We’re again with one other replace on our Nineteen Forties mongrel N-series Ford tractor undertaking. If in case you have not been following for the reason that begin, we scored this tractor on a budget and made it run and ultimately we’re going to construct an 8BA flathead V8 for the machine and do the swap that 1000’s of farmers have performed over time to get extra grunt from their N-series. Why? As a result of they’re cool and now we have all the time needed one! The opposite essential aim of this undertaking is to have some wrenching time with the boys and train them some fundamental mechanical stuff earlier than graduating onto extra superior initiatives.
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So my son Tom and I’ve been chipping away at little stuff on the tractor and preparing for the bigger job of fixing the rear brakes that are all however junk from years of oil leaking by the seals and making once we understand to be a greasy, sloppy mess contained in the brake drums. We’ll get there in a second. Additionally, after I say little stuff, I imply little stuff. Like really bolting the nostril on.
Including a radiator cap that truly suits and correctly seals
And really connecting the cost wire to the again of the generator. After we do the engine swap down the highway the entire tractor will get a recent wiring harness. We had figured that the generator was non-functional and that was why the cost wire was not current and accounted for right here. That wasn’t the case. As soon as we hooked it up, all the things was working nice.
Together with the generator hook-up we additionally swapped out the battery cables for some recent ones. The items on the tractor had been all cracked and gouged and stuff. Tom dealt with this easy operation.
Subsequent up, as we had been ready for our brake components to reach within the type of sneakers, springs, and that good things, we determined to do some gauge work. This tractor has an 8N sprint and as such has a gap for a Ford Proofmeter which is a tach and hour-meter that was supplied within the later 8N lineup. The set up, like all the opposite stuff right here, is admittedly easy. It’s a mechanical pushed unit that runs off the governor on the entrance of the engine. There are alternatives on which kind of cable drive to purchase. We splurged and went with the OE type metal one as a result of the plastic ones we noticed appear to be Chinese language rubbish.
Tom was the lead man on this one as properly.
After taking the mounting cup off the again, putting in the gauge is as simple as popping it by the outlet after which sliding the retainer cup again onto the studs and locking it down into place with the equipped nuts.
The governor on these engines is true up entrance and you may see the cracked plastic cap which is “defending” the threaded nipple that the cable drive will screw into for the Proofmeter. There’s actually no trick right here apart from ensuring that you don’t kink the cable or bend it in too tight a radius someplace on the best way from the sprint to the entrance of the tractor. We used some channel locks to cinch the cable down on each ends.
The enjoyable a part of the Proofmeter job for Tom was the payoff. It’s one factor to put in the gauge and one other to see it work, proper? Properly as one factor all the time results in one other, the set up of the Proofmeter led us to find that the throttle quadrant was out of adjustment and we weren’t seeing the two,200rpm redline “full throttle” RPM of the tractor except we took the deal with and twisted it off the tip of the quadrant. So we took a scorching second and made that adjustment by tweaking the throttle rod and correctly positioning the arm on the quadrant rod itself. The end result?
With that, we had a couple of days wait till the brake components I ordered arrived on the home. We had been excited for the brake stuff to get right here as a result of as soon as we get the brakes really working, we will stretch this factor’s legs slightly bit and get issues just like the Overdrive working once more. So this may transform an journey.
The primary main discovery we made, which was made in a nick of time is that the rear tires of this tractor, like many others, are water crammed. Due to that, they weigh a TON. Earlier than I pulled it off the studs I rocked the tire backwards and forwards and heard the water. The 8N I grew up on had water crammed tires as properly. It aids with traction, for apparent causes. Tom and I wrestled the tires off and thoroughly acquired them apart.
With the tires off we acquired an excellent image of how leaky these items had been for a protracted, very long time. The brakes did “work” within the sense that we might all the time hear the sneakers making an attempt to press towards the drum however when all the things is oil and greased soaked, they do nothing.
The following step is to take away the nuts on the bottom of the brake backing plate and pull the entire axle/brake meeting. This stuff should not mild!
The backing plate lifts out of the drum subsequent and you may get a look-see at what you’re working with!
Each side seemed this nasty. So the primary order of enterprise was the enjoyable job of cleansing these items as finest we might. Now, unbeknownst to us at this second, we had been heading for a shock, however follow me, as a result of to this cut-off date we had been seeing simply what we anticipated to see.
After getting the drums clear, the following order of enterprise was to verify we didn’t do all of the stuff for nothing. We repacked the bearings and put in a set of “Positive Seals” which is a well-liked restore on these tractors. They’re a big umbrella type seal that slides down over the axle and doesn’t require the manufacturing unit collar to be chiseled off and a great deal of different work. It’s the “simple” method out, however many, many individuals have had success with them, so it’s the best way we went.
At this level we had been wanting fairly good! The bearings had been greased, seals had been put in, and now it was time to do the gross job of cleansing up the brakes themselves, putting in new sneakers, and placing all of it again collectively. No sweat, proper? Improper.
Exterior of the greasy nastiness, do you see it? This tractor has guide brakes. There’s not a hydraulic line on the entire thing. Somebody, sooner or later, seemingly on the farm wanted to repair the brakes and acquired REALLY artistic They torch lower out the guide adjusters and put in HYDRAULIC WHEEL CYLINDERS! The one factor these are doing is offering a pivot level for the sneakers.The massive cam actuated by the brake pedal is definitely shifting the sneakers. Why on Earth would anybody do that?! Yeah, positive they’d the components laying round however jeez. Properly the excellent news is that they “work” within the sense that when the brake stage is rotated it forces the sneakers out. Not desirous to spend the money and time to seek out the right (we’ll get into that in a second) backing plates, we had been going to put in our new sneakers and snicker about simply how mongrel this factor is.
Properly, that ain’t gonna work. At this level, I used to be figuring we had bother for the foreseeable future. Why? There’s not a single quantity stamped on these brake sneakers apart from the Ford script. I don’t know the place they got here from, what they match, or learn how to discover new ones. The most important drawback with discovering new backing plates for the brakes is that this can be a 2N axle which has 8N brake pedals. If I discover 2N packing plates, the 8N pedals should not going to be proper and if I discover 8N backing plates, I’m fairly positive they aren’t going to suit the invoice both. Soooo….what’s the transfer.
Fortunately with some thought, I beginning calling mates and Then and Now Automotive in Weymouth, Massachusetts has the sneakers and might be relining them. As soon as I get the relined sneakers again we’ll end the job. For now, the tractor has the axles slid again in it, the wheels and tires on, and it’s rolling round on its wheel dollies.
Whereas placing the “flawed” sneakers again in might offend among the tractor purists, the truth is that this method labored for lots fo years on this tractor earlier than the axles leaked throughout them and it’ll work once more. The remainder of the tractor is a wild mashup of components and this may proceed that pattern. Discuss a farmer’s shock!
So at this second, we’re ready on our relined sneakers. After we get them again we’ll be making this factor cease in addition to a tractor with 500lb tires can!
