Lot of progress on the "plastic one" today. Removed the battery hold down from the mule drive belt tensioner. Don't ask cause we still don't know--both the hold down and the tensioner rod appear to be fine. I don't know how it got where it did or why, I'll just chalk it up to crazy PO mods. Anyway, the world is a safer place with the hold down now actually holding down the battery.
Changed the hydro filter. Moved the cable to the implement height indicator to a different hole--now it works.
Replaced the PTO switch. Confession time--do yourself a favor and don't open one of them up with the intention of trying to put it back together. Lets just say that switch is just mechanical inside with lots of little springs and steel balls. Must be one impressive assembly line jig at the factory.
I sprung for a new grill. Glad I did--this one was not only broke off at the mounts, but the pcs that remained on the mower were broken into several smaller pcs. This would have been a gluing nightmare, and then it would have been too weak to last. Had a couple old pillows that dad uses on some of the farm tractors so he sits a little higher (bad knee). Used a couple of them to create a bed to lay the hood and grill on so as not to scratch them up. Put in 2 new headlights while I was at it. The hood and grill would shut, but hang for about 2 inches in the center so I had to "fit" them with a file. I removed the majority of the material using the end of the file as a scraper along the small stepped area of the grill where the hood lays in. Also dressed up from the inside where the hood lays on the grill It had been trimmed before, maybe it was from trimming "flash" at the factory? Anyway, 20 minutes of tweaking and it all works as it should and looks fine.
Long story short, I got to talking to Sam about bumpers, he put me in touch with Randy who promptly had a bumper sitting on my doorstep before I got the grill mounted. We installed the bumper, pretty simple other than a little slotting to get the holes lined up just right. The fab work on the bumper is REALLY NICE and won't take anything other than a brief going over (and that is optional) before it is painted. I'll worry about paint this winter. THANKS AGAIN, RANDY!
Also got the small dash insert that goes over the bulbs. Yeah I know, only 2 of mine work, but it looks much better with it! And if I get really bored this winter and decide to study the schematic a LOT..........
So it was quitting time, but the blades need sharpening so I took care of that--lets say the PO had some serious rocks in his yard.
Afterwards dad took it for a spin, its a little early for his opinion on it, but I doubt it will beat his opinon of the 2072. That's fine by me.
So, a couple quick questions. Anybody got a pic handy of what I am missing on the deck stop? Parts book shows springs, roll pins, nuts, and a clevis pin. I'm sure I can make it, just trying to do it the easy way--copy someone else.
Also--noise. Are these engines louder than Magnums and Onan's--if not,, maybe the guts of my muffler are burnt out? Also, this is the loudest deck we have--way louder than Habans, 50c, 44. Yes it has been greased. Is it loud by nature of its design or do I have bearigns going out?
Oh yeah, think the shutoff on the carb is bad/tampered with. Yesterday was the first time we ran it with the hood and sideshields. When dad cut it off, it tried to "diesel" for a couple seconds.
