# Toro 521 Refurbishment



## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

I recently refurbished and re-powered my Toro 3521 blower. Now it is the Toro 521's turn 'under the wrench'. The 521 was re-powered a couple of years ago, so this will be just the refurbishment.









I will replace the impeller bushing and take care of some rust and re-paint the machine. Some disassembly is required to get at the bearing/bushing. It is also a good opportunity to take care of the rust.









The bucket is particularly rusty . . .









Paint is bubbling & peeling around the chute base









The bearing did not look too bad, although it felt like there was a fair amount of play when I checked for up/down movement of the impeller shaft.









Also a fair amount of rust on the underside of the bucket.









It is a good thing that I am taking care of this now.

You may have noticed that I have the rubber paddles on the impeller blades. Not sure it does anything as there was hardly a gap between impeller and housing.


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## tdipaul (Jul 11, 2015)

Keeping the rust at bay will keep her working for another few decades!
.


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## sciphi (May 5, 2014)

Sounds good. It should clean up nicely.


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

UPDATE:

I spend the day (Saturday) painting the parts of the blower. I did the rust reformer, and ran out of the black 'spray can' type and used some Rustoleum reformer that came in a bottle - NOT SO GOOD - for anyone doing similar work. Make sure to use the spray can version (also a rustoleum product).

Here are the pieces primed after rust treatment









Partial painting. . . The bucket takes a bit of re-positioning to get all areas.









Done. The paint did not come out as well as on my 3521 (which I just sold) but it will be fine.









Next steps are to put it all back together. 

New impeller bearing and I also adjusted the impeller mod 'paddles' as they were a bit skewed . . . 

BTW - the Toro machines really do not need the impeller mod, as the clearance between impeller and housing is only about 1/8" or less. Save the impeller mods for the MTD brands. :wink2:


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

nice work man

i too found many years back "about 1988" that toro's don't need the mod.they blow snow like no tomorrow deadstock .simply amazing machines.


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## aldfam4 (Dec 25, 2016)

Nice job tpenfield. I will give that project a try.., this summer. Too cold around here to try now. Question - did you use a clear coat over the paint or is the Rustoleum good enough on its own? Keep up the good work!


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

aldfam4 said:


> Nice job tpenfield. I will give that project a try.., this summer. Too cold around here to try now. Question - did you use a clear coat over the paint or is the Rustoleum good enough on its own? Keep up the good work!


No clear coat, I think the Rustoluem alone is fine. Time will tell. The original paint did not have clear coat that I could tell.


Painting in cold weather certainly is a challenge. I use a space heater and 'tent' set up to dry the paint, but still it is a challenge.


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

it looks like u didnt remove the scraper bar, why?


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## sciphi (May 5, 2014)

That's a familiar sight. Still looks decent in the pictures, and touching up any areas should be fairly easy in the spring. 

I highly recommend sourcing a tall chute if it doesn't already have one. It'll blow the snow a good long ways with the taller chute and the Predator.


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

sciphi said:


> That's a familiar sight. Still looks decent in the pictures, and touching up any areas should be fairly easy in the spring.
> 
> I highly recommend sourcing a tall chute if it doesn't already have one. It'll blow the snow a good long ways with the taller chute and the Predator.


Yes, it has the tall chute. . . which the 521 comes with. . . as opposed to the small chute that the 3521's come with.

I sold the 3521 yesterday :smile2:


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

vinnycom said:


> it looks like u didnt remove the scraper bar, why?


I had no reason to remove it. Certainly could have, but did not. If I get a new scraper at some point, I’ll make it all good then.


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

All done . . .

Here are a few pictures from the assembly of the machine after painting.

Partial Assembly . . .








I had to re-adjust the impeller rubber paddles (again) as they were too tight to the housing.









Bring on the snow :smile2:


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## King285 (Dec 14, 2015)

Good work. Looks great. Just picked up a 521 I'm looking to paint. Which specific Rustoleum colours, finishes did you use?


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

Thanks,

It was 3 parts Regal Red to 2 parts Carnival Red

I think you can also get Apple Red, but I'm not sure it comes in an oil-based Quart . . .


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

One minor issue that I'm going to have to address is that the impeller/auger belt, although loose when not engaged is turning the impeller and auger at a slow speed . . . maybe 60 RPM at the impeller.

I have a belt that is 1" larger (circumference) than the current one, but I tried it and even engaged the belt seems to be too loose. I'm not sure if there is a trick to the belt sizing or tensioning, but I guess I'll try the bigger belt to see if I don't get any impeller rotation when not engaged yet also get decent tension when engaged. FWIW - the engagement mechanism is an idler wheel that rotates into the belt, taking up the slack so that it drives the impeller pulley.


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

tpenfield said:


> One minor issue that I'm going to have to address is that the impeller/auger belt, although loose when not engaged is turning the impeller and auger at a slow speed . . . maybe 60 RPM at the impeller.
> 
> I have a belt that is 1" larger (circumference) than the current one, but I tried it and even engaged the belt seems to be too loose. I'm not sure if there is a trick to the belt sizing or tensioning, but I guess I'll try the bigger belt to see if I don't get any impeller rotation when not engaged yet also get decent tension when engaged. FWIW - the engagement mechanism is an idler wheel that rotates into the belt, taking up the slack so that it drives the impeller pulley.


check the brake for the auger pulley, afaik all 2 stage blowers have them


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

I took a look at the idler pulley mechanism, and it does have a brake at the opposite end of the idler arm. It is missing the rubber pad (see picture). So, that should be an easy fix, if I can get the part ($10 part)


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