Cub Cadet 70 restore

[C-121uk 183]

I thought i'd post the restoration of my Cub Cadet 70 which is very rare in the UK, I finished her last year.

I was very happy when I won the auction but a massive task was ahead of me, it was nice to get a tractor that came with all of the original manuals and although someone had badly painted her at some point it was in an original condition, complete condition. 

 

Here is how I got her

 

 

One of the first jobs was fixing the steering box which didn't work very well.

 

 

We could see straight away why, as parts are expensive to import to the UK we tried to fix everything we could.

 

 

My dad (meadowfield) fixed the steering box using bicycle headset parts and the steering box works exceptionally now. 

Since the steering box had been fixed I went on to refurbishing the steering wheel.

 

First I used a dremel to remove all the rust and also drilled small holes into the plastic so that the epoxy putty i used would hold.

 

 

I was very happy and its not noticeable now.

 

Below is how she was before i stripped her down.

 

 

Rust was very bad as you can see.

 

 

 

 

After years of use and no way of greasing the axle the pin had seized solid, we tried many methods to remove it but had to resort to drilling out the pin, when reassembling the axle i added a grease nipple and we turned a groove in the pin.

 

 

We then worked on removing all the bad metal and fabricating new pieces.

 

\

 

I like to do restorations properly and so I sandblasted 99% of the parts to remove all the rust.

 

 

Some one had smashed the hood stand to but a larger battery in so we had to fix that as well.

 

 

That was then sandblasted.

 

 

After many hours of repair and sandblasting it was time to etch prime the parts and paint the parts.

 

 

I managed to save the original rear tyres which was good.

 

 

 

 

Every part was painted separately and then i assembled for the last coats.

 

 

 

 

 

The hood was littered with rust holes and pitts but in an effort to keep the originality the holes were welded up and lots of filler was required.

 

 

Back on all 4 wheels 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The light knob was missing so from a picture I turned one on the lathe.

 

 

After a few more bits and pieces and decals from my dad she was finished.

 

Here I am on the first test drive! 

 

 

I managed to save the original number plates which i was very happy with. 

 

This has been my most favourite restoration i have done so far and i have learnt many skills including painting with a spray gun, (i did all the painting myself) all these skills will be helpful with my up and coming RJ 58 restoration 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2017 by C-121uk

[Racinbob 11,048]

WOW!! That's some fine work. Thanks for sharing.

[C-121uk 183]

Just now, Racinbob said:

WOW!! That's some fine work. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks, it was a huge job and there is so much I haven't listed but I am extremely pleased with how she turned out.

[Jerry77 1,218]

Very nice work....I too am partial to the early cub cadets.....

[C-121uk 183]

3 minutes ago, Jerry77 said:

Very nice work....I too am partial to the early cub cadets.....

 

I would love a CC Original but I only know of about two in the UK, I was very lucky when I saw this come up for sale but I had to pay the price, i'm at about £1600/ $2000 all in with the resto.

Edited February 7, 2017 by C-121uk
spelling

[Jerry77 1,218]

54 minutes ago, C-121uk said:

CC Original

I had one for 20 years ( 1961 original - no fenders / 7hp Kohler )...traded it in on a new 312-8 -  they gave me next to nothing for it - should have kept it - hindsight being 20/20...lol..my wheel horses have been better machines, but I really liked the old cub.. you did a splendid job on yours..

[HorseHead1089 99]

what paint did you use? aslo rattle can or airgun setup? I have a cub cadet 100 that i wish to restore to the same level as this, sometime soon, excellent work.

[C-121uk 183]

3 minutes ago, HorseHead1089 said:

what paint did you use? aslo rattle can or airgun setup? I have a cub cadet 100 that i wish to restore to the same level as this, sometime soon, excellent work.

 

Thanks, I used a brand called Vapormatic, its just enamel paint which I thinned and used in an airgun setup. Nothing fancy but I am pleased with the finish although it does chip easy if i'm not careful.

[HorseHead1089 99]

Thanks!

[Ken B 3,164]

Awesome work bringing that one back from the dead!

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

Very nice work.  I believe your dad added pictures of this tractor at one of the shows he attended.  The pictures are in a thread above for the UK shows, I think.

 

In my opinion, the 70 and 100 are the best looking and most desirable Cub Cadets.  I like them a lot better than the CC Original since the Original has a belt in the drive train.  The Original has the frame turn upside down from the 70 and the rest of the Cub Cadets, so the engine sits too low in the frame and aren't inline with the transmission.  Therefore, IH put a pulley and a belt to drive the driveshaft back to the transmission.  In 1963 when the 70 and 100 came out, IH flipped the frame over raising the engine and therefore putting it inline with the transmission eliminating the belt and pulley that was needed in the Original.  Also, the Original sits way too low for comfortable driving in my opinion.

[C-121uk 183]

2 hours ago, Ken B said:

Awesome work bringing that one back from the dead!

 

Thanks! 

 

40 minutes ago, T-Mo said:

Very nice work.  I believe your dad added pictures of this tractor at one of the shows he attended.  The pictures are in a thread above for the UK shows, I think.

 

In my opinion, the 70 and 100 are the best looking and most desirable Cub Cadets.  I like them a lot better than the CC Original since the Original has a belt in the drive train.  The Original has the frame turn upside down from the 70 and the rest of the Cub Cadets, so the engine sits too low in the frame and aren't inline with the transmission.  Therefore, IH put a pulley and a belt to drive the driveshaft back to the transmission.  In 1963 when the 70 and 100 came out, IH flipped the frame over raising the engine and therefore putting it inline with the transmission eliminating the belt and pulley that was needed in the Original.  Also, the Original sits way too low for comfortable driving in my opinion.

 

Thanks, yeah it would have been at our Wheel Horse meet up, i'll have a look.

Do you mean they flipped the frame to 'lower' the engine? I believe the engine was lower so that they could use a straight driveshaft.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

The Original had the frame upside down, so yeah, I got it backwards.  The 70 and 100 had the angle irons pointed up therefore it lower the engine to be inline with the transmission.  Sorry, I just had it backwards.  The Original had the angle irons pointed down so the engine was higher than the transmission and needed a pulley and belt to lower the driveshaft down to be inline with the transmission........

[C-121uk 183]

12 minutes ago, T-Mo said:

The Original had the frame upside down, so yeah, I got it backwards.  The 70 and 100 had the angle irons pointed up therefore it lower the engine to be inline with the transmission.  Sorry, I just had it backwards.  The Original had the angle irons pointed down so the engine was higher than the transmission and needed a pulley and belt to lower the driveshaft down to be inline with the transmission........

 

I think it was a good modification they made, I prefer the look of the lower engine and there is no risk of a slipping belt 

Edited February 8, 2017 by C-121uk

[wrightorchid 261]

Very well done.  A beautiful result, and certainly one to be proud of.  Thanks for posting all of the pictures.  

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

Still have my dad's original running and mowing but needing a refreshing once again after 25 years, Wondering what paint you used as I haven't been able to locate the original IH CC yellow and white, Jeff.

[C-121uk 183]

2 minutes ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

Still have my dad's original running and mowing but needing a refreshing once again after 25 years, Wondering what paint you used as I haven't been able to locate the original IH CC yellow and white, Jeff.

 

 

Hi Jeff, nice tractor, as above I used a brand called Vapormatic enamel paint, don't know whether its available in the US, the colours where IH white and JCB industrial yellow, i'm really happy with the colours, I matched them to pieces of original paint and I couldn't tell the difference.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

Cool thanks a bunch.

[WHX?? 48,814]

Nice work I think many of us here can attest to the amount of work that goes into this kind of project & you did it excellent. it looks like you had the good fortune to inherit your dad's fabrication skills!

[Digger 66 3,478]

Stunning ! 

I'm dizzy .

[richmondred01 2,237]

Outstanding job.

or as they say in the UK......brilliant 

[VY2 2]

In the middle of restoring a 70 from my dad that passed away late last year. He loved CC’s and doing this to remember him. 
 

Enjoyed looking at your pics, a question or two if you do not mind. How did you disconnect your engine from the drive shaft? I want to remove the engine for painting.
 

Also did you take the frame off from the rear end & transmission to paint or just work around them? 
 

thank you in advance for your help,

 

VJ2

[VY2 2]

C-121uk,

 

Not sure you’ll ever see this due to you posts being 3yrs old but I just noticed your 70 drive train is belt driven and mine is directly from the engine shaft. 

Thanks & again nice job. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by VY2

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

10 minutes ago, VY2 said:

C-121uk,

 

Not sure you’ll ever see this due to you posts being 3yrs old but I just noticed your 70 drive train is belt driven and mine is directly from the engine shaft. 

Thanks & again nice job. 

Which post # are you referring to? #16 and 17 are an Original Cub Cadet that are belt driven to the clutch/drive shaft then 3 years later on the model 70 and 100 went direct shaft driven.

[VY2 2]

Thanks WV, by no means am I an expert on when these models changed designs in the drive chain. I wish mine was belt driven as I would have been several days ahead    I’m just looking for the best way to detach the engine from the drive chain. I’ve attached a photo of what I have.
thanks for your response. 
VY2