Diablo Shop 503

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Go Go Diablo
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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by Go Go Diablo » Wed Jan 12, 2022 9:07 pm

That's it for the tractor portion. By now, you should be able to start it up and move it across the floor making room for the ski seater assembly.
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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by Go Go Diablo » Wed Jan 19, 2022 2:54 pm

Starting with the skis, all my restorations get a new pair of Barrie Graham's skis. There is no doubt that the skis he makes are the best of quality and the exact reproduction of the original Diablo skis.

To improve on an already great product, I add Durasurf Wear Skins to the bottom sides of the skis. The Durasurf material and special adhesive are products I purchase in bulk from Crown Plastics in Ohio. The combination of the treated Durasurf and adhesive make it possible to attach the wear skins to the wooden ski. Then with weight and almost every clamp I have, I adhere the Durasurf to the bottom of the skis.
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The Durasurf has proven very effective. We have been putting it on skis since 2010 and I've never heard of a pair of skis wearing through or cracking.

Prepare the runners. The original material is a 1"x1/4" half oval steel. I drill the hole pattern based on the spacing of an original ski. If you don't have a runner to copy, the most important measurement is where the 5/16" hole for the seat spring retainer bracket is placed. This is 27" down from the front tip of the runner. In addition to that hole, drill another 5 holes per runner and countersink the holes so the head of the fastener is down into the runner.

Once drilled, bend the runner to match the curve of the ski tip. When you put the runner on the ski, place the front tip of the runner 4" from the front tip of the ski.

I use 5 rivets to attached the skis to the runner. My rivets are solid but a hollow ended rivet would work too. Not a "pop" rivet though.
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Drill the rest of your mounting holes. If you are using the Durasurf materials along with the large head elevator bolts with the square on the fastener, oversize the hole in the Durasurf otherwise the Durasurf can be so hard that it becomes difficult to pull the square of the fastener into the material. Drill it to 3/8". If you plan to use solid rivets, then also drill the holes in the skis slightly larger than 3/16" so the expanding solid rivet does not expand and split the skis.

Painting skis is always a topic of conversation. I have tried stains, paints, paints with primers and quite honestly, they never seem to turn out that nice semi-gloss black that original NOS skis look like. These batch of skis I sprayed with an acrylic enamel and so far, they look good.
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Ski hardware includes:
- Rivets 3/16" x 1-1/4" long
- 3/16" washers used with the rivets on the wood side of the ski
- Elevator bolts 5/16" x 1-1/2" long
- Ski retainer plate center bolt 5/16" x 2" long
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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by Go Go Diablo » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:40 am

Assemble the skis to the seat spring. Assemble the ski seater tub to the spring. Install the toe clips on the skis.

The front toe clips are about 3" down from the tip of the ski. The back toe clips are about 1" from the ski retainer plates.
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Install the tail light and wiring. You can usually feed a piece of mechanic's wire through the tubing to pull a conductor wire through. I like to run a ground all the way to the tail light instead of relying on the ball joint connection at the tractor to supply a good ground.
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Then install a 2-prong connector at the hitch.
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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by Go Go Diablo » Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:06 pm

Lastly, the seat!

When I build a new seat, I use cabinet quality 9-ply plywood. Not treated lumber plywood. Treated plywood will warp. The 9-ply plywood always stays straight and rot is not an issue. Build the seat frame based on measurement from your original. I use stainless steel tee nuts and screws for the new hardward. Install the tee nuts.
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See this link to a video on how to build the seat wood. https://youtu.be/cZoHE3yshMw
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I use 2-1/4" thick very heavy foam. I staple the corner into the wood. You can cut the foam with an old electric knife.
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Install a new seat cover
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See this link to a video on how to put the seat cover on. https://youtu.be/hxnPuOjtPoY

For this particular restoration, I am putting a New Old Stock seat on to make it closer to original.
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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by Go Go Diablo » Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:21 pm

That's it my friends. My new 503 made out of a bunch of NOS parts. It is expected to be my new daily driver for many years to come. It was a pleasure to share the experience with you.
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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by GD61 » Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:54 am

Thanks for sharing Bruce. Those builds are fun to follow along.

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Re: Diablo Shop 503

Post by bottomsupduckclub » Sun Jan 30, 2022 4:16 pm

Oh Bruce you make it seem like its just so easy!! But after lord know how many rebuilds you've done, it is.

Thanks for all the helpful inste

Dave
69 Diablo "503"
72 Kitty cat
74 JD 295s (1 1/2X)
7? Jdx8
81 Spitfire
80 Liquifire CUSTOM
94 Indy
94 XCR 440

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