Another 982 refurbish

[jstorma]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I had to quit working on this last fall for the winter. Started working on it again this spring. Purchased custom step pads with the correct three mounting holes. The new bolts to hold the step pads down along with the fenders stuck up due to the diamond pattern. Traced out the heads used duck tape to protect the areas that I do not want to scratch up with my die-grinder and carefully ground away the raised diamond areas so the heads would sit flat.

Ended up loosening all the bolts under the seat which hold the fenders down to the battery box and the battery box bolts which hold it down to the frame so I could line up the foot fender holes to the mounting pegs welded to the frame. This was also a good time to install and hook up the safety switch under the seat. Once the bolts were installed thru the step pads and fenders with the nuts started, I tightened everything down as even I could including the battery box and fender bolts under the seat.

Next I installed the pre-assembled grille housing, with the retainer clips and four bolts. I left the retaining clip bolts loose and installed the headlight wire harness with a new harness clip and bolt.

Installed the side shields with the wing nuts and spring. Adjusted the grille housing, tightened down the retainer clip bolts until until I could get a nice even line separating the edge of the grill housing with the side shields. I did have to use washers in some area's between the frame and grille housing to get the nice even line. It's really starting to look good.

 

[jstorma]

Took the pre-assembled hood and installed the new aluminium hood ornament. Added a little grease to the hood hinges. Took one of the hood hinge retaining clips out of the grille housing and slid the other hood hinge into place in about the fully open position. Installed the removed hood hinge retainer. I was able to do it myself, but would be best to have someone help with this. Tightened down the hood hinge retainer bolts. Slowly and carefully closed the hood to make sure it was not going to catch or hang up on the grille housing. Ended up loosening the nuts on the hood hinges that are attached to the hood support, lengthening the distance from the edge of the hood to the edge of the grille housing. Snugging up the nuts and trying to close the hood again. This time I was able to fully close the hood. Found out the end of the hood which rest on the dash seemed tweaked to the left side of the tractor and the corner on right did not want to fully sit and close up on this side. Also noticed the gas tank cap was way off center of the hole in the hood. Loosed up the heat deflector with gas tank and adjusted it towards the grille housing. Checked the hood fitment and the gas tank cap looked much better but the hood still did not sit correctly on right side of the dash. Did a walk around and tried to see if part of the side shield was holding up the hood on that side. Didn't seem to be the issue. Loosed up the bolts on the grille housing and tried to adjust it to favor the hood to the right side and also added more washers to the left side to bring the hood up higher on the left hoping to have the hood sit on the dash better. Also tried to loosen the dash tower to frame bolts and tweaking the whole assembly to favor the hood which did not help. Last resort I had tried to carefully twist the hood so it would fit on the dash better. Heard a pop and found out I broke the hood support near the bolt in the center. Err.....

I brought the hood support to work and asked the boss and our welder if it was ok to try and weld it. I ended up grinding a lot of the weld off and found the two pieces were either not welded squarely to each other or it warped during the welding or grinding process. Had to grind the weld so it would clear the grille housing. Ended up breaking again where the weld was and decided to start looking for a replacement.

While waiting for a the replacement support to show up, I decided to look at these headlight bulbs again and re-position them as Steve suggested. I was able to adjust them like he said. Once this project is done and I have time at night, I will show the spread of the light between the two positions.

Once I received the new hood support I was able to install it and tried to line everything up again without trying to tweak the hood. I could not get the hood to sit perfectly on the dash and could not get a nice even line like I had starting out with the side panels and grille housing. I had looked at the right side dash and hood met on my 782 and noticed the hood did not quite side perfectly on this area too but was much better than on my 982. At this point I decided to leave it as is and that this might be normal.

I took Matt's suggestion and put anti-seize on the splines and threads for the steering wheel. Pushed the new cap on and found it fell in the hole. Used 4 dabs of clear silicone around the outside and set it back in to dry. Installed the new throttle handle.

Decided to make some heat shielding around the muffler to help remove the build up of heat under the hood. The shielding will look similar to the factory shielding. Drew it up and am waiting for my fabricator to make it.

 

[mgwin]

Jim,

Real nice! Looks like you are almost done.
Can't wait to see some good finished pics!

 

[mhomrighausen]

Jim S. That 982 is looking beautiful!!! I'm glad that you're making more progress. Patience and hard work are paying off.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jim S., nice write up and photos! Your 982 is looking great!

 

[jchamberlin]

Jim: Your posts are the best! You write up a restoration as it should be done, with pictures! Really enjoyed your latest entry, now I have to go back and start from the beginning. The detail is great, but the narrative is even better. Everyone who cares about what they're working on has lived what you're going through. That said, not all of us have the results to show for it that you do. Good work!

 

[jstorma]

Finally received the heat shielding around the muffler. Had to enlarge the hole for the dip stick. Painted it with some rust-oleum 2000 degree paint and installed it in the tractor around the muffler. Used existing bolts on the engine and self tapping sheet metal screws to hold the assembly together. Two self tappers were longer to hold the grille springs. A spacer was used between the shielding and screw head. Makes it nice to remove the grille screen. The darker spots on the shielding is from bubble solution from my son blowing bubbles while we were working on the tractor.

Had trouble with the exhaust pipe hitting one of the main grille bars. Stuck a bottle jack handle in the exhaust pipe and carefully pried it upward into a position that it would clear the bars in the grille.

Fitted the gap between the engine and heat shielding for the gas tank with some air conditioning foam. Used some clear silicone caulk in areas between the gas tank heat shield and foam to hold the foam in place and to help hold it's shape. The ends of the foam also received some caulk to hold them closed.

Next decided to put the brake pads and clutch pad on. The far left pad is for the clutch, it has a notch cut into it so it fits nicely over the clutch pedal. Started by twisting the pads over the pedals, then used my thumbs to curl and bend the pads over the edges of the pedals. This did take a little doing and more time than I thought.

 

[jstorma]

Installed the upper link for the three point with a new clevis pin and cotter pin. Installed the spring that goes across the lower arms.

There seems to be a misconception about the upper link that should be cleared up. People think you can go to a farm supply store such as fleet farm and purchase a top link and it will fit.

Please note the lower link in the below photo is possibly a IH upper link or maybe a green and yellow link since it came with the tiller I purchased and the guy had it on a green and yellow tractor. Both ends have right hand threads. Not sure if this is IH/Cub Cadet's design. Maybe someone can clear that up for us? The upper link in the photo was purchased at Fleet Farm and I removed the end and had purchased a stud and ball end; had them welded together. As you can see the end from the manufacture of the upper link purchased at Fleet Farm does not fit in the gap of the connection point on the back of the tractor. Newer models may have this gap wider to accommodate for this. The one I made works great, but chose to install the other since it looks original.

At this point I consider the tractor complete!

I'll post pictures in the next few weeks of the completed tractor when time prevails and the weather cooperates.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Looking very sharp !!!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jim, that looks fantastic! On the 2072 that my parents had the upper link broke when the cat-0 tiller bucked from hitting a root. We discovered that the top link is not easy to source due to that thinner mounting point. We ended up using a plain old turnbuckle. Ugly but it worked ok. I believe that the top link you have installed is the stock one.

 

[mgwin]

Jim,

Man, that's one more nice tractor!
Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[jstorma]

Finally! Here are the final pictures of the completed 982. Still plan on posting a few pictures of the headlight arrangement that Steve mentioned when it gets dark out.

Wish I had better background scenery than my garage door and shed doors!

I'm very happy the people that run this site keep it going so others can learn about and enjoy our IH Cub Cadet's.

I've learned a lot from everyone over the years from the messages and pictures that were posted.

I hope by posting the reassembly of this tractor it will help other along the way with there own refurbish/restoration projects.

Wouldn't doubt I've probably missed, overlooked, or didn't show as much detail or described something as someone would have liked, but hope this helps someone at least head in the right direction and gets them thinking.

Special thanks goes out to Dave Kamp who helped me out with some repair work he did for me when I purchased my first cub cadet 782, and all the others that have been following and posting suggestions during my reassembly. THANK YOU!

Yes, I know there is a bolt missing holding the hydraulic lift bracket just above the right front tire. I left that out because it's a connection point for another project I've also been working on for the tractor at the same time I was reassembling. But that is for another day.

 

[mgwin]

Jim,

According to your posts, you have been working on this tractor for a little over five years.
Congratulations!!!!
Thank you for hanging in there!
Now I don't feel so bad, since I have been working on mine for a little over seven months.

Now, as for the tractor, you get an A+++.
Very Very nice!
I love those wheels/tires. What size are the ags?
You can be real proud of the job you have done on that nice 982.

\clipart{thumbsup}

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jim, what a beauty, nicely done!

 

[sblunier]

Super Sharp!!!! I love red 82 series!!!!

 

[jstorma]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the job well done.

Marty, I never got a A+++ before in my life! Thanks! Rear tires are Carlisle Tru-power 26X12X12.

Kraig, Thanks for the tip on the upper link. I'll use the large one I made for my tiller.

 

[jwiggins]

Beautiful Tractor, Excellent Job!!!!