Bakes168 15 #1 Posted June 27, 2016 (edited) Hello everyone, I believe this is my first post on this forum, I must say it's a pleasure to be among such fine folks who share great info and have a passion for old American iron. My mom has always enjoyed cutting the lawn and doing other yard work. When I was younger we had a Honda riding mower and she and I would jokingly fight over who got to cut the lawn that week. The Honda broke and my mom has been borrowing grandma's riding mower from down the street for several years now, which is a bit of a pain. I wanted to do something nice for her that was both practical and enjoyable. I decided an antique lawn tractor restoration was just the thing. I found this neglected Commando 800 on Craigslist, drove up to look at it and ended up hauling it home. She was pretty dilapidated . I have deemed the deck not salvageable, far too rusted for my ambition. Tore the old girl down with help from mom, she wanted to help and will probably appreciate the finished product more having put some elbow grease into it herself. The trans would only go into two gears, found that it was full of water and rusted inside. Tore it completely down (damn those hitch pins are hard to remove!) and installed all new bearings, detent balls, and other odds and ends. Tore the Kohler power plant apart and found that the cylinder wall and piston were scratched, probably due to the large amount of carbon buildup in the combustion chamber. Trans is back together and ready for primer! Bought a rebuild kit for the little Kohler, had it sandblasted and cleaned the inside out really well. I'm currently in the process of re-assembling it. Had pretty much all the other parts sandblasted, I just finished priming them this past Sunday, and now I think it's time for a little body work. It's slow going because I'm busy with work and a bunch of other projects, the fact that I'm really picky about every little detail doesn't speed the process up either. It's crunch time now because I'd like to have it done for a tractor show in mid-July. Here she is in her current state. She's getting new tires, decals (obviously), all new wiring, I'm adding headlights, etc.... After a lot of research I decided to go with Sherwin Williams Sher-kem paint in IH Red. My question for all of you more experienced restorers is should I assemble parts of it and then paint or paint everything and then assemble it? I don't want to paint everything and then scratch things while putting it together and have ugly unpainted bolts showing. I also don't like the idea of having just primer between some of the parts, I'd kinda like it to be all paint like it was from the factory. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Zack Edited June 27, 2016 by Bakes168 12 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 52,311 #3 Posted June 27, 2016 Nice son/mom project, love to see family involvement. I prefer painting everything while totally disassembled, if a scratch occurs it can be touched up. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Digger 66 3,477 #4 Posted June 27, 2016 Looks like you two are doin' her up right ! Congrats & welcome to Red Square ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 24,353 #5 Posted June 27, 2016 Another Michigander is always a plus!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Retired Sparky 526 #7 Posted June 28, 2016 Hello & TO Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 26,741 #8 Posted June 28, 2016 I like to paint every thing while it's apart. You can clean up all the hardware and stick in some card board so you can paint all the heads of the bolts. You could also choose the method that I like the best, replace all the hardware with stainless hardware. Stainless hardware can be a little spendy though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AlwaysLookin80 1,308 #10 Posted June 28, 2016 I take every single thing apart then paint the parts. After a few days drying I reassemble. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bakes168 15 #11 Posted June 30, 2016 I think I'll paint everything while it's disassembled. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll keep you updated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horse46 516 #13 Posted July 4, 2016 Looks like a good project. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wheel-N-It 2,967 #14 Posted July 4, 2016 Good Son for taking care of Mom and saving an old horse at the same time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woodchuckfarmer 333 #15 Posted July 4, 2016 Id try to save the deck. There getting hard to find. Take it to a weld shop and get an estimate on fixing it. Wayne 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 60,245 #16 Posted July 6, 2016 If you're willing to take a drive to the GR airport, I've got a 42" SD deck in better shape that you can have! It came from a 78 C-101 so it should fit right up! It's not perfect, but if you want it, come n get it! 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
