1946 2N refurbish

Gantt

Member
I bought an old 2N a few weeks ago from a neighbor. I brought it home and went right to work. Radiator was leaking, pulled the hood and radiator. I ll have the old one patched as a spare but went ahead and ordered a new radiator, thermostat and a set of hoses. I went over the tractor making a list of parts needed and maintenance that should be performed.
I am taking it down to bare metal and will paint it back the original dark grey color.
My goal is to have a clean example to represent our history of agriculture. I ll use it at the local antique pull meets, parades and around the house with garden and yard work. Searching for a nice used mowing deck now


First picture is back in October when I borrowed it to turn my garden. Current pics today

She holds good oil pressure and overall is in good condition.

I am a mechanic by trade, and with working on today s electronically controlled engines and vehicles this simple tractor is refreshing to work on. It s simplicity is almost foreign to me.
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Another new user here. I am now within reach of retirement and this last fall I bought my first 8N as entertainment both to work on and to use on the property. After the work I have done it is hard to wait till spring to start her up. I already have a list of things I want to do next winter, but I want to use her this summer! I just have to say that even as a kid I thought there was something attractive about these old Fords and I always wanted one. My dad bought a brand new 4000 back in the early 60's that someday I will locate.... That 2N is a good looking tractor. Truthfully, they all are.
PS cold enough last couple days that the river froze over for the first time last night. Kind of late for Minnesota but that is OK.
 

Its a great way to use your skills and get away from the everyday grind of working on modern cars... I am not much for that's the way Henry made it I prefer to use my knowledge to make it the way Henry would have made it today : )....
 
Got the fenders off, hit with a wire wheel and coated with paint remover. They changed paint stripper and it doesn t work nearly was well as it used to. Dang government

Exhaust has a hole rusted through before the muffler. Hope to get a new set. May have to reuse the old for now.

Made good progress for this weekend.
 
Nice project. Yes they are so simple to work on and they still work after 76 years.

I always loved the fact that there wasn't a single metric bolt on it.

Have fun.
 

I am young, at 31 and I have rarely needed Fractional wrenches. I have a 67 camaro but that s the only thing I ever need standard tools with.
I always say standard won the War, and now we use metric. I guess metric is easier to learn with the lower standard of learning we have today.
I have a trained eye for metric sizes. Still fumbling with nuts sizes on this old gal.

My Harbor Freight electric die grinder puffed the magic smoke today. Time to go get a new one. Can t complain, it was worth the $25 spent.

My grill is full of bondo on the lower edges, I ll just keep going with it. A nice grill is out of my price range at the moment.

Down the road I ll get a nice grill and new hood assembly. Thinking about the idea of welding a section in to cover the air cleaner door that comes on the new hood. I m not a stickler for period correct but I really don t like the door. Looks cleaner without it.
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Good looking machine, it should serve you well!

"Exhaust has a hole rusted through before the muffler. Hope to get a new set."

The horizontal exhaust pipe and muffler are one piece, sold for
~$26 here on YT. Around $30 at your local tractor supply store.

If you search the local tractor junk yards and you're not in a hurry,
you can find a good used hood and grill. They are much better as
far as quality goes. The original grill, for example, weighs double
what the aftermarkets do. I had both here and weighed them.

Best of luck!
 

I got stuck with having to buy both standard and metric... : (

When I started wrenching the shop I worked at had a cigar box of metric tools that was it... They would hand me the cigar box cuzz none of the old guys would work on a Toyota...

Other than my girlfriends Bug and a few Honda motor cycles the first paying job where metric was needed was a Toyota it was a early 70's Celica I had to replace the head gasket...

BTW looks like you are gonna need a new wheel to hold on to...
 
I figured original fit better than aftermarket. On classic cars that is the norm.
I have a new wheel ordered. I was mistakenly thinking the exhaust was about $55. I will check it out, 39 bucks is reasonable.

My dad has some metric stuff but not much.
I have four times the metric compared to standard. I have sockets and wrenches which suffice. On metric I have all sorts of different wrenches, swivel sockets and all kinds of special things needed to work on todays stuff with everything packed in together. You can not fit a feeler gauge between the engine and firewall these days.

I am not sure about tractor junk yards local. I am in the south, in a rural and agricultural area so we should have a decent supply of old tractors. It seems like you see more up north though, judging by the forum activity online.
 
i scored a half gallon of the old style paint stripper from work. i was in the body shop and they said something about having some of the old stuff they are throwing out due to being outlawed. i "threw it out" for them. this will be a life saver when stripping the paint from the block and hard to reach places. i fell like i found a gold nugget!!!
 

If you have plenty of air this is hard to beat... google

needle scaler attachment for air hammer

You will find it handy for use at your day job also :wink: I keep mine on a cheap CP air hammer all the time... I use a HF are northern tool cheap one they last a few years with hard use till the needles start falling out...

Lets say you are working on something the bolts are caked with mud/rust/grease are etc like a differential cover are ball joints, wheel bearing hub this will knock them clean rat now life will be good...

On a cast steel/iron tractor it will knock the paint off are chip it up with no damage to the metal are not enoufh its gonna show...
 
Most all bolts will be a 7/16" bolt taking a 11/16" wrench on nut and same on bolt head unless a newer bolt then 5/8". A very few 1/2" like battery cable. Front axle adjustment, fender and rear wheel bolts are 5/8" and orignal had a heavy nut of 1 1/16" wrench size, replacement size will be 15/16". Hope this helps. I have a 44 2N that I have had for 75 years or since I was 8 months old and a 41 9N. Head bolt nuts 11/16" and never was any torque specks for them as at that time the repair shops did not even know what a touque wrench was.
 
Love to see one back in gray! We did
this one for my dad.
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It's not correct but Pops loves it.
Drives it around all the time
 
Grandpa, nice machine, myself i dislike the red.. i was happy when i found out my 46 was a dark grey since i was not a fan of the red and light grey.

leroy, good to know. i keep a tray with the common sizes on it as i move around the tractor.

i dont have much air at home. a small pancake compressor. i have a large compressor from a defunct auto dealership but it takes 220v, my shop is not even wired. i run a large gauge drop cord to it, and have a series of extension cords in a semi permanent arrangement to run what i need to run. i can't run my lights and 110v welder at the same time. all welding is done outside in daylight hours.

i am trying to get my ducks in a row to build a house out on some acreage i have, and a three bay shop is int he plans as well
 
I am sure Milwaukee has a cordless hammer in the works : )

I never thought I would ever shed my addiction of a hose operated tools but Milwaukee has about got me off the hose...
 
I ve used their stuff and I m not thrilled with it, but not displeased
I had issues with their electric ratchet wrenches. But I also work at a heavy diesel shop so I put stress on tools the average wrench turner does not subject their tools to.
I have a 3/8 electric impact that works pretty good for home use, and my dad uses an electric side grinder, for home use if imagine the Milwaukee tools are fine. I use air at work because an air tool seems to last longer than electric. And at home I just can t justify spending the money on air or electric tools. Except for impacts.... you HAVE to have a good impact for breaking bolts loose.


My radiator, and paint came in today. Waiting on air filter packing and a steering wheel still.
When I get a proper compressor up and running I want to get a real paint gun. I have used the electric harbor freight model with decent results. I would not paint a car with it though. Hoping to spray the tractor with it. Hope it turns out good enough
I need tie rods and a 12v conversion along with a new tailpipe and I ll be all set. I m sure I will run into a few more things along the way. Projects always do that.
 
If you worked on cars and light trucks you would love'em if for nuttin else the time saved and ease of operation...

My air tools are rusting the only time I turn air on is to change/air up a tire are blow something off I go days and never put power to the compressor I can live off the air in the tank for no more than I use it now...

I am saving enoufh in electricity to pay for my Milwaukee tools : ) close anyways and not limited to how far I can stretch a hose :lol:
The local truck shop down the street has about gone all cordless other than a heavy impacts...
 
my tractor came with home made floorboards. I took them off tonight, taking them to work to clean up the edges where an acetylene torch was used to cut the steel out. I ll make the edges square and smooth with a grinder and cutting wheel.

I sat on the tractor and propped my feet on the factory pegs. I do not know if it is the motorcycle experience I have or what, but I like the feel. I ll clean the boards up and paint them in case I change my mind.

I may leave it with the pegs only.
I wish my dads bush hog would fit this old gal, I have 20 acres that was clear cut about 8 years ago and I want to clear some of it out soon. Our 2005 Kabota just doesn t like woods work. You really can not cut in forward gear since the steering joints are exposed. Even a bumper will not prevent steering linkage joint damage. But the bush hog is almost too heavy for the Kabota without front weights added. I know the 2N will not hold it up.

We used to have an old Massey 135 and it was a good tractor. You could roll right over saplings with the front axle and never skip a beat. It was around a 1968 model and we bought it from the farm it lived since new. I miss that tractor. Wish we had not had sold it. Bush hogging the fields for winter I used to imagine what the guy felt like when he bought the tractor brand new. I always liked to think he was proud of it. It was kept in a barn, never outside. Looking back, we had a nice gem and didn t realize it.
I flipped it as a teenager. I had discovered you could slide the tractor sideways by locking both brakes and turning.
What a moron, in hindsight. I count that as one of the times I should have been killed.
God knew he needed to assign an experienced guardian angel for me. I was a handful in my younger days. And the motorcycles helped bring out the bad...
 
Spent some time in the shop this morning.
Found some damage on a front wheel. I ll use it as is for now. It works. And I do not want to break the bank fixing everything that has damage. Looks like the valve stem area is rusted out and someone put epoxy around it.

A rear fender had some rust holes. I drilled out the holes with a dremel and welded the holes up. Was in the process of grinding the welds down when the grinder died. Lasted one day
Chinese junk.

Got most of the paint stripped off the front wheels. I hope to lay primer on the front wheels and rear fenders tomorrow. Also starting to strip the chassis paint.
I have some really good undercoating left over from some Ford recalls. It stops rust in its tracks. I prepped and painted the inside of the tool box in it. Also the battery tray since it was pretty bad.
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Spent some time in the shop this morning.
Found some damage on a front wheel. I ll use it as is for now. It works. And I do not want to break the bank fixing everything that has damage. Looks like the valve stem area is rusted out and someone put epoxy around it.

A rear fender had some rust holes. I drilled out the holes with a dremel and welded the holes up. Was in the process of grinding the welds down when the grinder died. Lasted one day
Chinese junk.

Got most of the paint stripped off the front wheels. I hope to lay primer on the front wheels and rear fenders tomorrow. Also starting to strip the chassis paint.
I have some really good undercoating left over from some Ford recalls. It stops rust in its tracks. I prepped and painted the inside of the tool box in it. Also the battery tray since it was pretty bad.
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Good post.
Nice to see someone who can weld a bit
and not rely on that darned JB Weld.
That's probably what they "fixed" the
rims with. I don't like JB, though I did
buy some to fix the knob on the cover of
our rice cooker a couple of weeks ago.
So far it's still holding.
Hadn't read this thread before but just
cruised through the whole thing and
noticed a couple of things. First that
you grew up in a Massey 135 and then
that you are trying to keep the cost
down on rehabbing this N.
Ive seen a Lot of guys here buy an N and
then spend Thousands fixing it up. For
that $ they could have had a nice 135.
So keep that in mind whenever you're
about to pull your wallet out on this
tractor.
Something else I'll mention:
Myself and at least half of the board
members here read only Classic View.
In Modern View it will kick your latest
reply to the top of the list.
Not so with Classic. In Classic these
replys lie buried on page 10 or some
such and will never be seen by half of
the folks here.
Goofy to have both views but it is what
it is. Keep that in mind though.
Maybe post a new thread and topic when
it gets more than 3 or 4 days old.
You'll get twice the number of folks to
see it and give you advice if you need
it.
 

That s probably why I ve noticed a new thread for different weeks progresses.

I used jb weld to close a busted crankcase on a dirt bike once. I let the chain get slack and it came off the front sprocket and knocked a hole the size of Rhode Island in the crankcase. Jb weld and twelve years later the guy I sold it to said it was till running great.

The 135 was a good tractor but it would stall out after it got hot with an hours or so use in the summer. I was a kid/teen at the time with no diagnostic training. And my dad s diag abilities total up to breaking it and cussing when it doesn t work as it should. We called it vapor lock. But it could have been a filter in the fuel in hindsight. We always would check the sediment bowl. But never knew if there was another filter or screen.

My plan for this old 2N is to be able to till my garden up, and cut my yard. I ll put it in the local parades pulling floats and the local antique pull meet once a year. She s al old girl and I know there are better choices for a workhorse. This is more of a project, and I ll get some use out of it too.

I am younger than most here, at 31. But I have a fascination with older stuff. I believe that America has seen its best days. And I guess I am trying to hold on to what we had in our greatest era.

Not to mention older stuff often works bette fans last much longer than new things.
 

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