here we go again... 1057's turn now.

[Martin 2,132]

Looks great Martin. Would love to have the garage and the knowledge to get tractors to look anything close to yours .I'am new to red square but with all the topics available their is hope for me.

well the horses are still all new to me as well, only got my first one in march last year.

as far as the powdercoating goes ive been doing that for the last 11 years as a daily job.

and loved messing with mechanical stuff since i was a teenager.

[Martin 2,132]

wasnt planning on working on the 1057 today, but things eventually change........

had some garage tidying and organization to do first and gave the 1054 a clean up for pics with the half built 1057. heres a few first before i get into the seat pan rehabilitation that took place later in the day......

hey no comments on the no seat situation on the 1054. the red blanket has been doing fine! my wife is wanting it done though, so it should be happening soon for this summers activities !!!!!!

[Martin 2,132]

well on to the seat pan.....

aside from having a bend up rear section and numerous buckles and bends elsewhere the seat pan frame section that rests on the front of the hoodstand (on bumpers) had a previous botched fix with big blobs of weld. wasnt long before i got sick of grinding on that and decided to just cut out that section and make a new piece to weld in. also the frame had at some stage ripped the spot welds and somebody had drilled and bolted the pan and frame together. so that needed fixing as well.....

then i spend a good couple hours straightening the pan before welding the frame to the pan. i bolted the frame back in and test fitted it to make sure it was ok on the hoodstand. ok now to weld it up and smooth the welds somewhat. then removed the bolts and welded the holes closed. next will be some work filling rust pitting and grinding a plenty.......

[The toymaker 22]

WOW

Would this methood of filling be compatable with the powder cote?

[dclarke 4,032]

Nice job on the fender pan Martin! :thumbs:

[Jake Kuhn 1,555]

Very nice work you are doing! :handgestures-thumbup:

[Martin 2,132]

WOW

Would this methood of filling be compatable with the powder cote?

i think as long as the solder could handle the oven temps you would be ok. i think id rather use a few coats of powder to build up the surface and sand it down before final finishing. it seems to be working ok with some smaller pieces i tried earlier in the week. the powder is tough but can be knocked down fairly easy with some 320 and still have a reasonable surface to work with. if the surface needs more 'filling' ive found some types of bondo or body filler hold up to the temps ok. so you could fill with bondo, get it sanded good and start with powder, wet sanding between coats. im going to do the seat pan this way, so i will report whether it comes out ok or not. the biggest problem with powder is that it uses electrostatic charge to stick before cure so when you have a 'nonchargable' surface like filler etc the part needs to be heated up to 100-150 degrees to make the powder stick before going into the oven. when the part is hot its also very easy to put way too much paint on the part and start the paint running down the surface.

[massey 118]

Outstanding work!

[Martin 2,132]

been on a bit of a slow down this week so far, took the week off from work and trying to stay out of the garage as well, but im finding it REALLY hard to do. had a little bit of time in there yesterday and put the carb and fuel pump together and wanted to see what they looked like mounted. i was really torn between painting the fuel bowl and just leaving it the way it is. still undecided and then my wife seen it tonight and said 'well i thought you were doing it all red?'.....talk about scratching my head.......i dunno maybe ill just sit on it a while, still have the fuel lines and stainless exhaust to go so maybe it will even out.

here you go.....

[DMK855 15]

Martin, I would leave natural in my opinion!! Looks great with all the stainless hardware!!

[Martin 2,132]

had to fab up a battery tray as the one on the tractor was really rust pitted and edges were eaten away from battery acid. if some bolts were welded on and a battery clamp piece made up im sure it would be usable, just not on this tractor.........

anyway, heres a few pics of the fab process, the bending was all done by clamping a heavy block of steel and folding against it, and using other smaller strips of steel to get it formed properly. then it was just a matter of welding a strap on the back and making one for the front to bolt on. then some bolts for bolting to the frame were attached and two for the holding strap were welded as well.....

heres the pictorial.....

first i cut out a piece to make up the main part of the tray allowing for the small bends in the bottom....

then i had to figure out hold to do the bends in the bottom, i bent up the innermost bend first, then placed a strip of steel about 1/8 thick underneath and folded back down to form the close double bend. then repeated for the other side......

completed bottom of tray.......

now it was time for the side bends to form the finished tray, these were both simple 90 bends. the whole tray needed a bit of tweeking to get all the bends looking ok. man, i miss not having a sheet metal brake for these types of jobs.......

time to bend up a back strap and weld it on.......

then install some bolts in the bottom, make a strap for the front and weld some bolts on for that and were done......

time for a test fit......

and ready for some paint......

[sorekiwi 761]

Very nice fab work, it looks great!

You learn that bush engineering in the outback??

[massey 118]

Nice craftsmanship there metal smith. :eusa-clap:

[dclarke 4,032]

Looks like it was done with a brake from here Martin, Nice job!

[Martin 2,132]

Very nice fab work, it looks great!

You learn that bush engineering in the outback??

Nice craftsmanship there metal smith.

Looks like it was done with a brake from here Martin, Nice job!

well, just got to say you guys do some nice work yourselves........

[WheelHorse50 10]

I would have to say one of the nicest restorations I've ever seen. Everything done to detail. Keep up the great work

[Jake Kuhn 1,555]

Looking really good! :handgestures-thumbup:

[hm12460 53]

Martin, I am a member of several garden tractor websites of numerous brands and have followed quite a few restoration threads. Your restoration is by far the most meticlous, detail oriented I have ever seen. You set the standard incredibly high. Truly your craftsmanship is an inspiration to all of us.

[Martin 2,132]

thanks for all the wonderful comments guys. im not really sure if i would consider this tractor to be an incredibly high standard restoration, but i am very happy with the results so far. theres more time that could be spent to make some areas a whole bunch better but i want to use this thing, enjoy it and not have it as some show piece. i personally have seen some of the builds on here and while id be proud to display mine with them, i would never consider this one to be of the same standard. i dont have the patience for bodywork and constantly need to battle with rushing things instead of really taking my time. i guess some of you would feel the same way about your own builds, knowing where you could have done better or had more patience with the job at hand. i guess i just work on parts until im happy with the way they look or i run out of patience.....

anyway on to the job at hand.....

im at a standstill in some areas, waiting to get back to work to get some stuff painted (im in no hurry to get there though.....) so im working on some other stuff. one area i was undecided on was the steering wheel. the one that was on it was a later 3 spoke and i really didnt think that it looked right, although its a decent looking wheel and would clean up very nice, i was really wanting a two spoke on it. well, i got one from kelly with the hoodstand and dash off a 1056 he had. wheel was in nice condition, it needed a really good scrub, but it had a crack or two and the center was way out of round, so it needed some work. it also was smaller than the wheel on my 1054 and 1277 that i have so im not sure if it is actually the same as what was on this 1057 originally. its slightly smaller than the 3 spoke and looks to be the same as what would have been on my 875 originally. so im gonna go out on a limb here and say it was from a short frame and not the bigger long frame one that it would have originally had.

anyway, the center was a bit of a as far as how to get it looking round again. well i used a bit of heat to get it soft and worked on the back first widening and getting the slots in the back section parallel and also getting the round shape back in to the outside. a large screwdriver gently working its way in got the thing looking a lot better. then the front where the cap goes needed some shaping as well, so i found some pvc pipe the right diameter for the outside rim and the inside circle and heated the area until i could work it back reasonable. its not perfect but its a whole lot better and now i can get a round cap to fit in the front now. the inside ring is a little deformed from working it, but a good cap fits well and once the caps on your not going to notice any of my butchering....... you can see up real close if you click on the pics and supersize them. i will get a cap from glenjeri as the out of round one that was on it ended up worse after i messed with it.

hers some pics of how it looked before and some of the wheel after getting the center ok and wet sanding the wheel with 400, 800 and polishing with some mothers clear coat polish.

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Well Mate I hafta say its gotta be in the Apple Juice! or possibly all the "Walk Abouts you have had years ago Wondering the Wilderness in Austrailia

That has molded you into the proffesional Wheel Horse Restorer that you are today! Fine job Mate! I for one appreciate the fabrication skills it takes to

form and make things out of metal, and you have done our Brotherhood of Ironwoorkers Proud!

Cheers ~Duke

:beer:

[Martin 2,132]

its gotta be the juice, jeanines got a great version of it with a few cloves and nutmeg, and it tastes even better in a hand picked coffee mug drinking while working on the tractors......

or maybe its her home made kahlua or maybe its the margaritas or the martinis or the.............

[HorseFixer 2,012]

its gotta be the juice, jeanines got a great version of it with a few cloves and nutmeg, and it tastes even better in a hand picked coffee mug drinking while working on the tractors......

or maybe its her home made kahlua or maybe its the margaritas or the martinis or the.............

Yer getting close!! Tell her to add a couple tablespoons of vanilla too! and of course from what you have listed, there are a couple more other secret ingredients! You complete a couple more restos like this one here, and Ill not only divulge the entire secret recipe, but tell you where I hid the 'HOLY GRAIL" Keep up the good work fellow Iron smith.

~Duke

[Martin 2,132]

her apple juice is real nice, but her kahlua is something else. man that stuff tastes good. you know theres something about makin yer own stuff over the store bought. (other than the price and the fact you have absolutely no idea how much alcohol content there is)

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Well Brother of the Juice, I wasn't intending on talking about drinks, but rather yer fine resto's But since yer making me thirsty. While on the subject I Just took a 2 1/2 Gal Pot Of Apple Juice off the Stove and it is now sitting on the front porch With 4" of fresh snow around it. There is something about the way the Juice chills down in the Michigan Winter Snow that gives it that tremendous taste.

Cheers ~Duke

[Martin 2,132]

man, yer makin me thursty :orcs-cheers: