Complete W/b Rebuild

[heybruck34]

Hey everyone-

Some of you may remember giving me advice on buying a used walkbehind. Ya'll gave me some really good tips about making sure a dealer was close to me and other good things to consider.
This site really was a big help.

I ended up buying a well used SCAG 48 belt drive with the 14 Kawasaki. It was really rusty and worn with two flat tires. I paid $450 for it with an extra transmission. I'll try to post some pictures so you can see before and after.

I got the engine running after about an hour- the carb needed a rebuild. After that I tore it all apart and sandblasted the entire frame, deck, cover and deflector. A buddy of mine owns a body shop and I painted it there. As I was doing this I was rebuilding the spindles and ordering new parts and assembling as much as I could. As of today, I think I am about 95% done. I have some adjustments to do and will rebuild my extra transmission so I can make sure that it's perfect. The total bill is about $ 1200 and it took me about 2 months (I'm a full-time public tax accountant).

Hopefully ya'll can look at the pictures. If not and you still want to see em- send me an email and I'll attach them. Or if anyone needs some advice on tackling a project like this let me know. I sure learned a lot! Thanks again everyone. If you have any SCAG 48 wb questions- lemme know- I probably can answer them!

-Jeff-

[heybruck34]

before....

[heybruck34]

before

[heybruck34]

AFTER !!!!

[mark2]

I have been working on an old Gilson Senstion. It's painted and I'm working on puting it back together. I hope it turns out as nice as yours.

[GilbertJT]

I don't know if you got my email or not. I am actually rebuilding the exact same mower right now. Mine looked as rough as yours if not a little more. The engine is fairly new and the transmission seems to be in good shape. I currently have the deck and wheels off for sandblasting and repainting. I think that I am going to leave the engine on the frame for now and wait a year to paint that. I noticed that you rebuilt the spindles yourself. How hard is that? I have one bad spindle and I am considering either rebuilding or replacing. I am really enjoying this project. The nice thing is they are simple and easy to fix. Yours looks great and I hope to have mine look as good by spring.

[big james]

LOOKS GOOD HEYBRUCK , AND YOU LEARNED A LOT TOO! THIS IS FUN IF YOU LIKE TO DO THAT STUFF , I KNOW I DO ,ESPECIALLYTO HARLEYS < when ican afford it>:blob4: :D

[David Haggerty]

When repainting something that was rusty I use a rust converter.
After I have either ground it down to bare metal or sand blasted it, this stuff will find rust and turn it black. It doesn't turn black on new metal. Just metal that's been pitted. It stops rust from bubbling up under the paint.

The brand I have right now is made by Loctite.
It's called "EXTEND Rust Neutralizer"
A 10.25 oz.aerosol can is about $5-6.
Loctite also sells something called "Rust Inhibitor" which is just primer, so you have to watch it.

Naval Jelley sells a version of it too, but Loews quit carrying it.

The stuff is kind of a PITA to use, aerosol cans won't go on even. But even if this stuff was availavle bulk, you wouldn't want it in your spray gun. The fumes will choke you too. Use it instead of a prime coat.

When you spray it on that bare metal and see the little pinhole rust pockets start to turn black you'll know it was the right thing to do. Kind of like $6 worth of insurance.

Here's a picture of a mower that I dismantled, sandblasted the decks and wheels and treated with rust converter. I've done a couple of others too.

Dave

[heybruck34]

OK Haggerty- you WIN! haha

A friend of the family owns a body shop so I did all that work over there. He's got a pro sandblaster that I used.

I sandblasted all the rust off but before we hung everything in the paintbooth and used etch on it. It does exactly what you described except you shoot it through one of the regular paint guns. Then we sprayed it with some other kind of primer- I forget what it was. Lastly we shot about 3 coats of acrylic enamel. I'm not sure how this paint will hold up but it looks real good. I'm not concerned about looks as much as not rusting. I was real adamant about doing stuff myself so I got some drips and some spots were wetter than others so the paint is a little uneven. Hey- plenty good enough for me!

[Green Care]

Good Job

Now I know where to send my old rusty stuff!!!!!

Looks good there

[trimmer]

Ospho works well on rust to. Dupont also make a rust inhibitor called metal conditioner, with it you wipe down all bare metal then prime it with an etching primer. I like the ospho the best, I put it on a red scuff pad and wipe down this seems to work the best.

Looks good. How does it cut?

I would suggest painting the rims whenever you have to replace the tires.

[summitgroundskeeping]

Crap man, if that Scag runs as good as it looks you are set for many many years. Looks incredible. Pretty cheap too.

[David Haggerty]

I'd give you the blue ribbon for painting.
I couldn't get that close to my paint job with a camera!
Isn't that reflections I see in your paint?

I was just trying to say something about old scaley rust and using rust converter. figured a lot of guys were reworking equipment about now.

I used enamel too. Equipment enamel from TSC. It holds up good, but fades pretty quick.

The Howard in the pic's an '86. Sold it last year. Everything's going to be red from now on.
This was like the second thing I'd ever painted, not counting myself! Man! everything around the shop was yellow.

trimmer; Thanks for the tip about ospho. I'll check it out.

Dave

[jack D.]

So you paid $1650 to get it up & presentable. I'm curious what you think the mower would go for now. Incredible job BTW.

[heybruck34]

I paid around $1200 total- including the $450 for the unit from the dealer. I guess I could sell it pretty easy for $2000 since it is in perfect condition. No plans to do that tho- I have too much time in it. Plus it cuts like a dream.