Naked 430

[bg71361]

Very nice keep the updates coming!

 

[Amvcane]

Excellent work Bravo.
I like the idea with the tape on the bottom of the grill, will have to try. Do you have a favorite brand and type that you use?
My low fuel sensor wire on my 322 also leaked. It wasn't working, so I just deleted it. Would be intrested in your results with the rtv. Can't wait to see it in action.

 

[BravoXray]

Excellent work Bravo.
I like the idea with the tape on the bottom of the grill, will have to try. Do you have a favorite brand and type that you use?
My low fuel sensor wire on my 322 also leaked. It wasn't working, so I just deleted it. Would be intrested in your results with the rtv. Can't wait to see it in action.

Thanks for the compliments.
Link to the tape: UHMW TAPE 19-2A-.75-18 Tape with Acrylic Adhesive." UHMW with .2" Thick Acrylic Adhesive.75" Width x 18 yd, 3" ID Core, Transparent/Opaque: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

I also put some on the sides of the snow blower mount where it rubs on the outside of the front of the frame. I don't know how well it will hold up, but I figured it was worth a try.
One thing I did to try to get a better bond with the tape was to heat the metal up first with a heat gun, then apply the tape and use a roller to get it adhered as well as possible.

I hope the RTV does the trick on the fitting. We'll see.

I put the tail lights in the seat pan today, and put it on the tractor. But, I had to take it back off, because when I tidied up the wiring, I didn't leave enough slack in the tail light wires to get the left one plugged in. I had to cut a tyrap to get enough slack. Put the pan back on and bolted it down. It's starting to look like a tractor again.
I also painted the seat suspension with frame paint. After it dries tomorrow, I'm going to set in in place on the pan and see how it looks to install the new seat I have. From the measurements I have made, It looks like it's just going to be too long, front to rear, to fit. With it back as far as it could go without hitting the fuel filler, it would extend to within six or seven inches of the dash panel. That would make it hard getting on and off I think.

 

[BravoXray]

I decided to freshen up the 430 cab while I was at it. It had some rust on the rear corners and on the front posts. I pulled the corners off, blasted and painted them and put in new bolts to replace the old rusty ones. The step plates and angles that mount the front post to the seat pan were really rusty too, so those got blasted and painted too. The step plates were never very heavy, probably only 16 or 18 gauge metal, and the right side one was bent from me putting 250 lbs. on it many times,so I picked up some 14 ga. checker plate to reinforce them. I cut it to size, bent the lip on the outside edge, blasted them on both sides and put a coat of weld through primer on the bottom. I drilled about a dozen holes in the old step plates, clamped the new one in place and plug welded them together. They're a lot stronger now, and with the checker plate, non-slip too.
Not wanting to mess up the new powder coating on the seat pan, I bought a 12" X 24" sheet of 3/16" thick adhesive backed rubber from McMaster-Carr and put pieces on the bottom of all the parts that will be bolted to it. I also made up a couple of 1" X3/32" pieces of strap 7" long and welded 1/4" X 1" bolts to it through holes on 6" centers. These go up through the seat pan above the rear tires and into the rear corners of the cab and are secured with SS washers and nylock nuts. I use SS hardware on all the attach points, since they are exposed to mud, snow and whatever else my be present, and fighting rusty frozen bolts and nuts aren't any fun.
I took off the front fabric cover that goes over the hood and down around the engine side panels, it was really dirty and looked bad. the GF volunteered to give it a good scrubbing and now it looks like new. I gave the doors the same treatment, and they look a lot better now also.
I'm still waiting on my friend to get the hood painted so I can get that installed. I guess he got it all prepped, gave it a coat of the JD green, but after it dried he decided to give it another coat. Well, something happened and that coat had a reaction and turned all wrinkly on him. So he's going let it cure out for a few days, sand it down, put on a coat of sealer and try it again. Maybe I'll get it back this weekend.

Sorry about some of the blurry pictures, but the camera in my phone has developed a problem of some sort focusing on anything more than a few feet away. I suppose it's about time for a new one, I've had this one, a Motorola Droid Turbo for over 5 years, and other than replacing the battery a couple of months ago, it's been a great phone.

Once I get the hood, doors and front cover on, I'll post a couple more pictures.

Always the critic, the GF said "aren't you going to paint the suitcase weights too? They look pretty rusty."
Might need another rattle can of JD green.:confused3:

A man's work never ends.

 

[Dooley]

Nice work on the 430 and congratulations for having an orderly looking shop!

I'm dropping a pic of my wife's naked 430.
It's missing fenders, lights, and battery covers.

 

[TCowner]

I know what you mean when you say don't want to mess up the new powder coating on the seat pan. Cabs tend to "scar" up the pan quite a bit. Several years ago I purchased the Cozy Cab for my 430. This is a full ROPS and was bolted to the frame with brackets that take four 5/8" bolts in each corner. I don't like having a cab on in the warmer months so it came off in the spring. Of course I was left with all these ugly holes in the pan. They were even ugly with the bolts in.

My solution was a little expensive but I got a new pan from John Deere that would go on after I took the bolts on. I convinced my John Deere dealer to sell me the pan at cost as he would get an "un-scarred" pan if and when I traded the tractor.

Taking the pan on an off is a little awkward but isn't bad if you have a helper.

A 430 John Deere when new, or with new paint, is probably the sharpest looking garden tractor Deere ever made. I just couldn't deal with the ugly holes I made.

 

[LouNY]

I decided to freshen up the 430 cab while I was at it. It had some rust on the rear corners and on the front posts. I pulled the corners off, blasted and painted them and put in new bolts to replace the old rusty ones. The step plates and angles that mount the front post to the seat pan were really rusty too, so those got blasted and painted too. The step plates were never very heavy, probably only 16 or 18 gauge metal, and the right side one was bent from me putting 250 lbs. on it many times,so I picked up some 14 ga. checker plate to reinforce them. I cut it to size, bent the lip on the outside edge, blasted them on both sides and put a coat of weld through primer on the bottom. I drilled about a dozen holes in the old step plates, clamped the new one in place and plug welded them together. They're a lot stronger now, and with the checker plate, non-slip too.
Not wanting to mess up the new powder coating on the seat pan, I bought a 12" X 24" sheet of 3/16" thick adhesive backed rubber from McMaster-Carr and put pieces on the bottom of all the parts that will be bolted to it. I also made up a couple of 1" X3/32" pieces of strap 7" long and welded 1/4" X 1" bolts to it through holes on 6" centers. These go up through the seat pan above the rear tires and into the rear corners of the cab and are secured with SS washers and nylock nuts. I use SS hardware on all the attach points, since they are exposed to mud, snow and whatever else my be present, and fighting rusty frozen bolts and nuts aren't any fun.
I took off the front fabric cover that goes over the hood and down around the engine side panels, it was really dirty and looked bad. the GF volunteered to give it a good scrubbing and now it looks like new. I gave the doors the same treatment, and they look a lot better now also.
I'm still waiting on my friend to get the hood painted so I can get that installed. I guess he got it all prepped, gave it a coat of the JD green, but after it dried he decided to give it another coat. Well, something happened and that coat had a reaction and turned all wrinkly on him. So he's going let it cure out for a few days, sand it down, put on a coat of sealer and try it again. Maybe I'll get it back this weekend.

Sorry about some of the blurry pictures, but the camera in my phone has developed a problem of some sort focusing on anything more than a few feet away. I suppose it's about time for a new one, I've had this one, a Motorola Droid Turbo for over 5 years, and other than replacing the battery a couple of months ago, it's been a great phone.

Once I get the hood, doors and front cover on, I'll post a couple more pictures.

Always the critic, the GF said "aren't you going to paint the suitcase weights too? They look pretty rusty."
Might need another rattle can of JD green.:confused3:

A man's work never ends.

My Motorola Droid developed a focus issue with the camera also.
After I had ordered my new phone I took the old one out of the outter box to get the sim card out and while it was out cleaned it real good,
guess I must have gotten something on the lens that was messing with the auto focus as it works good now.

 

[BravoXray]

My Motorola Droid developed a focus issue with the camera also.
After I had ordered my new phone I took the old one out of the outter box to get the sim card out and while it was out cleaned it real good,
guess I must have gotten something on the lens that was messing with the auto focus as it works good now.

I don't have mine in a case, but I have cleaned the lens and it didn't help. I have another identical phone that developed other problems, so I'm thinking I might try to swap the camera out of that phone to mine to see if that fixes the problem. There are just a few screws that hold it in the chassis.

 

[BravoXray]

I know what you mean when you say don't want to mess up the new powder coating on the seat pan. Cabs tend to "scar" up the pan quite a bit. Several years ago I purchased the Cozy Cab for my 430. This is a full ROPS and was bolted to the frame with brackets that take four 5/8" bolts in each corner. I don't like having a cab on in the warmer months so it came off in the spring. Of course I was left with all these ugly holes in the pan. They were even ugly with the bolts in.

My solution was a little expensive but I got a new pan from John Deere that would go on after I took the bolts on. I convinced my John Deere dealer to sell me the pan at cost as he would get an "un-scarred" pan if and when I traded the tractor.

Taking the pan on an off is a little awkward but isn't bad if you have a helper.

A 430 John Deere when new, or with new paint, is probably the sharpest looking garden tractor Deere ever made. I just couldn't deal with the ugly holes I made.

The holes didn't bother me as much until they started rusting around them, and the rust kept spreading. So I just decided that since the cab will probably stay on full time now, to get it refurbished and try to protect as well as I could.
Yep, I always thought the 430 was a good looking LGT.
My only two quibbles with it is that it is pretty noisy when running, and the seat, even adjusted all the way back is too far forward by about 6 inches. My Kubota BX seat is a lot further back and more comfortable. My neighbor lady even remarked that the BX is a lot quieter than the 430. If there was room, I would try to put a different muffler on to quiet it down, but as on most sub-compact rtractors, there just isn't much room to work with. I think a certain amount of the noise is from the intake too. Not sure what could be done about that.

 

[Richard001]

You know that a cell phone is NOT a camara, right.

You wouldn't' use a soldering iron to weld with, why would you use a cell phone to take a picture?

Other that that, your work is excellent !


Richard