Well, thanks to the great advice here on the discussion group, I've been able to get the WD45 servicable and used it to cut the pasture and haul a big ol' log from a tree that fell in our yard. While feeding the animals the next day, I noticed a bad coolant leak coming from the front of the engine. Great! I normally park it in the grass but for some reason parked it on the driveway, which revealed the coolant leak. I couldn't see much with the hood on so I went about the process of taking the hood off for the first time since I've had it. So I'm standing there with the hood off and my wife walks up and says, 'well, you've been wanting to do a lot to it, now is probably the time.' What I've been wanting to do is correct some things, degrease, sand and paint the engine and all the body work, fix a broken exhaust manifold bolt (more about that later) and generally go through all the maintenance like brake adjustment, adjusting the front wheel bearings, replacing some broken or missing parts, etc., and of course fix the coolant leak. There an exhaust manifold stud broken off flush with the block. I think I can use an easy-out to remove the stud. Will a stud from my WD exhaust work in this block? Can I just use a bolt and washer? Also I'm looking for a plain metal tractor seat. The farm stores around here have everything from generic padded tractor seats all the way up to luxurious contraptions approaching $150. I just want a plain metal tractor seat I can paint orange, like the original seat. There are some coolant droplets on the water pump casting, but might be from blow-back from the engine. If it turns out to be a water pump housing, will the water pump from my WD work? So, I'm about to embark on the degreasing, repair and repainting phase of owning this tractor. It's a good tractor that starts on the first crank every time, and is just right for our size place. Is there anything I should be looking for that is at first not obvious to the beginning tractor restorer? Taking the thing to be sandblasted and painted is not at option. I'll have to clean it up and paint it myself, but I like that kind of thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. vic
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