520-8 restoration

[Desko 608]

I figured I should start a thread for my 520 so here goes. Earlier this year I happened to pick up a 520-8 that had seen better days but it was a model I always wanted so I made the 10 hour round trip to go and get it. It didn't run or even crank when I got it which turned out to be a bad 9 pin connector and some safety switches so with those temporarily jumped out and a fresh battery the onan came to life had a surge to it and needed choke to stay alive but judging by the color and smell of the fuel it had been many years since it ran. 
 

Fast forward to now and some updates in between on the "what have you done to your wheel horse" thread I've been slowly pulling it apart and gathering parts as needed. It has an electric lift that I'm changing back over to manual lift due to preference and the electric lift seems to hit the support of the hood stand. So today I finally got it down to just a frame and axles to start the process of deep cleaning it! 

Attached below is a picture of the day I brought it home and now. 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

Looks like your gonna do it right. I used victory red auto paint which is a Gm color. Spot on. 

[ineedanother 1,369]

15 minutes ago, stevebo said:

I used victory red auto paint which is a Gm color. Spot on. 

Hadn't heard that. Lots of differing opinions on here for sure though. I just ordered a set of decals and figured I would sample some and probably end up having a quart mixed to match but I sure would like to have some rattle cans for the small stuff and touch-ups. I got some Navajo White Rust-O for the wheels and I think that will be about what I'm looking for.

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

The correct wheel color is silver not white. Here is my 417 I just finished and is spot on the correct color. Sprayed using gun of course 

[c-series don 8,685]

@stevebo I can’t believe you posted that picture with a missing tail light lens. You know better than that!! 

[ineedanother 1,369]

31 minutes ago, stevebo said:

The correct wheel color is silver not white. Here is my 417 I just finished and is spot on the correct color. Sprayed using gun of course 

 

No argument here and that's a pretty machine! I'm putting the Navajo White on a c-160 and I think the correct wheel color is debatable so I'm just going with a classic look. 

[76c12091520h 3,609]

 I will agree with the Victory Red for use on the late models, it's a great match !

[TJ5208 1,824]

[Desko 608]

23 hours ago, stevebo said:

Looks like your gonna do it right. I used victory red auto paint which is a Gm color. Spot on. 

I'm going to be using new manitowoc red which is a very close match to that also! I also get it free so can't beat that lol! Your 417 looks absolutely astounding hopefully mine turns out that well! 

[Desko 608]

So with some more cleaning from yesterday it's actually red under all that grime and grease. I did find that the lower steering support is broken which would explain the out of wack steering wheel and the skipping of teeth from time to time. No worries we'll get it welded back together and good as new! 

[Desko 608]

Just like the sheet metal I decided to sand blast the frame and axles it takes some time but I think it turned out well. A coworker gave me the little HF 20lbs pressurized blaster and overall no complaints with it you just have to keep an eye on the dryer to make sure you don't get any moisture in it. I'm going to try and get the rest of the parts stripped off it so I can get some etching primer on it this weekend. 

[ineedanother 1,369]

37 minutes ago, Desko said:

Just like the sheet metal I decided to sand blast the frame and axles it takes some time but I think it turned out well. A coworker gave me the little HF 20lbs pressurized blaster and overall no complaints with it you just have to keep an eye on the dryer to make sure you don't get any moisture in it. I'm going to try and get the rest of the parts stripped off it so I can get some etching primer on it this weekend. 

Looks good. I have that same blaster but have only used it a couple times. Medium coal slag, or something else?

[Desko 608]

58 minutes ago, ineedanother said:

Looks good. I have that same blaster but have only used it a couple times. Medium coal slag, or something else?

I'm using fine coal slag in it seems to work really good. If you can keep it from clogging you can blast just as fast as you can move. It took just under 50lbs to do all that. 

[Desko 608]

Well the weekend has came and passed but it was productive. I pulled it down the rest of the way to paint starting with the rear hubs and did they put up a fight! I broke about 3 pullers before getting both of them off and had to rig the last one together to get the last hub the rest of the way off. Once it's all painted I'll be replacing all the seals in the transmission because they were leaking from the get go. The lower steering support we tried welding ended up breaking while letting the weld cool so a newly used on is on order. I didn't catch it before I painted but the axle pin hole was also wore out so we welded it up and punched it back out to 3/4". There's been a lot of bent of messed up parts on this old girl and it only has 400 hours on it! 

[Desko 608]

Well the frame is red! It's a little brighter then I thought it would be but I'm happy with it. My question is when did WH/toro start using zinc plated pins for the tach a matic system? I noticed on my 94 416H that they're all zinc plated along with most if not all of the bolts. From what I can tell this 520 has never been repainted and the bolts and pins etc were all painted red and that's how I did it while painting it also while I like the attention to detail look I'm trying for the originally the way it came as possible look because it will still be a worker with a 60" deck under it. 

[Lee1977 6,655]

I aloso used white on the wheels of my 520.

 

[Desko 608]

On 8/17/2022 at 10:09 PM, stevebo said:

The correct wheel color is silver not white. Here is my 417 I just finished and is spot on the correct color. Sprayed using gun of course 

Your 417 turned out amazing! Did you wet sand and polish the sheet metal? Also what brand did you go with for the silver on your rims? 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

I did do some wet sanding on paint them buff. I used rusto aluminum in rattle can on wheels

[Desko 608]

Well it's been a hot minute but I did have time to get back on the 520. I started with the hood which was in poor shape to say the least. So with some bondo, filler primer, and lots of block sanding I got it fairly smooth and straight. I went to paint the rest of the tins and miscellaneous parts and I don't know if it was a paint or thinner problem or even a me problem lol but I sprayed it on and it looked good then in no time flat the fender pan paint started to sag then the belt guards followed. The hood turned out nice which is what's weird to me because all the pieces were prepped exactly the same aside from mixing up more paint. So now we wait for it to dry and sand it all back smooth and try again. 

[Desko 608]

No pictures to add but we're on standby now. Got the primer all fixed etc and went to do the red and that ended up even worse so that lead me to dig deeper into what was going on and it looks like my cheap HF drier broke and was letting water past so the paint was all spotted. It's alk-300 paint so it's going to be at least a month before I can really sand it thankfully it was just the underside of the belt guards and fender pan though. 

[Desko 608]

It has been a long time coming but we have red. I lost serious interest in this project after a huge paint failure which required total stripping of everything and starting over which after putting a lot of time into body work isn’t fun along with other things put it on the back burner. So now aside on waiting on some miscellaneous parts from toro the only paint work left is the nose of the hood and the hood stand. There is some used parts I need to find like a good rear rim but it’s not a high priority as I have a good set of rims off a 416 that I can use for the time being. 

[Desko 608]

Well the hood has it’s signature satin black front. It turned out fairly well but it certainly was nerve wracking making sure I got it right and masked off properly. My only gripe and maybe it’s me being critical is having to cheat the tape line on the RH side so it lined up properly with the rest of the hood. But this hood was twisted and some spot welds were broke out along with the grill being pushed in so all things considered I’ll take it

[peter lena 8,604]

 @Desko  nice work on that ! your empty frame pictures  , thinking a 5/16  steel brake line inside the corner edge of frame  for a fuel line , then  compression swage lok fittings for  shorter rubber hose connection from tank to carb , reducing the fuel hose break down scenario , just a thought , pete  

[peter lena 8,604]

@Desko  made the change over to STA BIL  fuel storage additive years ago , since then  no fuel hose break down at all , changed out  all existing rubber lines , with fresh  hose and 2 filters  1 large close to tank  , another small close to carb , no debris at all frome cleaned tank , also zero debris in carb bowl . add  an ounce of  stabil to all my tank top offs ,  and no fuel issues , regularly get after chronic  issues , and eliminate them . very often just a small improvement to original set up , washers , snug up , lubrication , functional  observation ,  back of dash pto lever set up , improvement , works effortlessly . pulley function , tracking , is basically LUBRICATION FAILURE . all my  outer bearings , are lucas heavy duty  polyurea , RE GREASED ,  quiet solid very smooth . like a chronic  problem to show me the way , to modify and eliminate it . glad to see your set up , good job , pete  

[Desko 608]

Not much to report on the 520 but I was able to get my hands on a NOS steering support and a very nice GT-1848 rim from A-Z tractor. Still waiting on a couple pieces like the lower dash cover off a 518H and dial a height assembly since at some point electric lift was added to this tractor which at some point I will probably sell since I don’t need it and it is complete although unrelated I do wonder how “rare” the lower dash cover is since it’s part of the electric lift kit with its pre stamped holes for the switch and it would only fit on the 500 series.