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Greetings from NC yall.
Ok so i finally pulled the trigger on buying one of those nice Snapper riding mowers.
Yep that's right , im now a proud owner of a 1977 Snapper Comet 3010ws
( yeah i know , its old)
I had in mind for a while of doing a restoration of one of these mowers so i could go Full On Forest Gump.
So i found this one for $100 everything was there and its running and mowing.

I've already mowed my yard with it
And ive ordered all the bearings and sleeves to start the rebuild with the front end.
Today however, i pulled the cover over the belt drive to inspect it. and that came off very easily.
It was packed with 45 years of debris and mouse nests and spiders so after cleaning it i decided to lube what i could until i could rebuild that section.
However when the time came to put the cover back on , i could not for the life of me, get it to go back in and on there. I must have struggled for 20 minutes trying to force the cover between the tube and the pulley.. and then it hit me.... i had raised the deck during the lubrication process. Once i lowered the deck the cover popped right back on with ease.
Now im here to tell you... i wasn't angry at myself for making such a simple mistake..
But it was more like i felt a deep sadness and mourning the loss of dearly beloved brain cells that i evidently lost during that 20 minutes time.

While it is running and mowing fine now , im sure its going to need sprockets and chains and friction wheel and bushings etc etc, but its going to be a project as well as a piece of functioning equipment.

More to come....

Need some Turtle Wax on the deck.

yeah, I was looking for the lost plate while putting dinner out. it was in the microwave holding something cooking. I put it there 3 minutes before. Duh. One day at age 17, about 65 years ago or so I was looking for my sunglasses. Yeah, I was wearing them. It isn't just age that causes it. Can be routine too.

OldNoob- Welcome aboard.. !!

Nice mower, if ya get tired of it, let me know..

Congrats on your purchase of a tough mower. They were not the coolest mower ever made, but good machines. I have had two in the past forty years and can attest to their strength. Although I now mow most of my yard (two acres) with an old Snapper Zero turn, i still keep my old Snapper RER for ditch banks and bagging chores. Good luck.
Sheenist

Nice find. My grandmother willed me hers... I'm 72 years old .Seriously

Progressing with the rebuild. Finished rebuilding the front end. New bearings and tires and steering bushings. Painted the frame. The comet decal is kind of big. Working on the chain case today

OldNoob said:

Progressing with the rebuild. Finished rebuilding the front end. New bearings and tires and steering bushings. Painted the frame. The comet decal is kind of big. Working on the chain case today
View attachment 60949

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I told you that Turtle Wax was some goooood stuff. Wow what a shine.

What color red did u use? If I recall, Krylon cherry red was a close Snapper red.

How did you get the Snapper lettering done?

slomo said:

What color red did u use? If I recall, Krylon cherry red was a close Snapper red.

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slomo said:

How did you get the Snapper lettering done?

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It's Rustolium Cherry red
I got the decals from this link. Although the comet letters are too big.

The clutch chain case is rebuilt and finished. I may add a couple of more bolts to the traction wheel

Now entering the deep dark world of the differential case.

Gears look in good shape. Still have one sitting in my shop may restore her some day.

I always thought that Snapper mower got CHEATED at the academy awards when it didn't even get a "Best Supporting Actor" NOMINATION from the Forrest Gump movie.

How long will it be before another mower gets such a featured Hollywood movie role?

I suppose I should write a screen play. Anyone have an idea for such a movie?

6 problems found in the differential case.
The "half shaft" or outgoing shaft is work out the internal bushings are worn and the outside of the shaft is worn. this is going to be kinda expensive to replace.
The internal nylon thrust washer is worn out as well as the metal washers for the hexagonal shaft.
The o-rings and cupped belville washers are missing from the large sprocket shaft.
The smaller sprocket on the hexagonal shaft is loose ( this will be a expensive replacement unless i can figure out a way to repar this myself.)
The chain is worn out
The case has a chain groove wore into it due to the lack of washers, but not all the way through but very close to breaking through. (This will be very expensive if i have to replace it.)

Any ideas for a cleaning this grease off? i dont have a parts washer or a pressure washer. i was thinking maybe paint thinner? or something cheaper?

Dude, for tired old greasy oily gunk removal, Diesel and an old paint brush. Well now it's 5 bucks a gallon thanks to Brandon Biden. We can all thank the voters who voted for that puppet. Or that stolen election. Back on topic, best stuff to use and normally cheap.

If you want it clean without YOU cleaning them, toss that case in your wife's dishwasher. Put on hot pot scrubber mode. Sucker will come out ready to eat off of. Every house in America has a darn good parts washer in the kitchen.

Forget the clean & pack it full of grease & reassemble..

7394 said:

Forget the clean & pack it full of grease & reassemble..

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I thought about doing that but there was just too much metal in the grease
Looks like im going to need a new cover as well. this one looks like it would eat up any nylon washer i try to put in it.


View attachment DSC03578.JPG
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I suppose... i could fabricate a piece or metal to lay down in there and then have it tack welded in place.

finishing up the rims and adding new tires while i wait for transmission parts

Engine covers: Leave Black? or Paint white?

OldNoob said:

Engine covers: Leave Black? or Paint white?

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The original engine would have been white, if you're going for originality.

7394 said:

Forget the clean & pack it full of grease & reassemble..

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Riiiiiight.

So there are a couple of things i need to weld up on the snapper before i proceed . One of the things needing welding is the gear selection lift yoke.
However i didn't have a welding cap to keep the spark and spatter out of my hair and ears, so i tried to make my own out of an old jean leg.
I know, its way to creepy looking
.

I would wet it down if it was me.

Did you stitch up the top? Freaking internet. Some brilliant people on here LOL.

I suck at welding but this should fix that worn out drive selector guide AKA lift Yoke.

Did you replace the front wheels all together or just replace the bearings? And either way, where were you able to find parts? I just got one for free cause the front wheels are completely missing the bearings and the old owner did not want to deal with trying to replace them.

Hank F said:

Did you replace the front wheels all together or just replace the bearings? And either way, where were you able to find parts? I just got one for free cause the front wheels are completely missing the bearings and the old owner did not want to deal with trying to replace them.

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I sanded down the wheel , painted them and put new sealed bearings and new tires and inter-tubes. all together it was as much as just replacing the whole wheel.
but i could not find a whole new wheel with the correct diameter and backspacing as the old one.

In this picture you can see that the sidewall of the old front tires they were dry rotted and split. The other side was actually worse. At this point i was just basically running on the tube and the whole wheel was on the verge of failing. The bearings were also completely worn out.



I was able to find the original "Hi-Run" brand tire on the Walmart online website. but the tread depth is not as deep as the original


You can find replacement wheels online with the correct bearing. just measure the spindle diameter
These wheels are 10 inches tall .
so any 10x3.5 wheels that have the 3/4" inside diameter spindle hole with at least a 2" offset should work.
Most parts can be found on ether Walmart.com or Amazon.com or even ebay, it just takes a bit of research.
You can also find parts at https://www.rcpw.com/snapper-parts/
And you can find a part diagram for your model here.

OldNoob said:

I sanded down the wheel , painted them and put new sealed bearings and new tires and inter-tubes. all together it was as much as just replacing the whole wheel.
but i could not find a whole new wheel with the correct diameter and backspacing as the old one.

In this picture you can see that the sidewall of the old front tires they were dry rotted and split. The other side was actually worse. At this point i was just basically running on the tube and the whole wheel was on the verge of failing. The bearings were also completely worn out.
View attachment 61372


I was able to find the original "Hi-Run" brand tire on the Walmart online website. but the tread depth is not as deep as the original
View attachment 61373

You can find replacement wheels online with the correct bearing. just measure the spindle diameter
These wheels are 10 inches tall .
so any 10x3.5 wheels that have the 3/4" inside diameter spindle hole with at least a 2" offset should work.
Most parts can be found on ether Walmart.com or Amazon.com or even ebay, it just takes a bit of research.
You can also find parts at https://www.rcpw.com/snapper-parts/
And you can find a part diagram for your model here.

PartsTree - Home of OEM Parts for Outdoor Power Equipment

Parts lookup and repair parts diagrams for outdoor equipment like Toro mowers, Cub Cadet tractors, Husqvarna chainsaws, Echo trimmers, Briggs engines, etc.

www.partstree.com

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Thank you very much sir

Nice mower. Don't find the side fuel tank much any more. I think that mower originally had the four bolt rear rims. With red plastic center caps. Last fall I threw a set of four bolt rims out to the iron pile.