I know there are a lot of different ideas on how to mask wheels but this is what works for me.
I take a piece of cardboard that will cover a little more than half of the wheel.
Lay it on top of the wheel and push down on the cardboard so the wheel will leave a mark on it.
Cut the center of the cardboard out about 1/2 inch inside that wheel mark.
Do the same thing with a second piece of cardboard.
Let the air out of the tires and brake the tires away from the rim on both sides.
Slide one piece of cardboard in-between the tire and rim on one side..
Slide the other piece of cardboard in on the the other side so the tire is covered.
You can slide the cutout pieces of cardboard in on the sides if needed to completely cover the tire.
The cardboard is stiff enough that I don't have to use any masking tape to hold them in place.
When I'm done painting this side, I can re-use the pieces of cardboard to mask the other side for painting.
The only thing I need to tape is the air valve.
Once the wheels are all painted, I just air the tires back up and they are all done.
The engine is back together and freshly painted.
I decided on a color for the hood and gas tank. It's Cub cadet Beige.
Here is a side view of the hood with the "R/T" emblem on.
The "R/T" stands for Ray's Tractor.
I found a "R/T" Key-chain and mounted it as an emblem on the top of the hood where the radiator neck use to go.
The top of the gas tank.
There is a sight gauge mounted on the side.
It is a brass tube with a slot milled in the side and a glass tube inside so I can see the level of the fuel in the tank.
The top of the gauge is mounted with a bracket that has a rubber grommet to hold it.
The bottom of the gauge is mounted thru a hole in the side of the tank shroud.
I made up a special fitting out of brass that screws onto the outlet on the bottom of the tank.
It has a steel line on one end that goes out to the sight gauge and a shut-off valve in the other end for the gas line to the engine.
The frame is painted a charcoal gray.
The starter solenoid is fastened back onto the side of the bell housing.
As you can see, the top of the bell housing is open so I had earlier made up a cover to go on it.
The ignition ballast resistor attaches to one of the bolts that hold the cover on the bell housing.
I decided to make a cover to go over the resistor and starter relay.
Using a piece of sheet metal, I bent one side at 90 degrees.
Then I used the metal shrinker and formed the metal into a "U" shape and I cut out another piece of metal to fit inside it.
This is what it looks like with the two pieces welded together and trimmed to size.
The cover is painted and bolted onto the bell housing.
The end of the throttle cable needs to be shaped so it will hold a spring.
This neat little tool is designed to form a loop on the end of the cable.
The cable is held tight by gripping the handles.
Then and by turning the "T" handle, it will twist the cable around a shaft that the handle rides on.
Here is the finished loop still on the forming shaft.
Remove the cable from the tool and you have an evenly formed end with out any kinks in it.
I made up a special bracket that will bolt onto the intake manifold and hold the throttle cable housing.
The throttle cable is mounted in place and a spring is fastened from the cable to the governor linkage.
The choke cable is brought around and hooked up to the carb.
Since I removed the front end loader, I have to re-mount the gauges and lights.
The oil gauge use to mount on a panel that went between the steering column and the loader crossbar.
This panel also held the choke and throttle controls.
I took that panel and cut the top center portion out of it.
This left two strips on the sides.
Then I bent those side strips around the top of the panel and welded them in place.
I cut a new hole for the oil gauge and made a new mount for the can that bolts to the underside of the panel.
Here's the front side of the new panel.
And the back side of the panel.
After repainting the panel, I installed the oil gauge and mounted the panel on the steering column.
Then I bolted the choke and throttle control back in it's original position.
Here's the other side of the finished panel.
And a view from the top.
I'm using a dash box from a Allis Chalmers tractor.
The modified dash box ready for primer.
I made up a bracket on the drive shaft cover that the dash box will fasten to.
The wires run under the drive shaft cover and come up thru a hole in the cover and then go into the side of the dash box.
The dash box is finished.
The hydraulic reservoir tank was built into the mainframe of the FEL so I need to come up with another tank.
This is an old hydraulic tank that I had made out of an old JD 110 gas tank several years ago.
I separated the two tank mounting brackets from the plate they were attached to and bolted them on the side of the right fender.
Steel strap is welded on the inside of the fender to help support the weight of the tank and keep the fender metal from stress cracking.
Here's how the tank looks mounted on the fender.
View from the rear with the tank and fender re-mounted on the tractor.
The hydraulic valve will be mounted here in front of the tank.
