33 replies to this topic

[coldone]

This is my first tear down and rebuild. I have "gotten other running" and freshened them up before but this is my first "down to the frame " rebuild. I picked this 1650 up this past spring and got it running. Didnt take much but she had some minor problems. I have let it set while i got the WH d 160 working. Now its time to take her down and get it back into good shape. The sheet metal is in great condition, the kohler seems to not have any major problems and the transaxle feels nice and strong. The steering takes two hands, the Aux spool valve is busted, and the front rims are mismatched. other than that she was OK. I plan on this being a working tractor, I am redoing the 48 inch deck too.

I started Oct 31 by getting it in the shop. Then My helper and me started tearing it down. We got the sheet metal off. Next was the steering wheel, will be needing a new one. Got the dash tower off today and the engine pulled. I left the chassis sitting outside drying off after a pressure washing and lite scrubbing.

I plan on keeping all the updates in this thread.

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[KennyP]

Looks like your off to a great start, especially with help. He seems to be enjoying helping.

[mjodrey]

Looks like you've got a good start.

[grand]

Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm looking forward to your future progress reports.

[coldone]

Not much to report this week. I have got it stripped down to the frame, transaxle and hydrualics. I did discover a new favorite tool though, I bought a random orbit air sander. Its an air hogg but it takes the rust off real quick! I do have an old pressure pot sandblaster that i bought but I just cant get the thing to work right. it either clogs up or dosent let sand pass thru. After looking at some of the other post with people using the suction style guns i think I might have to invest in one of those.

I have to admit, at first when i was tearing this down i was a little over whelmed at the amount of work I had ahead of me. Just the amount of sanding and painting was making me nervous, "Golly look at all these pieces and parts I am going to have to sand, primer, sand, paint". While tearing it down it did give me time to think, and i noticed that if i just take one part at a time it dosent seem as bad. So I hope my mindset holds out. My plan is to take one part/section at a time when putting it back together. Sand, prime, paint the frame, Sand, prime paint the dash tower etc... I would like to make the part right before I put it back on the tractor. I was hoping to use the paint gun but with this method of going back together I dont think I have the patience to use the gun on it. I guess i will use the rattle can Valspar on the small stuff and hopefully use the gun on the sheetmetal. I was hoping to use something better than the Valspar but its still a good paint.

[JDBrian]

Thanks for the photos. The amount of grass, grease and dirt that collects under the engine is quite amazing. On my 314 it was packed with an oily grassy mess. I'm sure it was a fire hazard. I also find the rust removal, prep and painting to be the most work on a project like this. Good luck with the restoration. You're off to a good start.

[coldone]

I made some progress. I had stripped it down to the Transaxle and frame and sanded the frame down, I used Valspar rattle can primer on it the weekend before thanksgiving. Balck Friday We went out to TSC on Friday morning so I could spend the last of my "tractor money". I picked up a gallon of MF red and a suction style sand blaster. (Me and the used pressure pot still dont get along). i came home and sand blasted the small parts and primed them. Saturday i started painting. I have one of the small HVLP guns from Harbor frieght. Now I havent used a gun in 20 years nor mixed paint. Fortuneatley its the frame and wont show too much. After a few practice attemps on cardboard I started shooting the tractor and small parts. Sunday I blasted the front axle and its parts, primed and painted them too. I know i am supposed to wait for the painting but I knew I would not have time to do it for several weeks so I went ahead and painted over the primer. Th primer had 2 hours of setup on it before I hit it with the paint. Any way, learning curve is in full effect for the spraying of paint. Hopefully when its time for the sheetmetal I will have all of my bugs worked out.

On to the pics.

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[coldone]

Does anybody have a suggustion on how to fix this control valve? I am thinking about cutting the section off, then welding on a piece of 3/8 rod with the correct size hole predrilled into it.

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[ErnRemy]

Do you know anybody with a lathe?? first mark the shaft at the point where it stops going into the valve body. then cut off the spool a little longer than that. now bore a hole in it and tap that hole to accept a new end milled up to the same length as the original. Use some locktite to hold it all together. I would not weld on the spool because it could warp it and depending on the spool and valve body it might have to come out that direction.

[kirksieg]

Looks great. Keep up the good work. Thanks for the photos.

[coldone]

Not much to talk about for the rebuild. the month of December was pretty much a bust for time to work on it with Christmas and the family oblgations. I did manage a few things, I did get a pair of front wheels with rims from ebay. I also got the dash tower stripped and repainted and i also got the steering box apart (thats gonna be another thread). Other than that its just been sitting there. Hopefully January will be better for the 1650A.

[tinner]

Looking good. How do you like the Harbor Freight spray gun, I've been thinking about getting one?

[coldone]

I am not a painter and what instructions I got when I was in HS wasnt much but it did expose me to spray guns. With that in mind I can say that the HF paint gun is worth the money. It puts the paint where you aim it and the pattern is adjustable. I do not know the nuisances of spray painting but i am very happy with this gun. I caught it on sale for less than $25 and I would buy another. I dont know if i would paint a show car with it but for what I do its great. The real test will be when I get to the sheet metal, thats when i will get a good look at what it can do as far as quality of the pattern.

Clean up is fairly simple with the gun too.

If nothing else for the price of a few rattle cans, you can have a spray gun. Then you can get paint in bulk and save some money.

[coldone]

Well its been a while since I have been able to have time to update the progress.Since the last set of pics I have rebuild the steering box, rebushed the front axles, painted the tires, engine, rear PTO. Got most of it assembled and rewired. I also picked up a good steering wheel with the center cap. I destroyed mine by being in a hurry to get it removed.

I did take the bottom off the engine to have a look around and everything looks good. I decided to leave the balance gears in since i didnt want to take the piston out to remove them. It maybe a mistake but we will see. If you will remember from last year I thought That i was having trouble with them due to extremely bad vibrations above idle, but it turned out to be the timing. Well i made sure my timing was set as perfect as I could get it.

I also have someone working on fixing my broken spool valve. Hope to have it back this week. Then I can have a running tractor chassis.

I have also decided not to hook up the rear PTO at this time. I need one of the double pulleys and all the belts. Since I have nothing to use the PTO on I would rather put that money back into the what I need on other parts of the tractor.


I hope to get to the rest (sheet metal, 3PTH, deck) in the next few weekends so That it can be ready for spring.

[tinner]

Well that's looking pretty darn good. You're on the home stretch now.