Murraymountain's Deal Flipping Thread PT2

MightyRaze wrote:

Magnets should be alternating in each location.  Start to finish does not matter I don't think.  Looks like a lower amp winding.

Repair Broken Kohler Flywheel Magnets to Fix Charging System - YouTube


Same on briggs.

Thanks! Looks like I’m gonna have to go find some more magnets…  

TechnoChicken wrote:

Oh, yeah that might be a factory option, you just use the same stator for all your engines and wind it different?

Not sure if this was directed toward me but I’ll answer anyway. I use whatever stator that’s on the motor. Most motors have different stators and are not interchangeable so that’s why I always steal them off of my scrap/junk motors… never know when you’re gonna need them. As far as winding them, that’s just how this one was. Thinking maybe this was for manual engagement mowers (like this Murray) and a full wind is for PTO mowers. Makes the most sense to me but I can’t say for certain.



Anywho, time for an update. Since we’re already on the topic of the Kohler Murray, we’ll start with that one.

So the last thing I think I said about it is that it was having major governor issues. Welp, after much pondering and little work, it is running correctly now. Turns out I just needed to adjust the throttle control assembly. I also changed the front tires now to the MMs old wheels since the round edge turfs would match better on the stamped frame Murray and the MMs are more beat so they would fit better with the look of this tractor. Now the last 3 things left are an OHV gasket, fix the flywheel magnets, and fix some carb issues. Then I should be ready to put this thing on the market.



So now we’ll get into the 4 for $100 Murray deal. I don’t remember if I mentioned it but the oldie Murray has been stashed away in the woods with a few others (including the Snapper) while I decide what is to happen to it. So it won’t be back out until wayyy later in the year at least. So now we’ll move on to the stamped frame Murray. It turned out to be the first one I worked on. I have been very pleased with it! I’ve done a full tune up and deck service, had to change a deck belt and spindle bearings, fixed the broken light lens, changed the wheels, and a bunch of little easy things. I definitely enjoyed working on this one as well as the other Murrays. Long story short, I’ve done my testing and am calling it good to go! So when I get back in town I will give it a good wash, take my pics and put it on the interweb!



So the first gen Widebody (the hydro one) was an absolute wreck. Maybe not as bad as the Kohler Murray but still really bad. So when I finally started wrenching on it, it had no clutch, and no power. I had already looked everything over and due to the extent of jank and my knowledge of the anatomy of a Murray Widebody, I decided that the best thing to do would be to partially strip the mower down, so I of course took the deck off, the wheels off, the engine off, the hood off, and the wiring out. Made everything much easier to do. So I cleaned up the wiring, stripped out all the jank in the clutch and drive train, hooked up the clutch the way it was supposed to be, tightened and replaced some bolts, then I put the motor and hood back  on. Sourced some fuel line, swapped a good carb on, and got it running nicely! Put new floor mats on and a headlight wiring harness.




Recently put a rear wheel and two front wheels on. Still need clips for those. Got the deck serviced and replaced a spindle. Would have it on now but I need a drive belt. I now need a choke linkage in order to install the air box, I need to change the oil, I need a rear wheel, and a starter cover. That’s about all it needs to my knowledge right now.

2 out of the 3 decks getting serviced:



As the two that still need work sit right now:



And that just leaves the 2nd gen Widebody… the one I said would be the first to work on and needed the least. What I’ve found out about it is that it had an engine swap to an old style 12 horse. Had the 1 piece carb and all. It ended up being cracked and fatally messed up. I had all the parts needed from new style motors… So I attempted to swap it over to a new style carb which required a new intake, muffler shield, carb, air box, linkages, throttle control assembly, governor arm, and throttle cable. I spent a few days at the pace I felt like going and got it all finished. Had to change the carb again as the one I had put on it was trash. But after that, everything worked as it should. EXCEPT, it also decided to have governor issues. Let it be for a couple days and came back to it. Ended up modifying the governor arm and spring and throttle assembly a little bit and got it worked out! Also tuned this one up, had to rewire the kill and lights, changed most of the wheels, put floor mats on it, cleaned out the mud dobbers from the ignition switch several times, welded the deck some and welded a deck mount back on, did some mega major cleaning on the deck, put it back on and yesterday was able to have the whole thing finished and tested! It’s also now waiting for a wash and pics!

The completed carb swap:





Finished:



As the two completed tractors sit right now awaiting their wash and pics:




And that pretty much sums up this update! Yes I’ve been very busy this week. Been working pretty much all day everyday Monday through Thursday this week. I’m quite pleased with the progress that was made!

Well I have a big update for y’all. We’ll start off by getting this out of the way… both mowers in the last pic are sold. Stamped frame sold for $380 and the Widebody for $360! We’ll also say that the first gen Widebody is up for sale at $375. Thing runs and cuts good! I kinda wanna keep it but I got no reason to lol.



The Troy Bilt was for sale but no one likes the $1500 price tag which is low for the market. Regardless, the trans is having major issues and slipping when it gets hot. So I naturally dropped it and am hopefully going to change the oil tomorrow and put it back in test it. Hopefully it works out! If not, then I’ve got quite a problem on my hands…



I pulled the what I call “Ghost Murray” out of the woods a little while ago… got to wrenching on it a couple days ago. Pulled the front wheels off, the deck, got a good overview of what it’s gonna need to get running again. Hoping to get it to the point where it runs and drives and cuts decently and then sell it as a resto project for someone.




To make an update for the RER Snapper, it is gone. I traded it for this load of stuff (minus the GX)!



What we have here, is two Murray Widebodys, both are supposed to be parts mowers cause I told him I use Widebody parts like I do water. One is for sure parts, and the other one is supposed to be too because he thought the engine was locked up. Turns out it is not. So, I have this terrible feeling, that there’s about to be another Murray Widebody ATLT added to my duo to make it a trio… we’ll see what happens there. Both are believed to have good transaxles! I also got 3 other transaxles but those are to be discussed in 2 other threads. I also tried to get magnets for the Kohler Murray, so he had a “locked up” complete Kohler there, so he gave it to me and then we found out it wasn’t locked and appears to be a good motor. So he gave me another Kohler that is very much shot. Definitely should have enough now to get all the mowing mowers up and for sale and even stuff to spare! And for anyone wandering, my brother bought that JD GX  for $100 been sitting for a solid 6 years. Trans is severely rusted internally.

Plans have changed. As most of you know, the Widebody that was DEFINITELY a parts mower, is now Alfredo. So the other one is getting rebuilt. I bought a deck and a couple other miscellaneous things for it for $70. I put a starter, coil, and carb on it and tried to fire it off with starting fluid. Didn't fire but I only tried once. Still need some other things and definitely have some hours to put into it but hopefully it comes out pretty nice.




The first gen Widebody sold for $325 this week. Also gave him an extra pair of wheels with bad tires on em and he's gonna put v-treads on it and give me the old wheels back.


The Ghost Murray is done in more way than one. As you know, the rear frame section is completely rusted out. I put a carb, coil, valves, starter, TCA, fresh oil in it, etc. Got it to finally run! The thing is ear-deafening loud. Why? Hehehe. It's almost all rod knock. I've never ever ever heard a rod knock in person or online as bad as this one. I put around 7 or 8 minutes of run time on it with fresh oil in it and the oil is now the greyest shiniest metallic oil I've ever seen. So, this ol' 11 horse is finished. I did a few other odds and ends on it to tidy it up and stuck it outside and threw it on the internet for $100 as a restoration project or parts mower. Hoping someone'll bite and take it off my hands.





The Troy-Bilt transmission oil change was a fail. The trans is definitely bad. I was able to mow a thick completely flat field last night as it does fine on flatland. So I have it up for $900. Do yall think that price is too high or no?

The Murray GT needed shift keys and some serious trans cleaning and servicing. That's all done now and it is just needing a few odds and ends and it will be sent down the road with the rest of them.




The Kohler Murray is finally done after 5 months! I ended up putting a new flywheel on it and after going round and round with new carbs, I went to the junkyard and got me an old OEM carb and it runs perfect on it! Polished her up and got 'er on the market at $350!




Hopefully I can add the other Widebody to these guys next week and have them all sold! Finally getting some things cleared out!

Sold the Kohler Murray for $350!

On the other hand, I still have another Widebody needing work. It keeps blowing fuses and I don’t know what to do right now. Here’s a video to explain… what do y’all think it could be?

When you say a 5amp fuse will blow instantly does that mean with the tractor and ignition off? That would indicate a dead short. If I were you I would get a 15amp ATO circuit breaker (same style as a fuse and about $10) to use as a diagnostic tool, you could not only use it in place of a fuse in the holder but with a seperate ATO fuse holder you could get creative and put it in line between other things to try and track down where the short is.

I'm lucky enough to have a PowerProbe3 and it is without a doubt the absolute best 12v diagnostic tool that money can buy. It takes some getting used to but once you master it, it's a breeze and allows you to track this kind of stuff down much quicker and easier. If you find yourself in this situation often when it comes to anything with a 12v system, you should consider getting one it's a life saver!

After watching the video, that kind of eliminated a grounded-out stator idea.  Hmm....  Both my Murrays had a bare spot on the battery cable worn by the belt.  That would show itself when you connect the battery.

Just a secondary thought... if you have a wire.  Run a jumper ground from the battery to the engine.  Just curiosity.  See if it sparks when the ignition is on.

Try cleaning all your connections. The keyswitch and the terminal seemed kind of loose. Maybe a vibration issue?

If all else fails it might be a good idea to give Alfredo a new harness.

Brianator wrote:

When you say a 5amp fuse will blow instantly does that mean with the tractor and ignition off? That would indicate a dead short.

Yes and that was Alfredo. Everything off, key out of ignition, blows it instantly on a 5amp.

MightyRaze wrote:

After watching the video, that kind of eliminated a grounded-out stator idea.  Hmm....  Both my Murrays had a bare spot on the battery cable worn by the belt.  That would show itself when you connect the battery.

Yes I believe both of these have that bare spot you’re talking about. The MM, Ole Blue and all the ones that have come and gone in this thread have had the bare spot. Flawed design. But none of them shorted out. I’ll still give them a close look tho.

MightyRaze wrote:

Just a secondary thought... if you have a wire.  Run a jumper ground from the battery to the engine.  Just curiosity.  See if it sparks when the ignition is on.

Will do!

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

Try cleaning all your connections. The keyswitch and the terminal seemed kind of loose. Maybe a vibration issue?

If all else fails it might be a good idea to give Alfredo a new harness.

I tried cleaning some connections too but it didn’t work. The reason I cut the safeties out of Alfredo is cause I wanted to pertain the keyed ignition. Which I did on Ole Blue. If I absolutely must I’ll put the MMs harness in but that still doesn’t fix the problem at hand on the other one…

I know I’ve already introduced this car but I need to go ahead and say this. As you see the title of this thread has been tweaked. It is no longer confined to LT and GT repairs. I plan on moving mostly out of the LT/GT realm as far as that being my primary form of income. I plan on starting on classic cars and trucks. That’s where the Mustang II I Just got comes into play. I plan on buying classics cheap and then selling them in a little better shape than what I got them as and for what they’re worth to someone who wants the project. Expect to see many more cars and less tractors in this thread. I know that’s not what you guys like to hear but right now it’s looking like that’s gonna rack in more profit than tractor flipping and faster too. Don’t get me wrong when I see good deals on tractors I’ll still snag them and do a little wrenching but that’s why I’m opening this thread up because I didn’t feel like the cars will be around long enough to have their own thread… so I merged the two. Anyway, I’ll throw a pic of the Mustang up, the plan for it, and a few details.



We’re gonna pick it up in about two weeks. Get it home, try to grab a nice set of wheels to go with it, swap those on, put the front on blocks, wash it and clean it reeeeeal good, throw whatever parts that come with it back on, and throw it on the ol interweb.

And since we’re here I’ll go ahead and mention it. The guy also has this Camaro that has been sold for a while, but the guy won’t pick it up. We’re gonna see if we can grab it from him. It’s obviously a third gen. I’ve seen it without the tarp and it looks pretty solid and almost road worthy. Hoping to snag that if possible.

Update time! Golf cart got brand new headlights and taillights:






My brother got a free DYT4000 about a month ago. The deck is very rusted but Phil Swift came by and put his magical tape on it and it’s good as new! Idk what all it needed but it’s up and going pretty good now. It’s a bit of a death trap but that’s okay.



One of my best friends, same guy who sold me the 12.5hp Widebody for $125 (I overpaid), had this Troy Bilt which he attempted to tune up and get ready to sell, and managed to blow it up. So he gave me a call and said would $45 sound good and I said no $70 sounds better. So I went and got it a few weeks ago for $70. Tractor itself is pretty complete and really doesn’t need anything other than a deck service, belt and new bearings for the spindles.




This is where that free Kohler from the junkyard comes into play. Perfect swap!




I had just set the Kohler on there and left it. Yesterday I completely stripped all the good parts off the Briggs engine and threw the rest in the scrap pile. Then I mounted down the Kohler and put the pulley and belt on. Tweaked the muffler to fit. It presses up against the frame nicely which probably isn’t good but I’ll leave it until I can see it possibly becoming a problem. Hooked up the throttle and wiring and that was about all I did for the motor. Ordered all the parts for it today and am about to get the final bits and pieces at the junkyard. Hopefully this thing will be finished within a week! Also got the deck off and bearing out for replacing. Gonna service it and have the deck back on tonight as long as I can get ahold of the right bearing.



Picked up this Troy Bilt for $100 last week. I paid a little more than I wish I had but it’s okay. Not terrible. Apparently it runs, just needs tuned up badly. The body on it is mega mangled so I have a lot of body work to do. Probably gonna need all new belts, definitely needs a solenoid, hopefully I can get away with the tire that are on it, deck needs blades and some serious work on the mounts on the tractor. Something is definitely not right with those.





Got the brakes rebuilt last night and 2 of 3 tires filled with air. Gave the whole thing a nice overview to see what it needs and hopefully I can get all I’ll need for it today and maybe we’ll have this one done by next week too. Doubt it but maybe. The trans is mega worn out so I feel like that’s a good indicator that the motor probably knocks cause that’s just what 17.5 Briggs are destined to do. But maybe I’ll get lucky. Anyway, definitely gonna have more updates coming very soon!

Here’s a full garage update! Covers anything and everything across the board for projects and whatnot. There’s some stuff in it that I haven’t covered at all in this thread cause it’s not worth my time lol.

Got all the parts I need to finish everything up I think! About to go start gettin it all fixed up! On another note, I just picked up this Craftsman GT, wagon, and push mower! Push mower will probably go straight to the pile of push mowers, the wagon we’re gonna keep around, but GT has a 26HP Kohler Command with every option! 46 inch deck and a massive hydro! It was parked a year and a half ago with nothing wrong with it. All I can see I need to do right now is service and raise the deck and wash it. Gonna do that and see what all it needs right now and see if I can’t have this one finished today! Probably the best $50 I’ve ever spent!

Murraymountain wrote:

Probably the best $50 I’ve ever spent!

I'd hope you got it from an auction and not a personal sale, it would be pretty sleazy to take advantage of a situation without offering a fair price for that tractor...

To be fair, I know people that will buy new things to replace older counterparts that are fully functional, amd sell the older stuff off dirt cheap as-is so it doesn’t get scrapped and not having to deal with tire kickers or anything. When I was younger I delivered a dryer a relative had sold for $20. It worked, the washer died, he’d bought a new set, and didn’t want to keep the old dryer. Guy got a cheap dryer, we got rid of it quick and everybody was happy.

Brianator wrote:

Murraymountain wrote:

Probably the best $50 I’ve ever spent!

I'd hope you got it from an auction and not a personal sale, it would be pretty sleazy to take advantage of a situation without offering a fair price for that tractor...

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

To be fair, I know people that will buy new things to replace older counterparts that are fully functional, amd sell the older stuff off dirt cheap as-is so it doesn’t get scrapped and not having to deal with tire kickers or anything. When I was younger I delivered a dryer a relative had sold for $20. It worked, the washer died, he’d bought a new set, and didn’t want to keep the old dryer. Guy got a cheap dryer, we got rid of it quick and everybody was happy.

Thank God I waited to reply. I took that quite personally  @Brianator and am glad I didn’t reply when you posted that because any type of response I could come up with was very defensive. So let’s clear this up.

I looked on Facebook Marketplace, just browsing like the most of us do, and found an ad that read “SCRAP ITEMS - For Parts” with a picture of that GT as the thumbnail so naturally I clicked on it. It gave no details about any of the items. All I knew is everything was $50 in total, it was in a nearby town, and for $50 I didn’t really care what the condition of any of it was. That’s what I knew when I bought it. When I was picking it up is when I found out that there was nothing wrong with it when it was parked a year and a half ago and that was because the guy unfortunately broke his spine and pretty much can’t do anything anymore. But the fact is, he knew what everything was worth, his price was $50 because he was tired of letting everything sit and looking at it, and I was willing to pay $50 for stuff I knew nothing about. In the end I was happy, and he was happy.

I’m 110% with  @Rustbucket Garage on this one. I’ve had many many people sell me or give me running and driving mowers. I’ve had a classic car and truck that was worth well more $1k given to me. How or why? CERTAINLY NOT because I took advantage of them… it’s because the vehicle/mower becomes worthless to them, they take up space, they become an eyesore, etc and they get to the point where they simply will give it or sell it extremely cheap to whoever will take it. I’ve had people buy my mowers at almost full price and give me their old ones because they have no need for them just like Rustbucket said. That’s the name of the game with flipping. Buy low, sell high and be as respectful about it as you can in the process.

So I hope that clears some stuff up. I’ve always done the best I can in flipping to be as fair as possible, to be honest, to be respectful, to hold my word and mean/do what I say, etc. And I know I have done very good with that and will continue to as my reputation around this town testifies to that and I don’t plan on that changing even when it costs me.








Anyway, on the original topic of this thread, expect updates guys! I’m getting close to having 3 of my 4 mowers finished and the Mustang is here!

Sorry I came across as harsh but please don't get too bent out of shape over it, I'm an honest guy and have seen and heard of too many people being taken advantage of so I kind of get defensive. I'm genuinely happy for you that you scored a legitimately awesome deal, I know you make extra dough flipping tractors.

A couple weeks ago a part timer neighbor (has a cottage close by) offered me a nice condition Yamaha Breeze for $500 with the ownership... not knowing what that little thing was worth I told him I'd think about it and talk to him next time he was up. Boy was I surprised to see what they're going for in my area so next time he was up I told him "sure, I'll give you $500 but you should know they're going for $1200-1300 in about the same condition and I don't have a fair offer for you because I'm not actually in the market". You've never seen someone's jaw hit the ground so fast and thank me for being so honest. Thats the kind of guy I am and why I can get defensive.

Sorry for being a jerk.

Welp BIG update here! First off, we’ll update my brother’s rigs. The Husquvarna was sold but the guy was an idiot and did not heed any advice we gave him, and lo and behold the tractor overheated like we told him it would if he did what he did. Yet he still got pissed off with it and wanted his money back WHICH we shouldn’t have given him a full refund, because the 20 minutes he used it were too abusive and clogged the air filter and messed up the carb. Anywho, he is now rebuilding it and has thus far put a brush guard on it, penny lights, a winch, a heavily modified muffler and more to come.



He’s decided to way undersell his mowers for some reason, so his DYT4000 sold for I think $150 and the Murray GT sold for $250. Lx176, GX95, and both LT16s are still for sale.

With the money from the Murray and Craftsman, he bought this. A 1999 Suzuki Quadrunner 250 4x4 for $450. Apparently it needed tires, a starter, and a carburetor. Turns out it needs all that plus an entire main wiring harness, a top end, and some rust repair on the front of the frame from where a battery blew up. So it turned out to be real turd of a deal but you win some you lose some.





Anyway, the $50 Craftsman got a tune up and that’s about it.




The junkyard Murray hasn’t been updated in a while. The last thing I see I’ve said about it was that it was blowing fuses and not running. Well, I put a solenoid in it and the correct ignition switch and the electricals were fixed. I finished up putting the missing parts on the engine and tried to fire it up and got it to finally run. Tuned the carb and got it running as good as you can get a 12.5 briggs flathead to run. Put a drive belt on it, rear wheels, a front wheel, headlights, tune up, and a brand new deck belt, brand new blades, brand new mounting pins, an engagement spring on, and leveled the deck and finally got to try it out. It’s not perfect but it does what it’s supposed to do how it’s supposed to do it now. So I did a little more fine tuning and got it good enough to be sold.





Anyway, the market this year really sucks. So I experimented with roadside sales. I put the Murray and Craftsman out on the main highway in town a few weeks ago and have gotten a few calls about them. The prices have been too high for everyone so far. However I did sell the Murray yesterday for the full price of $350. That happened over Marketplace though. Still, a sale is a sale!




We finally picked up the Mustang! It was quite an ordeal. Took about 3 hours to load up.





The next day I cleaned out the inside a little bit, pressure washed it, and put it right on the interweb. Sold it within a week for parts for $300.

The blown up Troy Bilt has had the deck finished up and reinstalled, all the missing parts on the motor installed and got it up and running.



Wasn’t happy with the RPM I was getting. It was way too low on the top end. So I did a little tinkering and was making progress, and then the governor came apart internally. The governor rod was resting on a gear, so it was chewing and grinding at it causing the motor to tick plus the plunger was floating around in the motor and that wasn’t something that needed to be happening. So I pulled the motor off and apart, put the governor back together, went to put the motor back on, and wouldn’t ya know it, the governor fell apart again BEFORE I even spun the motor. I didn’t know it until I actually ran it and saw that there was no change in the internal ticking. So I had no choice but to do it all again. I pulled it back apart, went and got a parts engine, robbed the governor out of that one, then found out the compression release in this motor was bad, so I had to take the valve cover off to loosen the rocker arms so I could swap the camshaft over.



After a few days the process was over and I had it all put back together. I reinstalled the motor and it was running good then. But now I was back to square one… not enough top end. So I tweaked the governor spring and now have the top end RPM I need. I thought I was done. NOPE. Now I find out it has a nice little oil leak. From the lower main at that. So now the motor is back off for the third time waiting on the lower main and oil pump seal. So that’s where I’m at with this one. These seals are the only thing holding it back from being sold now.




The $100 Troy Bilt does indeed need a lot of work. So much so that I just decided it would be easier to pull the body and everything to get to what I need to get to. I did get it running. The main issue was that I could not get any power to the solenoid so I couldn’t even get the motor to spin over to find out if it even ran. I thought it was safety switches, but after enough investigation with the test light, it boiled down to a messed up fuse box, a bad solenoid, and a locked up starter so once I fixed all that, I did a tune up, cleaned up the carb a little, replaced the muffler and finally got it started. It runs pretty good. Was also able to shift it in and out of gear and see that it drives. I just got the drive belts in and engagement cable in. Turns out it doesn’t need a rear drive belt AND the front one I ordered is the wrong size. At least the engagement cable fit right. The Vari-drive pulley, the part that moves up and down, somehow managed to separate from itself. It’s in two pieces. Luckily I have one on a parts frame but still a very usual thing.





The Troy Bilt GT is very close to getting parted out. I really want the motor to put in Ole Blue and the deck might be a better deck for the Wizard. The brush guard would be nice for Alfredo too. So I’m really debating using it for parts because this transaxle situation has really been a pain. I decided to mod one into it but it turns out the hydro I got for it was bad as well so now I have two bad hydros for the same mower.

The Wizard I finally pulled out for the first time since April. After I put a fresh battery in, aired up the tires, and put gas in it, as always it fired right up. Spent a little time tightening the belts on the deck as they were slipping badly. I plan on cutting tall thick grass with it and this type of deck sure doesn’t seem to like doing that. So that’s why I’m considering putting the Troy Bilts deck on. It’s made for that. It’s more durable, it’s designed better, just seems like it could be an all around better option. As far as the future goes for the Wizard, if I get time for it this winter I want to get the new deck on if I decide to go that route, and build a homemade bagger for it. I might do some lighting upgrades and stuff but all of that depends on if I get the time. In the big picture I’ve kind of drifted away from a factory restoration and am leaning more toward a resto-mod. I want to do some heavy mods like full hydraulics and if I get crazy enough over the years it might even evolve into having a cab. We’ll see. Only time will tell.



Welp. That is about all. Quite a huge update but at least I’m caught up now lol.

Murraymountain wrote:

Welp BIG update here! First off, we’ll update my brother’s rigs. The Husquvarna was sold but the guy was an idiot and did not heed any advice we gave him, and lo and behold the tractor overheated like we told him it would if he did what he did. Yet he still got pissed off with it and wanted his money back WHICH we shouldn’t have given him a full refund, because the 20 minutes he used it were too abusive and clogged the air filter and messed up the carb.

How’d he manage to do that? Dust?

Yeah pretty much. It had so much dust in 20 minutes that I don’t think the filter or anything was even savable.

Anyway, I got a GREAT deal this past week. I picked up a 1995 Ford Explorer 4wd 2 door for $200!






I was able to drive/limp it home. It has a busted brake line and an oil leak and the inside is quite moldy. But for $200 I’m not complaining one little bit. It is a bit rusty and the rocker panels are non-existent but that’s okay. I’m gonna do all the brake lines and the brakes if those need to be done, possibly take care of the oil leak (“possibly” because it’s in the back of the engine), take care of the mold, and do some other odds and ends, get it all registered again with the state and inspected and resell it.

Anyway, there’s a quick rundown of my new deal!

Got another smokin deal the other day! 1985 Nissan 720 for $100. It’s a slant 4 and a 2wd manual. 99% rust free and mostly complete aside from no title and some broken parts. It’s been sitting for 20 years and a tree fell on it and crushed the hood, cab, and also messed up the grille, bumper and headlights, and both front fenders. The bed however is straight and solid. I plan on pushing the roof back out somewhat and getting it up and running again, then selling it for parts or repair.





Anyway, after looking at the truck and finding out there were 5 RER Snappers, an RER Murray, and a JD 111 buried in the back of the garage and were gonna go to scrap, naturally, we bought them too. $75 for an entire trailer load. The agreement was to leave two RERs and take the rest, so we left the Murray and a massive pile of parts that we consider a Snapper as there was a piece of a frame to one in it. Where the Snappers and Murray was found after unearthing them:



The load we came home with:



The JD 111 and 2 of the Snappers are mine and the other two are my brother's. I got a regular RER with handle bars... nothing special. But I also got an all original Comet 30 and I am stoked about that. Might even try running numbers to make sure it is all original. Other than getting them home and unloaded, I haven't touched them. I plan to this week though. We also got a 1 or 2 HP Briggs engine that is very VERY old and another one that is pretty old and in good shape and looks really cool and looks to be about a 5 horse. Both horizontal shaft motors. The 5 horse runs good now after a carb clean... just a little smoky. The 2 horse has no spark. Anyway here's some better pics:





The 5 horse:



The 2 horse:



My 2 Snappers:






Anyway, there's the new one's to the shop. Now time for some updates! In the past month, I sold the Craftsman GT for $600 and put a new belt on and painted the deck and changed a spindle bearing for the guy. He also sent his old Craftsman YT something... I don't remember the model.



I put a new camshaft and lifters in it and a new/used main seal in the sump and ran it through it's break in period and changed the oil, and pressure washed it. $65 and called it good.

One of my best friend's pastor got ahold of me and brought his John Deere LA105 to me for brake work and rough running issues.



I rebuilt the brakes which were already in tip top shape, replaced the carburetor, changed the oil and pressure washed it. We did $50 for that one. If I had it to again I probably would've charged a little less... I'm still learning the part about what to charge for fixing other people's stuff lol.

Now, let's talk about the Explorer... We've got a couple things done on it. I took it to the college I'm at to use their tools and lift and whatnot. So far we've changed the shocks, oil and filter, ripped out all the accessory illegal stuff, and replaced a ground strap. We had to replace 75% of the shock mounting bolts too as they all broke because they were so rusted. I also have all the parts for a coolant and power steering fluid flush, valve cover gaskets, rear brake rotors and pads, sway bar links, all the brake lines, spark plugs and some aftermarket interior lighting and audio. We also still need to diagnose the 4wd issue and the windows. So we still have to do most of that, but we're making progress. Hoping to be able to get some stuff knocked out on it tomorrow.








Anyway, I'm hoping I'll have her home the first week of December, but not likely.

The $100 Troy Bilt ended up getting sold to a guy who needed it for parts for about what I had in it, which was $150. I didn't feel like it was really worth my time money or effort considering the condition it was in and that I had other projects more in need of my limited time and money. So I figured eliminating it was the best option for me.

The Kohler swapped Troy Bilt is 1 step away from being finished. I put the new seals in it, a fuel pump on it, and worked on breaking in the deck belt too. The only thing holding it up now is wiring up the stator. It seems that Kohlers produce AC current and have to run through a regulator to convert it to DC current. I have the regulator but I need to spend some time wiring it all in correctly which is proving to be a little difficult. Once I get that finished however, it will be ready to go!




The Wizard is doing pretty good! I drove it to where it is parked now. I have it parked there for the season. The Troy Bilt GT I think I have decided to put it away for a good while until I feel up to tackling putting a new trans in it. It is capable of making me a pretty penny, so I want to wait until the market is up again and transaxles are more available. So I am putting it away for some time.



As far as the picture above goes, I am planning on building pretty good sized covering/shed that will cover most of those in the picture pretty soon. I'd prefer they stay out of the weather and not get hit by limbs

Anyway, there's the next mega update!

Wow you've been busy! Nice haul man, I might be a little jealous! Lol.

Thanks! I'm definitely excited to get to work on some of them here on Christmas break!

Got the ol' Nissan home!





Gonna clean 'er up and see if we can't knock the roof back out get it up and running again, do a smoky burnout and then go put it on the ol' interweb and make a buck or two!

As far the Explorer, things were going well up until last Tuesday... I learned the hard way that you cannot drive an auto without any brakes at all.




So as I backed up out of the shop to flush the coolant, I hit the brakes and had none as I had been working on the rear brakes before and did not finish. My mind power went to how I was gonna stop the car because I desperately did not want to hit a customer's vehicle or go off the cliff behind me. As I was thinking I heard "CRUNCH" and watched my door get folded all the way back. So as it was still not stopping, I dropped it straight into drive and then slammed it into park but it didn't do a thing, so I shut it off as I rolled into the work table in front of me. Luckily damage to the shop was very minimal and no one got hurt. But now I need a door and door hinges. Anyway, thought I'd share my latest mischievous experience.

Ouch that sucks!


Man you can really tell the truck is end of the line Datsun which happened 85/86ish, I had a 1986 Nissan Datsun labeled 200sx so I wouldn't be surprised if you could find Datsun labeling somewhere in that old girl

Brianator wrote:

Ouch that sucks!


Man you can really tell the truck is end of the line Datsun which happened 85/86ish, I had a 1986 Nissan Datsun labeled 200sx so I wouldn't be surprised if you could find Datsun labeling somewhere in that old girl

Yup! I think I found Datsun labeling on the valve cover. If not that, it was something else under the hood.

Well I finally got to work on the Troy Bilt again! Took me a while to get the thing wired, but I guessed and fooled around with it for bit and went to hook up the battery again and sparks flew everywhere. So I quite obviously realized there was something wrong. So I cut one of the wires I thought it was after a little more foolery and the sparks stopped. But then I noticed the headlights were on when I connected the battery regardless of anything. The only thing that would stop that is the fuse. So that confirmed my suspicions of a bad diode. So after more foolery at attempting to change the diode, I succeeded and the issue was fixed. So I started it up and wouldn't you know it, it wasn't charging. So I fooled some more and ended up flipping the connector at the regulator. Fired it back up and the voltage shot up and headlights got way brighter. Here's my finished product... definitely some redneckery going on but that's always a good thing  



I thought I had fixed it, but once I brought the throttle up, the voltage at the battery was starting to climb past 15.5 volts and the headlights were brighter than the sun. So I shut it off, tidied up my wiring and cleaned up and called it a night and now I'm here. I know for a fact, 15.5 volts is way too high for a lawn mower charging system. Automotive charging systems are supposed to cap at 15 volts for stock alternators, so I would feel a whole lot more comfortable around 14 volts on this setup. So I don't know if I happened to fry my brand new regulator when the bad diode was on it, or if I accidently broke and bypassed a resistor in the system or if I need an extra ground or what, but I need to get this fixed.

Any tips or suggestions? I have thought a little bit about adding a resistor in the circuit to knock back some of the current and hopefully bring it down closer to that 14 volt mark.

Ya that is pretty high, good thing you were keeping an eye on it!

I have a running Kohler CV16S which I assume is the same as what you have? Looks the same anyhow. I got it with hacked up wiring but got it sorted out and am not having any charging issues so now my question to you is...where the heck is the diode!? Lol. I don't remember seeing one (doesn't mean it's not there) and never thought twice about it because I thought they were only on non regulated engines (ie old Briggs flathead ect).

This diode, did it come with the tractor or the engine wiring? I know you swapped the Kohler into it, I did the same thing with my Roper Trailblazer. I could be wrong but I don't think there's a whole lot of anything useful to you in the thread but I'd be more than willing to draw a wiring diagram of the engine - tractor for you on Saturday and provide some pictures if wanted?