The Re-assembly / Restore:
If you are here and you didn’t read the first page.. then do that first.. PAGE ONE:
Let’s keep this photo of a nice one to see how I do.. I will be re-painting the body.. and I’m using what I have on hand.. .and that is the Civic Red that I painted the Suzuki Sidekick last winter.
So it’s a change of color.. a color that Sears would not have used.. but I don’t care.. I like this color. Anyway.. back to the task at hand..
That means starting with the things that need repairing.. like the steering. Here’s the steering all fixed with new bushings, greased and painted… good to go. Hey it’s a start! And other than the mower deck ..it’s the only thing that really did need a fix. I took the frame to the car wash and gave it a bath.. It’s now sanded and cleaned and ready for paint. Going to be nice working on a clean frame.
Well that’s done.. But I don’t want to start messing with it till it’s had a few days to cure good.
Well I’ve painted most of the parts.. and the frame has had a few days to cure good. In the mean time I’ve been cleaning and draining (all over the floor) the transaxle.
It’s now back in place.. I need to find a filter to fit, and then refill the oil. This transaxle has a separate pump from the drive.. and a spin – on filter too. It’s twice the size of a normal lawn tractor. The plan here is to get as much back together while upside down.
Jan 2017:
Well I finally got some ambition and I am getting back to this tractor. Trying to remember how things went together.. And realizing that spring is just around the corner.. I have other important stuff that will need the shop.. and I will need this tractor come spring.
I flipped the frame back right side up.. I’m slowly filling the transaxle with oil.. and the steering is back in.. and working soooo nice. I have no idea how much oil goes in to the transaxle.. so I’ll just keep filling till it comes out the breather.. Found a new filter.. turns out to be the same one used on the motors.
Got more done today… motor is in, the trans is working good..
and a lot of things are fixed and adjusted good.. Next the dash … wiring … and the fuel tank..
April 10 2017:
Finally got back to this tractor.. and a good thing cause the grass is growing.. and the plan is for this to be my main mower.
When I parked it over to one side of the shop.. this is what it looked like. Rolling with the wiring mostly done.. In the last few days I had time to finish up all the “putting” back together. Today it looks like this…
All the best parts from the two GT 3000’s . And that included some of the green painted body parts that were is great condition.. So no need for a paint job. New seat. Motor serviced.. and today we started it up for the first time in a while.. It runs great.. took it for a spin in the yard and WOW. ! All the work on the steering paid off… and this is a pleasure to drive. The concerns with the transmission are gone.. We are calling it “Big Green Meanie” It is much bigger than most lawn tractors. Next the deck needs to be all rebuilt..
April 24 th 2017:
It’s taken a lot of time to get the deck set up with new belts and the one new arbor. Lining things up.. figuring out which spring goes where. It was messed up when I got it.. so I needed to get it right again. There is very close tolerances for the two belts. The first try I got the wrong size belt from the motor …and it was rubbing on the metal. Last night I got a shorter belt and that solved all the problems. Also I had to make a whole new wiring harness. All the safety circuits were giving me problems .. So I took everything away except the clutch & PTO interlock for starting. So yes you could get of the seat while the mower is engaged.. but would you ! if the PTO is just a simple button ! And using the parking brake is a must ..unless you want the tractor to wander off on it’s own. Just like all the new cars these days .. they presume you are stupid and should not be allowed to operate a machine.
So here we are.. ready for duty. and hoping it does ok this summer.