km3h 543 #401 Posted June 18, 2014 Martin, You make all us 416 owners proud! And jealous too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #402 Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) took the steering wheel off #1 and cleaned it up to use on #3. out of the three i have this was the nicest one. came up nice enough, few spots where the wheel is worn and a few little nicks from use over the years. seat came today as well. i went round and round about what seat i would use on this one. i really wanted an original year seat, but i also wanted something new as well. i have had a few different styles of seat, the michigan ones I've used for a few years now, the v3500 is my favorite of them..... and this one i used on the c125, a KM 160 unipro seat...... for the 416 though i wanted some thing that looked a little more 'modern'. i liked the look of the mid height toro seats on the new zero turns, but the price at $175.00 was a little out of my budget. KM manufacturing make a seat the same but without the toro branding on them, this one also has a drain that the toro one doesn't. i liked the mid height seat (15" high) more than the 18-20" high seats that you sometimes see used on these tractors. the mid height seat is a KM 123 unipro and was a more reasonable $91.00 shipped from www.turfseats.com (KM manufacturing web store) i fitted the seat today, it has multiple fitment including the 7.5 x 8 that the later WH tractors have. its getting harder to find that bolt pattern, the 7 x 7.5 is far easier, and i didn't want to be messing around to fit it. the only down side that i can see is all of this style seat is a plastic base. we will see how durable it is. heres how it looks on the 416.... KM seat but Milsco branding....... i cleaned up the shifter knobs as well. the surface was well weathered and the smooth finish was long gone. i rubbed them down with 220, 400 and 600 and clear coated them with some rattle can rustoleum. came out nice and the speckled finish they had from weathering seemed to disappear once the clear went on. i thought i would try it and see how they turned out, i think they will stay for a while....... before..... after.... Edited June 19, 2014 by Martin 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc724 924 #403 Posted June 19, 2014 I like your solution to weathered shifter knobs. I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" your solution for my C141. I already picked up a couple of improvements along your journey that I have implemented on my 314. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #404 Posted June 19, 2014 I like your solution to weathered shifter knobs. I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" your solution for my C141. I already picked up a couple of improvements along your journey that I have implemented on my 314. Don, i went back and forth about purchasing new knobs, either from Glen here on the forum, or even Toro. they are between $6-$8 ea depending on where you get them. there are also other online places that sell them cheaper, but by the time you factor in shipping they are roughly the same. I've never tried to refurbish the knobs before and read up a little on bakelite and phenolic plastic restoration. the problem when it ages and the nice surface wears off is the wood dust that makes up the core of the part gives it a brown finish. when you sand the surface to get the weathered look off it most of the black comes back but there is now a brown or tan speckled finish from the composition of the material the knob is made from. i wasn't sure if the clear would 'disguise' this finish or not, but i was pleasantly surprised when they turned out looking like they do with the clear applied. i could also polish the clear after it has cured out and see how it looks, but for now they look good...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dclarke 4,011 #405 Posted June 20, 2014 I can't wait to see the decals on this, Martin..... And in my opinion, you picked the right seat. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terry M-(Moderator) 2,125 #406 Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Looking very Nice Martin!! I really like the aggressive style rear turfs !! Edited June 20, 2014 by Terry M 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leeave96 487 #407 Posted June 20, 2014 Martin, The new seat looks great! How difficult is it to remove the steering wheel? What's involved? Thanks! Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #408 Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Bill, steering wheel removal is easy, or should be. There is a roll pin holding the wheel to the shaft, punch it out and should be as simple as twisting and pulling the wheel off. The pin position is in the pic below..... The pin has been removed and you can see through the hole that it goes through.... Here's one from above with the pin pushed out enough to remove the wheel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited June 20, 2014 by Martin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jackhammer 544 #409 Posted June 21, 2014 Well Martin , I can see that you don't need much of my guidence any more , I can kind of turn you loose on your own. Boy, that is sure looking miiighty fiiine. Appreciate putting the story with the pictures. Rick 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #410 Posted June 22, 2014 now that the seat is on theres only one thing left to do, seat time....... took it out and drove around the neighborhood for a good hour tonight, not sure if i was making the neighbors go nuts or not, because i was too busy enjoying the ride....... sorted a few minor things and found some others that will need fixing, biggest issue was the shifter is not central in its gate when in gears and just slightly touches the sheet metal cover. that will involve removing the covers and fixing. i will be removing the upper dash and covers anyway when i get the final dash decals from Terry so that can wait till then. also the parking brake lever isn't in the middle of its slot anymore and will probably need to be repainted as one side is scraped from touching the side of the slot. I think right now, i have a few fasteners that need to be swapped out for yellow plated ones, the decals need to be created and applied, hood catches need to be riveted to the hood (i just have small screws and nylock nuts holding the catch on right now), and a few other small things I've got written down somewhere need to be fixed, along with the shifter fix and i think it will be good.... after i had my fun riding around i brought it back and did a video of it......... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leeave96 487 #411 Posted June 22, 2014 Bill, steering wheel removal is easy, or should be. There is a roll pin holding the wheel to the shaft, punch it out and should be as simple as twisting and pulling the wheel off. The pin position is in the pic below..... The pin has been removed and you can see through the hole that it goes through.... Here's one from above with the pin pushed out enough to remove the wheel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Martin - thanks!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Desko 552 #412 Posted July 8, 2014 Looks great can't wait to see it with the decals on it . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #413 Posted July 8, 2014 neither can I...... without getting into a big story about the decals, they are getting sorted, with a very big amount of time put in by Terry to try and keep me happy......... Thank you, Terry...... (hang in there, were almost there, I hope!!!!) not ready for any pics, just yet..... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
j main 5 #414 Posted July 12, 2014 Than You Martin The step by step really helped.I love your work VERY clean ect Thanks again Jeff Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
km3h 543 #415 Posted July 12, 2014 Martin You have given us all something to aspire to. What a job. I wonder if you can give us the contact information on the shop that refinishes your hardware. NIck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #416 Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) McKays Plating 407 5th St Hampton IL Ph. (309) 755 5276 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited July 12, 2014 by Martin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
km3h 543 #417 Posted July 12, 2014 Thanks Martin. I am going to call them and ask if I can ship to them and have them ship it back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #418 Posted July 12, 2014 you don't have anyone closer to you? this company does a reasonable job, but there have been some pieces i haven't been happy with and have thrown them in with the next load to get redone. if i were you, i would try to find someone local that you can go and talk to, so that everyone is on the same page. i would hate to spend money on shipping parts that ultimately might not turn out the way i wanted them to, by some unforeseen circumstances, or by somebody having a bad day. like i said, they do a reasonable job, but they are a business, throughput is more important than quality and sometimes i need to put some parts aside and redo them. they are good about it, but it does happen. especially when you are dealing with old bolts, parts etc. there will be a certain amount of fallout. thats why i usually throw in more of everything than i need. not sure if you knew or not, but they don't blast any of the parts i take in, i do it all myself. they only really deal in newly manufactured parts and all rust/paint/crud etc on the old parts needs to be removed first..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
km3h 543 #419 Posted July 12, 2014 Thanks for the heads up. I will look locally and see what I can find. May be better just to buy new. I am getting ready for the reassembly of my 417A. Took everything to bare metal. I was worried about being able to put it back together but just got a 416h and they are pretty much the same tractor so I have something to use as a guide. Following this topic has given me courage to start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #420 Posted July 12, 2014 sometimes if the bolts are well weathered its better to go new. i like the original markings on a lot of the bolt heads and on this one the majority of bolts were well preserved, so it made sense to just replate. i had a lot of bigger stuff and brackets to do as well. thanks for your comments on the thread....... thought id update a little. the dash decals are mostly done now and installed. i had some issues with the upper dash that needed to be sorted, took a while to get a good enough method for installing so that everything lined up. I'm learning and the more i do the better the results. the biggest issue and hurdle to overcome with these are they are not laminated. they are very hard to apply and get perfectly right (or good enough to look at without turning away....) you only get one go and once the decal is stuck, its done... they don't stretch very much, they are very hard to get bubbles out of compared to the laminated decals that Terry normally does. if you find an issue with a bubble or out of position with the standard ones, you can lift them up and reposition or whatever without stretching the decal. the main reason i went with this style of decal is i liked the matt look of the decal vs the glossy look of the laminated ones. they also better match my black on the dash and i think they blend in very nicely. I'm going to used powder coated screws and ignition/light switch nuts, washers so they blend in with the dash and don't look so distracting compared to the yellow chromate fasteners. the smaller decals are easier to apply and get right without bubbles and bumps etc. another thing that makes these difficult to apply is they are going on powder coat which has some orange peel and also the steel is far from free of defects. i ended up sanding the powder on the face of the upper dash so that the decal had a flatter surface. here they are!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rick 215 #421 Posted July 12, 2014 Very nice work, Martin! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
km3h 543 #422 Posted July 12, 2014 You just continue to get better as you go along. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #423 Posted July 12, 2014 You just continue to get better as you go along. Terry is the one with the great work here though......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
km3h 543 #424 Posted July 13, 2014 From what I have seen, Terry does a great job. I am waiting for the decals to arrive for one of my other tractors and should get them by Tuesday. I am going to order another set next month for the 417A. I had the transmission on a cart and took it outside to power wash it for painting today and it slid of the cart and broke the dip stick tube. Ordered a new one from Parts Tree. $30.00 plus shipping. Everything I touched today turned into a pile of you know what. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #425 Posted July 20, 2014 Alright, having a hard time finishing up all the little things on this one. residing the house and work is getting in the way of working on it. got a few hours this morning to finally get the dash all back together. i wanted all the fasteners to be 'hidden' on the dash so i powder coated all the screws matt black that hold it all together, also the nut that holds the ignition switch on and i found a boot to cover the light switch. i am happy, its the look i was after and all the decals blend with the black and i think it turned out great..... i also added a new throttle knob and slip over cover for the brake release....... thanks for all your extra time on the decals Terry, you gave me exactly the look i was after..... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
