450 Restoration
 

Hello everyone,
For the past year I have been adding odds and ends to my Cub collection. I started out looking for a snow thrower/blower for my CC 680. I picked up a very nice QA42b. Last weekend's two inches of snow here in Jersey, provided the opportunity to give it a run. It ran very well, even with a slightly wet snow.
Anyway, the QA42b wasn't enough for me. I had been really looking for the two stage 450. Last September I found one on Craigslist offered up by none other than Darkminion.
It was pretty rough looking but it was all there. I saw this as an opportunity to dip my toes into the restoration pool.
Between the manual here in the Documents section and the diagrams at Cub Cadet and Partstree.com, I felt confident I could do the job.
I disassembled it, wire wheeled it to bare metal, (sandblasted the tight areas) primed and painted it with Rustoleum. Yea, I know a purist would have gotten the original paint and done a professional job, but I wasn't sure I should invest in a large compressor and pro paint rig. So I went the rattle can route.
So, since a picture is worth a thousand words, here goes.

:American Flag 1::Cub7::cub10:

Nice work!
Looking good!:beerchug:

Well said! Thanks for sharing your pics and I'm looking forward to your updates!:beerchug:

I've got a question tho...

What do you have planner for the remote?:bigthink:


:biggrin2:

Jimmy

Wow, you worked real hard to get to look like new.
Nice job.

You did an excellent job on the blower!

Methos,

As tv's come and go, the remotes seem to just accumulate. The old tv stand was just out of the frame to the right. I was routing around and some how that remote found a new home.

I was getting ready to reassemble the snowblower. I sat there putting it back together mentally when I noticed the auger gear box looked a bit ratty. So I took it down to the work bench to take it apart. Good thing too, grass or some very stringy vegetation had wrapped itself past one of the gearbox oil seals. The seal was compromised so I had to order a new one vis a vis Partstree.com
Got a new gasket and some gear lube. That and the drive pulley cover should be the end of the restoration leaving only reassembly and some SNOW.
Anyone got some to spare?
:American Flag 1::Cub7::cub10:

Auger gear box stripped and refinished.:American Flag 1:
:Cub7::cub10:

Jimmy,
You were up late:)
I just read through your post and checked out all your pictures. Very nice work bringing this snow blower back to like new condition. Very detailed! It should work like a new one too. Great shots of the parts as you cleaned and worked on them. I know have a better view of what a snow blower looks like inside. And you thread will help others with these units. Would one of these fit on a NF? like a 127 or 147?
Your paint work looks very good!
Regards,
Chris

Not without a ton of mods, and I'd say 12 hp would be barely adequate. I wouldn't want to try to lift it without hydraulic lift anyway, as these weigh quite a bit. My 364 blower is similar and weights about 275 lbs IIRC...

According to the attachment/fit list at Partstree.com, the 450/451 were intended only for the quiet line and CCC wide frame gt's.
I was lucky with this blower as it was complete with the lift assist spring.
I've had the bug for the last three days and haven't had the motivation to continue the reassembly.
I did notice after reassembling the auger gear box, the shafts would bind after three or four revolutions. I'm pretty sure I reassembled it properly using the diagrams. I'll check it out again when I install it with the augers in the blower housing.
Thanks for the compliment on the paint. I used Rustoleum gloss white from rattle cans. I don't have a large compressor or paint rig and didn't want to fork out a ton of money for one project. Also when it needs a touch up, the paint will be readily available.