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Ok you 're right, how do I make it shine? (Fred? d


richp

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Ok Fred and dlc, as much as it pains me to admit it, I have now mowed my 3/4 acre 4 or 5 times with my 1980 912. After the third time my wife comes over and says "you know, you look a little like Green Acres but it sure mows the lawn nice....look how even and smooth it is". I guess the "Simplicity Cut" is not just a cute saying!. It does do a good job. Anyway, it cuts good, runs fine and has already been affectionately named "Rusty" by my wife. I told her tractors should have female names.... she said that in this case Rusty was entirely appropriate. Therein is the next problem. Where does someone with no technical experience start with refinishing a tractor? I say refinishing not rebuilding for obvious reasons. However, in refinishing the thing I am sure there are easy rebuilding tasks that could be performed. Short block done 400 hours ago. Need to get rid of surface rust and such. Axles and frame rusty. At this point I think I will wait until fall, take it entirely apart, sand, scrape and grind, repaint and then pput it in several boxes and give it back to the A/C dealer and pay HIM to put it back together!!!
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Brett, It's good to know I'm 'right' about something as my experience proves for once. If you're in the Hudson Valley your lawn must be the only one growing as mine and all my neighbors are burned to a crisp due to no rain here for the last mo. or so. As far as painting 'Rusty' goes you don't have to get too critical...just giver her a good cleaning,sanding and a clacka--clacka spray bomb spritz job, no need to completly dismantle her for that! Glad to hear it is working out good for you! dlc
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dlc: Yes, dry in Albany also (more specifically Niskayuna, between Schenectady and Albany) but thank god for hoses and sprinklers!... I feel that the tractor I bought is a good machine and will run for many years assuming good care and rehabilitation. Thats why I talk about getting rid of rust and such. Looks like the front end is fairly simple to dismantle and really go over. Engine appears easy to remove by unattaching the drive shaft and a few mounting bolts. This would let me get to the frame. Service Manual seems to have accurate drawings for reassembly assuming they are accurate. Rear end is a different story all together! Looks VERY complicated to my uneducated eye. Just want to remove rust and re-paint wherever feasible. Only "clacka paint" I can find is "Popsicle Orange" at Home Depot. not even close. Could change color (how about 1969 Dodge Challenger "Plum Crazy"?) but that seems like sacrilige (I will look behind me one afternoon while mowing on my newly painted green and yellow tractor and find Fred chasing behind me yelling BLASPHEM BLASPHEM!! Have checked the listed decal sites and can't seem to decipher which decals match mine, really only the decals on both sides of the hood "Allis Chalmers" and "912 Hydro". Real problem is finding time!!! Not mine, but when the tractor wont be in use...sounds like fall - Ocober/November to me.
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Brett,
You should be able to AC Persian Orange at about any large Agway or farm supply store. It's also available through lots of locations on the WWW.
Kent
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Mike: HAve started doing just as you did. Trying to match font and size to one on my computer. Anyone know what the font name is for A/C tractors? What the ballpark range I should expect to pay for someone to make them for me?
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Brett. You should be able to get paint at your Simplicity dealer. Spray cans will be about twice as much as Home Depot but they are the correct color. Myself I would paint it Simplicity Deep Orange, very close to original color if not the original color (also Sim Powder Orange is slightly lighter). Decals are very hard to come by ( I checked all over the country to find some for a 700 series). Because I had a 712 with perfect decals; I photgraphed them, measured them and had a local sign shop make some vinyl decals (look excellent).
Good Luck!
MS
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Brett, How'd you know Fred would do that to you,you're SOOO Right!![running behind yelling!] The part# for sprays is: 1685611 deep orange and 103049 white. 2 of each ought to do it. for trans. just clean and spray what you can without disassembling whole thing with a SEMI-GLOSS black like Rust-Oleum. I feel Fred ought to help you put it back together because he talked you into buying this "rusty" thing in the 1st place! I have a date to help 'someone' build a barn so you're gonna have to wait for me to do it!! I f Sim. paint is not available a pretty good match is any Chevy Eng. Orange engine enamel,and a cream color for wheels. Call Fred when you're ready!! DLC [ barn builder]
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DLC: The old "I'm helping build a barn" excuse, huh? Pretty weak if you ask me. If I take the easy way out and go about refinishing this thing without taking it apart are there any parts/pieces I need to keep paint away from? Seems like I would almost HAVE to take it apart in order to really get to all of the tractor. But, can I hurt anything by scraping grinding and painting? Also, for those places where I cant remove all of the rust is naval jelly a reasonable way to deal with it? I have no personal experience with it since I HAVE NEVER BEEN TALKED INTO BUYING ANYTHING THIS RUSTY BEFORE. does it really work? then prime and paint of course. I think it's only right that Fred supply me with all of the jelly I need, dont you agree?
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Brett, The best thing on rusty metal that you can not clean to a shine is "rust reformer" by Rustolem. It chemically changes the rust into a black rust proof coating that is chemically bonded to the metal and you can paint over it. I have used it many times and it works great. I did my whole rusted loader bucket with it last year and have not painted over it yet. After sitting out all winter the bucket is still black with no trace of rust.
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And I'll bet if you asked him REAL nice, Dave would be happy to come over and put it all back together for you after that totally stripped, frame-off restoration.
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Brett, You have to talk to the O man ..he's got me workin for him all summer I guess. Good thing he's close to Miller Beer plant[goin' to be touring that puppy a lot!]! I think it's only fair he buy the jelly since HE talked you into buying that rust bucket in he 1st place!Question is ..who is putting this "jelly' on... HIM, as you can see I'm busy...LOL! dlc
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Brett: The sign shop I used (Sign-Arama) used the photograph that I printed on my computer (I also gave them a digital picture in .jpg format) cleaned it up, adjusted the size to the dimensions I gave them and printed it out on vinyl. The cost for left and right side hood decals was $11.00. They look great but the AC logo and the words "ALLIS-CHALMERS" are vinyl letters on top of the white vinyl background. So not as good as the original. The 912 decals are different than the 712.
Good Luck MS
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DLC: Have you noticed that since we began talking about doing ACTUAL WORK on the tractor, Fred is no where to be heard? YOOOOO HOOOO Freeeeeeed????? I'm going to email him my address so he can send the 4 gallons of naval jelly.
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Unless your setting sail with that tractor leave the Naval jelly to the sailors. In my experience naval jelly is just an acid that eats the rust and cleans the metal. It doesn't stop it from rusting again in the future. As I stated earlier Rust Reformer chemically changes the rust to a black anti-rust coating chemically bonded to the metal. Don't even have to worry about priming it right away as it will not rust in that spot again. But if you really what to use naval jelly, Anchors away.
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Tim: NO PONTOONS. I have had other comments about the jelly much the same as yours. I don't plan on using it after reading your post. Just teasing fred. Will any reasonable hardware store such as Home Depot stock the rustoleum product? It can be painted over right? Is it still a good idea to remove as much of the rust as possible before applying? I assume so as I cant imagine it would be a bad practice in any case. Thanks for your comments.
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Brett. I bought the rust reformer at the Sears Hardware store. Probably a hardware that carries Rustolem would have it. It has directions on it and you don't have to get the metal rust free, just knock of the loose stuff with a wire brush. It will only turn black where it is applied over rusted metal. What I like about it most is that you don't have to spend so much effort in removing rust and yes you can paint over it. I used Rustolem rusted metal primer and then Rustolem Sun Burst Yellow, I thinks that's the color. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I don't have the can with me to look at. Tim
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Now,now Brett take er' easy on the ol' boy Fred,he just dosen't like any 'Navy Pukes' as he affectionately calls moi'Maybe they have an Air Force[sorry kent!]jelly he'll send ya! dlc ex USNer
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After that last 'enlightning' post by Fred I take back my last post..You're right Brett when going gets tough he's gone,soo true! take a bath in your 'prop wash',rinse yourself off in my 'seawater' and hang yourself to dry on your 'flight line' Regards! Happy 4th!! dlc [hmm....I think I hear the fireworks early!]
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No, but we used "prop wash" to shine 'em up and "flight line" to tie 'em down.
And you'll find that good metal doesn't rot so bad when you don't do something dumb like stick it in seawater!
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