hanyoukimura
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2011
- Threads
- 23
- Messages
- 382
The Husqvarna will probably have to wait until next week before I get time to look at it. In the meantime, I got quite a bit done in a few hours I had today.
First up was the Grand Prix. Still not ready for reassembly yet, but getting there. Maybe tomorrow evening I can start putting it back together. What I did get done was repaint the wheel hardware, which I elected to do after the rust stains wouldn't come out.
Next I needed to finally tackle the one thing that really kept me from working on this mower in the first place. It's got front and rear pieces of curved steel designed to keep grass in the middle of the deck. Well the back on had been broken off when I got the mower, and I wasn't sure what to do to fix it. It broke on one side right where the metal is sharply bent to form a bracket to put a bolt through. I had scavenged one from another mower, but it was very rusty and brittle.
With nothing to lose, I decided to repair it. this was possible because for some reason, the broken one was longer than the front guard. That meant it actually didn't curve properly to help for a perfect circle when it was new, but the upshot is that there was enough left over to try and bend the remaining metal into a new bracket. So I placed it over the good guard, marked where I needed to make the bend, and stuck it in a vice. Remarkably the metal actually bent without breaking, which is impressive considering how old it is.
I placed the guard in the mower so I could test fit it. It's actually a really good fit, and curves with the shape of the deck the way it should. I lined it up and drilled a pilot hole. Then I removed it and bored out said hole.
With that done, both guards got a coat of black paint.
All that's left before final reassembly is to repaint the engine shroud and recoil. Maybe I'll get to do that tomorrow too.
Next up is the Yard Man 11A-A18M055. I actually just wrote up a how-to for restoring damaged paint using this mower, which you can check out here: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/small...tore-fuel-stained-faded-paint.html#post206147
The short version is a good cleaning.
Followed by rubbing compound, then wet sanding when that proved insufficient, followed by another round of rubbing compound.
After that I needed to do something about the black plastic, which had suffered from being outside.
I've got a trick for that too!
Much better!
Now for that muffler...
I was going to repaint it, but while wire brushing the rust off in preparation, it actually cleaned up well enough that I didn't feel paint was necessary.
Put it back on, and spray some black engine paint on the engine and gas tank to spruce it up a bit. With the sun going down I declare this one cosmetically done.
Just need to change the oil, air filter, and sharpen the blade and this scrap bound mower will be ready for a new home that will hopefully take better care of it (I can dream, right?).
First up was the Grand Prix. Still not ready for reassembly yet, but getting there. Maybe tomorrow evening I can start putting it back together. What I did get done was repaint the wheel hardware, which I elected to do after the rust stains wouldn't come out.
Next I needed to finally tackle the one thing that really kept me from working on this mower in the first place. It's got front and rear pieces of curved steel designed to keep grass in the middle of the deck. Well the back on had been broken off when I got the mower, and I wasn't sure what to do to fix it. It broke on one side right where the metal is sharply bent to form a bracket to put a bolt through. I had scavenged one from another mower, but it was very rusty and brittle.
With nothing to lose, I decided to repair it. this was possible because for some reason, the broken one was longer than the front guard. That meant it actually didn't curve properly to help for a perfect circle when it was new, but the upshot is that there was enough left over to try and bend the remaining metal into a new bracket. So I placed it over the good guard, marked where I needed to make the bend, and stuck it in a vice. Remarkably the metal actually bent without breaking, which is impressive considering how old it is.
I placed the guard in the mower so I could test fit it. It's actually a really good fit, and curves with the shape of the deck the way it should. I lined it up and drilled a pilot hole. Then I removed it and bored out said hole.
With that done, both guards got a coat of black paint.
All that's left before final reassembly is to repaint the engine shroud and recoil. Maybe I'll get to do that tomorrow too.
Next up is the Yard Man 11A-A18M055. I actually just wrote up a how-to for restoring damaged paint using this mower, which you can check out here: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/small...tore-fuel-stained-faded-paint.html#post206147
The short version is a good cleaning.
Followed by rubbing compound, then wet sanding when that proved insufficient, followed by another round of rubbing compound.
After that I needed to do something about the black plastic, which had suffered from being outside.
I've got a trick for that too!
Much better!
Now for that muffler...
I was going to repaint it, but while wire brushing the rust off in preparation, it actually cleaned up well enough that I didn't feel paint was necessary.
Put it back on, and spray some black engine paint on the engine and gas tank to spruce it up a bit. With the sun going down I declare this one cosmetically done.
Just need to change the oil, air filter, and sharpen the blade and this scrap bound mower will be ready for a new home that will hopefully take better care of it (I can dream, right?).
