Ok guys. Here are the few pics I took when I was building my early 80's John Deere 111. Feel free to comment, question and criticize as you please, but do keep in mind this was my first build, and I could not find any information (like pictures and specs) for this model jd111.
What I started with.
About 65% torn down
The bare frame (Rookie move-Dont paint before you weld
)
Cleaned peerless 700 (Before the lock spacers and gear oil)
Home-made front axle (2x1 16.25" long with fixed 10 degree caster, 10 degree camber & 10 degree KPI)
"C-Notched" the frame to the bottom of the motor plate gave me 4" of clearance WITH tires at 15 psi. I eventually modified the spindle so the spindle bolt would be on the bottom therefore giving me a little bit if room to play with tire pressures down the road.
Another view of "C-notch"
Found the axle height with rear tires and calculated the measurements to cut the hole in the frame for the rear axle.
Mocked up the fender to take clearence measurements between the rear tire and the bottom of the fender. Ended up mounting the front of the fender panel straight to the center plate and raising the rear (seen in the next picture) for a downforced look (THANKS ROOSTER!!! For the help on that one)
Raised the rear fender panel 3 1/4" to clear the rear tires with 3/4" square stock 1/8th" thick.
With the framerail type mower, I took a chance on re-enforcing the rails with 2 "X" crossmembers to keep the frame rails from tweaking. The motor plate would stiffen the front, the center plate and "X" crossmembers stiffen the center, and the home-made tranny plate (Later seen) would stiffen the rear.
Cut the transaxle mounts / trailer connect / Bottom of rear fender mount plate off flush with the frame rails.
Trimmed a section of the rear fender plate to make room for the sprocket
1st design - mocked the brake system up on the left rear outside. It was later moved to the left rear inside for clearance purposes.
Fabbed up a structural steering column with bearings to support the stress that would later be put upon it. Made it a "Bolt-in" column for easy removal when needed. (I'm not religous... It just turned out that way
)
Top side of the column through the dash. The dash actually shares some of the support on the column as well.
Home-made steering arm for the spindle. I used a leftover spindle bracket for the angles and drop down. If you notice the "C" shaped cut in the bracket, that was to allow the mower to go to the full lock position. It was later re-enforced with another plate of steel for rigidity.
The home-made steering pitman arm. Length was long due to keeping the wheel from "wrapping around."
A view of the tie-rod and drag link
Notched the frame rail to make room for proper clearance for the function of the brake master cylinder. If you cant tell, it is mounted on the right side frame rail on the inside at about the midpoint (length). I chose the right side so it would work with the right side pedal.
A better view of the notched frame
The linkage. Brake pedal mounts to brake rod. Master cylinder bolts to brake rod. Brake rod pulled back by tension spring.
Transmission with sprocket, tranny plate, tensioner, rear axle sprocket and chain. The trans plate was raised 3/4" upwards off the frame rail to keep the belt even with the motor pulley (Not shown)
Trans sprocket and tensioner. The plate was later notched to allow clearance for adjustment
Ahh the clutch assembly... This took some thought... At factory height it would not clear the "X" members. So I lowered it with a spare spindle cylinder (Which happened to be the same inside diameter as the clutch). It was then again modified and reversed to work with the left side pedal so the clutch assembly would draw tight on the "Slack side."
Tranny mounted. The lines you see are brake lines which were later covered with heater hose to avoid rubbing through on the bare metal.
2nd design - I moved the brake caliper to the inside to avoid clearance issues with the left side rim. Makes it a pain to pull the rear axle out but hopefully I wont have to do that too often.
Cut the factory shifter and mounted it to the bracket which controls the shifting in the transmission.
Cut the rear fender panel to make room for the shifter to slide side to side.
Used a water outlet pipe from a GM vehicle to direct the exhaust in a downward manner.
Made room for the battery and hold-down, and fuel tank. The fuel tank was used from a power washer. Later, rubber insulation was installed between the battery and fuel tank to avoid any rub thru's or mishaps (Not shown).
Steering wheel from JEGS and throttle assembly from Mr. Andrews.
And this was what it looked like coming off the Bimbo Racing assembly line.
In the paint booth.
Found Deere Green and Deere Yellow at my local supply store.
...AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!
Things that were not shown or mentioned include:
-Using the hinged shoot off the deck for the right side of the mower and using the left edge of the deck on the left side of the mower (Trimmed for USLMRA height rules)
-Covering the rear sprocket (An aluminium splash shield was used off of a 2009 Silverado)
-Mounting the seat directly to the fender
-Adjusting the governer spring tab to get more RPM's
-Mounting the IMOW pulleys from Acmemowersports
-Making hood hold downs
-The amount of time spent building, thinking, pondering, sweating and bleeding over this mower
There may be some (Or a lot depending on how you look at it) things I have just forgotten from not taking pictures, but if you are a john deere builder and have some questions, I will do the best I can to help and answer you fully to my knowledge (I am no expert on this!)
A huge thanks to:
"
LITTLEMOW" for getting me into this sport, the amount of time and effort you helped put into my mower with me, and the free electric
,
My Fiance for putting up with the long nights, compressor noise, foul language (There was a lot of that
) and lost time I could have had with you
,
My Dad for telling me not to rush, advising me, and helping me finalize my build,
Grumpys Bar & Grill for helping me drink away the bad times, providing me with the great food and giving me an awsome sponsorship,
Heymow.com Readers for putting up with and answering my stupid questions, and providing me with the information used to build my racing mowchine
and last but not least...
The Friends and everyone else who supported me, encouraged me and were right there with me the whole time.
Thank you guys!!! Hope to see you guys out there on the track sometime! Good luck to you!
Racing at Ducks Family Resturaunt 06.28.09
Chasing down #47
(Photos courtesy of Nice Wonders Photography at
www.nicewondersphotography.com)
Let me know what you think Heymow readers think. Good night.