1975 Wheelhorse C-100 Restoration

[DevonianHorse 268]

Hi all, greetings from Devon (England)!

 

I am new to this forum and I thought I'd post the restoration of my 1975 Wheelhorse C-100.

 

I have begun some restoration work on my 1975 Wheelhorse C-100. This was my first ever mower and I have owned this tractor since I was 15 (I am now 26). It was for sale with a local garden machinery place, we have a garden/woodland on a hill and my parents had said I was allowed to buy a lawnmower on the condition it had proper/good brakes, I think they were worried because my grandfather's Lawnflite had a fairly weak brake that failed once on the hill, though luckily no damage was done.

 

I saved up and eventually we went to a garden machinery shop and I remember seeing a red Wheelhorse outside the shop, and finding it a really nice looking machine, (and it had proper brakes!). After speaking to the owner of the place he said he had one identical but a little rough "upstairs". They kept their mowers stored in this sort of old wooden barn attic with a hydraulic lift to access, so we went up and amongst all these modern plasticy lawn-tractors was this really cool looking Wheelhorse, paint all peeling and dented, but to me it was amazing. Here's a picture of when I got it home: 

 

 

I repainted it in 2010 and did some repairs, and although the finish was OK, it's picked up some scratches, wear and corrosion from years of use and storage. I have decided to repaint it now, as I would like to put decals on it and really finish off the restoration. It won't be as perfect as some examples I have seen, but it should be a really good looking Wheelhorse. I also wanted to take the opportunity to remove some dents in the bonnet, it is hard to see from the picture above but someone might have crashed it or crashed something into it at one point because the grill was dented in a few places. I mostly fixed this in 2010 but I wanted to get the last little dents along the side of the grille sorted this time. 

 

 

Anyway, that's the story so far and I will post more photos of the restoration as it progresses

 

Jon

[Uncle Buck 246]

Super! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[SylvanLakeWH 25,443]

[953 nut 54,946]

            We have quite a few member from Great Britain who have done some fabulous work on . Looking forward to your progress.     

[JPWH 6,022]

looking good. Nice job

[520hC-120 136]

Nice Progress So Far. A Few More Things And It'll Be A Fine 

[KC9KAS 4,741]

@DevonianHorse Nice tractor and story to go with it!

 to

[AMC RULES 37,124]

[Achto 27,481]

[DevonianHorse 268]

Hi all, thank you for the positive responses!  

 

I have have some small updates on the project, I have now finished the prep work on the hood and along with the other body panels it is ready for being taken off, rubbed down and painted. 

 

 

I also did some wet and dry rubbing down on the Wheelhorse in situ, it will need more work but it is a start. (I also re positioned the exhaust so it won't blacken the pulley).

 

 

The seat is off, ready for some sanding, Kurusting (a product that converts rust) and re-upholstering. I will keep the  logo from the original vinyl though: 

 

 

Finally I shall paint and attach this hood ornament that Glen made when the project is done, but shall drill the holes for it before I paint the hood: 

 

 

Looking underneath the tractor, it is in really good shape after the 2010 rebuild, no rust at all, so this isn't going to be a complete nut and bolt restoration, because a lot of that is already done  

[DevonianHorse 268]

Hi all, I have made some progress, I have removed all the rust, and painted the Horse  The quality of finish isn't too bad and I have added the  decals. She needs the seat recovering and some engine/electrical work,and the wheels painting- once that is done I will upload a video. But for now, here is a pic! 

 

 

[Irv 115]

Nice work Jon! Keep us posted on your progress.

[Mal(Pa) 73]

Looking great.You have got in good shape already and as your work continues it will be a show piece,I"m sure. I like the hood ornament too. Have fun with it.

[DevonianHorse 268]

Hi all, I managed to find some footage of the Wheelhorse from 2007, and thought you may want to see I will post a new video soon, now the restoration is almost done. 

 

[DevonianHorse 268]

Hi all, the Wheelhorse is now running very smoothly, and the electrical and charging issues are fixed. I still need to touch up the wheels and sort out the seat, but for now here's some pictures from a nice autumn drive 

 

 

 

[DevonianHorse 268]

After the previous pictures were taken, I had an electrical problem in that the Wheelhorse wouldn't start- after a little rewiring and a new solenoid, it started and runs nicely. I also got a new seat, I was planning on re-covering the original, but this one was a present from my mother and is very comfortable. Went out for a drive today and as usual it's a ton of fun  Next on the agenda is getting the front lights to work and at some point I'd like to paint the whole engine red. I may paint the whole chassis and other black parts red as it would have been out the factory, I am sort of undecided still, as it has been this way for so long (see above where it was all painted black when I got it). 

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by DevonianHorse

[DevonianHorse 268]

Sadly I do not have enough of the original Wheelhorse front light mechanism to make them work, so I have got an LED light bar that should hopefully work well. I aim to fit it behind the headlight lens, and build a bracket for it that uses the four holes in the grille that the headlight lens bolts onto to hold it in place. 

[meadowfield 2,570]

looking good - I do have a decal and template to use 12V MR16 LED lamps, which in my opinion look the dogs!   - if you cant make it work.

[DevonianHorse 268]

9 hours ago, meadowfield said:

looking good - I do have a decal and template to use 12V MR16 LED lamps, which in my opinion look the dogs!   - if you cant make it work.

 

Thanks Mark, I think these are the same lights you have on your articulated 4x4 Wheelhorse? Did you make the plastic lens yourself? I am a novice at working with plastic, I imagine there are places that would make this. 

[meadowfield 2,570]

Yes, thats the one. I actually have laser cut acrylic and the decal. You just need to make the holder and supply the lamps.

[DevonianHorse 268]

1 hour ago, meadowfield said:

Yes, thats the one. I actually have laser cut acrylic and the decal. You just need to make the holder and supply the lamps.

Oh, that's cool, should I PM you about purchasing it? I think it would be a better result that my current plan

[meadowfield 2,570]

Mail my son, enquiries@restorationdecals.co.uk

 

thanks

[DevonianHorse 268]

Some fun in the snow today!  Got stuck a couple of times, I may need to invest in some snow chains!

 

 

[LengerichKA88 1,883]

Good looking tractor! 

[DevonianHorse 268]

2 hours ago, KyleLengerich said:

Good looking tractor! 

Thanks! I am really happy with how it came out :)