GasketCase's SEARS Swamper LT [2018 Build-Off Entry]

I like the rat rod idea.  Keep the body work the way it is.  Build it so you can rip around like a basic go-kart.

just put a 50 inch live axle in it for drifting purposes and safer handling.

@Biggasmowers you lost me at safer... kidding lol .

@Crazy_Carl I have 4 golf cart tires mounted on mower rums already. Maybe make the rims either flat black or red with some white walls or should I somehow match them with the body to keep the rustic look? Like a junkyard roadster ?

Also the rear rims are rusted to the axle . Should I disassemble transaxle and the. Beat the shafts out the other way? Or keep soaking them in pb blaster?

Before you pull out the axles, have you tried a combination of heat and a puller to get the rims off?

I'd go with flat black with white letters.  That's my taste.

@Crazy_Carl I have not tried the heat combination , I tried it once on my craftsman in my profile pic, but failed so I just left it cause it having a hydro transmission. All I have is a propane torch (blue tank) doesn't seem to get hot enough , quick enough . If you know what I mean. I could be wrong though. I always saw people using MAP gas (yellow tank) cause it initially burns hotter .

Just take an angle grinder and cut out the center and slowly slice along the top of the keyway recess on the shaft and pry it apart . It is more drastic but saves the tire and prevents you messing up the axle shaft ends or bending it from banging it off.

GasketCase wrote:

@Biggasmowers you lost me at safer... kidding lol .

@Crazy_Carl I have 4 golf cart tires mounted on mower rums already. Maybe make the rims either flat black or red with some white walls or should I somehow match them with the body to keep the rustic look? Like a junkyard roadster ?

Also the rear rims are rusted to the axle . Should I disassemble transaxle and the. Beat the shafts out the other way? Or keep soaking them in pb blaster?

hitting them wont work if they are truly rusted...use a puller, same thing happened to my simplicity, check out how I got them off in the simplicity mouse thread.

Cutting them would be a last last last resort.

Hey guys , i felt i needed to post an update on what I've done to the sears. Lol . So I decided that Im going to try out both and see what I like . (Meaning go for speed or off road ) I couldn't fit neither of my front street tires or off road tires with the stock front axle. I removed a craftsman front end from my 6 wheel mower and modded it to fit on the sears.



What yall think about tIhat lol . The stock steering rod kept hitting the tires so I was forced to do this . Works perfect so far. How's my clearance look haha. I just have to weld that to the top and it will be set. I know I should probably take the extra step to do direct steer but I lack the materials at this time.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

GasketCase wrote:

I greatly appreciate the advice everyone , I shall use the tecumseh as my new boat anchor this upcoming scallop season lol

LOL I love that!  Yeah I've been saying forever that Tecumsehs are crap, I remember one guy who had great compression, spark, and starter fluid sprayed into the spark plug hole, and it still wouldn't fire.

Back in the day they were pretty solid, stout, strong engines, like when they were in the the early 70's suburbans. Also when parts was readily available and not $$$. But yeah, they went to pot somewhere in the late 70's and never really recovered.

So today I managed to remove the transaxle from the sears and begin the clear coating process . Since I like the idea of keeping the rusty look. So, I began taking a wire wheel on a drill to the hood in an "all over the place " manner until I liked the look . I thought it was a good stopping point for wire wheeling . It's an odd color to obtain from wire wheeling in my opinion.



So far( in the above picture I masked off the stickers and clear coated the hood . I'm actually now going to start painting hood stickers tonight . Also I got creative on the grill but I may went a little nuts on the vents on the grill.



Decided, since the original mower stocker on the front grill was fragile after removed and it won't be a 10 hp anymore. I hand sketched the new emblem. Also those lights still work !!! I was shocked when I put 12v to them and they blinded me lol.

And the last thing I did today was disassemble the peerless 600, lock the differential ,and inspect. No damage at all was found . So I repacked the needle bearings in the axle supports and greased other misc. Components. I then filled it with 75w90 and a tad bit of the original fluid. MAN that stuff stunk up the whole garage when I took the drain plug out. The picture below was right before I filled it with new fluid .



The input pulley was probably the easiest pulley , i had to use a puller and when she popped, it sounded like a gunshot went off haha.

Nice! That clear coat looks great on the hood in my opinion. Those Peerless 600's are great too, definitely my favorite vertical input transaxle, haha.

@AllisKidD21 thank you ! I am going to do one more coat of clear after i handpaint the slime style letters onto the stock stickers on hood. (They dont want to cooperate with coming off. The paint adheres to the antique like no tomorrow. Lol.And luckily the wheel thats stuck is on the bottom side so I could still disassemble it .

And I also always heard old paint from back in the day is the best primer. Just lightly sand old paint it's blemish the. Spray your items

The hood and grill look really good! I like the LT emblem on the front, nice touch.

Welcome to the build-off. @GasketCase asked if he could enter his machine into the build-off. I reviewed his thread on the machine. I determined he had not met a 50% mark. He also asked If we could merge the progress made with the machine into the build-off Thread. I added his entry request to the original post of the thread.

Nice! Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Thank you @MightyRaze I highly appreciate the opportunity to participate in the 2018 build off. As it is my first build off. I wish the best of luck to everybody who is also participating

Since, Florida has decided we were going to have nonstop rain for the past week and a half ( more like monsoons) I was finally able to gather parts and pile them up for the entry photo .Today has started out with no rain and sunlight . Perfect weather for painting while I have the chance . Going on a 3rd coat then it will be clear coated .



And if anyone is wondering . I cannot get that rim off the shafts even if my life depended on it lol. Tried heat and puller. Been trying to soak it with pb blasterling everyday . I may try to heat it up and put the puller on it.

Try this, heat the outside of the rim over the axle, then cool it with the pb blaster. The heat will suck in the pb blaster inside where it is rusted. Do it like 10 times, then try the puller again, or a vise by fitting the axle inbetween the jaws where the jaws are inside the rim and use a center punch to punch out the axle.

Just keep whaling on it and it will come out eventually from the violent beatings and explicit language wearing down it's emotional integrity . Lol , I have worked for hours on axles and it's really just depending on how long you can if you can keep pounding on it until it gives. Heat does help a lot

@biggasmowers haha I been having a few choice words ,that I be calling it. Im sure i have that transaxle at emotionally unstable as we speak. Atleast I hope I do. Haha let's see what progress I can make today. Will post pics as I go today

So today , I tried to place my 18 HP twin opposed on the sears but ,found out it Will only bolt on if the cylinders are facing towards the front and rear. I would like to bolt the twin on with the heads facing out left and right. So i can have the exhaust and carb facing the front of the tractor. It would make the process of building the dual exhaust a lot easier and look a lot better. Now the question is , would welding on a thick steel plate over it and cut out the hole for the crankshaft/pulley to go through and then drill the new bolt holes? I'm short as of 4 to 5 inches with no way of drilling new holes into original frame. Let me know guys

Well, what I do often since i have a bad habit of eyeballing hole placement is after I realized the holes do not work I hold a peice of aluminum under the said hole and weld it in. As the aluminum does not weld to steel the weld just fills in the hole leaving a flat bottom weld job. Not sure how there wouldn't be room for drilling new holes but really just adding some plate would work.

I like the idea of adding a plate on to locate the engine where you want it or salvage a motor mount from another frame and weld that on there.

Thank you I have a spare front half of frame that I been slowly cutting away for reinforcement. Lol GOOD THING I STILL HAVE THE FRONT LEFT!

Since we are getting some scattered thunderstorms down here ... I been messing around with paint in the garage . And found some use for the milk jug of plugs from new parts in dealer , I accumulate many throughout each week. Nice for plugging leaks during r&r on tranny lines and etc. So for the bumper, I thought the open sides were eye sores . So I made up a plug with 2 valve cover spark plug tube gaskets and 2 different styled plugs . Take a look




I then painted them black to look like this . I think they came out pretty neat.




I've also clear coated the transaxle after painting it and came out very well . I'm anxious to put it back under the sears but with the wheel still giving me trouble, I'm deciding to leave it off for now until I get the hole shot tires from my buddy . Here's where it stands as of now



I'm currently sketching a new logo on the hood . Not looking forward to duplicating it, to the other side . But it shall be done tonight . Maybe even painted . I'll take a picture in a few of the pencil sketch . Just got 3 more letters.

OK, so here's how it looks so far. After sketching 80 different styles. I think I've found the one I like. What do you guys think?



It will be painted in the same color as transaxle to give it the swamp/lagoon feel

Very nice looking.