New 8n ford

pinball

Well-known Member
Not sure why but I just bought an 8n I think 1948/49. It doesn't have the ford script on the fenders or the proof meter. Over all the old tractor looks fairly good. Not a lot of rust on it. I think its due to someone used a lot of paint with a paint brush on it. It does have a temperature guage. My 1950 8n does not. Did the earlier ones come out with that guage. thANKS NORM
 
Early 8Ns did not have the script fenders or the proofmeter.
They had a front mounted distributor like the 9N/2N.
Somewhere in mid 1950 they switched to the "normal"
5 nipple side mounted car/truck type distributor.
None of the 8Ns had a temp gauge as far as I know, so it
was most likely added. A good addition if it works well.
 
I heard that before. It looks as though some one has drilled a port in a flat spot on the head and inserted a temp guage on the lower left side of the panel. Personally oil pressure, amp meter and temp guage is what I would rather have. Thanks for the info. Norm
 
I tend to agree Norm. I'd run an N without any other gauge
as long as it had an oil pressure gauge that I trusted.
 
I think 8n's set up to burn "tractor fuel" had a temp gauge as it was very important to keep the engine completely warmed up for the fuel to burn correctly. They had a port on the left side of the head near the top rad hose.

I made a temp gauge adapter for my 9n that fits in the top hose. The very day I finished my temp gauge project. I got a new steiners catalog in the mail that had the very same adapter I made. Would have made my project a whole lot easier if the catalog would have came a day or two sooner!
 
It has been posted many time that the switch from front mount to side was late April or early May of 1950. I do not know if that is fact or not but been posted here many times
 
Norm.........when Ford changed from the weird 4-nipple front mount to the more common looking 5-nipple side mount, they added the dizzy driven "proof-meter", (proof of performance tachometer) with display by yer right knee. The proof-meter display panel had a dimpled (drill here, stupid) panel wide enuff fer a 2-in meter mount by yer left knee. Most of the time the dimple was drilled fer electric cigar lighter. Ever try to find a 6-volt cigar lighter that worked? Ennyhoo, most "add-on" temperature gauges have 6-ft long capillarity tube you end up folding back'n'forth to fit under the hood. Problems with folding you "kink" or crack the tube and let all the "stuff" out. (stuff, technical term) Inspired by "Hobo's" description of how-to drill the "flat-spot" in the cylinder head, I did. But before I drilled, I went shopping fer temperature meter with shorter tube. I found an S-W meter with 3-ft tube at a sports-car repair shop in San Louis Obispo, Calif. I mussta impressed him with tales of "tuning" them weird S-U dual carbie MGA's, TR-3's I tuned fer my WW-2 barrack sqdn mates back in the 60's. Heck, even the sqdn Cmdr had me tune and drive his "bug-eye" Sprite. He had a chauffeur driven sedan. ........HTH, Dell
 

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