[Ambush]

A few more days and I drove it in and out of the garage! I had already bought news belts and it had to be running to do the Varidrive adjustments. Both of the new belts match the length of the Massey belts that came on it, but the primary seems to short. The eye bolt on the variable sheave assembly is only a few threads into the adjusting nut because the sheave is to far forward. As the side of the belt wears that will get better, but I’m not really comfortable with so few threads engaged on the eye bolt.

 

[Ambush]

The day here started out above freezing and not snowing, so I thought I’d clean up the fender pan to see what I had. Amazingly there is not a dent or bend in it anywhere. Perfectly straight! Unfortunately the bottom inside and out is quite pitted and in some spots nearly rusted through. I’ll probably have to put a new bottom over one side. Both sides of the bottom are going to get two coats of POR15.

There Is enough pitting on the fender tops that they’ll need some glazing putty, but easy surfaces to work with.

This extension is a handy but dangerous tool for your grinder. This one is homemade, but you can buy them online.

 

[tractorskipper]

Thanks Joe! It is missing the jackshaft/pulley set up to run the mower deck and the rock shaft for lifting it but I may have a line on those. Likely missing a few things I don’t know about yet and a spring or two.

This is the fate of the steering wheel that wouldn’t listen to reason. I machined the hub round and if I can’t find a good one for a reasonable price, I’ll weld a disc to it and bolt on a sport style racing wheel. Probably be great for those lawns with lots of high speed curves.

The column threads were toast, so I machined them off and the bore in the middle was about the perfect size for a 7/16” fine thread. Also made a new bushing for the shaft while it was out. I may still use a front wheel bearing there if I don’t like this, since I have a bag of them.
View attachment 419793

View attachment 419794

Recently struggled with a steering wheel on a Ford LGT. Used a wheel puller & was pleased with the way it eased off. The satisfaction did not last long when I discovered the steel hub still on the shaft & the plastic cracked! Hopefully good adheisive will render it usable as it is a white wheel.

 

[Ambush]

Don’t you just hate that when you think you’re winning and then you’re really, really not!

The washer holding the variable sheave on had worn into shoulder almost 1/8”. I machined that flat and squared the shoulder, then made a teflon spacer for now. When I get a suitable piece of bearing bronze, I’ll make a one piece washer. The bearing and seal had been changed since this damage took place, so they are good. All the typical little things one would expect when playing with half a century of history.

 

[Ambush]

I had some time today to get some sheet metal stripped. Unfortunately there was a fair amount of rust pitting under the coat of rattle can and

original paint. It will be a bit more prep work than I first thought. I may do the undersides with a box liner coating for extra protection from rust and wear and tear.

 

[tweidman]

Nice work, you are making great progress on your 10.

 

[Ambush]

Thanks tweidman. I've caught up to my progress now, so from here on, it will be in real time, which for me might be kinda slow. Good looking bird dog in your avatar!

When I was growing up (many decades ago and if I ever really did) vehicles were fairly simple to work on and were made to be repairable. In every neighborhood there was always "that guy" you knew that did know mechanics or his dad did. And unless you lived rural and had a barn or shop with a hoist beam, then "that guy" had a big maple or oak in his backyard with a stout limb or two about about fifteen feet off the ground. Sometimes you had to move the kids' tire swing out of the way or there was two limbs and one dedicated to a chain fall. The higher it was, the more range of motion you had. Hence the name Shade Tree Mechanic. Some were pretty darned good and resourceful mechanics, others had little more than the tree.

Back then you could often tell how good a Shade Tree mechanic was by his assortment of "specialty" tools. And specialty tools would include things like a full offset box end wrench set or a good tach and dwell meter, plus a timing light. Or as you fiddled with the bolt hidden down in a hole on the distributor, he'd watch with a slight smile for a few minutes then offer you his specialty box end made just for that. Feeler gauges and even a real screw in compression gauge. A rare few had hones and mics., top notch guys to befriend!

It was a different era, when neighbors knew neighbors and people traded their skills gladly and usually with no strings attached.

So, though I have bunch more tools and equipment than almost all of those old time fellas, I still work much the same way. I'd rather repair it them replace it, especially if I can look at the failure and improve the design. Being retired, my time is cheap. My wife often accuses me of spending five hours to save five bucks! She's not wrong. But there is a real satisfaction to be had from self reliance and a problem solved on your own terms. So though I work in my well equipped garage, I'm a Shade Tree guy at heart.

 

[Ambush]

Over the past few days I prepped the sheet metal and put the hood bezel back into one piece. The bezel was cracked in a few places and the one corner was broken right out. Using a tip from someone on here, I used short strand fibreglass body filler to fill in the space inside the bezel. Then some Bondo to fill the cracks in the outside. I had to scrap off a couple layers of paint with a utility knife because sand paper wouldn’t touch it. But it’s painted and ready to go now.

 

[Ambush]

Had to do some filler on some of the sheet metal as well. Now I have to wait for the primer to dry.
I have to make the brake rod and a linkage, so I won’t have to watch the paint dry.

 

[Ambush]

Wow, this posting progress in real time shows just how slow I really am. No wonder my wife says I take retirement too seriously.

Anyway, finally getting some colour on the tin. I know there’s more red then there should be, but I like red and I can always paint over it with more grey or silver-grey later if it’s too much. The foot rests will get coated with black truck box liner. Have to see if that’s going to hold dirt and always look like it should be washed better.

Problem now is the plastic dash is going to look out of place, so I guess I have to remove that again and paint it too. Life is hard.

I got the brake rod built too. Thanks again to dundiggin and DMAX for taking time to measure theirs for me. One more piece I don’t have to hunt for.

 

[Joe Baring]

Looks good, I think the red looks perfect!

 

[Ambush]

I did a few hours work yesterday that were a complete waste of time.

The eye bolt adjusting nut doesn't have many threads engaged in the nut and I don't like it. If the primary belt let the pully go more rearward, it would help, but the belt is the exact factory length. There is a link between the Varidrive handle and the pulley mount frame, that if lengthened would solve the problem. Shouldn't have to but it's the easy solution. Making the link 3/4" longer will give me 3/8" more thread engagement.

Well, my hands are not meant to get into tight spots, nor are they particularly dexterous. So I fought the little clips off, all the time fretting about getting them back on. Made a new link and got it back in by switching my tongue from side to side and alternately murmuring sweet pleading and hellish threats. Hah, that was easy. 😓

I adjusted the nut and eye bolt and I was happy with the thread engagement. I moved on to setting the brake rod length to get a park brake. What the.... the Varidrive handle wont quite go into the park position, its stopping dead just before locking in. The bloody new link is hitting the tower!! I hate to leave a crappy job hanging over my head, so I reversed the whole procedure.

When I originally dissembled the tower and all the Varidrive components, the fork was bent and twisted and the stud it was mounted on was badly bent. I cut it off, made a new one and welded it back on in exactly the same spot. It didn't look like that had ever been done before, so I didn't second guess the stud location. Now that everything is assembled and working, I can see that moving that stud up and forward would seem better.

Checking pics on the net some come with a bolt through the fork whereas mine is a stud welded to the side of the tower. It does look like a bolt head at the welded end though.

So that's how I spent my time while I'm waiting for the first coat of red paint to harden for wet sanding. Shoulda just got a chair and a beer and watched it dry. 🙄

Pics are on my phone so I'll add them in the next post.

 

[Ambush]

Here’s a few pics to make more sense of my mental meanderings.

 

[Ambush]

Here’s a few pics to make more sense of my mental meanderings. First pic is upside down, but shows the fork and stud, both bent and twisted, from a hard hit, I assume.


View attachment 420291
View attachment 420289
View attachment 420290

 

[Ambush]

Old link and new link. Now just a piece of bar with holes in each end incase I need one.

 

[Ambush]

Paint woes.
It’s like walking up a sand hill, two steps up slide one back.

I flipped the seat pan over to do the underside, which was primed and

ready. All good. Of course a couple days later when I flip it back to find BIG RUNS on my smooth ready to clear coat fenders. So a bunch of careful wet sanding later and I almost ready to paint the top again. But I don’t want to mix paint for that little bit so I’ll wait for when the inside of the hood gets done.

I can also wait because I have redo the dash as well. 😠. I scrapped sanded and coaxed the plastic dash into a condition to spray with paint binder. I took the short cut of using a rattle can on the dash and it looked great What I thought was two days later (that being this morning) I gave it the first coat of clear. Within five minutes it started to wrinkle up aggressively!! So now I have to either wait for it to dry thoroughly and try to sand or maybe strip it with acetone now. What a PITA!!

 

[KennyP]

Story of my painting experience. Clear does not go on real nice!

 

[Ambush]

WOO WHOO!! finally back to where I was three days ago and maybe even a bit ahead. The “ahead” part being the inside of hood is done now too and the truck box liner paint is on the foot treads. That miserable little dash wasn’t going down without a fight though. I sanded all the wrinkles out and then gave it a coat of binder. Well crap!! That wrinkled some of the remaining paint! With a sigh and a couple of words describing where it's soul belonged, plus some rags, plenty of Xylene and elbow motion, I stripped it right back down to clean plastic. Wet sand with 220 then 400 and I was ready to start over. Two coats of binder and three coats of paint. Looks real good and it can beg for clear coat until the cows come home, but ain’t happening!

 

[1967Craftsman's]

Paint woes.
It’s like walking up a sand hill, two steps up slide one back.

I flipped the seat pan over to do the underside, which was primed and View attachment 420491
View attachment 420490
ready. All good. Of course a couple days later when I flip it back to find BIG RUNS on my smooth ready to clear coat fenders. So a bunch of careful wet sanding later and I almost ready to paint the top again. But I don’t want to mix paint for that little bit so I’ll wait for when the inside of the hood gets done.

I can also wait because I have redo the dash as well. 😠. I scrapped sanded and coaxed the plastic dash into a condition to spray with paint binder. I took the short cut of using a rattle can on the dash and it looked great What I thought was two days later (that being this morning) I gave it the first coat of clear. Within five minutes it started to wrinkle up aggressively!! So now I have to either wait for it to dry thoroughly and try to sand or maybe strip it with acetone now. What a PITA!!

Oh dude that sucks trust me I been there, it always gets ya aggravated just when ya think all is goin good. VERY happy to hear it's fixed now though, by the way you are doin' an awesome job on it so far too! Man you and another member on the MTF are makin' me look like a slacker, I gotta get my butt in gear and get back to my project.

 

[Ambush]

While I'm waiting for paint to harden, it's time to get some other work done and one of those things is making the deck lift rockshaft. There is a couple available in the US, but everybody uses the easy E-bay standard shipping option. The $25 part will cost me $90 to ship.

I have one of the rockshaft mounts so I can copy that.

So, if anybody has one of these and wouldn't mind getting the measurements in the pic below, I would really appreciate the effort. Or if someone has one they would ship via USPS, I'd happily buy it. Same for the double pully jackshaft.