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G-MAN
10-31-2002 10:43:13
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Re: JD A Breakdown in reply to Blake, 10-30-2002 19:29:42
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I would not even consider sandblasting the complete tractor unless you intend to disassemble it completely after. No matter how well you plug off the various holes and mask the tractor, that sand will get in everywhere you don't want it. It will get past seals, gaskets, and everywhere else, and you will never get it all back out without complete disassembly. I cringe every time I read a restoration story where the restorer says something like "I rebuilt the engine and replaced the seals and gaskets in the tranmission. Then we sandblasted the tractor and painted it". Sandblasting works great on big cast iron components, but in the wrong hands it can ruin items like sheet metal in a heartbeat. As far as cleaning before painting, excellent results can be achieved with degreasers, scrapers, power-washers, wire brushes, and good old fashioned elbow grease. Like Bob posted, how far you want to take it down is going to depend on your ability, tools, your work area, budget and how much time you want to devote to the project. I am currently in the middle of a bare main case restoration of my '48 "G", and I can tell you that it has been way more work and money so far than I had anticipated it would be. It can also be hard to get up the ambition to work on it, when I've been working all week on other people's green tractors. This one is my dream tractor, so the time and money will be worth it, but I don't know that I'll ever take one this far again - unless someone is paying me to do it, lol.
Good luck with the "A" and whatever you decide to do with it.
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