1985 Wheelhorse 312-8 Partial Restore

[oliver2-44 9,624]

I 'm making this thread on the partial restore of my 312 that I introduced here a few weeks ago.. This will give me a place to post the many questions I'll encounter.

 

The current plan is to get it running and see what other bugs it has besides carb cleaning,  Then I plan to give all the sheetmetal a good paint job. Currently not sure about how far I'll go on painting the tractor chassis.

My initial thought was this was going to be by worker garden tiller tractor. My oldest son was home this past weekend and when my wife asked what he wanted for Christmas he promptly said that " old red tractor dad is working"on would be great for his new house. ......so you can see where this is headed!  He's actually a fairly good mechanic, so his hands will get dirty before this is completed

 

I've sand blasted and painted the rims so I can get some wheels under it. I used XO-Rust Aluminum for the first coat and it was too silver. Then I used some Rustoleum High heat engine paint for the second coat and it looked a lot closer to the original gray-silver.  The book says it came with 23x9,50-12 rear tires. The original tires were terribly dry rotted. Today I saw some 23x10.5-12 reat tires on Craigslist. Can anyone tell me if they will fit or will they be too wide? since I'm in Texas I won't need inside room for snow chains.

 

 

As i previously mentioned the engine would run when i sprayed gas into the carb, but not on it's own. The fuel system was very gunked up after sitting for a couple of years.  I've cleaned the tank, replaced tank grommet, valve, hoses and filter.  I soaked the carb for 3 days to dissolve the hard grey/black residue that was built up on the top bowl faces and everywhere. My carb parts kit came and valve cover gaskets came in today. This weekend i hope to adjust the valves and clean the breather, Then reassemble the carb. Looking forward to hear how it will run.

 

Most of the sheet metal has surface rust, but the rear fender pan has some heavy pitting.

 

I didn't see a 1985 tractor manual for the 312-8 on the website, did I miss it?

I found the 1986 manual and noticed it listed an hour meter and alarm lights on the dash that mine doesn't have. Were these options in 86, or new in 86?

 

As a newbie, I appreciate the warm welcome and appreciate your kind guidance!   

 

Edited November 22, 2014 by oliver2-44

[papaglide 542]

I can't really help but I will welcome you and encourage you! I am sure that I can learn something from watching this thread.

[Stigian 1,234]

Hi Oliver, your love driving your 312-8 when the restoration is done, they are strong machines with plenty of power..  I might treat my one to a restoration next year as a treat for serving me so well over the years.

[craigbic 47]

I'm really interested to see how this comes out. I have a 1998 314-8 that I just bought and it's in fantastic shape but I'm thinking about restoring it. Best of luck! 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,019]

You are correct. We do not have the 1985 operator manual but do have the correct wiring diagram.

 

Garry

[Martin 2,131]

it looks like you have the 12 x 7 inch rear wheels, depending on the brand of tire you are looking at, they might fit but may look too wide for the wheels. some of the tire manufacturers sizing is on the small size though......

to help you out here i would say if they are an off brand tire such as a Duro or Deestone, you might get them to fit fairly well, but any of the Carlisle tires will be in theory too wide for the 7 inch wheels. they are really designed for the 12 x 8.5 wheels.

 

good luck with your rebuild, wheels look great and your off to a good start........

Edited November 24, 2014 by Martin

[oliver2-44 9,624]

The Central Texas Hill Country got 3-5 inches of much needed rain saturday, so I had got called-out this weekend and didn't have the shop weekend I planned.

I did get the carb reassembled. Those choke and throttle plate screws sure are fun to get back together.  

When I ordered my carb parts i couldn't find a throttle shaft seal, and this one was missing. I put three tight fitting 0-rings on the shaft that just filled the dept of the seal chamber and made sure the shaft still moved freely.

 

I almost passed on pulling the breather to check the valves, but glad I didn't. The breather mesh was very dirty.

 

 The lifters seems a little sticky in their guides so I used a tooth brush & WD40 to clean them. Once they moved freely I found the exhaust valve had .022ths and the intake valve had ,006ths clearance. I rotated the flywheel several times to recheck this measurement. This k301 has the adjustable tappets, so their adjustment is next.

The disc at the top of the exhaust valve spring has quite a bit of carbon built up on it.  Is it safe to use some spray carb cleaner in this area if I plug the oil drain hole so it doesn't drain back into the engine.

 

[GlenPettit 1,716]

••  Your large round Shift Knob and Hi-Lo Knob (plus the plastic steering shaft tube) can be returned to

      an 'almost new" deep black finish using a 'Plastic Restorer spray", like Meguiar's, Armour-All or STP.  

      Coat each and then wrap them in syran-wrap or plastic for a few days, then repeat process again 2-3

      times, the plastic will absorb the oils they lost over time.   Use this spray on any plastic or vinyl on your

      tractor, like the seat, grips, foot mats & steering wheel (but it will make items slippery for awhile).  

      Use Wheel Black for the tires.  Don't wax anything you're going to paint in time.

••  Wadded up aluminum foil for Chrome will kinda restore by filling in the pits, like for the hub caps, key,

      then wax them when done.

••  If the tire treads look OK, then tubes will fix those,  you'll be much happier with USA made tubes, like

      most auto tire stores (like Discount Tire) have in stock, careful of cheap off-shore tubes, like TSC, etc.

[oliver2-44 9,624]

Finally got time to finish the valve adjustment and mount the carburetor. After a little priming it started right up. Good to hear the engine has life. no knocking, etc, since I was given this tractor and didn't really know what I had. It seems to run good, but currently needs whats what sounds like a fast idle setting to stay running. I may have to get one of those tiny Tach's I've heard discussed on here. I also noticed some smoke coming out of the breather. What is this breather smoking a sign of? ..worn valve guide blow by?....

 

With it on jack stands i ran tranny through all gears and they seems to work fine with no load on them. The originally clear oil is now murky since its stirred up. so a diesel tranny flush is in order.

 

I also took the mower deck off to start work om it. Once I got the Tach-a- matic freed up, i see it's a slick device. also took off the mule drive, and that stick too! 

[oliver2-44 9,624]

My deck has a 3" by 5" area of heavy pitting but not  It's not in a structural area. Some pits are probable have he metal thickness deep. What can i use it fill/smooth is area that will survive the mower deck vibration?

Will Bondo auto body filler work, or do I need something stronger-more vibration resistant.. 

[jackhammer 546]

Was wondering how your doing on your 312 restore project  ???? 

 

Try looking here 

Menards has        Rustoleum Paint       Matte mettallic nickel.  real close to the silver you need

 

Worked for me also .. go light between all coats

 

Lets hear what youve got done and see more pics

[Don1977 604]

My deck has a 3" by 5" area of heavy pitting but not  It's not in a structural area. Some pits are probable have he metal thickness deep. What can i use it fill/smooth is area that will survive the mower deck vibration?

Will Bondo auto body filler work, or do I need something stronger-more vibration resistant.. 

You can use BJ Weld it will stay in place. It's a lot harder to sand then body filler so don't put more then necessary to fill the voids.

[oliver2-44 9,624]

It's been awhile for an update so here goes. After getting the tractor running I used the tractor around the yard some this winter to find any problems. Then about 2 months ago I tore the tractor down to a rolling chasis  After seeing all the carbon on the valve stems back when I adjusted them I pulled the head and could see pitting on the exhaust seat. The bore looked good and only showed  0,003 wear in the worst area and was within spec so so I'm leaving it alone. So I pulled the engine and it's at a machine shop getting the valve seats and new guides installed. .

Here;s all the small sheet metal blasted, primed and painted with the 1st coat of Rustoleum Sunrise Red.with hardener. Since this is a worker, all the nuts, bolts and tiny little pieces were buffed clean with a grinder/wire brush and given 2 coast of rattle  can paint.


Here the chassis with the 1st coat of red.


Yesterday I sanded them with 400 wet/dry paper and their ready for their 2nd coat. Due to the rainy weather we're having i have them stored on the game room floor 


I also BBQed some Pork Ribs and Chicken while i sanded!

 

This morning i tore the mower deck down. The shell has some pitting and needs a little straightening on the front edge, but no cracks.


There sure are more parts to a deck than meets the eye when assembled. The aluminum hubs looked good with very minor corrosion.


Maybe just Maybe I can have this finished for the neighborhood July 4th Parade!

, 

[857 horse 2,581]

OK ....TO BEGIN WITH..
THAT IS GOOD LOOKING PAINT,,,,
YOUR GOING TO HAVE A NEW TRACTOR WHEN THIS IS OVER.
MOST LIKELY GOING TO SEE ANOTHER 30 YEARS SERVICE
THERE IS ONE THING YOU DIDNT DISCUSS

WHAT IS FOR DISSERT
WELCOME TO RED SQUARE...
 

[oliver2-44 9,624]

.  Back in July I painted the hood and seat pan and some big drosp of sweat dropped on each one.  I decided to use it as a learning experience. I've never wet sanded, so I decided to wet sand all the sheetmetal, clearcoat and then sans and polish it out.  Even though it was time consuming, I enjoyed the process and i really learned to improve my sanding methods.  Life got in the way, and it seemed like I've been doing one piece a month, but now this is now one smooooooth  worker.

So here's my finished restore.  I really like Terry's Patriotic decals!

 

 

312-8 left side far.jpg (-3.2 MB).url

Edited May 15, 2016 by oliver2-44

[popcat 10]

All of this painted with a rattle can?

 

Looks real nice.

[oliver2-44 9,624]

Painted with Rustoleum Regal Red using an old 1960's Devilvis  spray gun.

 

[Dirtdog524 61]

Impressive work! That tractor looks better than when it came from the factory. You certainly can be proud!

 

[V-Four 34]

Nice indeed.

Now I'm getting motivated, as I just got my hands on a 86 312-8 that needs a good cleaning, but could also use some paint and TLC.

thanks for posting.

[WHX?? 48,703]

Really nice work there Oliver..... looks to me like some calendar shots ther and we would all be really disappointed if you don't summit a few!

[oliver2-44 9,624]

I was at my sons house recently and looked the 312 over.  He uses it for mowing which we have 8 months of in Texas.  it's been 5 years and the Rustoleum Regal Red with hardener still looks  like new.  Everything on the tractor has held up excellent.  He keeps it in his shop so that helps a lot.    

[DeepH2O 66]

Truly a work of art!! It really has me 2nd guessing not taking mine all the way down to the frame!!