My 1450 project officially started today

[CC1450]

pulled the ignition switch. the terminals on it were very rusted so I took some sandpaper and cleaned them up. put it back, turned the key and was happy to see the hour meter start spinning. The first sign of life from the 1978.

I am now getting 3.5V at the small terminal on the solenoid when the key is in the crank position. Seems like a step in the right direction.

[_DX3_]

Definite progress for sure. That always makes you smile.

[CC1450]

Tracked my no crank issue down to bad grounds. Ran a car booster cable from the - post of the battery up to the where the ground cable terminates to the chassis near the engine. Turned the key and the starter leaped into action, although it was moaning and groaning about it a little. Had to persuade the starter to engage the flywheel with a screwdriver but it spun the engine right over. I spun the engine over on and off with the starter for a few minutes just to get it used to spinning again.

I'm going to pull that ground strap and clean it, as that seems to be where the ground was losing touch. should be good on wiring from there other than the lights and wiring in some new fuse holders, I am just using jumpers for testing purposes right now. Had to sort the wiring for the fuses out, each one had a wire unplugged.


Somewhere in there I put the PTO switch from the '76 in the '78. The contacts on the one from the '76 looked brand new and the action of the switch itself is perfect. The 78's had seen better days and the part of the switch you lift up to engage the PTO was rusted in place preventing you from turning the PTO switch on.

Next step is to see if we can make it produce some spark at the spark plug.
I'm going to have some dinner and see what else I can get done on it this evening.

[CC1450]

I was able to get the ground issue resolved on the '78 and it cranks over without a jumper for a ground now. It also makes spark like nobody's business!

I took the gas tank off earlier and drained all the old gas out of it by leaving it upside down for a few hours. The gas valve at the tank was off on the 78 when I got it. I took the float bowl off the carb and was surprised to find it looking really clean in there, with no varnished gas that I can see and the float moves freely. Put that back together and then got my choke free from it's bind. I put the gas tank back on with a new fuel line from tank to carb and called it a day. Tomorrow I will put a little fresh gas in it and see what it says.

I am pretty pleased with today's progress and my expectations of this '78 running soon are much greater than they were 24 hours ago when turning the key did absolutely nothing. It sure is fun to work on, and I am truly impressed with how some of the parts have held up over the decades. I was expecting to have to buy and install points, condenser, coil etc. but it all works.

[CC1450]

made a little more progress this evening on the 1978 1450. I put some bib/coveralls on because the winds are gusting at about 40-50mph out of the south east (I was out there in a T shirt yesterday!) and pushed the 78 out of the shed.

Dumped about a half gallon of 89 octane in the gas tank and turned the gas valve on, then connected some booster cables to my trusty car. I don't have a battery capable of cranking this thing over on it's own yet. The lawn tractor battery I am using is old and will be replaced by the autozone deal I see some of you guys recommending.

When I came back to crank the engine I noticed the float bowl was dripping a little gas. Not much but I run a tight ship on my gas, no leaks are acceptable. I just had to open that float bowl yesterday didn't I? I will have to see about a new gasket for that. So anyways...

I've got a runner! With only a few cranks of the key and realizing I should probably help the old gal out and use the choke the 78 fired right up! It will even idle down as low as the lever will go without dying. It also smokes much less than I imagined it would, just a brief toot here or there. Not bad!

I made a little video of it running but I am not able to figure out how to put it on my computer from my phone just yet. I am sure there is a way, I'll figure it out. The engine seems to have a little miss to it, and that seems to line up with the time it puffs a little smoke. I'm betting it needs to have the carb gone through. Of course it also needs engine mounts and that cradle mod in a bad way. The motor was shaking and moving around like it was just sitting in there, it probably is. I've got a friend with a welding and fabrication shop that will help me with the cradle mod and patching up the mowing deck.

I idled it up and down a few times and tried out the PTO switch, PTO works. I'm stoked guys!

I need to get the hydraulic deck and drive controls free and moving next. They are both frozen up good right now. I wanted to take my running tractor for a spin but she won't go just yet

Oh by the way here is the picture of the "hooks" I mentioned on the back of the 1976 I have been meaning to show.

[ACecil]

Glad you got it running! Those hooks look to be homemade.

[westofb]

Originally Posted by CC1450

made a little more progress this evening on the 1978 1450. I put some bib/coveralls on because the winds are gusting at about 40-50mph out of the south east (I was out there in a T shirt yesterday!) and pushed the 78 out of the shed.

Dumped about a half gallon of 89 octane in the gas tank and turned the gas valve on, then connected some booster cables to my trusty car. I don't have a battery capable of cranking this thing over on it's own yet. The lawn tractor battery I am using is old and will be replaced by the autozone deal I see some of you guys recommending.

When I came back to crank the engine I noticed the float bowl was dripping a little gas. Not much but I run a tight ship on my gas, no leaks are acceptable. I just had to open that float bowl yesterday didn't I? I will have to see about a new gasket for that. So anyways...

I've got a runner! With only a few cranks of the key and realizing I should probably help the old gal out and use the choke the 78 fired right up! It will even idle down as low as the lever will go without dying. It also smokes much less than I imagined it would, just a brief toot here or there. Not bad!

I made a little video of it running but I am not able to figure out how to put it on my computer from my phone just yet. I am sure there is a way, I'll figure it out. The engine seems to have a little miss to it, and that seems to line up with the time it puffs a little smoke. I'm betting it needs to have the carb gone through. Of course it also needs engine mounts and that cradle mod in a bad way. The motor was shaking and moving around like it was just sitting in there, it probably is. I've got a friend with a welding and fabrication shop that will help me with the cradle mod and patching up the mowing deck.

I idled it up and down a few times and tried out the PTO switch, PTO works. I'm stoked guys!

I need to get the hydraulic deck and drive controls free and moving next. They are both frozen up good right now. I wanted to take my running tractor for a spin but she won't go just yet

Oh by the way here is the picture of the "hooks" I mentioned on the back of the 1976 I have been meaning to show.

Glad you got it to run, just keep spraying down the controls with pb blaster, they will work loose, may take a while, but they will finally give in! The hooks on the back of your tractor appear to me to be for mounting a bagger attachment....that is my best guess. I can think of no other attachment that would fit on those hooks.

[CC1450]

thanks fellas! It was exciting to see the tractor's engine come to life. I can't wait to get it on a solid set of motor mounts and remove that rusted out box surrounding the exhaust. It is just hanging there on the muffler rattling. I also want to swap in the voltage meter from the 76 and see if it works, the one in the 78 is not moving around. That is pretty low on the priority list but I do plan on everything working or as close as I can come to that.

I was thinking they had that bracket hooked up to a lawn sweeper or something but your guess is as good as mine. I don't see what would prevent whatever attached to it from coming right off.

[young enthusiest]

Wasn't it a great feeling when it ran? I'm very happy for you! The miss is likely the carb being a bit rich. I'm sure you will get it running great! So good to hear of another one saved from the junk heap!

[CC1450]

yeah it was a great moment for sure, it sounded pretty good too! It's a miserable excuse for a spring day here today, lots of rain so far. I went out to the garage earlier and sprayed the controls and linkages down again. Getting a little movement out of the drive controls now but it is still stuck near the rear end. The deck control is frozen right where the linkage enters the control valve. I hope that valve can be saved. Time will tell.

The gears in my head are turning today. I was thinking if I yank the engine out of the '76 I may get lucky and find a good mount or two. A couple look OK from what I can see with the engine in there. Then I can take the mount rails out of the '76 to use for the engine cradle mod and keep the '78 in one piece for the time being until I get the modified cradle back and some fresh mounts.

The '76 engine has been robbed of it's ignition parts prior to me getting it, and I think it has a rod knocking or something internally damaged based on how it feels when you turn it over. You need a 2 foot screwdriver to crank it over at the driveshaft. It will most likely get a rebuild over the summer and go into the '78 at some point.

I bought twice as many tractors as I intended so it did not leave me with much money to put into them right now. The new parts needed list is not too much though all things considered. I am about 2 weeks out from my next check that won't go straight to bills so I need to do as much as I can for free or close to it for the time being. I think I should have enough to keep me busy though.

New parts wanted list, in no order of priority.

engine mounts- local IH dealer, vendor here or possibly source or make some from automotive parts.
front tires- TSC
tail lights- TSC or local truck stop's electrical aisle
white and yellow cub paint TSC
battery - autozone
carb rebuild kit- local IH dealer or vendor here
modern fuse holder and blade fuses- may have on hand, autozone if not
plug and plug wire
trans filter and fluid- fluid and level in it looks great for now though
oil change
replacement seat- Have a friend with a pile of brand new JD yellow riding mower seats. Will re-drill and run one on my tractor, it will look better on the cub and he will probably give me two if I ask him for one.

Used parts wanted and new wishlist items I will get at some point:

side panels
decal set
snow blade
garden plow blade/ attachment system


Tools I need to pick up:

grease gun- Harbor freight special, cant find one I thought I had in garage.