Posted by Rootsy on November 02, 2012 at 12:18:48 from (63.86.92.107):
This post is a little late in coming. I had a deadline to finish this project of September 12, 2012. I finished and loaded it on the trailer about 1 am September 13, 2012 and promptly headed for the Mackinac Bridge. I had zero miles on it and about 30 minutes of run time on the engine. Needless to say, though confident in my mechanical abilities, there was some nervousness for the first few miles. In the end it performed flawlessly without issues other than I hooked the ammeter up backward.
I have spoken of the background in other related threads here and how my Father acquired this tractor, finally, in 2007. My Father passed in early 2010 after driving this tractor in the bridge ride in 2009, his last tractor show / parade.
After my uncle passed in early 2011 it was up to me, more or less, to dispose of the physical contents of the partnership. I held an auction in June 2012, less than a week after losing my Mother to Leukemia. This was the only tractor I kept of the 14 my Father, Uncle and I had, because of the sentimental value it possesses and because it was my father's "Holy Grail".
I brought her to my place in March of 2012 and it would not run. It had a stuck an injector while sitting in the barn between my Father's passing and me bringing it home. I had started it at Christmas time, 2011 when I was home and it ran away on me and has no air shut-off above the blower. I had to kill the fuel and it ran itself out, and lean, and took the rings out of it, what was left of them anyway. It has not started well since we had owned it.
Once I had it home I spent some time straightening a few things out and put new N series low deck liners and pistons in it. Just FYI, this won't work. The pistons sit proud of the deck and you cannot get a head gasket to seal. After that I was caught up in my Mother's illness, two bone marrow transplants and ultimately passing as well as prep for the farm auction which I had over 300 hours of labor invested in. If that wasn't enough I found myself unemployed May 29th, 2012... A blessing in disguise.
From Mid June onward I was full time working out of my shop on projects and on this tractor. Everything I touched needed to be repaired or replaced it seems. I had to replace every steering seal, bearing and bushing as well as the tie rod ends. Then I had to rebuild the Char-Lynn power steering pump. I put a proper rebuild kit in the engine, went through the cylinder head, replaced the injectors and buttoned her up. Then I went to replace the left outer axle seal and things got ugly fast.
The bearing behind the seal was missing half of the balls. I popped the top to find them and what I found made me ill... Bits and pieces of bearing everywhere, rust galore, rough ball bearings, all of the rollers from the pinion bearing lying in the sump, all oil passages and returns packed full of steel shavings. I replaced every bearing, seal and gasket. I finally had it buttoned up Mid August.
I took me another week to mock up all of the plumbing and wiring as well as the air intake system, modify a "new" hood and re-solder just about every joint on the radiator (after unplugging it, inside and out). I was beginning to feel the pressure and wondered if I should just forego paint and head North.
I ended up painting it, obviously. PPG's Shop Line product family. I don't recommend it for topcoat in Acrylic Urethane. The coverage is poor, especially on corners and rough surfaces. I put 2 gallons of paint on this thing. Since this tractor had only been repainted one time it's life I used stripper and the power washer to take it to bare metal. In the process I found some old decals applied over the original paint. I documented them digitally as well as dimensionally so I can have them recreated in the future. On each side of the grill there were GM Diesel Power decals and on the left side of the tank there was a decal that read, in 3 lines,
Sold and Services By
The Earle Equipment Co.
Detroit - Grand Rapids
Doing some research I have discovered that the Earle Equipment Co. was a Detroit equipment company that was a GM Diesel distributor as well as Allis Chalmers dealer. They advertised retrofitting your equipment with GM Diesel Power. I have a few pieces of literature from them with these advertisements. The company went under in the early 1980's but had existed since the 20's.
After that it was a matter of strip, wire wheel, sand, prime, paint, assemble, plumb, wire and make sure everything is ready to go. No problem... I found myself working day and night wearing myself out physically.
In the end, I made it North and the further I drove her the better she ran. No noises, smoke, leaks, rattles, etc. She made the 20 mile ride from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace without a hiccup. She draws attention wherever she goes.
This thing almost did me in. I returned from Mackinac, unloaded it, put it in the shop and haven't been back out for more than an hour since. The place is still a disaster area. But I think I need to hook her to the plow and see how she does under a good load in the next few weeks if things dry out.
I can hope my Father is proud of how she turned out.
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