smile 😀 👍🏻

[cleat 5,915]

5 hours ago, Lee1977 said:

Not sure witch frame you have there most deck lift rod are 1/2" with a 1/2" ID and 5/8" OD bushing.  I guess they up graded the rod on later 520  to 5/8" rod for the 60" deck.

 

oF

The bushing OD is 5/8" ID is .5" Length from under flange to end of bushing is 3/8", OD of flange is 3/4"

 

That is what I said.

Maybe you misread it.

[cleat 5,915]

5 hours ago, rjg854 said:

Terry at redo your horse.com           

Terry has made me at least 8 full sets of tractor decals and the decals for all my attachments but for some reason he did not want to do these.

 

That is all right, these look fine.

Never see them with the hood closed anyway.

 

[cleat 5,915]

Hood sanded and spot putty applied to final level where holes were welded in and where there were dents.

It is raining on and off for the next couple of days so I can't paint right now.

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

That looks VERY clean. Not much pitting going on by the looks of it.

[cleat 5,915]

16 hours ago, sjoemie himself said:

That looks VERY clean. Not much pitting going on by the looks of it.

Between the holes in the front, cracks on the bottom and no brace making it feel very flimsy I was on the lookout for a better hood.

However, now that the holes and cracks are welded up and the brace welded in I thought I might as well sand it down and see how it looks.

You are right, it looks pretty good with the scratches and surface rust sanded off.

 

Now if my paint job turns out we will be good to go.

If not I will sand it off and try again.

Hoping to begin painting on Thursday if the weather forecast is correct about sunshine finally.

[cleat 5,915]

Got a break in the weather.

Underside of hood primed.

Not a perfect job but OK for my skills

 

[cleat 5,915]

Underside of hood painted.

Not perfect, there are bubbles in the paint for some reason.

 

 

[cleat 5,915]

Hood primed and painted.

 

After this dries for a few days I will do the black and clear.

 

[cleat 5,915]

Hood black grill painted.

 

[cleat 5,915]

Hood clear coat done.

4 coats.

 

[ebinmaine 67,398]

Looks excellent Cleat! 

[kpinnc 11,993]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Looks excellent Cleat! 

 

 Agreed!! Makes me wanna box up my 701 sheetmetal and send it to you! 

 

The color choice is awesome as well!

[cleat 5,915]

Footrest pads cut out and glued on.

This is rubber sheeting that they ordered by mistake at work instead of gasket material years ago.

I have used most of it up on all my tractors.

Glue used is 3M 90 high strength spray adhesive used as contact cement.

 

[cleat 5,915]

Footrest bumpers installed.

 

[Handy Don 12,205]

2 hours ago, cleat said:

Footrest bumpers installed.

For sure you want to remember those!

[cleat 5,915]

Funny thing is the parts manual for the GT1600 does not show them but the 520 manual does so I put them in.

[ebinmaine 67,398]

51 minutes ago, cleat said:

Funny thing is the parts manual for the GT1600 does not show them but the 520 manual does so I put them in.

 

Were they OE on the GT1600 or was that part of the reason they were "price competitive"?

 

[cleat 5,915]

All I know for sure is the Work Horse came with the small footrest pads VS the 520 having the full length pad.

As you see I installed the full length mainly to protect the paint.

 

But also my 312's came with the small pads as well so I don't know where the cutoff is on those.

The 312 parts manual does show the rubber bumpers though.

 

They may have came on the Work Horse and the parts manual just overlooked them.

[ebinmaine 67,398]

6 hours ago, cleat said:

As you see I installed the full length mainly to protect the paint.

 

I do the same but I use skateboard/ stair tread safety tape. 

Basically sandpaper in 6" wide strips. 

 

What's the rubber bumper you're using? 

Source?

 

My fenders tilt but I could use something to protect the fender from the "sandpaper".

[cleat 5,915]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

I do the same but I use skateboard/ stair tread safety tape. 

Basically sandpaper in 6" wide strips. 

 

What's the rubber bumper you're using? 

Source?

 

My fenders tilt but I could use something to protect the fender from the "sandpaper".

They came from this bumper assortment kit.

 

It is this one.

 

It is slightly too small so it does not snap into the hole as tight as I would like so I put a light coat of silicone on the bumper then popped it into the hole.

Nice and secure now.

Once the fender is in place it would be held as well.

 

[cleat 5,915]

Hood, Fender, side covers, engine tins patiently waiting in the storage building.

Paint will be well cured by the time these get installed over the cold winter months.

[kpinnc 11,993]

3 hours ago, cleat said:

Hood, Fender, side covers, engine tins patiently waiting in the storage building.

Paint will be well cured by the time these get installed over the cold winter months.

You are a patient man. That would keep me up at night! Looks so nice!