Dads 2N/8N

Hi folks. I thought this would be an intersting ongoing story. My uncle (Dad's oldest brother), bought what he thought was an 8n a few years ago, not knowing what he was looking at. All he saw was the same tractor his Dad (my Grandpa) had. Litle did he know, my Grandpa had a 2n. This was about 9 years ago. 7 years ago, my Dad bought it from him, sight unseen, but knowing it ran, brought it home. My Dad was not happy when he found that it was a 2n, thinking he bought a 8n. A bit of saving grace here: It has a Sherman step-up, and everything works. Now fast forward 7 years (this spring). The tractor had been used on and off for these years, couple times a year at most. Now it's time to get it in shape. We had always had problems starting after a long time, and attributed it to just sitting. Now it turns out we have bigger issues. We rebuilt the carb, because it needed to be done, and then discovered more issues. The carb rebuild went well and the tractor ran well. We turned it off, and it would not start again (an ongoing issue). Let it cool off for a couple hours, and it would start no problem. Now it won't start at all. So now, after much research and much arguingabout whether it is an 8 or a 2n, turns out we were both right. Whoever the shyster was that sold my uncle the tractor had a 2n with a blown engine, and put an 8n engine onto it. My Dad was arguing that it had to be a 2n, because of the back wheels and brake and clutch pedals, and I kept arguing that it had the 8n electronics and it had a BIG 8N STAMPED ON THE ENGINE BLOCK. Just in case you're wondering, it is a front mount distributor. That threw both of us for a bit. Has a 6 blade fan, 8N right? Silly me. Now finally I decide to look for serial numbers. Boy did I come up confused! There was a big 8N stamped on the bell housing just below and to the rear of the starter. Then I glance toward the back and see a big 2N stamping on the rear differential housing. More research. I look at the block where the serial is supposed to be stamped. Oh boy, look at that, it has been brazed over. Yes, I can see where a patch was required, about a foot away,where the block had cracked, but why did he braze a 2 foot chunk of brass over the whole serial #? OH!!! I see! He hid the fact that he had slapped this tractor together and ripped my uncle off, selling it as an 8N, when it was not even a 2N. Still a working tractor though. Now the big issue. WHOEVER put this tractor together, had not a flippin clue what he was doing with electronics. He put an 8N system onto a 2N and tried to use everything without taking anything out.It looked like a dog's breakfast until last Monday when my son and I started tracing wiring. Now we have the basic wiring done and I have a decent diagram to go by. Unfortunately, I did this BEFORE I had a good wiring diagram. Now Dad and I are replacing the ignition system in a couple weeks. That's my bad. Oops. We did find a couple of boo-boos in the wiring though, least of which was the ammeter wired backwards. Now the next trip out to Dad's, it's to make sure the genny is wired right, and repolarize it. He had it tested, and it should be good to go. Oh yeah, did I mention that the guy who slapped these 2 tractors together painted over EVERYTHING??? Not a part # to be seen, unless it was cast into the part (not stamped, paint filled those letters). Now, from reading this, you may assume my Dad and I were a little upset, and you would be right.But to give it some perspective, we have had a working tractor (with issues). That's the story so far, we're waiting for ignition parts, and I will update with pics and stuff soon. These are wonderful little tractors, I wouldn't trade this for a brand new one any day! Curt N, MB, entered 2011-07-29 My Email Address: Not Displayed

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