my new old 1988 ss20v

[classiccat]

nice progress... and nice tractor!

is that an Onan powered Suburban?

 

[ab59]

Thanks guys-- the seamstresses told me that this is the last job for them . LOL . I will buy a used upholstery sewing machine when I sell this beauty but I hope that's not for a little while . Off to the next project right after that so not too sorry to see her go just want to play with her for a bit first.
My old 1974 Sears SS16 has the original Onan engine and although it smokes a bit and drinks the oil , I still cut the grass and was plowing with it last year. Could use an engine rebuild or swap it out for an opposed twin Briggs but would like to see the Onan stay. We will see , got other fish to fry for now .
Gettin ready for a skinnin ---------

 

[MTboatguy]

Thanks guys-- the seamstresses told me that this is the last job for them . LOL . I will buy a used upholstery sewing machine when I sell this beauty but I hope that's not for a little while . Off to the next project right after that so not too sorry to see her go just want to play with her for a bit first.
My old 1974 Sears SS16 has the original Onan engine and although it smokes a bit and drinks the oil , I still cut the grass and was plowing with it last year. Could use an engine rebuild or swap it out for an opposed twin Briggs but would like to see the Onan stay. We will see , got other fish to fry for now .
Gettin ready for a skinnin ---------

Looks good.

Those Onans are not that hard to rebuild, I have done quite a few of them for RV generators.

 

[ab59]

The biggest problem that I found for the Onan 16-18 hp is they don't make rebuild kits for them any more. I really do not like the only Onan parts guys left online either. When I was rebuilding the carburetor and putting new floats in it there is an assist spring for the floats that was originally on that model Onan and I wanted the spring as well but when I ordered it the parts guy began an argument insisting that those did not need the spring and when I told him that I just wanted to return the carburetor to it's original condition he cancelled my order claiming that I was HOSTILE !!!!! What a nut . I guess that for him , anyone who disagrees with his opinion is " Hostile ". I did not even find that out until weeks later when the part did not show up and I traced the order down , never thought once that there was a problem . I said then that I would never own an Onan again but if I could find another parts source I might consider keeping the Onan and the SS in it's original condition and not go to a Briggs and Stratton .

 

[MTboatguy]

https://onanparts.com/

https://www.jackssmallengines.com/manufacturer/onan

https://cumminsengines.com/rv-and-mo...ts-and-service

https://www.m-and-d.com/Onan_parts.html

There are still actually quite a few places that sell parts for the Onan engines, I just rebuilt a 14HP the other day for my buddies shop and didn't have any problem getting parts for it and it was in a 1985 Winnebago motorhome.

 

[ab59]

I will go through the links and see what they got . I believe Onanparts are the ones I had a problem with. Never again.

 

[MTboatguy]

I will go through the links and see what they got . I believe Onanparts are the ones I had a problem with. Never again.

I get most of my stuff from Jack's

 

[ab59]

I keep pokin along here , had a couple of delays and fit problems but , it is what it is , from here on out. The bow base seats are done and I started the upper back rests so hopefully I will get the cushions finished up front tomorrow.
Can't seem to make my mind up about putting in some small tackle boxes into the front of the consoles like the fishmaster I once had. I dunno , will wait until everything is finished to deal with it along with the trim gauge sender .
A picture or two for your consideration -----



last picture is the before of the backrests for the bow.
These aren't perfect but they look otay to me .:nightmare:

 

[Decker83]

Seats are looking great.. :rockon:

 

[ab59]

This is it for now . Tomorrow I rivet the base cushion ply down and throw in the base cushions then mount the upper back rest cushions .
Have more problems with the vinyl fit for the turtle shell for the engine doghouse so I will have to work that out before I can call the upholstery done.
I have new back to back seats for the boat ready to be installed when it is time . I'm sure glad that I did not try to recover the old ones after all the PITA the rest of this turned into.
Anyway , a pic or two------

 

[ab59]

OOp's dinner is ready ! BBQ baby backs , me likey .

 

[ab59]

too bad the cushions in the bow are just set into place to check for fit and not installed but tomorrow is another day. Fire smoke so thick today it was hard to stay outside , don't know where it's coming from this time because most of the fires around here have been put out after a month of hell.
the shot of the rear panel and side panels re- installed looks great to me and I hope there is no reason to have to remove them again. Have to pick up all my tools and vacuum again and she should look presentable again.

 

[ab59]

Pulled the upper back rest cushions back out and put a piece of 2x6 on each end and then weighted down the middle as they do not want to conform to the bend of the bow . I'll give them a couple of days to acquire a bend and then screw them in somehow.
That dang doghouse turtle lid is an ongoing problem so I have figured out a couple of solutions and if they don't work I may junk the original and make one that is easier to upholster .
Hope everyone is having a good labor day on the water somewhere-------

 

[ab59]

Customizing the backrest cushions to fit the bow .---------------




Don't know what I would do without the lightweight legs for making a table . Easily went from 4x11 to and additional 4x8 for plenty of workspace.

 

[Watermann]

Hey that upholstery looks awesome :thumb:

 

[ab59]

Thanks WM . I kinda ran into a snag when it comes to screwing the upper backrest cushions down to the bowed gunnels up front and there is an " L " metal lip that will not allow the back of the cushion to lay flat . Since I do not want to put holes through the middle of the vinyl anyway I decided to split the cushion and let it sit on the " L " rail leaving the area between the bottom cushion and the upper cushion with about a 5" gap which will then allow me access to run screws from the back into the board so none of the vinyl will need to have holes poked in it. The new rail will only be half as tall as the original but should work just fine .
Anyone know of a reason that I should not do this should SPEAK UP NOW because I have already picked out half of the staples and am going to split these in half lengthwise to fit in the morning.
forgot to shoot a couple of pics but will try to remember to get some in the morning before I get to sawing.

 

[Watermann]

Making the panel articulated by running the plywood through a saw making relief cuts but not cutting all the way through the wood would allow it to form easier to the bow curve.

 

[ab59]

WM- I got them to bend ok but the "L" holds them at an angle and takes up a lot of sitting space as a result. Relief cuts sound like a good idea and I'm sure would help but then I will still have a problem with access to mount the backrests. Been so smokey here the last couple of days that I had to take today off as I was about half sick from breathing all these oddball fumes . One minute smells like burning wires the next wood the next something just plain odd. Ughhhh .
will get back to work tomorrow if I'm not gone hunting

 

[Watermann]

For attachment when I was considering the bow padding I thought about using snaps with them counter sunk on the on the wood panel so they wouldn't sit out too much

 

[ab59]

you know , I thought about something similar but I don't remember what they are called. You attach one half of the mount to the wood backing and the other to the gunnel and they kind of hook together . People give mixed reviews about them though. If we would have got our angles right on the red white and blue stripes I could ave just screwed the backrests down like I did the side panels but the way it turned out I had to just stretch the cover over the rest and make it work like that. Nothing lined up with the slots in the foam so it left me scrambling at the last minute fo find a different solution.
Seem to have been handed a lot of lessons on this one , hope I can remember them for next time .
The picks will show the difference between the new size and the old size and the " L " lip that was a problem with the old design .