C-175 Restoration

[Rfischer 0]

Hey All, Newbie here, just discoverd your site a few days ago. Looks like a fun place. 'Bout 3 weeks ago, saw an ad in CL for a C-175 WH nearby. I have been wanting something around the place to move trailers around, haul some dirt, etc. I had in mind to get something older that was made heavy duty, but honestly had never really looked at a WH. Well, got the to place, went for a spin around the yard, ran well, no smoke. It was pretty dirty, and had some rust on the sheet metal, but nothing too bad. The guy had spent $1200 for a new deck 2 seasons ago and had a part time farm mechanic looking after repairs for it, so paid him $650 and took it home. Once I looked under the hood, geesh, it was made like a tank! Well, one thing led to another..... looks like I will be doing a down to the frame job on this. Just started out taking care of the rust, but the frame needed some attention, and it was so damn fun taking it apart.

Could use some help here on a few points. Got some pictures, anyone have any experience??

Randy

[sorekiwi 761]

Welcome, Randy.

How to post pictures: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1071

[TJ 183]

:thumbs:

[Sparky-(Admin) 22,035]

:thumbs:

As much as we like seeing pictures on here you might consider taking some for future referance for yourself when it comes time for reassembly.

Good luck with it.

Mike.........

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,398]

Randy,

I have restored two C175's in the past 6 months. It depends on what you want to do with the tractor when you are done... If you are like me and want to use them then you may not want to go down to the frame. I would suggest taking all the sheet metal off, take the wheels and tires off. (clean everything with purple power degreaser or similar. Then go back over everything again with white wall cleaner) I used IH red from TSC in quarts with hardner and thinner to spray the sheet metal. You can get spray cans from TSC for the frame, transaxle and basically everything else you need to repaint. I would invest in the new decals, and a new seat from Lowes (arnold co) made. Good luck and have fun !!

ps :thumbs:

[Rfischer 0]

Thanks Everyone for the warm welcome,

Steve, great advice, however too late....

This is what it looked like around noon today:

And a little later on....:

This is what concerned me, all the rust and crude on the frame and the tranaxle mounting plate. I could see it, but just was not possible to do much about it. Took several hours and a couple of beers staring at it before I said, what the heck...

[Rfischer 0]

I have some questions about the steering linkage. The block that recieves the steering shaft has a bronze bearing. It is pretty worn:

I was surprised to see you can buy new inserts, so I have one coming. How do you get the old one out, and the new one in. Looks too thin to pound out.

Do these gears look about average? Guessing not much one can do anyways, right?

The steering was kinda sloppy when I drove it.

Thanks

[Rfischer 0]

So before I quit for the night, got the motor off (one heavy lift by your self...):

At this point, no going back, so got the frame seperated. Was glad to have no busted, stripped or otherwise difficult bolts.

did run across one problem piece. easy enough to weld up, but pretty worn:

Randy

[kpinnc 13,702]

I was surprised to see you can buy new inserts, so I have one coming. How do you get the old one out, and the new one in. Looks too thin to pound out.

As thin as it is, you can probably pick it out with a O-ring pick, or a small screwdriver.

Unfortunately, ALL Wheel Horses have some slop in the steering. But, if you replace that worn axle pivot pin, you'll get some of it out. Your fan gear on the lower steering shaft looks fine.

Good luck!

Kevin

[Duff 206]

Welcome to the addiction - nice machine you've got there!

I agree with Gator - replace that axle pivot pin. They're not terribly expensive and with all the work you're putting into this machine, might as well do it right!

Replacing that and the worn out bushing will help with steering play for sure. Other things you many want to check include the condition of the tie rods, how tight the wheel spindles are where they pass through the axle, and how well the steering shaft from the wheel down into the fan gear assembly seats.

The shaft coming down from the steering wheel also has an adjustable collar and a bearing on it. Check the condition of the bearing. When you go to reassemble things, make sure the collar mates up to hold the bearing snug to the dash tower. C-series pros - if I'm blowing smoke here, please jump in! (I'm a 300-series jockey, and a rookie at that!)

If you could give us the exact model number of your machine it might make it easier to help you along! I'm not sure where the number is on a C-series, but when you find it it wil look something like "01-17KE01" or some combination that looks like this.

Maybe I've been lucky , but when I rebuilt my first 312 the steering went from completely sloppy to nice and tight, and seems to be staying that way.

Good luck!

Duff :whistle:

[Rfischer 0]

Thanks Duff,

Appriciate the advice! I will check the coller and bearing once I get to that part. Spent a few minutes trying to get the steering wheel off then gave up, the roll pin was not budging, so decided to leave that fight for another day.

Spent some time today working on the hood. The sheet metal is in good shape, hardly a ding anywhere, but some pretty good surface rust. A few welds are broken down where the hinge is:

Seems pretty flimsy to me, I stared at it for a while thinking I could put some thicker sheet stock across this area. Not sure what others have done. Easy enough to weld back up. I have it in my "Sandblast Room" now, so will decide later. Glad I dont do this all day long... even with an exhaust fan running, it's nasty.

[Operator 7]

Great pictures and detail! This will be a good one to follow along on. We arn't suppose to do this but

Randy

[Rfischer 0]

Thanks Randy,

Trying to get as much done as possible, been off work for a few months, but start a new job on Monday, so trying to work fast.

Got the Frame cleaned up about as good as it's going to get. It's a far cry from what I started with.

This was the worst of it on the frame, after I took the picture I decided it needed more work and blasted it some more till all the dark was gone. Even with 30 grit blasting abrasive, it was slow going. Working the compressor to death! Can't seem to keep the mositure out of the air lines. Have a mositure trap, it just is not getting it done.

Using some Valspar tractor Primer, sure takes the paint well after it has been roughed up like that.

[WHC-125 4]

Looks like its coming right along

I wish I kept my C-175 I had :thumbs:

[linen beige 14]

Try moving your moisture trap as far from the compressor as possible. Warmer air holds more moisture than cooler air, so if the air in your lines has more distance in which to cool off after going through a hot compressor pump it will give up more moisture to the filter. Even better if you can add a second trap closer to the blaster. The first filter will reduce some of what gets into your lines and the second one should catch the rest.

I once had the lines from a small compressor running through metal pipe submerged in a bucket of water to cool the air inside. It raised some eyebrows but worked like a charm.

[Rfischer 0]

Well, been working on the hood off and on for a couple of days, it's really being a problem. Did they put harder paint on the hood that the rest of the painted pieces? I can't hardley blast through the black and red paint. Got the front done (almost clean, will touch up prior to paint):

I brazed the broken welds, and put some additional on the existing welds (don't snicker too bad, never said I was a welder....). Not too concerned what it looks like since it will be facing the ground when installed.

Hopes this holds up

[bitten 134]

Randy

While you have the rear end off you might want to beef up the mounting bracket on the opposite side of where the rear end goes. This had been known as a week point. I cut the raised portion of mine off and welded 1/4" plate to it that tied in to the frame.

Just a thought and good luck.

P.J.

[Rfischer 0]

Thanks for the tip PJ,

Not sure I follow the part about " cut the raised portion off..".

Do you have any pictures by chance? Where is the failure point in the original design?

Randy

[Duff 206]

Thanks for the tip PJ,

Not sure I follow the part about " cut the raised portion off..".

Do you have any pictures by chance? Where is the failure point in the original design?

Randy

Randy, the older Horses had a tendency to crack the transmission mounting plate at the bolt holes.

If you go to the thread below, it talks about this and there are some excellent photos (you'll have to click on some links once you're there to get to the pix).

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?showtopic=4957&hl=

I don't know anything about C-series tractors, but on the 300-series, WH welded on a horizontal steel strap across each pair of bolt holes so the bolts would pass through them and distribute the load a little better across the mounting plate. This may be what P.J. is talking about -removing these so a full size reinforcing plate can be welded onto the tranny mounting plate for maximum strength. By welding the plate onto the side away from the transmission it effectively sandwiches the factory plate between the two and really beefs things up.

Duff :whistle: