Finally bought a Farmall C...some questions?

Well today I went and picked up my first Farmall C. Something I've been wanting for ever now. With what C's go for around here, I believe I got a good deal on it. However I have a couple questions.

1.

On the way home (probably a 30 minute drive) at the first stop sign, the tractor started knocking a little, it did this for about 30 seconds until I idled it back down, and then took off..as soon as I took off it went away, and hasn't done it since, and was fine the rest of the way home. The guy I bought it from said it has a fresh rebuild..could that noise be from the piston rings not being seated right yet or what? I can tell it's been apart, as the oil pan gasket, valve cover, water neck and all other gaskets and bolts are new. I don't know a whole lot about engines on these, but I drove it around the barn a few times with it as soon as I got home and it hasn't seemed to make the noise again. It holds about 20psi at idle, and the oil psi goes up as the RPMs do.

2.

Also, is there any sort of clutch adjustment on these? I don't see any adjustment in the clutch rod itself like my H and M have, so I'm not sure how I'm going to address this problem. It only grinds when its in neutral and you first go to put it in gear. If you take off in one gear, stop & keep the clutch down, and put it in another gear, it's fine, as long as you dont release the clutch in neutral then re press it, you can switch gears just fine...kinda odd. When you let it out, it takes off as soon as you depress the clutch, where as my M engages after the clutch is 3/4 of the way out.

Hopefully one of you can help me out with this, thanks! Oh, and here's a couple pictures of it. It's not pretty, but hopefully that will change soon. Rear rubber is excellent, and it has a 3pt hitch on it.

The knocking could be from the lifters or a bad bearing

(quoted from post at 17:49:09 08/15/10) The knocking could be from the lifters or a bad bearing

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Don't you think that would be a more constant knock? It was weird, it lasted about 30 seconds, as soon as I took off and put a load back on the engine it went away, and hasn't done it since. I'm hoping it was just something random and it stays away!

That may not be pretty in your view, but it looks great compared to
my H. Good luck with the knock.
Zach

Yea probly. My H needs the valves adjusted and doesn't knock until about a minute into running. i gotta do that tomorrow. also if you were stopped it could be the lifters. my 68 dodge coronet that i restored needs to be timed so when it's in park or neutral it starts knockin because it has no pressure on the engine

But it has hydraulic lifters. I would get a feeler guage and check the gap between the top of the push rod and the rocker. they're really easy to adjust. half hour job tops

Thats a great looking C, nice find

Howdy,
My best guess without having heard the knock would be carbon. If an engine is carboned up a piece can break off of one of the valves and get pounded to pieces between the valve and seat, sounds as if the motor is ready to blow and then just goes away. Get some top engine cleaner (GM has a very good one, at your local GM dealer) or Seafoam etc. Follow instructions, if you do have to take engine apart it will be clean on the top end, no carbon to scrape.
Bob S.

(quoted from post at 19:15:15 08/15/10) Howdy,
My best guess without having heard the knock would be carbon. If an engine is carboned up a piece can break off of one of the valves and get pounded to pieces between the valve and seat, sounds as if the motor is ready to blow and then just goes away. Get some top engine cleaner (GM has a very good one, at your local GM dealer) or Seafoam etc. Follow instructions, if you do have to take engine apart it will be clean on the top end, no carbon to scrape.
Bob S.

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I sure hope it was something that simple! If so I'll be really relieved..it was weird, it sounded HORRIBLE for about 30 seconds, and then hasn't done it since. :?

Wonder if something blocked up an oil gallery temporarily? Sometimes when those old motors get worked again after sitting things will break loose and float around...

Hope it was a one time thing. Nice tractor - got a SC myself...

The clutch free travel adjustment is through an access hole at the bottom rear of the drive shaft tube. Be careful. Some C's have a carbon type throw out bearing and adjusting the wrong way or too far can break the bearing. My brother and I are in the middle of a clutch replacement because of a broken carbon throw out bearing. Can't tell if we did it during an adsjustment or it was broken before our work. Be sure the return spring is strong enough to return the clutch pedal off of the bearing. That spring goes from the clutch pedal lever to the left brake/PTO cover.

(quoted from post at 12:38:01 08/16/10) The clutch free travel adjustment is through an access hole at the bottom rear of the drive shaft tube. Be careful. Some C's have a carbon type throw out bearing and adjusting the wrong way or too far can break the bearing. My brother and I are in the middle of a clutch replacement because of a broken carbon throw out bearing. Can't tell if we did it during an adsjustment or it was broken before our work. Be sure the return spring is strong enough to return the clutch pedal off of the bearing. That spring goes from the clutch pedal lever to the left brake/PTO cover.

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Thanks, I'll look into that. How can you tell if that carbon throw out bearing is bad? This tractor seems to chatter a bit when you take off, but I figured that was more in the clutch itself.

Ours was very obvious. We found pieces of the bearing under the tractor. Again, you might be lucky and have a steel type throw out bearing in which case the indication could be a sceeching or rumbling sound with the clutch pedal depressed. FYI, my bad on calling it a carbon bearing. The correct terminology probably should have been graphite.