something's gone awry!

no big deal, though. i had replaced the starter gear during my initial refurbishing stages. all was well for a while. i'd occasionally hit a spot on the flywheel with missing/broken teeth during starting, but all that was necessary was to turn the motor 1/4 turn or so by hand (place palm on top of motor, twist) to a spot with solid teeth for the starter gear to mesh with.

however, over the past season and a half of this the rest of the plastic teeth on the flywheel began to grind away to the point that i was finally no longer able to start the mower at all...

so, a call to arthur at hooper power equipment in murfreesboro (awesome lil shop and arthur is a fabulous resource for all things snapper/briggs&stratton) revealed that a starter rebuild kit (well, not the innards of the starter, but all exterior bits - weighted disk spindle thingy, spring, gear, cap and circlip) was $15.80 but a new flywheel for my motor (12.5hp Briggs and Stratton model 286707 circa 1996) was $120. whoa! next stop, ebay. a-ha! $15 + $15 to ship the heavy beast. plus, this one has metal teeth! done.

took it all apart then reassembled with the new+used parts and tadow - up and running again...

getting there...

i probably ended up putting 15+ hours total just into sanding off the rust / old paint. but, it was worth it. i thought i'd feel at least a little bit disappointed in my decision not to take off the engine and the deck to be able to completely touch every square inch with that rotten wire brush. nah. i'm very pleased with the results.

i applied one coat of rustoleum white primer then 2 coats of the not-quite-snapper-red rustoleum "professional" enamel. in so much as a can of spray paint can be considered "profesional," sure. i have no idea how it even differs from regular rustoleum, but it only costs about 50 cents more per can so i'm sure it's worth it? :)

reassembly of all the lil bits i had taken off over the 2-3 weeks i was sanding went surprisingly smoothly. in addition to all of the cosmetics i ended up doing quite a bit of tuning up of the motor. in all, i replaced the spark plug, air filter, fuel filter, fuel lines, fuel shut-off valve, battery / starter cables, starter pinion gear, the rubber gasket that holds the oil dipstick in place as well as changing the oil.

it was a satisfying feeling when it started right up after only a couple of cranks. there are still some bits to get to complete it. i still have to decide what to do about the foot pads i removed (they're too worn to try to salvage), i need new "snapper" decals, it needs a knob on the throttle control lever and i'd like to get one of those plastic guards in place where the grass cuttings exit the deck as i freak out when i see other people mowing their yards without one because mowers can seriously toss some junk around...it's just dangerous to people and property. plus, i need to remove the touch up the engine cover and continue sanding the rust off the muffler, but all in all she's running good and gets the job done without looking horrid!

here's some shots of her at 90% complete;

still sanding...

i figure i have close to 10 hours of sanding in this thing thusfar. i'm only giving it another 1-2 hours. i need to pick up a piece of tin to bolt to the front of the deck for strengthening. It is pretty badly chewed up where previous owners have run over things they shouldn't have. bad boy.
here's how it looks as of today after more wire wheel and dremel tooling to get into crevices and other small hard-to-reach areas...



















the mail lady brought me some parts today. i ordered a new air filter (with foam pre-filter) and a front-end bushing set off ebay. 18 bucks total i think it was. i had to pick up a set of snap ring pliers because many parts are held on this way. the foot pedals, the front wheels, etc.

oh, i also picked up some new battery cables and fuel line with new shut-off valve and a new fuel filter. i also picked up a new rubber grommet thingy that the oil dipstick tube fits into. The old one is a bit worn so the dipstick tube is kinda loose in its fitting. you can see around this area where oil has been spit out under pressure. not much, but enough to warrant the new grommet. and, dong, it's only like $2. parts for this thing are so cheap. and you can still get most of them online or thru the local snapper dealer. things like the footrest pads are $1.95 each. in fact, looking down the list, most things are $1.95. well, cept for a new starter, it was like $38. but i dont need one of those...gimme $1.95.

The only things i really need to get somewhat soon are new decals for front / rear, new footrest pads and a knob for the throttle lever. otherwise, all is moving along smoothly on it. i expect to have it painted by the end of the week and hopefully, by this weekend, have the gas tank, new fuel lines /filter, new air filter and front-end bushings put on and cut me some dormant grass! padow!

hey, sandy...whoa!

i stuck a wire wheel on my 18V li-ion makita yesterday. after going thru 4 batteries (charging the 2 batteries twice) this is how it looks. it's impossible to get down to bare metal everywhere. but, as long as the surface rust is removed i'm content.
i also removed the footrests. theyre trash. i may just get some skateboard grip tape. (isn't that what it's called? it's been a while...ya know, the sandpaper with adhesive backing you put on the top of your board). i may get out there and finish up the sanding today, well, the majority of it anyway. there are going to be tight-fit areas that i'll need to get to with the dremel. or, brynna, lulu and i may spend all day outside at parks, etc. i dunno yet.

sitting, waiting, wishing...

that's what le snapper does. and i come to it. i do. in the past few days i've taken off the intake /carb (thrashing the inside of the carb bowl with my dremel with wire brush attachment should have been enough. the carb float moved freely after a nudge and a wd40 soaking), stood the mower on end to lube grease fitting points, put a new bosch spark plug in, and otherwise, have removed components for sanding/painting. oh, and i changed the oil. i forget though, what i put in there...i had some 30 weight, but i think i topped that off (holds 1.5qts) with 5W20? i forget, she has fresh oil and as long as it's a light weight on this several-year-old 12.5 briggs and stratton i/c she'll be fine.

in checking the mower over thoroughly i am all the more impressed with how simple the designs are of its various functions/features and how well they have held up over time and how easy they are to maintain. cosmetics are truly the biggest thing this mower needs to have it functioning as a new one would. well, i'm being very optimistic there. these components are mostly 30+ years old, but i feel confident that any problems that arise i can fix myself, barring any parts attainment issues. here are some recent photos showing carb bowl, mower on end, etc....

project Snapper restoration started...

I read this article recently that had me really wanting a Snapper riding mower;
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html

So, I started searching craigslist and came across a couple of local ads. I decided on this one:

Snapper Riding mower for sale. 12.5 HP MOTOR - $150 (Chapel Hill)

Cuts nice. Older mower. Beat up looking, deck seems solid. The motor is about 8 years old I think. It's pretty low time on the motor. It uses 0 oil. Everything works on the mower, but it could use some TLC. Again, it cuts good and would be good for a rough yard or high grass. Has good power for the size cut... which I think is 24"?? Good Tires. $150...
I gave the previous owner, Keith Watts, a extra $20 to deliver it to me from Chapel Hill. The story behind the mower, as he tells it, is that his boss owned it, possibly since new, and most recently had it in service at one of his rental properties in South Carolina, though the residents rarely used it despite him allowing them use of his riding mower. Keith bought it from him and used it at his previous home in South Carolina, but when they moved to Tennessee his new property had 10 acres. a 26" cut would take quite a while to get around 10 acres so he sold it.

It's actually a 26" blade. It runs and cuts fine. Everything seems to be in fairly good shape for what I came to discover is a mower (Snapper Comet Model # 2680 Series 0 (zero)) about exactly the same age as me, 36 years old!

The original 8hp motor has been replaced by this 12.5hp Briggs & Stratton I/C one. The carburetor float bowl will leak if the fuel is left on, but that shouldn't be a big issue. Overall, it's pretty solid. I plan on taking it a majority of the way apart to sand it (wire wheel on drill mostly i imagine), prime it and paint it back to a original shade of Snapper red and apply new decals. (Except for the original model # / serial # decal located beneath the seat on the left-hand side.)

In addition to the paint job, it will need new battery cables, carb cleaning, new brake/clutch cables, new throttle cable, thorough lubrication(!) and tightening/cleaning/lubricating the drivetrain components underneat. Apparently it uses a disc drive type system whereby a rubber disk transmits power to the differential/axles.

One interesting and quite helpful feature is the ability to life the mower from the front and stand it on end. The two metal bars on the rear are mutli-purpose i suppose. They'll hold a grass catching attachment, but also allow this ability to stand upright for servicing the underneath components.

Here are some photos of the day it was delivered...January 8, 2009.