CubCadet Original Restoration!

[Charlie Smith 142]

Hello All.

I know it's tractor related, but I put it into this section as some people may frown upon putting it into the wheel horse thread, as it's not wheel horse, if admins don't agree with me posting this here as it's not wheel horse related please let me know and I shall remove it, but i just wanted to start a thread to show you all what I do, and how I do it through my cubcadet restoration, I know this wont interest some but it may others, to start with this thread will start slow with only a few posts, but as the warmer weather gets nearer it will kick into action, so keep checking for updates, and as always with me, there will be lots of pictures!

To start with today I woke up and checked my bank balance on the computer (cleaver things) aha! and see I had christmas money and I'd been paid, so I could finally start the cub restoration, I purchased my clear lacquers, primers, cream/off white paint, yellow paint which had to be mixed in store to get the match, and some tyre black paint ( brilliant stuff!) some wet and dry sandpaper and some filler,

And a few needed nuts and bolts, luckily with the job I have and the course I'm studying at college I have a trade card, which gets a big discount on anything automotive repair wise, luckily everything but the yellow paint and the badge come under that discount so it hasn't set me back too much, however the expensive part comes tomorrow ordering new rubber on all 4 corners!

Anyway by the time I'd run about and got all this, the weather had actually held out and was rather bright, however I didn't have many hours of daylight left! Here's where it started; 02/01/14 when will it finish!.............

When I got home I started with the bonnet/hood! As some of you may have seen in previous photos there was a rather nasty dent in the bonnet on the left side at the front, so I removed the bonnet and used a hammer and dolly to remove the worst of the dent, I then sanded the bonnet down and found the high sports, I then sorted them out, straight after that I used the stuff I don't like to use! Although I love the smell weird I know! Body filler, I started to fill out the bad pitting and get the bonnet as smooth as I could shortly after applying the filler I then sanded it out/flat and I was left with a rather smooth bonnet, I shall use a few more skims of filler tomorrow then the bonnet will be prefect, as all of you know when painting/restoring things, the final coat of paint all depends on the preparation of the surface to start with.

(my girlfriend isn't too over impressed the fact I have the bonnet in my room )

Here's where I'm going to leave it for now, I shall upload some more pictures and information as and when I finish filling the bonnet and sanding it down ready for the primers!

[meadowfield 2,758]

Good effort Charlie, look forward to the rest of the pictures...

I've got half an axle on the kitchen island

women have to learn to live with these things :D

Edited January 2, 2014 by meadowfield

[neil 2,410]

Good luck with this project charlie ,

[Charlie Smith 142]

Ahaha!

Good effort Charlie, look forward to the rest of the pictures...

I've got half an axle on the kitchen island

women have to learn to live with these things

Is that wet paint drying, I bet the misses is happy about that! They shall learn one day, my grandad is the worst for having things inside, as we speak he's got a Austin A35 engine on an engine stand in his living room! (All clean and sand blasted) being rebuilt

And thank you Neil,

[meadowfield 2,758]

Ahaha!

Is that wet paint drying, I bet the misses is happy about that! ,

Yes, it's not good weather for painting and drying outside.... So I've had to come inside

Missus is just about used to it.

Edited January 2, 2014 by meadowfield

[wheeledhorseman 579]

Works for me Charlie - and for Mark also it would appear (that axle is looking good btw).

 

Now Christmas is over and I can have the dining room table back dump cart parts will be coming home for the top coat of paint. It can take days to dry out at the barn at this time of year - a combination of low temperature and high humidity. On the dining room table parts will be touch dry by morning. Wife kind of knew what to expect before marrying me in that I had a mini engine I was rebuilding in parts laid out round the dining room ready for reassembly in the first house we rented together.

 

GF will get used to this sort of thing over time Charlie, so many things that have to be learn't and accepted like an oven isn't just for cooking food. Kitchens are also useful places to spray things in cold weather with a dust sheet on the floor but beware, over time overspray dust builds up on open shelves - bit of a giveaway!

 

Andy

[Wheel-N-It 2,976]

Hey Charlie, have you made any progress on your Cub???  I am very interested in your Cub restoration. I have a IH Cub Cadet 1650. It sure does not bother me to see other tractors on Red Square.

[dodgemike 52]

I enjoy reading about the repair

And painting of anything. Might

Pick up a good idea for a WH.

Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

[Charlie Smith 142]

Hello all,

As most of you Already know the weathers been really bad which has lead to me working in and out of power cuts!

After 3 days of using body filler and wet and dry, I finally got a smooth flat bonnet, no dings dents chips etc, then it was finally ready for a coat of primer, I have now primed the whole bonnet inside and out, I am still waiting for my decals to arrive I purchased them and was getting them shipped from USA. However due to this weather I don't really think I can do a lot more to it just yet, as when it brightens up and heats up, I want to give the old girl a jet wash, then put a key on the paint work and I'm going to use my air compressor spray gun to paint the whole body and center console, the correct yellow, once that's painted and I've got that perfect, I plan on painting the wheels, then I shall paint the bonnet, let it set hard for a week or two or three aha then add the decals last, however I got a funny feeling that I won't be able to start that until the end of April, May time, because we are in for a bad wet cold damp winter, so this thread may stop now until then, however later today I shall add pictures of the bonnet, which is currently in my room, hehe, but after that I can't update you guys untill I do somthing and I can't do anything until the warmer weather arrives,

Thanks,

[Wheel-N-It 2,976]

Looking forward to those pics Charlie.

Tell me, was your Cub built in the USA or UK? If the UK, where ?

[Charlie Smith 142]

Maybe you can tell me, where can I find out? I personally though they where only made in the states, guess I'm wrong again, there is no tags, only numbers stamped into the casting of the chassis and gearbox, but to me they are all a puzzle of numbers I know they age, someone on Facebook helped age it, it's a 1963, but I wouldn't know where to find out if it's from Uk or USA

Can anyone help?

Pic soon

[meadowfield 2,758]

from what I know 99% certain they were US manufactured. IH in the UK were down the road from me in Idle, Bradford and made full size tractors. If they had done smaller, then with certainty there would be a lot more kicking around.

 

Cubs aren't rare in the UK, but neither are they as plentiful as Wheel Horse...

[Anglo Traction 761]

Good bit of practical skill work there Charlie, yep 80% prep and 20% finish work gives you the best result.

You'll be surprised that you'll likely be able to do more painting etc well before May time. Trust me, bad winters cannot be predicted by anyone.

 

Keep chipping away at the other bits in the meantime