1945 B progress - reassembly

Getting closer to hearing it run, I'll try not to flood you with pictures but have a few.

There is very little paint left on the tractor but the tin was in perfect shape except for the grill. Amazingly the inside of the gas tank is spotless. This is what it looked like before we tore the tractor down.



It wasn't bad but needed a little work, the top and bottom were good.



Half done, on to the other side.



There, that's not too bad and her teeth are straight now! Not perfect but pretty good. I had a punch that fit just right in the channels and I was able to save the screen as well.

The #1 piston was stuck, the head was in pretty sad shape as it was full of water and a mouse nest. The manifold was plugged as well, I couldn't save that but found one off a Super A.

I went on vacation last month to Montana to my Dad's farm. He has been a mechanic all his life and has the tools to repair stuff, not just tear things apart like I do. Too bad I live in Missouri. I brought the head, carb, starter, magneto and generator with to work on while I was out there. He had a good time also, gets a kick out of working on old stuff.

Here is what the block and head looked like when we pulled it apart. The piston came out with a little help from a block of wood.



With a little luck the head and valves cleaned up just fine. One seat was iffy but it ground out and we ground the valves also. Ready to go back to the tractor.



Funny that Dad made a trip here to Missouri because my neice just had her second baby boy. So he got in on the reassembly also. We honed the cylinders and slipped the pistons back home with new rod bearings. There wasn't any piston ridge in the cylinders and all the pistons were good also, even though #1 was lightly stuck. Just needed all the garbage cleaned out.

Ready to put the head back on.


Back in place and valve train bolted down.



And finally the manifold/stand pipe and the oil pan were bolted up.



Won't get a chance to work on her again until Saturday. Need to pick up a battery plus a few odds and ends. Not much left to do, time the magneto and put the fan/radiator back on. Generator and wiring. Fill the fluids back up and see what we have. I'll post some pics if Saturday is a success, crossing my fingers!

Good luck to ya! Looks awesome.