Steering and Shifting Problems Under Control

This weekend we continued to work on the 1948 8n although now it has become a mixture of '48 and '52.  Dad had a 1952 he picked up for parts to keep his '51 running.  It was time to salvage from the old boy.  I checked the radiator but it's got too many holes in it.  I also need the hood but you will have to wait for some pics of that beauty.  I torn down much of the '52 and put my '48 parts back to replace what I borrowed.

The steering box on the '48 was in bad shape,  there was way too much up and down play in the steering shaft.    Steering felt tight on the '52 so it was spoken for.

A trick I read online came in handy.  Remove all the bolts holding the housing in place.  Then to remove the ball joins connected to the pitman arms, place a wood block behind the pitman arm where the threaded nut goes.  Grab a large hammer and give the pitman arm a few whacks at the joint.  This pushes the pitman arm towards the tractor and pops the ball join out using the treads.  After a little cleaning and primer and red paint it looks pretty sharp. 

Next it was time to address the shifter problem.  The shifter pin was sheered off so the shifter spun in the socket.  If you recall from the previous post my complaints about finding 4th gear, this was part of the problem.  So I removed the cover and all from the '52.  Here I checked the neutral safety switch and it didn't seem to work consistently.  In the end my cover was in the best shape so I swapped out the shift lever and starter button.  Cleaned and painted both and here is the progress so far...

No that is not "Factory Ford Red" but since this will be a workhorse I am not worried about it.  Now it's time to make a parts list.  I need a few odds and ends but for the most part the '48 is coming together.  It might be a few weekends before I get all the parts ordered and delivered so stay tuned.

Until next time...

My Wife's First Impression

Saturday was the first time my wife has seen the tractor.  I think she's happy I have a project and has seen me work on things before so her imagination has been prepared for projects like this.  I still have a feeling that she was not impressed.  Whats worse is that she met the '48 after I had removed many of the parts.  I felt it necessary to inform her that many of the parts were scattered around the shop area so I had actually purchased more tractor than she saw.

It's alive...IT'S ALIVE!

Sunday was our first attempt at making the ’48 run.  Let's start by examining the current state.  As promised here are a few pics...

 
We started by removing starter since that was not working.  As I have read, it was essential to remove the oil filter housing to get proper clearance for the starter.  It was also not easy to get it to clear the valve for draining the water from the block.

Here are a few things we removed:

• Generator
• Air filter
• Homemade hood
• Gas tank
• Voltage regulator (no longer will be needed)
• And the old wiring harness (most of which was not being used)
• Pulled the spark plugs to inspect
• Removed frequently damaged and repaired original front bumper
• Radiator and hoses

 Finally we got down to business.  Using another running 8n (’51 I believe) we pulled it in the field to see what was happening.  Pulled the plugs and checked for spark.  None was present.  Towed it back and cleaned the points and built a homemade crank for it.  Replaced some wiring and rewired a switch as the kill switch.  Cranked it over by hand and “bang” plenty of spark now.  Poured some gas down the fuel line and filled the bowl and took it back to the field.  Put it in 4^th (which is not as easy as one might think but we’ll cover that another day).  After a few sputters and some playing with the choke, it fired up.  I let it run for a few seconds and I hit the switch to cut it and we towed it back.

I feel great since the engine should be in good working order and shouldn’t take much work.  The plan is to start picking up the bare essentials to get it to a working condition (radiator, starter rebuild kit…) and then eventually save up for the engine rebuild kit.

Here is how she sits at end of this weekend...

Well, until next time…

And so it begins...

Yesterday evening I picked up my newly acquired 1948 Ford 8N Tractor.  I picked it up in Oak Hill, FL for $350.  I am the third owner, and was handed the original owners manual and sales invoice.  The tractor was purchased October 7th 1948 for a purchase price of $1,320.  Below are pictures from the posting on Craigslist, since it was dark when we arrived home I do not have any better pictures yet.  Those will come soon.  The bush hog pictured did not come with it.