B7100 hood rust repair.. bondo queen!

[bx tractorjoe]

when I bought this tractor to replace my bx23s just for mowing I knew I got a good deal.. but knew the hood had some rust id end up fixing because that sorta thing just bugs me.. but i had no idea how bad it was..

First I found some kind if tape, probably duct tape covering the rust on the inside to find it had bondo slapped over the old rust.. which just made it much worse..

Then found the left top corner had 1/4 thick bondo spots to cover a dent, or dents..

So after pulling the hinge peice off drilling out 3 spot welds I cut the rust off.. only to find a 1/8 thick layer of bondo over the majority of the hood.. some spots had 1/4 inch..

No idea why they did this.. a simple hammer and block of wood would if fixed this..

I'm almost considering buying a used hood, if I could find one.. but will more than likely bite it and spend the time to fix it..

They put the bondo right over the original paint..

Don't know what to say.. expect gurrr

 

[bx tractorjoe]

It gets worse.. the whole top front had, some 1/4 of bondo on it... right over the original paint.. also what I thought was the good side around the light turns out has, or had a good amount of bondo.. seems like they did not like the hood shape and gave it a face lift

 

[SidecarFlip]

You don't even want to know how much a new (bonnet) hood is if you can even get one. That is a first class bugger job.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Looks like that's going to take some time and love to restore properly. Good luck with the project.

 

[Lil Foot]

Looking forward to seeing the outcome. Sometimes (for me anyway) repairs like this become an exixtential quest.

 

[bx tractorjoe]

I shouldn't of started this project.. because I'll paint it with the kubota orange paint I have, put it back together and the rest of the tractor with look like poo.. then I'll end up ripping it apart to paint it all...end up redoing the electrical, getting a new seat, rear tires, rear lights and who knows what else and will have to use the l2501 to mow for a few months..

Such a hard life I live..

 

[bx tractorjoe]

This is harder then I remember it being.. but i use to have access to lots of sheet metal tools back then..

 

[GreensvilleJay]

just consider it your 'Winter project'.... you one and ONLY, by the looks of it.
yeesh,there had to be 2 gallons of bondo on that hood !
you're right though...next summer more of it will be coming off ,to be refurbished...

 

[procraftmike]

There are a couple of B7100 hoods on ebay right now. Might be worth a look.

 

[bx tractorjoe]

There are a couple of B7100 hoods on ebay right now. Might be worth a look.

I see a few of them in the 250 range.. going to at least try my best to fix what I've got..

 

[bx tractorjoe]

Well i have someone that is supposed to come look at the b7100 this week to buy possibly so I welded the peice I made on today then without fixing the hood hinge part just welded it back on and painted it black. forgot to take pictures of it *done* will tomorrow though.

I'm by no means a great welder, more of a good grinder.. the peice I did make turned out good.. and the hood fits good and is straight.

Found a few thin spots and burned through them but was able to fill the holes in with weld with a bunch of small tacks

 

[dlsmith]

Well i have someone that is supposed to come look at the b7100 this week to buy possibly so I welded the peice I made on today then without fixing the hood hinge part just welded it back on and painted it black. forgot to take pictures of it *done* will tomorrow though.

I'm by no means a great welder, more of a good grinder.. the peice I did make turned out good.. and the hood fits good and is straight.

Found a few thin spots and burned through them but was able to fill the holes in with weld with a bunch of small tacks

Looks better than what I could have probably done. I hate repairing rusted out stuff.

 

[bird dogger]

Well i have someone that is supposed to come look at the b7100 this week to buy possibly so I welded the peice I made on today then without fixing the hood hinge part just welded it back on and painted it black. forgot to take pictures of it *done* will tomorrow though.

I'm by no means a great welder, more of a good grinder.. the peice I did make turned out good.. and the hood fits good and is straight.

Found a few thin spots and burned through them but was able to fill the holes in with weld with a bunch of small tacks

Your hood repair is coming along. If you don't sell it and continue on with the repairs you might try this trick if you don't know of it already: Hold/clamp a copper bar to the back side of the holes/gaps that need filling. The weld won't stick to the copper and it sure makes filling those holes or wide gaps easier!

A piece of copper electrical bus bar works great. Or even slitting and flattening a piece of copper tubing will work.

 

[bx tractorjoe]

Few pictures.. and one of the side i didn't do anything to..