Decals for L175

[Viva-la-L175]

I recently bought my grandfather's L175 back from the person who had bought it off me a few years ago when I stupidly sold it. He took pretty good care of it (aside from spray painting the woods bush hog that came with it the darker shade of Kubota orange) and a few other minor alterations that will have to be fixed. Mechanically the tractor is as sound as ever. It needs some work though: needs to be re-wired, a new radiator and hoses, and a new starter switch and key switch. All this can be fairly easily accomplished my myself. My other concern is the aesthetic condition of the tractor. I had hoped to keep it all original (since nearly every scratch and ding was put in it by my grandfather), but the interim owner didn't keep it in a fully enclosed shed so excess moisture has really accelerated deterioration of the sheet metal. So, for better or worse it looks like it's going to have to be repainted. I figure if I'm going to do it, I want it to look like it did when it rolled off the lot in 1973. So, my question is: Is it possible to get period accurate decals for this tractor or do I need to get them fabricated from a print shop? I've seen the hood decals for sale online, but I'm not sold on how good they looked compared to the original. Also, as a kind of side note, where can I get rear tires for this model that are accurate to the originals? Thanks!

 

[Kytim]

Hello, Glad your here!
Murray you say, I've spent a lot of time there.(school) I'm right up the road from you in dawson springs. Sorry, I don't really have any answers for you but, there are a couple that have recently done what you purpose. Gurn, who's in Nashville, ideas??

 

[Viva-la-L175]

Hello, Glad your here!
Murray you say, I've spent a lot of time there.(school) I'm right up the road from you in dawson springs. Sorry, I don't really have any answers for you but, there are a couple that have recently done what you purpose. Gurn, who's in Nashville, ideas??

Thanks! I've been through Dawson Springs a couple of times. Nice town. I appreciate the welcome.

 

[Russell King]

I just ordered all of the decals for my L185 from the dealer. All of the decals and nameplates were available. The cost of most of them were just around a $1.50. The side decals were a bit more at about $14 each. The "KUBOTA" nameplate on the front was $35.

Interstingly there was one decal for the radiator door on the bonnet that was $27 dollars. It must be printed in gold!

Total for every decal and mark on the tractor is about $200.

I even got a new nameplate for the serial number on the side of the transmission since the one on my tractor is not legible at all.

See the attached list of the decals for the L185.
View attachment KUBOTA ORDER.pdf

 

[Viva-la-L175]

I just ordered all of the decals for my L185 from the dealer. All of the decals and nameplates were available. The cost of most of them were just around a $1.50. The side decals were a bit more at about $14 each. The "KUBOTA" nameplate on the front was $35.

Interstingly there was one decal for the radiator door on the bonnet that was $27 dollars. It must be printed in gold!

Total for every decal and mark on the tractor is about $200.

I even got a new nameplate for the serial number on the side of the transmission since the one on my tractor is not legible at all.

See the attached list of the decals for the L185.
View attachment 6059

Thanks so much! I appreciate it!

 

[gurn]

Welcome aboard Viva-la-L175. You're going to enjoy making her look new again, I sure did. http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4347 I was able to find most of the decals I needed from http://www.messicks.com/ Be sure to post pics and let us know your progress if you would. We love that stuff

 

[Russell King]

Not trying to hijack the thread but have a few questions for Gurn.

I looked at your thread again and noticed several paint highlights on your tractor - yellow pedals, orange transmision fill, red on the shut down lever...

Are those the original colors for those or was that "artistic license"? I had also seen some similar highlights on Service Vic's L185? that he has pictures of on the site.

I am planning on doing some highlites like that on my tractor and would like to know what the tractors originally looked like. More out of curiosity than anything else.

 

[gurn]

The yellow brake pedals are correct but not all were painted as so. I saw Vic's tractor with the red accents and liked it so thats why I did those After all in the end it's all about what makes you happy.

 

[aquaforce]

Yes the yellow is factory coloring.

When I painted mine I put the pedals in the blue chassis color since the new machines that we use have pedals that are the same color as the chassis.

Maybe I lost some originality but the "happy" factor is all mine.

I'm also planning to paint my brake release handle red.

 

[aquaforce]

So, my question is: Is it possible to get period accurate decals for this tractor or do I need to get them fabricated from a print shop? I've seen the hood decals for sale online, but I'm not sold on how good they looked compared to the original. Also, as a kind of side note, where can I get rear tires for this model that are accurate to the originals? Thanks!

As was said previously, I got my decals from the dealer too. Seems the prices mentioned were about the same I paid.

I also went with the "new" Kubota orange. There are three different color changes by Kubota over the years and I liked the brightness of the latest color so I went with new Kubota orange. It made me happy as the tractor was new to me and in the new color that keeps tormenting me to buy a new tractor at the dealer.

You can see my pics here in the threads or my photo album.
Good luck and show us some pics

 

[Russell King]

There are pictures of the decals in the phot album at:

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/album.php?albumid=184

 

[Viva-la-L175]

Thanks Russell! I appreciate you taking the time to take all those pictures! I feel a lot more confident in my restoration now!