My Ford Tractors

WINTER WEATHER, SPECIAL PARTS, AND SMALL PROJECTS

If you are following this project as it is being written, please note it is Winter, and my tractor shed is only partially heated. Overnight temps in the teens or single digits means it takes a fire in the wood stove a long time to warm things up enough to work in the garage part of my man cave. There have also been some other distractions: we had some major repairs/remodeling done to our house in December. That took about 3 weeks with the contractor working in the day time and me working at night. Then we hit a deer and totalled my car just in time for New Years. By the Grace of God we were not injured, but lost about a week dealing with car insurance, and looking for a decent used car. We are very grateful to have made it into the new year.

CARBS

I now have four carbs to choose from. Two are standard 8BA carbs from 1949, the others are for a 1949 Mercury. The Mercury carbs have a horizontal air inlet which may match up better with a more-or-less original intake tube and 8N air filter assembly. Only one problem with the Merc carbs, they have a four bolt flange. The Ford carbs and my intake manifold have the 3 bolt flange. The Merc carb with automatic choke may still be the best choice, if I can find a merc manifold.

I'm not sure the 8N filter assembly will flow enough for the V8. I could use two, that might look cool, one on each side of the engine. The intake tube connecting two filters to one carb would be fun to make.

V8 RADIATOR AND FAN

This is the brand new Champion radiator, for the flathead engine. This radiator is obviously a bit wider than the original 8N radiator. For this to look right, the hood and grill need to be wider. The V8 and adapter plate also add some length. The hood that came off this tractor has some rust-through in several places. The plan is to cut it apart where the rust is and add new metal.

After further review, Champion actually makes two different radiators for the flathead engines. Their other model is much closer to the original 8N tractor radiator width, and should fit between the doglegs without making the hood any wider. Sold the first radiator on ebay, and bought the narrow version.

This fan is something I picked up cheap, and judging from the fit and finish, will likely be a part that has to be replaced soon.

BRAKE AND CLUTCH PEDALS

The brake and clutch pedals nave been straigntened, greased, and reinstalled in the transmission housing. One brake pedal appeared to have been run into some immovable object. It was a little tricky to bend it back to the right shape. Hint: do not stand directly in front of the press when trying to bend odd-shaped parts. The parts can and will come flying out of the press with plenty of energy.

The engine is back on the hook, ready to come off the stand, so the flywheel, clutch, and adapter can be bolted in place. My winch cable is connected to the double 2x12 ridge and a double rafter designed into the building for this purpose. It has been tested well beyond the weight of this engine assembly, but I'm still not going to work on the engine with just the winch cable for support. Once the engine is off the stand, it will be lowered onto some wood blocking with the winch cable just keeping it from tipping over.

DISTRIBUTOR REBUILD

This was another snow day, 6 inches of heavy wet Virginia snow fell overnight and didn't stop until about 10:00 in the morning. The rest of the morning was spent plowing the drive with the 8N and shoveling the white stuff. By the time chores were done, the wood stove in the shed was hot, and I had a pot of coffee going.

The distributor that came with the V8 seemed to be in good shape, just very dirty. This one has a pass-through wire for the points, with a plastic insulator bushing very similar to the part on my 8N that recently failed causing a no-spark condition. The 8N has been running fine with the coil wire passing through the distributor case, connected directly to the points. That temporary fix is less complicated, and should be more reliable.

Distributor disassembly is fairly uncomplicated, there is a rivet holding the drive gear on. A cold chisel or large drill bit will take one head of the rivet off. Then a punch and hammer should easily knock the rivet out. If the rivet has rusted in place, it may be necessary to pick teh right size bit and just drill it al the way out. Once the rivet is out, the gear and a thrust washer come off, and the shaft should pull out of the distributor body. This shaft was covered in baked-on oil residue that made it difficult to remove. Once the shaft is out, there is a clip holding the top plate in the body. Pull the two springs loose from the pins in the distributor and let them stay connected to the plate for now. Most of these parts appear to be in good condition. The distributor body will be cleaned and painted. New spring clips that hold the cap in place will be installed, along with a new vaccuum advance, points, and condenser. Using this distributor, with the vaccuum advance may only work well if I use the Ford carb rather than the Merc. That saves me the hassle and expense of finding a Merc manifold.

SPRING CLEANING AND A NEW TOOL

As the weather warms up, my list of chores gets longer. This Spring it is time to cut pine trees. Some parts of our property are thick with Virginia Pines. The pine beetles are in them, many are dead.

The new tool is the HF 7x10 Mini Lathe.

The sale price was finally too good to pass up. These mini lathes have been getting dinged in reviews for not being set-up very well. Apparently the manufacturer paid attention. Other than some disassembly to clean the grease from each part, this one only needed a couple minor adjustments. Unfortunately, before the lathe could do anything, it was necessary to find an assortment of cutting tools. There is a long list of things to make. Start with easy things first. A new shift knob was a good choice. It's hard to mess up with something that has no critical dimensions. Machined from a solid chunk of aluminum, then polished. The first knob turned out so good, I made another one for my 52.

Next Chapter