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October and November 1999
October
10-16-99: Started the tractor up to do a little yard work. I
pulled some shrubs and small trees out of the side yard. Tractor started
OK, but it is smoking some, and the right cylinder is dripping a little oil out
of the relief valve. After I pulled the bushes and trees, I decided to put
the tractor away for the winter. I do not have anti-freeze in the engine,
just plain water, and I do not want it to freeze, so I drained it and pushed it
into the garage. I will look at the engine tomorrow morning.
10-17-99: I removed the gasoline from the tank for use in the snow
blower, which will be in use here very soon. I removed the spark plugs,
and the right plug (a Champion) is soaked with oil. The left plug is
sooted, but not much oil on it. I think I will pull the head and look at
the cylinder walls, to see if they are scratched up, glazed, or if I have a
broken or stuck ring. I pulled the head and the cylinders do look work a
bit, but not too bad. I took the head apart and cleaned the carbon off
with oven cleaner, then ground the valves. I will pull the pistons and
look at the rings next weekend.
10-23-99: Pulled the pistons out. The rings are worn some and
scratched, so I think this is the problem. I found that the pistons were
changed to gasoline types with raised tops. I cleaned them up real good
and removed the rings. I checked the crankshaft journals and the
connecting rod bearings. Everything looks OK. That is good news!
Click
here to see photo of the head
November 1999
11-1-99: Carolyn and I stopped by Pep Boys to see if they carry John
Deere rings and gaskets after work. No such luck. I heard that NAPA
did carry some tractor parts, so I thought it was worth a try. I looked
for a cylinder hone, but the one they have is too dainty for a 4 1/2 inch
cylinder with a 5 inch stroke. Might be OK for some little engine, but not
one this big.
11-2-99: Went over to Sears to get a cylinder hone and piston ring
pliers.
11-8-99: I called several parts sources and found the best deal at
Heritage Equipment John Deere dealer in Clair, Michigan and at the Hogan John
Deere dealer in Morris, Illinois. I spoke with Todd at Heritage, and
ordered the parts from him. I called Pat Noonan to tell him about my new
project. He mentioned that his Farmall model M is getting close to done,
and he needs a few parts.
11-9-99: I used my parts sources to look for what Pat needs, and he
contacted some of his as well. He found the original style seat and the
magneto shut-off switch at the same place, in Effingham, Illinois, about 225
miles south of here.
11-10-99: Pat called and said he wanted to go down by Effingham to get
his parts this Saturday. Looks like a nice trip, so I said OK.
11-11-99: The parts for our tractor arrived today. I will start
on the engine rebuilding project Sunday.
11-13-99: Pat picked me up this morning after breakfast for our
Effingham trip. We met a couple of nice guys, Father and son, at Weber's
Tractor in the small town of Newton, about 30 miles southeast of Effingham.
Pat bought an oil pressure gauge, magneto switch, grill cover, complete
original 1939 model M seat, and the lever for the shutters.
11-14-99: Pat came over and we started cleaning up the pistons and
honing the cylinders. We worked all day, and it doesn't look much
different than it did this morning.
11-16-99: I forgot to get the lead washers for the head nuts, so I
ordered them from Heritage Equipment today. They should be here Friday or
Monday of next week.
11-20-99: I fit the connecting rods to the crankshaft, by leaving the
rings off the pistons and removing a most of shims from the rods, leaving the
large on and one thin one on each side of the cap. I then tighten the rod
bearings and move the flywheel. It did not turn the first time, so I
removed the cap and added one shim to each side of the cap and try again until
it turned easily. By adding one shim after I was able to turn the
flywheel, I now have .003 inch oil clearance in the bearing. I fit both
rods one at a time, then fastened them both to see how it turned. All is
well. I have four shims left over, so I only had .003 inch extra clearance
between the crank pin and the rod bearing.
Click
here to see photo of the fitting of the bearings
I put the new manifold gasket on and assembled the manifold to the head.
Dan and I put the head combustion chamber side down into the tractor front
support, then tilted it up, and then slid it onto the block studs after coating
the gasket with "Copper Coat" gasket sealer. I have used
"Copper Coat" for more than 40 years and have never had a head gasket
leak. I ran a couple head nuts up tight to make the head squeeze the
gasket just a little. I will have to wait until the lead washers get here
to torque the head properly.
Click
here to see photo of the engine ready for the head
11-21-99: I cleaned the garage a little today, and found about 25 rags
that need to be washed. The last time I cleaned them in the house washing
machine Carolyn about killed me, so I came up with this: I will wash them in the
garage, in a bucket. I put a quarter cup of dishwashing liquid detergent
in my big (4 gallon) bucket and filled it half way up with hot water from the
sink. I figure the oil in the rags is close to cooking oil, so dishwashing
detergent should do the job. I used my mechanic's hammer as the agitator,
and mashed and swished them around for about 5 minutes until the water got cool.
The water turned dark gray, and the bubbles went away real fast. I
dumped it out, and the rags looked about the same as before. I repeated
with 2 cups of laundry powder detergent, more hot water, and had similar
results, so I repeated the process again, and got almost the same results.
They are still stained, but when I rinsed them in clear water, it only
turned a light gray and was almost transparent. Wow! I bet I have
used $2.00 worth of soap and water to halfway clean $1.50 worth of rags!
At least I didn't mess up the washing machine again. {grin}
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hereto
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