Progress of a Custom – 7930 Disassembly

How much you disassemble your custom project really depends on how much you intend on customizing. Obviously if you are doing a simple wheel swap then you don’t need to take the cab apart, but I’ll try to give some hints about how much to disassemble for more detail.
On this tractor I decided that I wanted to fill in the seam on the hood left from when Ertl casted the two halves. I don’t fault them for making it this way, but it does make the tractor look less realistic. You don’t need to split the tractor in half to fill the seam. I have done this on tractors before by just masking off the cab, then filling the seam with body filler and painting.
I did decide to split the casting though because of one key step, or I should say step(s). I decided to paint the plastic steps that originally came on the tractor. They like the cab top show the plastic stress lines and are a different color than the painted metal of the tractor.
To remove the cab top just lift on either side. Usually one side will pop right off, there is no need to pull too hard or you will stretch the plastic beyond a usable shape.
Like the cab top the grill should just pop off in your hand with a little force. At this point if you decide that your project requires you to split the cast you will need to drill out the rivets on the casting.
I feel like I should note at this point that this requires a drill and that you could badly hurt yourself with a drill (Hostel anyone?) so my advice is to only do this if you are experienced and know what you are doing, or ask a friend or parent for help. I repeat, drilling, sawing, or any kind of cutting are dangerous, so be careful.
The rear wheels will need to be disassembled at this point because you need to remove them to get to the rear rivet. Some Ertl tractors use the single rivet on a bolt axle style (like this 7930) and some used the pressed in pin style. IF you are using a model that has the pressed in pin style (i.e.: the 3388) then you can use some small pliers to pry the pressed in pins out.
Once you have removed the rear axle and have drilled the front and rear rivets in the cab halves you can split the tractor. You can drill out the front rivet in this tractor without taking the wheel off by taking off the front tire and drilling just above the front wheel. This can help preserve the stability of the wheel, which is important as I will cover later.
I use a method of sliding in a flat head screwdriver between casting halves and using it as a level to generate the separating force. Be careful at this point not to hurt yourself with the screwdriver (Yes you have heard it before, but I hurt myself very badly with a flat head screwdriver, so if you want to stay out of the Operating Room (unlike me) then use caution or don’t do it).
The steps and the exhaust manifold are in place using a simple small Phillips head screwdriver; this is by far the easiest past of disassembly.
At this point all that is left is to take the tires off of the wheels. If you are satisfied with the job Ertl did with the plastic yellow paint then you can leave the wheels on, but I assure you it will look better if you paint the wheels.
In the next installment of Progress of a Custom we will discuss primer and painting some of the key parts, and the steps you should take in reassembly.