March, 1999
3-7-99: I started the final fit and finish on the hood, and found that the front foot or so was bent up about 1/2 inch from where it should be, so I bent it back down, and it cracked the braze when I bent it. I brazed it again, then ground it off and filled it with body putty. Pat came over, so he and I took the hood off, removed the radiator, air cleaner, muffler, carburetor and crank case breather pipe, because we both think the top water pipe has to come off to repair it. Guess what? Two of the bolts that hold the pipe to the block broke off. More drilling and tapping to do.
Click
here to see the hood primed.
3-13-99: I drilled the bolts out of the block and re-tapped them. I bought new studs and put them in with loc-tite, and made a new gasket for the upper pipe casting. I think that after looking in the old pipe that I will replace the whole thing, or put a new pipe on the casting. I have checked around on the internet, and a replacement costs anywhere from $70 to $125. It is just about freezing today, so I think that's it for now.
3-15-99: I talked to Pat Noonan today, and asked him if he wants to go parts looking Saturday. He said OK, so we will head east to Dennis Polk's over in Indiana to see what they have there. I have a list of little parts to look for as well as the water pipe.
3-20-99: Carolyn and I drove over to Pat's house to pick him up for a trip to Polk's. We looked all over the yard at what must be the largest collection of two-cylinder tractors ever. There are at least 50 model B's, about evenly divided between unstyled, styled and late-styled, including a few BN's, BW's and I think one BNH They also have the same for model A's and lots of model D's, H's, GP's and all of the two and three digit number series.
We found a vent pipe for the radiator in great condition and the clamping bolt for the air cleaner cup band, but all of the water pipes have been removed or they look about as bad as what I have now, or just slightly better. All of the exhaust pipes look about the same. I did find a few good condition crankcase cover and breather assemblies, but I will wait on that until I start working on the back end.
3-21-99: I cleaned the used vent pipe inside and out, and painted it with rust converter, then drilled out the old packing and broken vent pipe from the original packing nut. I started repairing the carburetor which has a loose choke lever. I removed the choke shaft and plate so that I can tighten the lever to the shaft by swaging the end of the shaft to the lever, and then I put it back together. I also cleaned all of the paint off the carburetor and I find that it is a DLTX-10. The parts book says that model was for tractors up to number 95999, with a DLTX-34 after that until the late-styled model came out at number 201000. This is odd, as the tractor has the gasoline manifold and exhaust pipe, with the bolts at an angle.
Click
here to see the carburetor.
3-22-99: I cut the upper water pipe from the casting with a cut off wheel, and chiseled the last inch of pipe out of the casting. It came out nice and easy. It was badly rusted into the casting area almost all of the way through, and had one hole inside the casting area, so I think replacing it is a good idea. I will go to the muffler shop Wednesday to make a new piece. I ordered the radiator vent pipe packing, water manifold gasket and a carburetor gasket from Circle W Tractor.
3-24-99: I stopped by the Tuffy muffler shop on the way home from work and asked them to bend a piece of 2 1/2 inch pipe to a shape like the upper water pipe. It took them 15 minutes and it cost me $20.00. It is bent on a die type bender, not a mandrel bender, so the bends are not as pretty as from John Deere, but it fits fine, and is a lot thicker than the rusted-out one that came off, or any of the used ones I saw in the in the parts yards. I set the radiator in place, lined it up with the bolts, and then I bolted the upper pipe casting onto the block to get everything fixed in place, then I put the new pipe into the casting and connected the upper radiator hose, trying to get the pipe as straight as I can. I tack brazed the pipe into the casting in three places to hold it in alignment. I will take it over to Bill Peak's to finish brazing on Saturday.
3-27-99: Went over to Bill's shop, and helped him unload a "Tennent" shop sweeper from his trailer, and tinkered with it to make it run better. I brazed the new pipe into the casting while I was there. Picked the gaskets and packing up at Circle W and then Carolyn and I drove to Blain's farm and Fleet to get some more green and yellow paint, as well as more primer and a few tools. That big Amtrak train wreck a few weeks ago was right behind the store. I body puttied the bends in the pipe, sanded it down, and then primed and painted. I think it looks as good as an original. (A new one is $259.00!!!)
3-28-99: After the pipe dried, I bolted it on, and it looks good! I will put the fan shaft, radiator and air cleaner back on tomorrow.
Click
here to see the new upper pipe.
