L175 Sheet metal work ************

[aquaforce]

Well I started out trying to repair my old hood that had been damaged from a roll over. That was getting more and more involved until I threw in the towel and got a different hood.

The rear fenders we will work out since I think I can fix them.

Here is the roll over hood and the fenders.

I welded the cracks in both fenders and now we will use rust treatment to stop and seal the rust.

 

[aquaforce]

Here is the replacement hood. It is a little different with the radiator access door that mine didn't have.


The left fender was crushed in the rollover so we had to bent it upward which was an act of congress, well slightly more successful than congress.

I blocked up the fender on the ground with 4x4's directly under the fender support and set the car front tire on top of the fender support so I could pry it outward in the radius of the support. This was the only way I could get at the support because the fender is welded to it and I couldn't get the fender in my press. I know a picture is worth a thousand words but I was so rushed trying to get it done that I didn't take a pic of this process. Really I didn't want everyone to laugh. I bet it was a sight, jacking up the car and setting all this up under the tire to hold it.

It worked out ok so I think I can fix the fender pretty well from here.

This wheel bothers me every time I pick up something with the drawbar. It has been eat up so bad from fertilizer that huge pieces fall out of it from time to time. Once a piece that was 1/4" thick came out and I was amazed that the tire didn't go flat.
I have a replacement wheel too so we will start working on it to get it ready to switch the tire over on it.

 

[aquaforce]

Smokey here bought my old hood so maybe he will have better luck working it out. I wish him the best of luck.

Today we did a lot of work on the hood, wheel and fenders.

I can't leave well enough alone, so I am modifying the hood and fenders a little. I don't like that little groove that runs down the hood. It gathers water and leaks on the engine when it is raining and just to easy for rust to hurt the paint. I am filling in the gooved seam along the top of the hood and around the headlight and grille in the front. I'm using body seam sealer which is easy to work with. Using water on my fingers I can shape and smooth out the sealer to make a very nice look that is ready for paint.

This hood will have a modern look and the seams will be smothed out to have a nice flow in the lines.


We had some dents in the hood and some rust inside so we have pounded till we are tired and then used the rust treatment to stop the rust and seal the metal for paint.

 

[traildust]

Wall E

What you are doing is supposed to be the hardest part of a resto, the body work.

good luck and thank you for posting your progress.


Scott

 

[aquaforce]

I just about gave up on this B6200 hood, thought I was real hard done by. I look at that old L-175 hood of yours, and realize it was a walk in the park!

Your hood looks shiney and new! Good job.

The old hood of mine was both smashed and twisted. That is a tough combination. Not impossible, but for someone like me who doesn't do body work it is a nightmare.

Smokey here bought my old hood to get his tractor through customs. If he works it out it will be an amazing job.

 

[aquaforce]

Today we worked on the tractor again. I got the grille into primer and finished the perforated metal that I am going to place behind the grille. I think it is a little more modern to have a perforated grille so I am going to add this piece behind the grille for a perforated look. Also it will hide the battery from view in from the front of the tractor. It just looks tacky to see through the grille and there is the battery.


The wheel is into primer too. I used the last of my marine zinc primer, the green stuff, to help with more rust protection.

This 3M body sealer is great stuff to work with. It can shape and fill seams holes or low spots nicely without doing major body work. It looks great on the hood seams but we are still waiting for it to dry so we can prime over it.

 

[aquaforce]

Since I have to wait for the seam sealer to dry I primed some of the other areas of the hood. It looks really nice and clean in white. Should I just go ahead and put it on in all white................. uh..... then I'd have to paint the rest of the tractor........nahhhhh.


This is the first time I have ever seen white primer. It seems to show light much better and that makes it easier to sand out to that perfectly smooth surface. I like how it works. The white could make the orange brighter in the end too, we'll have to see. I hope nothing changes so that it matches the rest of the tractor.

 

[aquaforce]

This grille is beautiful in color.

This is the perforated piece that will set behind the grille.

One side of the wheel is in color now but I will wait a couple of days to get a hard cure before I flip the wheel and color the hard part.

 

[Will In Tx]

Very nice shots and hard work!
Will

 

[Butch]

Damn NICE work!

 

[Will In Tx]

Might as well add me to the list of ooooppppss.
Tree limb killed the blinker light on left side and poof, there goes new plastic and sheet metal....crapo

Vic is it cheaper to buy from up there or down here? L3400 HST (headlight ok, just blinker wrap)

Uuugghhh

 

[aquaforce]

POLLEN




Well I got a hold up on the painting. Our pollen report for today was 5733 ppm. Atlanta Ga is the highest pollen concentration in the entire U.S.A. The tractor is sitting INSIDE the shop and simply opening the door during the day did this to everything in the shop in a very short time. What a pizzer!!!

Obviously I can't paint for a week or two until the pollen saturation drops.
We are supposed to have rain tomorrow. Oh I hope we get lots of rain. That is the only reprieve from this choking pollen.

The pollen is so thick that walking in the shop stirs up a pollen cloud around my feet. Nasty stuff!!!!!!!!!!
If a car is washed, within one hour it will be yellow from pollen and look filthy again!!!!

 

[handyman]

Man that sucks bad in tenn. where I live but a little worse there. It should rain tomorrw that will help a lot.handy

 

[Will In Tx]

Yeah, the L3400 HST, 4x4 and 0 Turn all have it on there!! Even the trucks and cars.
My head has been hurtn like hell.

 

[ptwyz]

POLLEN




Well I got a hold up on the painting. Our pollen report for today was 5733 ppm. Atlanta Ga is the highest pollen concentration in the entire U.S.A. The tractor is sitting INSIDE the shop and simply opening the door during the day did this to everything in the shop in a very short time. What a pizzer!!!

Obviously I can't paint for a week or two until the pollen saturation drops.
We are supposed to have rain tomorrow. Oh I hope we get lots of rain. That is the only reprieve from this choking pollen.

The pollen is so thick that walking in the shop stirs up a pollen cloud around my feet. Nasty stuff!!!!!!!!!!
If a car is washed, within one hour it will be yellow from pollen and look filthy again!!!!

Holy Crap!!!

That's alllllot of pollen.

 

[dusty-t]

I have never seen nuthin like that. That is nasty. Dusty

 

[aquaforce]

Ok. The pollen is in the small micron size stage now so we are back to painting.

Got the fenders and hood all ready for color.

The wheel that I had to replace is almost done in color. It will get one more coat.


Since the original paint is well adhered, only the areas that have bare metal after smoothing out some spots, got some primer. Otherwise we just prepped the paint with steel wool so it is nice and smooth for the final color coat.

 

[aquaforce]

Some more pics and the wheel.

The headlight rings that were pitted so badly are ready for color too. I didn't get a pic of them so I'll have to show them in color. It was a lot of work to keep priming and sanding but all the pits came out well.

 

[aquaforce]

The chromed headlight bezels were rusted and pitted pretty badly so it took several coats of primer and sanding to get them smooth. They look very nice. NOt show room but very nice and presentable. They will get one more coat before the final install.

This is the back side of the radiator cap access door in the hood. The top side took many coats of primer and sanding too. It was rusted so badly that there were deep pits in the metal. We did a rust treatment and seal job then started with the primer. The bottom side is done and the top gets color next. It is very nice and smooth now. Thanks to my pa in law.

 

[aquaforce]

The fenders were a piece of work. After getting the structure bent out where it was about right we had a lot of rust to clean and seal up. Then we seam sealed the gaps between the fender support and the fender. This gave a better water seal against road pizza getting inside the support and rusting out the fender. The insides are in color now. I'm getting excited to see it all together now.


The inside of the hood was not too bad but we still had to rust treat and seal. We did a lot of work with the dolly and hammer and then started in with the filler and primer. It looks very nice in color.


The headlight reflectors were pretty rusty too. I hit the reflectors with polish and painted the backside with a shiney silver color. The new assemblies were $50 each so I thought a little elbow grease and paint would be just as good.