1. The first thing I did for my wheelbarrow was to buy an inner-tube for the wheel. Nothing works better than having a tube inside your supposedly no tube wheel. Without the tube, it will constantly leak and give you headaches.
2. Replace the handles. I'm cheap so I cut out some pieces of wood from a 2X6. What would you rather do, buy handles for forty dollars or rip a piece of wood for $4? Make them the same size as the originals. You might have to cut some new shims or wedges. Be careful. This part of cutting tapers could cut off your hand. I use an extra long piece of a two by four and traced the old taper on the wood. I free hand cut the taper, but my hand was far away from the blade. After I cut the taper, I ripped it to size (cutting off the excess wood that I used to hold the two by four.)
3. I bought all new bolts. Most of your old rusted bolts will have to be replaced. Use a hacksaw on the stubborn bolts.
4. I drilled all the holes in the handles by using the old handles as hole guides.
5. I found some instructions for a wheelbarrow online and followed its PDF in putting it all together.
6. I used mineral oil on the new wooden handles. Belt sand the edges of the handles. You don't want splinters going into your hands.
7. I wire buffed the loose rust and painted the barrow with rustoleum.
Note: If you are not skilled in using a table saw it might be worth buying new handles instead of loosing fingers. Table saws have a tendency to kick back wood or pull your fingers into the blades.
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