127 replies to this topic

[ckjakline]

Those bolts aren't Massey Ferguson made bolts. There was a discussion a year or so ago about that. And Olecowhand set us straight on this subject. I forget who he said, but it's a fastner company. Maybe he can chime in and refresh our memory.

I believe it's midwest fasteners.They don't currently use the logo on them now though.Ops i should've finished the thread before posting this.

Edited by ckjakline, April 30, 2016 - 08:11 PM.

[ckjakline]

Where did you find the rustoleum wheel silver.I don't recall ever seeing any rustoleum silver before. Can you post a picture of the can?

Edited by ckjakline, April 30, 2016 - 08:17 PM.

[limebuzz]

Oh, my bad. It's Dupli-color.

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[Sawdust]

Really enjoying your project & your perfectionist. I hate over spray such a lazy way of painting. I have white over spray on the seat vinyl of my Bolens, nothing is breaking it diwn. When I done my Mf12 still in progress lol I used the red spot putty that Bondo makes for the pitting that show'd up after primer. It goes on smooth, dries fast & sands very quickly.

[jpswift1]

Where did you find the rustoleum wheel silver.I don't recall ever seeing any rustoleum silver before. Can you post a picture of the can?

 

Oh, my bad. It's Dupli-color.

 

I used Rustoleum.  I don't have good luck with Duplicolor.  Here's the Rustoleum Wheel Silver from Lowe's.  It's a perfect MF match!

 

 

 

Really enjoying your project & your perfectionist. I hate over spray such a lazy way of painting. I have white over spray on the seat vinyl of my Bolens, nothing is breaking it diwn. When I done my Mf12 still in progress lol I used the red spot putty that Bondo makes for the pitting that show'd up after primer. It goes on smooth, dries fast & sands very quickly.

 

Thank you for the kind words!  I think I'm going a bit overboard with it, but I want it to look great.  Overspray on trim and other pieces is the lazy hack job way of doing things and I don't want anything I own to look like that......I want all my things to look nice and original with some updates here and there, but tastefully done.  I'm going to try some of that red Bondo glazing putty on the pits on my front wheels and see if I can get the few on there filled in. 

 

I have some big updates on my project, but I was so busy, and I just got back from picking up some things in PA that I didn't even have a chance to take pictures, but I will tomorrow.  I got my parts back from my sandblaster and I couldn't believe how inexpensive and such high quality work.  The MF641 came back nearly perfect and I've been painting it and the 1855 parts red yesterday.  I got the running boards and side panels done and they came out great.  I will be wet sanding them and clear coating them after they've had some dry time.  The only bad thing is that the pits were so bad on the rear fender panel, they came right through the metal and it looks like Swiss Cheese in certain areas, but luckily I have a very nice, used fender panel from a 1655 lined up.  This week, I'll get some more painting done on the cart, wheel weights, and maybe even the hood if I get to it.  Next will be the paint on the frame, steering tower, 3 point hitch, and axles. 

[jpswift1]

Here's a few of the panels for the MF641 dump cart and the 1855 with a fresh coat of Rustoleum, "Sunrise Red".  Also, the grille assembly all completed with the decal installed.

 

Slowly but surely I'm getting all the body work done.  Once the paint has another few days to dry, I'll wet sand it, clear coat it, and then do a final wet sanding with 1000 grit and then buff it.  Now it seems like I'm going overboard with this, but the way a nice Rustoleum paint job can be done up is really amazing.  This guy is a truly an artist with a spray can......this paint job turned out just as good as a professional painter, but at a mere fraction of the cost.  Have a look at this video, it's a really great watch!

 

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Edited by jpswift1, May 02, 2016 - 12:40 PM.

[TheFarm2004]

Now that is a pretty grill!

[jpswift1]

Now that is a pretty grill!

 

Thanks!  It wasn't too nice when I got it though.  I love the look of the MF tractors, so I went that route rather than badging it as a Snapper.

 

[jpswift1]

I didn't think this I'd have a replacement rear fender/seat pan assembly this soon, but a great seller that I've previously dealt with on ebay happened to have more parts left over from a nice MF 1655 that he was parting out.  I got this extremely clean rear fender/seat pan assembly to replace the one I had on mine that was very rusted and wouldn't cut it for my restoration.  I won't even have to have this one sandblasted, just a light wet sanding and a fresh coat of paint and I'll be set.  It also came with a very nice set of taillights and the hydraulic/PTO side console (which I'll use to replace mine since it's faded and has a broken piece on it). 

 

I also got my wheel weights that I'll be using on the inner side of the wheels all cleaned and painted.  More progress, slowly but surely.

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Edited by jpswift1, May 06, 2016 - 12:41 AM.

[ENafziger]

6 days, no updates.  Everything ok? :)

[jpswift1]

6 days, no updates.  Everything ok? :)

 

Yes, just waiting for paint to dry and bouncing between this and other projects.  I did get some work on the MF641 cart done and I also got my new rear fender pan all sanded down and prepped for paint.  Next will be the hood and then painting the frame rails gloss black.  Nothing too interesting, but it's progress.

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[jpswift1]

Lots of time spent on bodywork today.....straightening, stripping paint, sanding, etc.  I got the hood and side panels unbolted and the hood has been stripped and sanded.  There are still some spots of surface rust under the paint, so I think I'm going to have it lightly sandblasted.  Similar spots (no deep pitting fortunately) are also on the hood side panels.  My sandblaster's shop will clean them up nicely I'm sure, so that's where they're headed, along with the John Deere wheel weights that will be showing on the very outside of the wheels.  Once all of these parts get a few coats of red paint and then clear they'll be ready to bolt on.  Until then, the next thing to tackle will be painting the chassis, differential, 3 point hitch, and other components attached to them.

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[KennyP]

Good to see progress made.

[jpswift1]

The weights and the rest of the body panels are at the sandblast shop as of today, so next week I'll have them back and I'll be getting them ready for paint!

[jpswift1]

More progress has been made.  I got 3 (roughly 20lbs each) rectangular plate weights from a nice older "grandfather" kind of gentleman that had a 10HP Springfield tractor that he was going to scrap in the back of his truck that we saw parked at a gas station.  I found him and his friends in the gas station playing cards and they all came out to BS and help me unbolt the weights after we agreed on a price.  He said he has lots of other garden tractors like that the he wants to get rid of, so if anyone is interested I can let them know what he has when I go to visit him.  There's more to this story, but I'll keep it short.  It was pretty cool how it worked out and I think it was the talk of the night among the group.  I'm going to use these tucked up on the inside of the frame rails.

 

I also got 3 fifty pound suitcase weights for the front of the 1855 off Craigslist for only $90.  And I got a call from my sandblaster as well that my hood panels and Deere rear wheel weights are all set and ready, so i'll be prepping and painting those this week.  Right now I have 340lbs of rear wheel weights and hardware, 60lbs of plate weights for the frame, and 150lbs of suitcase weights for the front, plus another 10lbs in steel to make the plate bracket and hardware.  This will put the 1855 right around 1500lbs total, the weight of the tractor by itself, no implements hooked to it.