Work Horse GT1600 restoration and conversion to Hydro

[davem1111 2,048]

12 minutes ago, cleat said:

One more vote for all you Work or Wheel Horse experts.

Should I use the period correct "TWIN' decal or slightly newer "HYDRO" decal.

Keeping in mind the hood decal already says HYDRO

 

 

I'm no "expert", but everything I've seen has the "TWIN" decal, so I vote for that. 

[SylvanLakeWH 26,122]

I vote "Twin"...

 

But redundancy experts may disagree...

 

But redundancy experts may disagree...

[JCM 9,537]

Checked out the VIN tags.  520= solid with a clear overlay, 312= solid with clear and 417 solid no overlay. There is No space after the first two numbers on all three tractors. Hope this helps @cleat

[Ed Kennell 39,112]

Twin or single doesn't matter to me.     I need HYDRO.

[MainelyWheelhorse 624]

18 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

@JCM @MainelyWheelhorse. you got 80s rigs. Thoughts? 

If your going for originality the bottom one seems more “assembly line” than the top. 

 

 

My 87 308 looks like this. It seems like it’s in between both.

[Wayne0 549]

3 hours ago, cleat said:

One more vote for all you Work or Wheel Horse experts.

Should I use the period correct "TWIN' decal or slightly newer "HYDRO" decal.

Keeping in mind the hood decal already says HYDRO.

 

Ole' Rusty says "Automatic" and "Twin"

[cleat 6,668]

1 hour ago, MainelyWheelhorse said:

If your going for originality the bottom one seems more “assembly line” than the top. 

 

 

My 87 308 looks like this. It seems like it’s in between both.

Originality isn't really important as this machine is far from original.

My wife likes the dotted one VS the solid.

I am still unsure.

[cleat 6,668]

Well, between general consensus, my opinion, and my wife's vote I decided on the TWIN decals.

 

[MainelyWheelhorse 624]

15 minutes ago, cleat said:

Originality isn't really important as this machine is far from original.

My wife likes the dotted one VS the solid.

I am still unsure.

You could always put one on and see how you like it. If you don’t, try the other and see how that looks.

Edited Tuesday at 07:23 PM by MainelyWheelhorse

[cleat 6,668]

48 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

Ole' Rusty says "Automatic" and "Twin"

Yes, TWIN it is.

Thanks for the great pictures of ole rusty.

[cleat 6,668]

Rear wheels ready to install.

 

Rear hubs ready for wheels to be installed.

 

[cleat 6,668]

One rear wheel installed.

 

Rear wheels both on the ground.

 

Front end down.

Tractor is officially a roller !

Front tires are sitting on pieces of Teflon to aid in front end alignment that is coming next.

 

[cleat 6,668]

Set up to do front end alignment.

Two straight edges set up at mid-point of front wheels extending almost back to rear wheels.

Steering wheel set straight and two measuring tapes (verified to have the same measurements) set up on straight edges.

 

Front end alignment complete at least for now.

Steering wheel is straight, there is around 1/4" toe from front to rear of tires which should be close to 1/8" at wheels as the manual states.

Also, straight edges are in about the same amount at the rear wheels.

 

A test drive on a flat surface will verify tractor tracks straight and steering wheel is also straight.

 

Tractor looks like this now.

 

[cleat 6,668]

A quick before and after pic.

 

 

[Thor27 803]

Beautiful tractor!  After watching this master class in restoration, I feel very inept.

[cleat 6,668]

1 hour ago, Thor27 said:

Beautiful tractor!  After watching this master class in restoration, I feel very inept.

 

I do have two unfair advantages.

I am a retired Millwright and also did I mention, I am retired so that means I have a lot of free time.

 

[Handy Don 12,611]

3 minutes ago, cleat said:

I do have two unfair advantages.

 

I would say three: a spacious, ground-level, heated workshop. 

[dclarke 4,044]

Outstanding job on this tractor, Cleat! 

[cleat 6,668]

My Wife Krista took these pictures of me posing with my newest baby.

 

[SylvanLakeWH 26,122]

Outstanding job!!! 

 

Thank you for the meticulous detail!

[Bill D 2,007]

Looks great.  When's the test drive?

[cleat 6,668]

1 hour ago, Bill D said:

Looks great.  When's the test drive?

Once it warms up a bit and I can run the engine and set the idle, max RPM speeds as well as setting neutral on the transmission then it can go for a drive on the driveway.

 

It was around -20 with the wind chill today so while I was able to do other outside activities, setting up an engine and transmission wasn't one of them.

 

Friday it warms up to -6 so maybe then.

 

 

[ebinmaine 68,784]

Beautiful work Cleat!!

[cleat 6,668]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Beautiful work Cleat!!

Thanks Eric.

It would not look this good without the steering shaft and tube that you provided.

 

[cleat 6,668]

Hood latches ready to install.

Upper rivet is 0.232" long and lower rivet is 0.294" long.

This is from the manual.

 

Hood showing lower rivet hole.

Upper hole is covered by the side decals.

 

Upper rivet hole punched out by a sharp awl.

A flashlight behind the hood shining through the hole made it easy to locate.

 

Right side hood latch partly installed.

I get both rivets just partly tightened to ensure proper alignment then fully tighten and "pop" them.

 

Right side hood latch complete.

 

Left side hood latch complete.

 

Both hood latches installed.

 

Edited 10 hours ago by cleat