intruder1500: That is an aluminum deck. You can tell the aluminum decks from the steel decks easiest by looking at the height adjusters. If they are part of the deck, the deck is aluminum (or the magnesium alloy). Steel decks have to have separate height control assemblies because they are just stamped steel. As for paint prep, all I had to do was scrub it down real well and it took the automotive "Grabber Green" just fine. Replacement decals are available, I've seen them on eBay mowers. If you want to see more photo's of it and a big write-up of all the work I did on it (three months!), do a search on craigslist, Monroe, MI for 'Lawn-Boy'. It's still the only one there after a week. Maybe I should do a post here for it...