1950 Ford 8N Tractor, s/n 8N249439 (page 3)
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Before (2002):
June 3, 2008
Put another batch of parts in the e-tank tonight, and primed a couple, too. The air cleaner had been "farmerized" at some point in the past, so I'm going to have to cut the welded-up bar off the mounting flanges before I clean and paint.
Didn't have time to shoot a second coat of red, so decided to go ahead and bolt up the dash (and support), battery tray and governor.
June 4, 2008
Yet another batch of parts in the e-tank - probably the last, as everything else can be wirebrushed pretty easily. The rest of the evening was spent sanding down the brushmarks in the red oxide primer, applying a second coat of primer, and then shooting the grey topcoat on all the tin and wheels:
A couple pieces will require a flip and backside coat, and then I'm done with grey paint.
Will be taking my rims to a dealer in Kewanee tomorrow to have a new set of tires mounted.
June 7, 2008
Pulled the last batch of parts out of the e-tank and prepped them, and drove into town to pick up my new tires. It was a bear installing the wheel centers into the new rims - the "offshore brand" rims were about 3/32" too small in diameter, which required some jiggering to get the wheel centers to snug up against the mounting loops. Finally got it done, and bolted up the wheels - just had to set the fenders in place, too!
June 9, 2008
Cleaned and painted small parts tonight:
My barn friends:
June 10, 2008
Cleaned and painted a couple more parts, and then decided to tackle the lift cover/cylinder. Using compressed air, I blew the piston out of the cylinder, and everything looked fine inside - no discernable ridge, and the three metal rings all looked fine. I tried using my ring compressor to reinstall the piston, but the thing had been sitting for so long in one position, it broke as soon as I put some strain on it. So, I used a large hose clamp instead - worked fine.
Got everything else buttoned up inside the lift assembly, including my NOS spring from John Smith, and was able to reinstall the cover by myself:
Feeling adventurous, I decided to try pulling the axle hubs, too, and that went well. The right hub nut was hand-loose, and the hub fell right out. Had to use a cheater on the left side, and then a puller to get the hub off.
I have all the parts I need to do the seals, so that's next on the list. Will stop by TSC while in town tomorrow for meetings to pick up new gauges, 6V battery and an oil filter (all stuff I had at one point, but put on my borrowed 8N to keep it running).
June 12, 2008
Took a deep breath and dug into the left side axle seals tonight - been putting that off because it sounded like a Major Project to do. Turned out to be not so bad. Only thing I forgot was to put some RTV sealer on the mating surfaces of all the parts, but maybe that won't be so bad - it came from the factory without any. Here it is with everything back together as I'm starting on the brakes:
After a bit of head scratching, the brakes went together fairly easy, too:
All that's left on this side (besides paint) is to torque that big nut on the end of the axle down to 450 ft/lbs.
June 14, 2008
Finished up the right side axle seals (with pucky this time) and brakes (done twice, as I initially put the brake shoe plate on 180° wrong).
Also wirewheeled the steering wheel and shot a coat of primer on it. Will be filling the cracks with Bondo™ before painting.
Finished up by cleaning up the workbench, tools and sweeping the floor out again, as I'm almost ready to shoot the second and final color coat.
I think I can "smell the barn!"
June 16, 2008
Wirebrushed my last big pile of parts tonight. Only part left is the starter motor, and I have three to choose from, but don't know which one works yet (will test 'em and choose before I expend energy cleaning up the wrong one).
Those headlights are not "correct," but they came with the tractor and work, so I'm going to paint them grey and call it done.
June 17, 2008
Primed parts and pressure-washed the gas tank and radiator:
June 19, 2008
Accompanied by the pitter-patter of little bugs expiring on the concrete floor, I shot the final coat of red on everything tonight. Also wet-sanded the grey tin in prep for painting its final coat tomorrow evening, Lord willing.
