R.O.C.K Restoration Project

[rockfarmer]

Secret- Plastic sandwich bag doubled over. Place on the bolt before the wrench or socket is used. Also, priming the bolts makes a big difference.

Most everything was powder coated Bengal Red. Engine block, hydraulic block and trans/differential were painted with a 2 part urethane mixed by a local auto paint auto parts dealer. Nuts, bolts, and a few other small items were painted using this as a primer/etcher,

which was also used to etch and prime the gas tank.
Orbit spray paint, in a can. Dries fast, reportedly has excellent UV resistance, and matches the powder coating really well. $15/can.

[AL Farmall Boy]

Excellent tips for us all!! Thank you. Glad I asked!

[tst]

you can buy plastic lined sockets also, mac & snap on have them

[rockfarmer]

Plugged the hole with one of many corks on hand, and followed Rick's advice,

[rockfarmer]

The implement bolt holes. Do the corks that go into those get cut flush, or is it apropos to leave 1/4" sticking out, like this,

edit: Sure would be easier to get out when needed, just my thoughts...has nothing to do with the tedious work involved with cutting each cork and then painting each cork under the tractor, not very safe.

[Bob McCarty]

The implement bolt holes. Do the corks that go into those get cut flush, or is it apropos to leave 1/4" sticking out, like this,

Cork implement.jpg

All the ones I've seen have been cut flush. A lot of the time, guys think they have a broken bolt until they start to drill it out and find it's cork.

[Slim140]

The implement bolt holes. Do the corks that go into those get cut flush, or is it apropos to leave 1/4" sticking out, like this,

Cork implement.jpg

All the ones I've seen have been cut flush. A lot of the time, guys think they have a broken bolt until they start to drill it out and find it's cork.

This happened to me with our ‘47, man was I relieved to find it was very old corks that had been in there for many years instead of broken bolts. None of them were sticking out though.

[rockfarmer]

Spring Fever has hit central TX and Rocky is eat up with it.

Notice the position of the hydraulic lever?

Static timed the magneto last night following the advice of several previous posts. Thank you to those of you who posted the how to's. Easiest thing I have done on this tractor, including applying decals. Fired him up today, after a prayer, and, he purrrrrrrrred like a fat kitten, even while the rear rockshaft slowly buried itself in the downward position. I am amazed at how smooth everything ran. Especially the engine. It would not crank or even cough until I let the choke in and immediately he fired up, without a hiccup. May have something to do with the high pressure 72 degree weather we had today. Great oil pressure, within 8 seconds of startup. Lot smoother than my other tractor with 12 volt electronic ignition and zenith carb. I might have just been sold on 6 volt magneto's.
I will post a video as soon as I can.

A few things that need immediate attention. Hopefully they are not too severe!

1. After the initial 5 minute run I pushed in the ignition and the tractor died. Second time I cranked it let it run for a few minutes, pushed in the ignition switch and the tractor kept running. Had to turn off fuel and let it run out to kill the engine. What should I check first?

2. I noticed a few small coolant droplets between the head and head gasket that appear to have small amounts of copper sealant mixed in.

Behind the distributor is where coolant came out...enough to hit the ground, 1/2 teaspoon maybe. Re-torque the head bolts?

3. Fuel bowl leaking, not too bad. Could it be the new cork gasket needs time to swell or something? I changed bowls and same thing.

I am now, officially, hooked!

[tst]

did you seal the head bolts? after the engine gets hot they need to be torqued again, air cleaner to head bolts need to be sealed also, ck and see if the leak is coming from higher up like the top hose or housing and running down

[Bill Hudson]

Tim,

Beautiful!!!!! Someone is going to own a real show stopper!

Bill

[rockfarmer]

There seems to be minute seepage on the right side only with one small weep on the rear, left side.

I'm not sure about the sealer on head bolts, now, after going back thru my documents and finding no evidence of sealer being used. I would have bet money I coated them knowing how important it is
My photos go from here,

to here,

I know I have kept things pretty clean throughout this project, but I am not OCD and there should be some trace of sealant around some of the bolt holes. I don't see any, do you?



Oh well. I can believe it...part of that being able to deal with setbacks, interruptions, etc. lesson I'm still learning. Should I drain the coolant now?

[Bill Hudson]

Tim,

If you can determine the seepage is coming from headbolts, then draining the coolant is in order. If you then pull the offending headbolt(s) and find that you did not use sealer, sealing the bolts is in order. (Do not pull any of the headbolts without draining the coolant, the headbolts are below the level of the coolant and that stuff runs downhill.)

If you determine that the headbolt(s) is the only source of the leak, then remove the headbolts and seal them. There are several ways to go about the process. Given the situation you described, I would leave the head in place and remove the headbolts, apply sealer, reinstall them, and then go through the torqueing sequence. If I'm out in left field on this, others will be along shortly to get me straight.

One other thing, a pony tank may be beneficial. No need to install and remove the hood until all the bugs are worked out before final installation of the hood.

Good luck, I'm confident you will work this out just fine.

Bill

[k hutchins]

When l replaced my head gasket last fall, it was suggested to run it for a 15 min or more at running temp., then retorque the head bolts.
As far as the ignition switch problem goes, l would check the switch itself. That's the only mechanical part of the equasion. You could dbl chk your wire connection at the mag, but my money is on the switch. Basically you're grounding out the mag when you push it in. If you don't have the switch grounded in the dash due to paint, that could stop it from grounding the mag.

All that being said l think you've done a magnificent job with maticulous detail in bring this cub back to life. Like many others on the forum that have lurked in the background, l have watched the progress, and learned a lot from the advice you've received. Job well done. Good luck with the tweaks.

Hutch

[tst]

the magneto uses a one wire switch which grounds out the mag, is that the type of switch you have ?

[rockfarmer]

the magneto uses a one wire switch which grounds out the mag, is that the type of switch you have ?

Yes...one wire from the switch to the side of the magneto.