Leave original or re paint

longbow51

New User
I am new to Yesterday's Tractors and have no idea what to expext. My name is Steve and I live in Granbury Texas. I usually collect and restore antique engines, pumpjacks, windmills, and farm emplements. I recently acquired my first tractor. Less than a mile from my farm parked behind an old barn set a 1939 Minn Moline model RTU. The old timer that owned it said I could have it if I could get it running, so I drug it home and have been having a blast working on it. It's one of the most interesting and easy to work on engines I've ever worked on. The question I have for y'all is will repainting it hurt the value or is it better to keep it original. The sheet metal is almost perfect with zero dents but the paint is almost all gone except for the underside of hood and most other under sides. All my old engine buds say don't touch it with new paint. The tractor is perfectly original and missing nothing even down to the original spark plug wires. It was parked in 1968 and ran out of gas in the sand in the spot I picked it up from.That's 46 years of Texas hail, sand storms, rain, tornados, and hot summers. The inside of the engine is very clean and in great condition. This old tractor will plow again.
 
My opinion, whichever way you go, either keep it original [ not a bad idea ] or repaint, IMHO keep it indoors. I hate to see nice venerable handsome old tractors out in the weather rotting away, collecting water in parts whereit ain't s'posed to get. Once corrosion starts on steel sheet metal, it starts pitting down into the metal, it keeps on going, the corrosion pits on down, erupts corrosion products up, collects water, promotes more corrosion, and it ain't gonna stop.
 
I would say it would be up to the buyers the day of the auction if you decide to sell some may want it to be original an some
painted so go with you want
 

I agree completely. The story of this tractor is perfectly preserved like it is. I will post a few pics soon.
 
Keep it original...I'm not touching this E-5 Co-op..
27wvo0m.jpg
 

Nice E-5 CO-OP. That muffler aint original. Wouldn't work to well if it was I suppose. Spray some rust on it. I need to post a pic or two of my Minn Moline. Coming soon.
 

Nice E-5 CO-OP. That muffler aint original. Wouldn't work to well if it was I suppose. Spray some rust on it. I need to post a pic or two of my Minn Moline. Coming soon.
 
I have some tractors that are restored and look better than new. I also have some that are original and they will stay that way. If it is that straight I would leave it original. Steve
 

Thanks for the advice. The way I see it is if it neededwouldn't eet metal or I needed to repair dents it would be obvious and wouldn't look good unless I sandblasted and painted it. It needs no dend treplacerepair so I think its a good idea to leave it original. I do need to replace the oil cup under the air filter as its rusted thrue and wont hold oil. I had to replace all three guages as well. Needless to say the original 76 year old tires with great tread chust crumbled like crackers when I moved the tractor. Hard to find 8 x 36 rears.
 
They are like a woman only original once.Whatever you decide is correct answer.One piece of advice do it right or leave it as that will hurt the value for sure.
 
My opinion is that in the condition you describe needing no bodywork, I would leave it. If it had a bad repaint, or was dinged up and needed to be painted to look good, then I have no problem painting. I fluid filmed one of my JDs to preserve it when I decided not to paint it.
 

Ok here it is. My first antique tractor. 1939 Minn Moline model RTU. Number 477 of 2200. This one came with electric start and a hydrolic pump. Its is stuck as expected but not broke. I replaced gear shift knob and guages. Still needs a bit of repair and replace like spark plug wires and such but mag and generator are good. This tractor seems to be very well made. I will not paint it.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top