El Toro, the beginning of a legend!

[Chris]

Stolen from my other forum (I've been looking for this!)

http://www.theimportkiller.com/forums/index.php?topic=405.msg2245#msg2245

Picked this thing up for $20 down the road with a full 2 gallon tank of gas, so I basically paid $15 for a running mower & drove it home. It ate the belt for the deck and the guy didn't have the number for it so he just went out and baught a new mower... I'm currently in the disassembly process as you can tell...

I couldn't find any gofaster parts for it going to the local lawnmower places and such, so for now it's at a blazing 5mph! I turned up the governer a bit so I get a little bit more ground speed and power to climb hills and *poopie*. It's slow as death, it drives me crazy!

I'm actually thinking of putting my honda 110cc ATC engine on it. Since the rear axle is gear driven, I can mount the engine right where the transmission/battery is, and just stick the battery where the engine currently is. The only problem after that would be adding brakes and then figuring out how on earth I would start the thing (the ATC 110 engine is a kickstart engine). It's an idea floating around in my head for now, we'll see what happens though.

As of right now I've added some lights to make my night time trail rides a bit more managable. Took one of the rally lights off my car and mounted it right on the front, and mounted the foglights underneath the front "fenders" with some custom brackets. All controlled by a simple on/off switch on the RH side of the mower. (Much easier to flip the switch than have it on the ignition, even though the ignition has a position for RUN & LIGHTS, I'd rather have a a toggle switch.) The rear tail light is a 3rd brake light out of a 1st generation Lumina (from my car's spare parts pile).

I rewired the ignition switch becuase it was all sorts of messed up. With the ignition switch in the on position, as soon as you sat on the seat the lawnmower would start up. You would then have to put it in the off position to keep it running and shut off the starter. To turn it off you would have to put the ignition into the momentary start position. I have no clue what all that was about, but nothing that a bit of rewiring didn't fix. I also tightened up every screw, nut & bolt; disassembled the differential, cleaned & regreased it; and greased every movable part on the thing.

I'm going to get some sheetmetal and enclose the engine compartment and already have a rack for the back (over the engine). I will have side vents and some duct work for cooling - we don't want that little 8HP from 1970 overheating!

I desperately need a new seat, the one on there is absolute junk if you can't tell. That and I need some good tires. I'm going to get a nice set of ATV tires for it, a little bigger than the stock size.

Anyways, on to the pics!

[Chris]

This is what I've been up too lately
























For right now the 12.5 is going to stay on the Toro. I'm messing with that Twin II 18 I/C, going to see if I can turn it into a good running engine. When/if it does run, it'll be going on the Wizard, and then the black Twin II will go on the Toro

[Chris]

Added a rack on the back, & taped up the seat... The tape on the seat was one of the best mods so far! It really needs to be replaced. I painted the rack black, and while I was a it I painted the tape and exposed foam on the seat so it dosn't look  as horrible as it currently does









There is that damn sprocket that I cannot get off! It unbolts jsut fine, but the tire, spacer and bearing are all rusted to the axle so I can't take it off! 

And look at that wierd differential! It's on it's way out unfortuinately. Upon first disassembly I noticed alot of the teeth were chipped off and the grease was pretty much nonexistant. There was also ALOT of play in it too. I cleaned it up real good, packed it full of new grease & hoped for the best. So far it's holding up, but it's in need of replacement. Live axle FTW!

The pulley setup (no it's not stock :-D)

Well, the Toro has changed a bit, definitely for the better!

Welded up the rear diff so it's a solid axle, re-did the steering (welded up a direct steer system - think go-kart), got some good headlights, fibbed up an excellent exhaust, welded on some bike handlebars (The grip shift turned hand throttle is absolutely AWESOME! I can't begin to explain how good of a mod it was!), painted it all flat-black, and finally welded up the front axle so it no longer articulates (I have become the master or riding on two wheels).















I got some new tires for the rear since traction was becoming an issue... Went and tested them in the mud down the road....















It sat in the garage overnight like that, most of the mud dried by the time I came home from work...












As soon as my server is back online I have a bunch of progress pics to post

[Chris]

About those progress pics.... Yeah, totally forgot about that.



Anyways, upgrading the tires! Putting 8" rims on the rear and 6" rims on the front (it currently has 6" on the rear and 4" on the front).


(all clickable thumbnails)



Mounted the tires on the rims
and was messing with axle to
test fir it. The axle was a 3/4"
metal rod with the ends
threaded (it was a freebie!)


This is how I got the sprocket off the rear axle.
With a sawzall.




Used the casing from the old
differential to mount the sprocket.




All set to be mounted.




All that was left of the old axle


All done, testing the aux tank




How it looks now since the upgrade


Measuring for the aux tank


Had to trim the bumper a
bit to clear the new tires!


My ghetto setup to heat up
the 1/4" steel for bending.



All bent up and welded on!



Fits like George's spandex superman suit!


I gained a little helper as soon
as I started the engine. Someone
 wanted to go for a ride





It has SUCH a better stance!
It's gained a bunch of ground
clearance and is a blast to drive,
even more than before!