The repairs on the tractor continue to frustrate me. In my last post I mentioned I needed to replace some gaskets. Remove 4 nuts, take the manifold off, put the new gaskets in place, replace the manifold. Turned out to be not so simple. Instead of the nuts coming off the studs, 3 of the 4 studs came out of the engine block as the nuts were so tightly rusted to the studs they would not come off. The 4th one I removed myself, intending to replace all 4 with new parts. Here is a photo of one of the rusted studs:
One of 4 manifold studs from the Ford 8n tractor
Removing the studs necessitatied draining the anti-freeze out of the engine. I didn’t realize this until anti-freeze started to come out with the studs. Anti-freeze on the floor of the garage, what a mess. Put a bucket under the radiator and drained enough fluid out so it would not leak out the stud holes.
Surprise! When I went looking for new studs I found they are not available. After speaking to a tractor restoration shop, I learned the manifold I had was not factory stock, but a replacment unit (no longer made) that was sold in the ’60s. Great.
So it is back to my parts tractor to pull offf the manifold. I hope it is stock. I ordered studs and brass nuts that are the correct ones for a stock manifold. They have not arrived yet. The car sits outside (frosted windows every morning) while the tractor sits in the garage leaking oil on the floor. I hope the parts arrive soon so I can work on it duing the Thanksgiving weekend. I’ll have to pull the carburator off the ’60s manifold and put it on the parts tractor manifold as part of the repair. I figure another couple hours of labor, and if I am lucky, the tractor will start.
On the bright side, the left brakes are now working. However, when I took the left side apart I found a piece with a broken bolt in it. Parts tractor to the rescue, but I had to remove a bearing race from the original unit and put it into the replacment. Hammer and punch to remove the race from both the old and replacment units, then tap the correct race into the replacement carrier. Extra time and work that was not anticipated.
I worked about 7 hours straight on the tractor on Sunday, and it is not yet in running condition. But…I have working brakes on both rear wheels. I guess that is progress. Slow progress, frustrating, but progress none the less. I will have to be satisfied with that!
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
I’d gather some of the sawdust from (your) firewood cutting, and spread it on the garage floor — definitely absorb both oil and anti-freeze, though care has to be taken not to let dust into the engine…
A heavy anti-oxidizing solvent in a “shaker-can” would probably solve the rust/bolt problem, though it appears that the threads are wearing, and I doubt you’ve the equipment to cut new threads and/or determine thread count/pitch/depth, etc. It’s obvious that penetrating oil wouldn’t help.
‘could always find your “friendly local Tool & Die maker” to turn new threads, etc (though there aren’t that many around that specialize in that kind of work).
Having the parts tractor has come in handy — hopefully the threads in the block weren’t damaged by the replacement bolts — re-boring/threading is a major headache!
So, the tractor has turned into something like an antique auto restoration — a “labor of love” rather than cost-effective repair. Call it a “hobby”, though I’m sure you’d rather be out on ATV, snowmobile, or enjoying your land…