MR-LT1K Refresh

[GM engineering room in the 70s]

"Here, i made some guards to guard your bumper that guards your grille that guards your radiator"

The bumper you got on your craftsman is interesting, definitely newer haha. is some of it plastic or is that just how its painted?

I like the retro looking decals you made. Are you going to paint the brush guard orange or something to match up with your color scheme?

BlakeGroce wrote:

Nice truck! Thats one clean square body. 75 or 76? I like the bumper guards.....people around here think they're ugly and throw them away so finding them is hard....idk why I think they look good.

The one pictured is a 78.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

[GM engineering room in the 70s]

"Here, i made some guards to guard your bumper that guards your grille that guards your radiator"

The bumper you got on your craftsman is interesting, definitely newer haha. is some of it plastic or is that just how its painted?

Yeah for a newer craftsman, but still a direct bolt up.  Shows how much has changed. It is metal with a plastic "accent" in the front.  Corners are rubber I believe.

Crazy_Carl wrote:

I like the retro looking decals you made.  Are you going to paint the brush guard orange or something to match up with your color scheme?

Thanks, I was going more for a retro look. I will more than likely repaint.  That center plastic part is "Riveted" in.  My rivet gun is messed up and I do not have bolts currently the right size.  Also, trying to determine if I want to go Black, Orange or Almond.

Then again, I thought about just leaving it Red and getting me one of those hitches the same color for the rear.

I like how it has a release to rotate the guard down so you can open the hood.

Past shot when I was abusing it a bit...  Some people hate on spicers due to being lightly built.  This one has been through the ringer..

MightyRaze wrote:

BlakeGroce wrote:

Nice truck! Thats one clean square body. 75 or 76? I like the bumper guards.....people around here think they're ugly and throw them away so finding them is hard....idk why I think they look good.

The one pictured is a 78.

AH nice I just guess by the grill. That's a nice plow setup.[/quote]

So, I finished my mowing today and realized I need to pull this back into the garage and give it some love.  I got in a position that I put the frame in a bind, it twisted a bit and threw my drive belt.  Yee haw.  Rear end has a terrible squeak that I fear is the axle in the case halves.  Maybe time for teardown clean, maybe some fresh paint and put it back together.  Also give the trans a flush and fill.  I've never done it and it's 17 years old now.  Also may need to look into new piston rings and head gasket.  Starting to blow some blue smoke the first couple minutes of start up.

Well, I brought it in and started tear down.  It needs some work.

First off, I would like the shake the hand of the installer that used anti-sieze on the engine shaft before installing the Pulley.  She fell right off once the bolt was removed!!!


The piston... she has some wobble.  The bore cross hatch can still be seen, no scoring.  New rings are on order!



She is tore down to for cleaning and repair.



One of the frame items for fixing.  The front axle has some SERIOUS negative castor.  The tires get caught up in the mower deck because of this. Amazingly that cross tie-rod is still in good shape.



The hitch plate is bent down as well.  I'll look into bending it back and bracing.  There are a couple cracks in the bottom corners.



I also am replacing the clutch pulleys.  They were pretty gravelly and noisy.

Another change I am planning.  I am going to put the rear tires/wheels that were on Bowser on the mower.  These ones worked well, but the back right one goes flat on me.  Not sure why.  When I do, I am going to replace the spacers with some lock collars so I can remove the washers.  They are getting very noisy when mowing.

I also plan on redoing the paint, she's going back to grey.  Probably the same color as Redneck.  I liked the color.

Also replacing the brake pucks.

Now I am riding the fence about rear tires.

* - Slap some fix a flat in the one
* - Install the Bowswer wheels/tires

2 cons for the Bowser tires.
A-Have to repaint the wheels
B-I forgot the tread was in rows, could cause a vibration is riding.



I think I just now talked myself into keeping the existing tires.


Fixed a lot of the castor in the front axle.



Tomorrow will pressure wash the roller.  Maybe get the lock collars for the rear axle. If not, then new washers in hopes to quiet the rear axle.

Also, not sure why, I really dread it but now would be a great time to drop the rear axle and refresh the grease in it.

Again it comes down to “If it ain’t broke. Don’t fix it.” Decided to not bust into the trans.

You should sell me the tires, they're the ones I've tried ordering twice (for The Warhorse ) from eBay and had them turned around at the border both times! ARG! Lol

Haha…

We’ll. I jacked the back end up took the wheels off and spacers and washers. Spun the axle and guess what. Squeak squeak squeak….



So that lead to…



One bolt stripped from factory. 


See that on the axle shaft?  Dirt buildup that combined with the grease. Hard as a rock. 



When I scrapped it out it turned to black powder. 



The dust seal on that side was shot. I found some nylon washers at the hardware store that appears to work. 
I don’t have a pic since I am not home at the moment but the gears are dropped back in. I’ll pack grease tomorrow and put the two half’s back together. 

Glad I ended up pulling it apart. That could have got really hot and either broke the axle or case.

State of the second refresh of the Craftsman in this thread.  I'm going back more "original" while I do it.  I have my gasket set ready for the engine teardown, but I am not ready for the piston rings.  I do not have them yet, they are due in Thursday.











Once I get my new brake pucks tomorrow sometime, this thing will go back together minus the engine.

I also changed out the rear spacers with PVC.

Allright, got my pucks in today so I got the transaxle finished. With that, I was able to put all the body parts back together.  I could have done that earlier, but it is so much easier to just wait if it is already apart.



As I mentioned, back a little-bit original.




I am on full stop now waiting on the piston rings.  They appear to be coming US Postal.  I might get them, and hopefully not bent.

I did clean up the deck a little and sharpened the blades today as well. I think my deck has about 3 years left in it before it goes full rot. I may have to scope out another one in the next year or so. Hoping for a good "marketplace" deal.

All the engine internals still look almost NEW! All but a couple rings on the piston. They are frozen in place it seems. The outer ring is loose like normal. More inspection will happen after work today. That would explain the oil burning.