Last fall I figured out that the clutch on the Vac wasn�t going to be up to pushing snow come winter. Now, it�s kind of hard to explain, but the old Case had always just been there and done what I needed, and for a long time I had changed the oil regularly, and once I had even cleaned the spark plugs. I�ve only owned it for twenty years, and the things that were wrong with it were broke when I got it, and I hadn�t really gotten around to fixing them. I mean why fix brakes when you can�t go fast anyway? And that leaking real wheel seal doesn�t keep it from doing what it needs to do. And the smoke keeps the mosquitoes from bothering you. (Okay, I�ll admit that it was smoking worse than when I got it, much worse, and there were drops of oil in the smoke.)So, I reserved it a space in the garage, meaning to fix the clutch, and maybe the brakes, and on my son�s advice, I started reading here at YTMag. I learned a lot from other people�s questions and asked a few of my own. Then my father-in-law found out. I bought the tractor from him, twenty years ago. I should mention that back in the fifties his family had a car dealership, and to kind of branch out they also sold Case tractors. And that the VAC I have was one they got in, but instead of selling, they used it around the dealership and there homes. So he has had it since it was born. He kind of sold it to me to give it a good long term home. But I don�t think that emotionally he has really signed off of it. I split the tractor, and took the clutch out. And since I was so close, I took the brake housings off. The linkages were broken on both sides, with a few missing pieces. The shoes were very rough. On the right side it was because the seal was leaking. On the left, the seal was leaking too, but sometime in the past, before the seal leaked, it had water in there and it had rusted, a lot. I took the shoes with the clutch to the rebuilder, and while they were gone, found new seals, cleaned up the housings, made a few linkage parts. I got the stuff back, and it all went together pretty well. I changed the oil in the transmission/rear end. I took it for a quick test drive before I did anything else, and it worked. Then, with the tractor together, I replaced the axel seal. I was pretty proud of myself. I knew that the carb was in really bad shape, and a real carb rebuilder owed me a favor, so I took it off and dropped it with him. Then father-in-law came over for dinner one night. I mentioned the engine�s smoking habit. He kind of calmly said, �We need to adjust the valves.� Okay, I kind of nodded along as I ate. That didn�t sound like a bad job. Over the next few days, I kind of tired to figure out how the valves being out of adjustment could make it smoke, so called him. He said, �Oh, the valves just need to be adjusted, we�ll fix the smoke when we put in the new rings.� Did he say rings? I wasn�t thinking of getting that far into it. He went on, �Get the head and the pan off, and it won�t be a thing to put in new rings.� Now I�m not the greatest mechanic in the world, but that VAC hadn�t had real oil pressure since I had it. I weakly whined, �Won�t we be opening a real can of worms? What if the cylinder walls are worn?� �Oh, don�t worry about that,� he told me. �It�s not that old.� I�m thinking that there gaps in his memory. Or Einstein�s relativity theory has special compensation for slow old tractors. I took the head off, and low and behold, the bores are thirty over at the top, just below the ring. I called him and mentioned that. He said, �No problem, we�ll get you new sleeves, and use your pistons with new rings. It won�t be too much money.� I actually believed him. Then he added, �You know, you could get the oversize kit, and add some horsepower.� The last thing that tractor needs is more horsepower. And I was saving my money for a jeep I�m working on. I told him, �No oversize, I just want my tractor back working.� He did offer to track down parts, and after easily finding a gasket set and bearings, he had a lot more trouble finding sleeves. He seemed to think that having part numbers meant that he should be able to get the parts. He has a book with phone numbers, of places to get tractor parts, from the 1950�s. I took the pan off, and pulled a piston up. The grooves were pretty wide. The wrist pin rattled in the piston bore. The pistons were shot. I called him back and told him, and he sounded happy, because he thought it should be easier to find sleeves with pistons rather than just pistons. I expressed, as firmly as I could with Christmas near, that this was beginning to cost more than I had planned. He assured me that it was going to be cheap. I was scared. I made a disk and bought a piece of � fine thread stock, and put them together to pull the old sleeves. It was easy. I cleaned out the block. I fixed the leaking gas tank. (Did I mention that the gas tank had been leaking?) Then on the bench I took the head apart and cleaned everything up. Surprisingly, once I got the carbon out, it was in good shape. It didn�t even need a valve job. I asked him and he didn�t remember it ever having a valve job, but it must have at some point. After a few days, he called me,. He had the sleeves and pistons on order. He must have pestered a lot of people, but he got me a good deal on the kit. It was more than I planned. With the parts, and everything ready, it started going together good. Which was a good thing since it was snowing outside. Then I noticed how much thinner the new sleeves were than the old ones. He had snuck in a overbore kit. I really wonder if I hadn�t noticed if he would have ever even told me. He showed up again as I was putting the head on, and sure enough he made sure that the valves got adjusted right. I think he has a thing for valves. We put on the rebuilt carb. I turned it over a few times with the coil wire off to get some oil pressure, then hooked it up and it fired right up. It is now a totally different tractor than what I had. I can�t begin to explain, but to plow snow I didn�t have to scream the engine. It starts better. My clothes don�t have black spots when I get off. When I plowed the garden this spring, it wouldn�t bog the engine down. It stays cleaner. I put gas in, and the next time I go to use it, it still has gas in it. The oil pressure gage actually measures oil pressure. I�m not sure that fixing the brakes was worth it, after twenty years of not using them, I can�t seem to remember they are available. Anyway, it wasn�t what I had planned to do for that month, but I don�t regret it at all. And maybe I�ll get inspired to put some paint it. But I�m not in a real hurry.
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