1975 Cub Cadet 1450 rebuild
 

I bought this 1975 Cub Cadet 1450 in October of 2016, she didn't run but was in pretty good shape for her age. I got her off of a local classified ad and she came with the 1A tiller, 50" mower deck and a push plow. I have been working on her as much as time and weather permits and haven't had time to post about it. So after 6 months of hard work I wanted to share this with people who would hopefully appreciate all that I have done. I have never posted on a forum before so forgive my ignorance while I try to upload pictures. I should note that although I am pretty handy, I have never owned a tractor before, never restored anything, and never been a mechanic of any sort, I bought this because I love a project and I love to learn new things.

Good deal, looks like you got a good start. Look forward to more pictures.

Lots of work ahead
 

I learn by doing not reading so I jumped head first into the process without any idea of where to start, or what the finished product would look like I just knew I didn't like orange. I pulled the engine and stripped the paint off of everything I could reach, I disassembled almost every part and cleaned where I could.

Keep tearing it apart! Lots more than can come off that frame!

Im gettin there don't get ahead of me
 

The motor had thrown a rod and was just super filthy. I had a machine shop do the valves and turn the crankshaft down. in the mean time the frame, front axle, rear differential and under the rear fenders got a paint job of rubberized bed liner for super durability.

startin to like what I'm seein
 

I had finally had a goal of what I wanted her to look like and I was starting to see the results of all my hard work, but I still had a ton to do.

You went through all that work stripping the paint just to paint it with bedliner? Not my cup of tea but if you're happy that's all that matters. FYI - painting the hydraulic pump will keep it from cooling properly.

Did ya do the axle squeeze, cradle mod and steering box rebuild along the way?

BTW, You may want to clean that stuff off the hydro fins and vent

What are your plans for it when it's up and running?

Is that some of that new stealth texture paint to avoid radar?:biggrin2: It is diferent but I can certainly appreciate the time you have invested. Keep the pictures coming and your flame suit on. The purist police are a gonna be circling the wagons! Did you have to rebuild motor or anything else?

Black bed liner? Blasphemy.

I'd suggest popping in a pair of automatic valves in the hydro to replace the manual ones. Makes it a heck of a lot easier to roll the tractor should you need to.

Also replacing all steering ball joints as a safety issue - if the right one breaks you lose all steering and hopefully you're not near a road or a cliff. McMaster- Carr part number 4444T931.

Welcome to OCC.:beerchug:
You did a good job uploading pictures. BUT your use of all that bedliner, I'm not so sure...
As others have mentioned, you CAN'T have that stuff slopped all over the pump, and I'm not to sure your trunnions going to work to smoothly with it in that area either.
You wrote, "I learn by doing not reading" I'm thinking you should do some research reading.:bigthink:

Good luck on your project. Far as what your doing with the paint scheme, its your tractor. Alot of us like keeping our cubs recognizable as cub cadets or modifying them to be more tractor like...

Cubs are a good learning experiance, with this forum being an excellent source of information on anything IH or CCC Cub Cadet related.

That said very few of us have "Restored" a cub back to the original factory condition. Most of us have given our cubs a face lift or modified them to suit our needs.

Welcome to OCC and enjoy your new hobby!

Wow. Your going to be sorry you coated the rear end with bed liner if you ever have a leak, or need to change the oil.

Hydro is going to get hot now.

Well....I'm done with this thread. Overspray on the tires even. Wow. :bash2:

Looks like he covered the hydro hiney hole exasperator with bedliner also.

Oh my. Well, welcome to OCC!

Please don't take offence, but go to Home Depot and buy two quarts of paint stripper and paint brush it all over to get that funny paint off. Start over. IF you let these guys help you the in the right way with this 1450, you could sell it for a good price!

Now don't be upset.

It would take hours with a sandblaster to get that sh!t off......

work in progress
 

if you look close at the pic with the hydro in it you can see its a different color
because it is only paint not bed liner so the hydro wont heat up any more than normal. as for changing the oil in the differential I made sure the pieces were separated so it will come off easily when needed. as for the overspray on the tires those tires were garbage when I sprayed them so it didn't matter. I really wanted something more original than Cub Cadet yellow and cream so I this is what I came up with. I have always wanted to learn to do flames with an airbrush and this was my first attempt. I know all you purist's just threw up in your mouth a little but I like it, and that's all that really matters.

:popcorn:...

Didn't buy to sell, bought it to love
 

When I bought this I had been in my new house for a year, it's only a 1/4 acre but its mine and I have a lot of work to do and I needed some mechanical advantage. I found this on a local classified and fell in love with it and had to have it, not to fix up and make money, I bought it to learn and have new experiences as well as have something I could use for many years to come. I still have a lot of work to do on her but she's still a Cub Cadet, she runs, and I might be doing it all wrong according to some people, but I'm still doing the work and I love how she's turning out. these are the most current pics that I have. more to come later

p.s. for all you Purists I will be covering the mowing deck and tiller in bed liner, a little because I want to, but mostly for spite. :biggrin2:

oooooo.! That looks kewl, the hole I am talking out is the breather for the hyrdo fluid expansion,you many start blowing some seals on the pump.
Scrape off the top of this and you will see it.

I will admit, at first i was like WTF? but after seeing it together i think it looks mean, now you need to get a transformers logo for the grille. Autobots, roll out!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOP-3D-Logo-...tT0fkn&vxp=mtr

That tractor looks hot! Love the blue flames and the futuristic headlights! Good job! :ThumbsUp:

Take care of that vent like Lew says and you should good! :beerchug:

Not into transformers myself, but I thought the same thing! You certainly need a transformer logo for the grill. The paint and airbrush look nicely done.

My take on old iron of any sort, paint can be removed. Stuff that gets cut chopped, torched, sawn, drilled, bent--well all that is hard to put back original. Since you aren't "disrespecting" the brand or the machine by ruining it, then no big deal. Talk about destroying stuff, ever seen what the lawn and garden pullers do? As long as you aren't working on a super rare machine, have at it I say.

blue flames
 

I also like the blue flames with the black paint. First time airbrushing,huh? I think you did good. Are you putting an exhaust stack on? I've always liked the look of the exhaust thru the grill.


Chris

Look so mean, since he already got a hydraulic skull lever and airbrush skull artwork I think I stick a Punisher skull emblem in that grill :biggrin2:

Thank you for the positive feedback. I will get that vent cleaned off, I don't want to have problems. Yes I have a smoke stack coming out the side I just don't have a pic of it, my first muffler was a piece of crap and fell apart.
I'm still doing a lot to get her running right, I just received my used steering column yesterday. the original was really bad, you can see the worm gear is really banged up and the bottom plug and races were oval instead of round. I also got some used front wheels because the previous owner abused the original wheels to the point the bearings wont stay in the wheels.

Did you do the axle squeeze and add new tie greaseable tie rod ends while you were at it?

Flames look really cool. Glad you shared more of your tractor with us. :beerchug:

Your cub is cool! :beerchug:

Even though I'm more so a purist, I have to say I like the flames! Those flames might rock even a factory colored Quiet line,...like multi-colored flames!

what is the axle squeeze? where do I get greaseable tie rod ends?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#

Tie rod ends #4444T931

Some good reading for you;

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...096#post343096

it's been a while since I pulled the front axle but if I remember correctly it was very snug so I don't think anything needs to be done with it. unless you think I need to.

thank you for the link for the tie rod ends I will be getting some of those.

If you're happy with it then I think you're all set!

:beerchug:

What size of box scraper will my 1450 handle? I found this 4' for $250.00 but I don't know if it's to big for it.

Keep up the progress on the 1450, I would grab that box blade never seen one like that before, is it home made?

its actually a ford 700 series with a home made roller welded to the back.

since its 4' long will my cub handle it?