B7100 with a slight mechanical issue.

[Grumpy560]

Oh, Grump, your prep is par excellence! I started to ask about dragging my B6100DT up there to get stripped when reality stepped in and inspired me. (I'm hoping the knot on my head will disappear before church Sunday!)

What did you use for blasting media? Do you make an effort to collect and recycle your media? How much pressure, and what size nozzle?

I should mention that I haven't done any blasting since a student in Tool & Die, a generation or so ago. Got a compressor and blast gun but hadn't thought about restoring my finish until reading your post and recalling trying to strip the fuel lines a few days ago.

I may be tapping your expertise...

We are using coal chip media. We have 80/20 aggressive and 60/40 medium grade. Air on the tank is set at 140psi and it seems to work well with both grades. We used the 80/20 on the loader sub frame, fenders and wheels. We used 60/40 on everything else.

Yes we did recycle the media. Pending how rough the surfaces are that you are blasting it can be recycled/filtered several times, in my case we were only able to recycle the media 3 times before its not useable anymore. The coal chip media we used comes in 50 pound bags and cost $17.00 but I can't recall how much we've used on my parts alone because we blasted other stuff not related to the parts I had.

 

[Grumpy560]

Yummy! Breakfast anyone?

 

[Grumpy560]

And onto the other side, it was just as bad. After seeing this I'd say its been well neglected over the years. There's a lot of rust on the axle shafts and u joints but everything seems to be OK but I won't know for sure until I get everything cleaned up.

I picked up my parts from the dealer this morning but unfortunately the parts guy only ordered me one set of seals instead of 2 like I asked. I'll have to wait another week to get the other set of seals. I noticed my tie rod grease boots were in need of replacement so I have those on the way too.

Also received my used set of headlights with excellent bulb holders. My originals were very rusty and I didn't even have the right holders.

 

[ShaunRH]

I've noticed a lot of outside tractors with that same kind of neglect. Mother nature can push water into any cavity, enclosed or not! Don't ask me how she does it, she's just super creative!

Keep some kind of cover over your tractors folks!

 

[Grumpy560]

I've noticed a lot of outside tractors with that same kind of neglect. Mother nature can push water into any cavity, enclosed or not! Don't ask me how she does it, she's just super creative!

Keep some kind of cover over your tractors folks!

Agreed!

In my case, I think it had more to do with owner neglect than mother nature. Theres absolutely no excuse for a gallon of water draining out of the front diff. Definitely going to keep this beast parked in the barn after each use.

 

[kubotasam]

With that much rust and the amount of water you said came out I would defiantly totally disassemble the whole front differential. It does not take much rust on the bearings to pit them and then they fail.

 

[Grumpy560]

With that much rust and the amount of water you said came out I would defiantly totally disassemble the whole front differential. It does not take much rust on the bearings to pit them and then they fail.

Yep, its all apart now including the center diff. I'll post pichures of that later but the center diff was not as bad as the outer gear drives were thankfully. I'll spend some time cleaning things up over the weekend. My seals won't be here till late next week so no rush.

 

[Grumpy560]

This is as far as I went before I decided to disassemble everything. I took the finished knuckle joint down to bare metal. I'll be doing this without dropping the front sub frame or axle housing unless I find it nessessary to do so.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Ok grumpy, i cant take it. Are you planning on using it or putting it in your den? The work you are doing is nothing short of pure dedication to detail. Myself, i couldnt use a machine that i put so much effort into, just to get it dirty.
I do keep my tractor inside, it hasnt been in the rain since i got it, PO kept it inside too.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

 

[Grumpy560]

Ok grumpy, i cant take it. Are you planning on using it or putting it in your den? The work you are doing is nothing short of pure dedication to detail. Myself, i couldnt use a machine that i put so much effort into, just to get it dirty.
I do keep my tractor inside, it hasnt been in the rain since i got it, PO kept it inside too.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

Thanks,

I'd like to haul it down to Florence Al, for the tractor show/swap meet at the end of April if I'm done by then. After that you can count on this thing going to work but not in my living room.

 

[Apogee]

I figured you were going to sell it to me for $1500 or so...

Nice job so far!

 

[BadDog]

When I was young (and days were at least 4 times longer), I had a Jeep CJ7. Nice little rig, ok on the road, ok off the road, looked pretty decent, I enjoyed it quite a lot. But then I rubbed it on a tree, and thought, "you know, I can fix and paint this". But that meant massaging the rest of the body. Ok. But there was the beginning of rust in some places, so the body should really come off. Ok. And I might as well pull the interior to paint the tub, and at that might as well freshen that up too. Ok. And the wiring had been messed with in several places, lets replace that. Ok. But when the body was off, it was easy to get the frame and drive train too, so lets make that look nice too. Ok And now it looks too nice for those painted buggy wheels, so new wheels, and just a bit more lift for some new larger tires. And so on. 6 months later I had a CJ7 that looked like a show truck. It gleamed, it was nicer than new in and out, and I never enjoyed that thing again. I was always worried to leave it anywhere, someone might steal it or key it, or hit it with a door or cart. And I'm sure as heck not taking it off road. I couldn't even stand to take it down gravel roads any more, afraid I might chip the paint. 6 months after I finished it, I sold it at a big loss and got a modest but clean Chevy truck. Lesson learned...

 

[Grumpy560]

I figured you were going to sell it to me for $1500 or so...

Nice job so far!

HAHA! Nice try there Steve, you wanted it without the engine or any sheet metal right. I would have looked for a newer HST model had I only known then what I know now.

I can't wait to get this beast out in the back 40 to see what its capable of doing.

I'll have to do some work in the barn, maybe knock out 2 walls on the end stall and pour concrete just to have a place to put the B7100 where its out of the weather.

And a couple shots showing part of the back yard. Beyond the trees is what i call the back 40. The thick overgrown under brush is what I want to get out of there. Its only 587 feet from one side to the other and then the fence rows on both sides of the house is another 294 feet to the back.

So you can tell that me and the beast are going to be very busy over the next couple of years.

 

[Grumpy560]

I did a little more cleaning up on parts today. I've got one gear drive assembly cleaned up and ready to go back on. I found some minor pitting on the lower knuckle joint when I was cleaning so I'll have to work on that area a bit more.

 

[ShaunBlake]

When I was young ... I had a Jeep CJ7... But then I rubbed it on a tree, and thought, "you know, I can fix and paint this"... 6 months after I finished it, I sold it at a big loss and got a modest but clean Chevy truck. Lesson learned...

The jury's out on whether the lesson was truly learned...

 

[BadDog]

Safe to assume you bleed blue and have an oval where your heart should be on xrays?

But that jury's been back for a long time, it was unanimous for the bow tie. Of course that's not the lesson I was talking about anyway.

 

[Grumpy560]

Got a lot done today on the front axle. Cleaned all the gunk out of the diff. Each and every bolt had a keeper tab that I had to bend out of the way. There was some rust and I cleaned it up the best I could.

The gears looked good and all so I lucked out there. After I was done I coated everything in there with WD40 just to keep things from rusting any further. I should have the last set of seals I need Thursday. I would have assembled some of it today but decided to work on other parts instead.

My painter stopped by today to see if I was ready for paint and was very pleased with the progress I had made. I told him I'd be ready for paint next weekend if my seals come in so we will see what happens. If they do come in I'll have to work some serious overtime getting the front axle completely assembled.

How cool would a orange fan look in front of a nice n shiny gloss black radiator ?

 

[Apogee]

Would looked pretty darn awesome reflecting off the polished "chrome" alternator....

Nice work!

;-)

 

[ShaunBlake]

Safe to assume you bleed blue and have an oval where your heart should be on xrays?

But that jury's been back for a long time, it was unanimous for the bow tie. Of course that's not the lesson I was talking about anyway.

<chuckle> Busted! However, I'm actually ambidextrous, or IOW, Multiple Personality Disorder. In addition to the oval, there's the finish flags; the snake; ram's horns; and of course, that old fish.

Yes, I understood the lesson, and admire the measures you took to free yourself from that obsession. However, some 'addictions' leave us vulnerable -- or so it has been my personal experience.

 

[ShaunBlake]

Hey Grump, have you described how you do the blasting? I'm guessing you must do much of it, like the differential; front-end; etc., by shrouding the workpiece. I'm curious how you control the dust and how you contain and recover the media.