Martin 2,131 #101 Posted July 28, 2012 wow, 6 days without an update. got back to working on it tonight. on this one i ended up using a hydro drive pulley on the engine to boost the speed of this thing a little, so by my calculations i needed a belt 2" longer... ( by measuring the difference in circumference of 180 degrees of the pulley- roughly the distance the belt sits in the pulley). the standard belt is a 7473 which is 82 inches long-give or take... so i needed to get a belt that was 84 inches long. i tested the length with an old belt for length first and it seemed to be on the money. the 7478 is 84 inches long, but the dealer wants near $40 for that, so i thought id try a cheaper alternative first just to make sure everything is ok. the brake rod was going to be close, and the top of the belt guard was too. got a hold of a 5L840 (5/8 x 84") fits perfect, clutch has the right range of motion and like i thought the brake rod was close enough to be touching. needed to bend the rod in a couple areas to get it to miss through its range of motion. got the belt guard fitting well after a bit of tweaking brackets etc. belt runs on guard as it should so i think it will be ok. the belt guard at the front looks to be the same on manual and hydro trans, so i was hoping everything would work out. just need to drive it now to test it.... finished up tonight by almost getting the pto all assembled, just need to adjust it and make sure all is ok... hydro pulley on engine. this one is part number 7443, was used on many hydro tractors. 5 1/4 " diameter, the 8 speed one, part number 7466 that was on originally was 4".... belt fits great..... just enough clearance now. hard to tell from this pic but theres 3/16" all the way around, i think that will be ok..... belt guard and running board fitted, im happy enough with how everything lines up after a bunch of work on these parts...... pto almost complete..... going to redo some of the wiring tomorrow and hopefully get everything else finished..... (except for the hood- im on vacation for the next week and i dont want to go near work)..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 650 #102 Posted July 28, 2012 Very nice! Why did you decide to speed it up? Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #103 Posted July 28, 2012 matt, the 1054 gearing with the 15" wheels make it faster than my 1057, so i gotta make sure that i have at least one nice looking tractor faster than jeanines....... i hope i still have enough low gearing in the 8 speed to work this thing as well..... :confusion-scratchheadblue: 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 650 #104 Posted July 28, 2012 matt, the 1054 gearing with the 15" wheels make it faster than my 1057, so i gotta make sure that i have at least one nice looking tractor faster than jeanines....... i hope i still have enough low gearing in the 8 speed to work this thing as well..... :ROTF: I understand completely Martin. The bottom gears on an 8 speed are so low that most of the time they don't get used much, so I'm sure you'll be ok with the gear change, and good luck with beating your wife in a race! Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ken B 3,164 #105 Posted July 28, 2012 Looks real nice Martin. I gotta be honest though, its looks a little more like a restoration to me than a quick redo. :ychain: 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smoreau 658 #106 Posted July 28, 2012 I have herd some of the guys on hear doing the same thing with the pulleys to get a correct steed for cutting there grass. 1st was too slow and second was too fast. Should work good Martin! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #107 Posted July 28, 2012 ken, i guess the finish isnt really that different from my past rebuilds. the parts get blasted and powdercoated, just cutting a few corners on prep, such as not so perfect bushings, some of the stuff is a little worn, but still very usable, not buying a whole bunch of fasteners as i have a lot of stuff left over. tires are just the originals cleaned, still with cracks in the sidewalls etc, i was planning on using a full gasket set in the engine as well, but decided on just doing the oil pan and head gasket. the fuel pump was off so that got one too. normally i would use new electrical too, switches, wiring, reg, coil etc too but just cleaned up the working originals. my starting point, although beat up was mostly complete and all working, which really has helped keep the time and costs down. just rattling my brain i think i have this in it; steering wheel 25 gas valve/line 10 tubeless valves 10 nyliner bushings, woodruff keys, misc stuff 20 fasteners and misc clips, pins etc, probably 25 drive belt 25 still need to get seat headlights seat pan (hey, kiwi?) maybe a battery, depending on how this one holds out some wiring, battery terminals etc probably another 150-200..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #108 Posted July 29, 2012 spent a little more time on this one yesterday, pulled the wiring harness and installed it neater, it was only just sort of hooked up temporarily for starting the engine. had to make up some battery cables as well, the old ones were fatigued on the ends. found some newer cable laying around and got some new terminals to crimp on the ends. the battery that came with it was still good, but had jd decals on it so they had to go. the date on this thing was 08 so it was way out of warranty anyway so i just ripped all of the decals and whatever off for a cleaner look. cleaned up the dash next. all the silver on the dash plastic was redone using a paint pen. first time ive tried to do some thing like this. some times i have to do larger lettering on painted aluminum fire alarm covers at work for one of our customers, but this was more of a challenge, since the lettering was so small. some of the raised letters are damaged so that made it harder still to get it looking right. i think its good enough for a worker, i probably would have looked for a nicer one for a resto, but this one is fine for this build. plastic was buckled so i tried to straighten it a little with heat, but its still not really sitting flat with the metal panel below. the switches, ammeter and screws hold it flat enough to not really be noticeable. old switches and ammeter were cleaned up and reused, found some knobs for the choke and throttle....... the ammeter cleaned up real nice, no scratches on the lens!! theres a little fogging underneath the lens though and im not really sure how to get rid of that, any ideas anyone? might search or do another post later on that..... definitely the nicest gauge i have condition wise...... how do i take care of this? if the only way is to pull the gauge apart then i will just put up with it. since the rim is pressed on i dont even want to mess with that. would be great if they were easily dismantled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Pate 8 #109 Posted July 29, 2012 Looks real good Martin....Loving the attention to detail :beer: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 650 #110 Posted July 29, 2012 Looking really good Martin. Is the film just moisture Martin, or is there an actual film on the glass? If its just moisture, a little time in the sun will fix it right up. I know when I wash my Horse the ammeter fogs up a little, and some time in the sun light clears it right up. Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #111 Posted July 29, 2012 i dont think its moisture, as in still wet. maybe at one time there was moisture, or dirt and moisture and it dried out and left this. usually when there is moisture inside it looks wet, this has a dusty almost 'smoky' haze to it. maybe the ammeter smoked inside? still works fine though..... i was thinking that maybe drilling a hole in the back of it on the side so i could get a squirt straw in there with compressed air and see if i could clean it up a bit..... or maybe leave well enough alone.... usually in hindsight for me, thats the best course of action Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 650 #112 Posted July 29, 2012 i dont think its moisture, as in still wet. maybe at one time there was moisture, or dirt and moisture and it dried out and left this. usually when there is moisture inside it looks wet, this has a dusty almost 'smoky' haze to it. maybe the ammeter smoked inside? still works fine though..... i was thinking that maybe drilling a hole in the back of it on the side so i could get a squirt straw in there with compressed air and see if i could clean it up a bit..... or maybe leave well enough alone.... usually in hindsight for me, thats the best course of action As good as that guage looks, I think I would leave well enough alone. It would be a shame to accidentally damage it. Matt :flags-texas: 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anglo Traction 761 #113 Posted July 29, 2012 Hi Martin , great progress and quality work as usual. I have a similar issue with the Gauge on mine, not so much the lense fogging on the inside where airborne dirt dust mixes with the humid air and is drawn inside, settles on the lense and is left there when it dries out. More like corrosion dust on the Needle pivot on mine. I've decided to leave it as is, but I've added a tight fitting rubber gasket surrounding the Bezel to try and reduce the moisture ingress. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ken B 3,164 #114 Posted July 31, 2012 No updates Martin? This was supposed to be a quickie! All kiddin aside, awesome work. Something tells me you've restored a car or two in the past? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #115 Posted July 31, 2012 ken, yes one or two cars have been done in the past. i will see if i can dig up some pics some time. ive done a little more on the tractor but i just cant get time on it, spent about 2 hours on the hood on the weekend..... getting ready for charlotte, and the redo of the cart, sort of broke my momentum. i knew it would though. both jeanine and i are on vacation this week too....... yesterday, i was trying to keep up with an 11 year old at adventureland water park all day....... not much more will get done until i go back to work on the 7th....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ken B 3,164 #116 Posted August 1, 2012 That cart was a real nice score and highly sought after by the Simplicity tractor guys. I had a pretty nice one that I got 200 bucks for and the guy drove 3 hrs. one way to get it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
312Hydro 474 #117 Posted August 1, 2012 Your tractor is really going together well. It does look great with the powder coat. I'm interested in seeing your progress on that hood. Knowing your attention to detail I'm sure it will be just as nice as the rest of the Keep up the great work! Oh,I gave up on keeping up with 11 yr olds some time ago! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #118 Posted August 1, 2012 well were all loaded up for charlotte, so no more working on this one until middle of next week....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #119 Posted August 9, 2012 middle of next week so heres another update..... got a metal fender pan from kelly this past weekend, nice and straight, but after bead blasting lots of rust pitting. not bothering to fill the pitting so cleaned it up and shot some powder on it yesterday. tonight i messed around with the hood, spot welded the bad hood/grill seam, straightened it up some to get it fitting ok. its about as good as its going to get now, minor dents to remove tomorrow and will probably paint before the weeks out. heres some pics..... fender pan as i got it.... heres the original paint from behind the decal and the case red powder i use in comparison..... now onto the hood...... hood was welded where it split the spot welded join between the grill and hood, then i worked out the buckles and bends..... here you can see the twist, if you look close at the raised sides one is curved and on is straightened from whatever fell on the hood before i got it..... got it on the bench and spaced up both ends so i could clamp down on it to get the curve back in there....... after much beating and bending, its mounted up and looking good compared to how it was back in the early days of this thread...... heres how it looked before....... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 650 #120 Posted August 9, 2012 I've been waiting very impatiently for an update Martin. Glad to see your back, and making progress. Knowing the perfectionist you are, I bet it was difficult powdering over those rust pits. That hood is looking much better! Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #121 Posted August 9, 2012 matt, ive looked at that fender a few times since i painted it and it doesnt bother me any more. this is just a worker/play tractor and as long as it looks decent from 20 feet thats good enough for me........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 650 #122 Posted August 9, 2012 It will be a very sharp looking worker! So, what kind of work will be getting done to the C-160? Worker of full resto? The C-160 is at the very top of my bucket list, and when I get one, its going to get the works! Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #123 Posted August 9, 2012 The c160 and the 1277 will get nice rebuilds. Kent's 875 is next though...... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jachady 130 #124 Posted August 9, 2012 If it's not too late, can you take a good close up picture of the sticker on the front of the hood. An maybe measurements of the Wheel Horse Logo. I need Vinylguy to make me a repro but dont have the original to compare. Pleae PM me the pics. Thanks in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,131 #125 Posted August 9, 2012 I will be getting one done. I will let you know when I work it out with terry(vinyl guy).... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
