thinking of a complete restore
 

im thinkin about restoring my 102, has headlights, cigarette lighter, 3 point, and a spring assist, ive already rebuilt the steering box is there any other key points i should pay special attention to, things that broke more then others, or anything of that nature? thanks all i plan to completely strip it sand blast it and spray it with a good automotive paint (not rattle canned)

Sounds good! Looking forward to your restoration thread.

I'm in the middle of my second full restore, so here are my 2¢:

1 - Take lots of pics and video during dis-assembly.

2 - Group assembly nuts / bolts / hardware and place into ziploc bags with a piece of card. Write down notes about longer / shorter bolts, did it come from port or starboard, etc. If you need new hardware later, you can simply take the bags to the store and match everything up.

3 - Meter test your wiring harness while it's out. Repair frays, crumbling end connectors, etc. If it looks bad enough, consider one of the new replacements available on ebay from Porch Electric. Their harnesses look just like OEM and customer service is outstanding.

4 - Test your starter / generator. Good time for a rebuild with new brushes and bearings along with a fresh coat of paint.

5 - Consider matching your automotive paint to the correct Cub yellow from a rattle can. Makes touch ups easier down the road. Plus, I paint all the small stuff like seat hinges, carb linkages and small brackets with rattle can yellow. This will allow you to paint the small stuff moments out of the sand blaster (with an alcohol wipe down). The paint will stick very well and your parts won't sit around in primer for a month gathering dust before final paint. Primer is a moisture sponge. Paint bigger pieces like the gas tank, hood, fender pan with the HVLP. My cutoff for rattle can pieces is about the size of the air cleaner.

Feel free to contact me by PM or cell if you have more questions, it's a fun hobby. Here are two links to youtube tractor restorations. The first one is a good friend's restoration of a Cub 129 and the second is the one I did on a 1967 Sears Suburban:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIAJH...7&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSBSzP9Aio4

you should wash all bare metal with metal prep. its an acid wash. it cleans all the pits and spots that are hard to get to. wiping it down with a thinner just moves the dirt/dust around from the blaster. the aggregate dust left behind holds moisture and rust bubbles could show up in a year or less. if you use a 2k epoxy primer that will seal the metal and wont suck in moisture, and last for years.
Ive been painting cars and what not for 20 years. doing it this way is will cost yah but it'll last another 50 years. rattle can paint is JUNK. but is a cheap fix when you need it.

thanks for the tips all, it probably wont be anytime real soon that i start the restore, i just sold both my 100s so she is the one and only mowing machine right now cant seem to find a deck for the sears 14/6 so she still needs to work a little longer

Have you had any experience with Valspar rattle can from TSC? I used it on small parts for my Sears Suburban, including gear shift levers and the seat spring. Two years later, it looks every bit as good as the Matrix single stage I sprayed on the chassis and fenders.

More time will tell.

as a matter of a fact, yes. I did the yellow covers on the deck of the 125 last night. I was kinda impressed with it really. it took 4 or 5 dust coats to cover them, but it flowed out nice. and setup quick.

this paint job was just a power wash and paint. (quicky) looks better in pic then looking at it. my.02 but im picky
http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/100_7156.jpg

Hey, that looks great. Where do you get your metal prep? I've been using a blue product called Metal Ready.

thats the same thing. if it smells like acid, it'll work. I get it at my auto paint place here in town. and it blue. mix it with water. use a scotch bright pad. wash the parts good and rinse.
dry it off quick and get the parts in epoxy or primer. the parts will rust quick.

does anybody know what color my grille insert should be i've been tring to find pictures of it but it seems everyone just paints them what they want...i have it yellow right now (looks better then the rust that was on it) but it dosnt look quite right

I believe the grill screen on the 102 was black? And the bar grill on the front was silver. Basically paint it whatever color you want :beerchug:

is it like a silver or bare metal color. im guessing, galvanized or zinc coated.

http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-trac...02-photos.html