New guy from Ontario

[jayvee43]

Oh, Wow! What beautiful weather outside.

I had a "Holiday" day to myself. I was able to spend a little more time on the Diablo. First of all, I want to say a very special THANK YOU to Bruce and the Gogodiablo.com team. I am extremely pleased with my new parts on this last order.
Here is a few pictures why:

Completely refurbished Drive sprockets. They look like Bolens just rolled them off the manufacturing line. Fantastic quality.




The diameter is bigger than original 50 years old ones, so the track adjusters were pushed back a lot. I ended up with only about 1/2 an inch clearance from the inside rail frame opening.


and one more of my handles, i finally painted them. 2 coats. They look and feel smooth.


Notice in these pictures, I have decided to drill and tap the drive sprocket shaft ends to keep them on. I feel that will do a better job than "E" clips.

[jayvee43]

And also, one more reason I am very pleased with my last order. I received a completely refurbished fuel tank with a chemical liner on the inside. (to prevent rust I assume) extremely good quality parts, for its age.

NOW!
I had to cut the previous owner's brackets he added. then polish the welds smooth and paint.



test fit to see if the fuel hose nipple will be too close to the added brace the previous owner also welded.



If it weren't for Gogodiablo, I would NEVER have been able to save this little 500. Those were all the parts I was missing. I still need to work on the hood, the ski-seater and the motor crank. This job will never end Yikes!



And finally, I gave the entire frame its final paint coat. (3 coats in total) It needed it.



Thank you to everyone that have helped me bring this project back to life.

Jesse

[Go Go Diablo]

Jesse,

Looking at your chassis closer, I realize now that you have an updated 500 chassis. There is a "rib" riveted along the side and where the bumper brackets mount, there is an extra angle welded into the chassis frame. That is good. Are there anti-flip rods on your bogie stations?

What I did not realize is for some reason, your bumper brackets are cut off short. I also forgot to send you a gas tank strap. Dho! If I had seen that, I would have sent you those pieces. We can rectify that if you want.

Also, I don't think the new sprockets are any bigger than the originals, it's just that the valleys between the sprocket cogs are not hammered out, so they just seem larger.

Bruce

[tweivoda]

I would have never been able to finish my 503 Diablo had it not been for Bruce and the gogodiablo.com site. Bruce's amazing parts list and wealth of information is the only reason my 503 came back to life. It was only after I discovered his site did I make the decision to acquire the Diablo. My ski seater needed skis, seat frame and foam. I needed a sprocket or two along with a handful of bogie wheel bumpers, decals and misc. parts.

Let there be no mistake, Bruce, "he dah man".

[jayvee43]

there is an extra angle welded into the chassis frame. That is good. Are there anti-flip rods on your bogie stations?

What I did not realize is for some reason, your bumper brackets are cut off short.

Also, I don't think the new sprockets are any bigger than the originals, it's just that the valleys between the sprocket cogs are not hammered out, so they just seem larger.

Bruce

Yes, there is an extra piece of angle welded inside both sides of the frame, I welded these in place myself at the beginning of this restore, and at the same time I welded bogie stations anti-flip flat rods.

Also, I have a completely fabricated "home-made" set of bumper brackets, I made them shorter than an OEM. I may get a proper bumper in the future and get the original brackets.

The sprockets are nice. Lots of rubber to hammer down. My old ones were showing steel hubs in the valleys and they were a concern, but now i'm happy.
Well, that's it for this morning, except I wish everyone a very "Happy Easter Sunday" and may the spring/summer homestead chores and "honey to do list" not be so long that it takes away too much of our hobby time.

Jesse

[jayvee43]

OK
I finally hooked the brake cable to the new brake caliper arm. I am wondering. How does the aircraft cable hook up at the brake caliper arm? It needs to be adjustable for tension does it not?

I realize there is a cam nut that needs to be turned in a bit at a time as the brake pads wear out, but i am talking about the cable itself, if i leave it the way it is, is it not gonna cut itself at some point from use....

Was there a adjustment union in line with these brakes?

Here's a few pics of where I am at this morning. You can see, i have not attached the steel cable properly i'm sure.





I have finaly put the tractor back together, minus the engine. I am gonna work on the crank later on.





I'm finally gonna start on the hood next. This will also require some thinking on my part. It is also in bad shape.

[Go Go Diablo]

Jesse,

This is how the cable would look original. It's set up so the arm is at the 11:30 position and then adjustments from there are made with the castle nut. It will take a lot to cut those cables, so they hold up pretty well.

I notice you have a bolt and nut for the top gearbox mount. It's typically just a pin with a cotter key so the top of the gearbox can float. You can use a bolt, just have it loose or the gearbox will probably break.

Bruce

DSC02634.JPG (163.79KiB)Viewed 19591 times

[jayvee43]

Alright. Before I continue with my 500 restoration postings, I have an announcement to make. Last weekend I took possession of a new to me "very rusty but good body" Diablo Rouge 502. Bruce, I'm afraid I blew at least more than half my budget on this one.


OK, here is the latest. I started working on the hood. Very bad.(what else is new) I had to reinforce the center and reshape the front area as best I could. Here is a couple pictures. Not much to look at.

First, I made a template of the proper shape out of the good hood of my 502 and installed inside the 500. This hood is very thin. Compared to the 502.




The hood was so badly dented and cracked, I spent half a day trying to straighten and weld every cracks. Then I used a few layers of Bondo to fill the low spots, and glazing putty to fill in the imperfections. There are a few on this hood. This is a very dusty job. yikes!


and finally, a very very dirty me.

[jayvee43]

first layer of primer. I will let it dry very hard over this week, and wet sand a couple areas i discovered were questionable. I realize this is not a "hot rod" but, i remember saying i was hoping I could save the hood to look half descent. I'm just happy it will come out better looking than someone going crazy with a ball peen hammer on it.




I look at everybody else's postings and their paint jobs and i drool. I could never be this dedicated.

[jayvee43]

Alright, was able to spend a couple hours on the hood. It is getting there. I was struggling with a few areas, I ended up with multiple layers of "Bondo"

Here I am painting the inside of the hood with a thick brushed coat from a can. Just like the tractor body. It won't matter if there is imperfections in the reflection.



Here, I am still fine-tuning the outside panels. There were so many imperfections.





If all goes well, I may be putting the last layer of primer, wet sand and first layer of red on the outside tomorrow. Hopefully.