The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Greetings from the South of NZ.

I've been slowly restoring my way anticlockwise round my 1960 dexta. If I had known 'then' what I know now I probably should never have bought it - bodged & worn out . Never mind. During the process I have been buying, bit by bit, parts of a super dexta from local tractor wrecker. [Any dexta at a wrecker here is a rare deal]. As each replacement piece/part arrived I have been delighted at how good their condition [diesel tank, swinging drawbar, steering box , complete handbrake assembly, PTO selector lever & clutch pedal assembly , dash, a lightswitch that still works and because it was attached, the wiring loom].

I recently pulled the top cover off mine. Pretty sad state inside. No water or rust, but the cam on the ram arm worn down to almost nothing, and several bits (defying logic and exploded parts schematics) that refuse to come apart. Contacted my wrecker again and bought top cover and flowhydraulics bit off the super dexta carcass. Again surprised at how good the condition.

Coming to the point: now I've got it home I'm thinking SHOULD I JUST BUY THE REMAINING BACK END OF THE SUPERDEXTA (diff lock too of course that mine doesn't have), and instead of assembling the 'new' bits in my old back end, reassemble them in that which they've come from???

My current gearbox seems OK, but should I also grab the gearbox knowing that it has probably done half the hours mine has?

So who are you trying to convince?

Is that a yes John?

I'm easily influenced...

The reason I posted was to check if I'm missing anything - is it a straight (simple) swap and upgrade at the same time? Any hidden pitfalls?

Hi, if you do a search for Rear Transmission Swap, July 17 2011 you can read about my attempts to swap the rear end off a 1964 Super Dexta to a 1961 Dexta. I ended up not fulfilling my aim as there were missing parts which are not easy to gather here in RSA and are very expensive to import.

Thanks Mervyn, exactly the sort of thing I wanted to hear about. I'll check out manual & parts diagrams when I get home from work to fully understand. In the meantime what I think you are saying is if I want to swap, then gearbox & backend is more straightforward than just backend swap.

Hi Charlie, yes , if you can get hold of a good gearbox. One caution though which you may have picked up, are the number of splines on the pinion and the gearbox. In my case my gearbox had less splines than the pinion of the Super Dexta been a 1961 Dexta. What year is your current Dexta/Super Dexta?

The super dexta 'carcass' is currently still bolted together, so the gearbox-coupler-rearend are intact. It was only wrecked because of a cracked (frost?) block.
Not likely to be any problems at the clutch-gearbox interface? Straight swap?

The last thing I need to check is the wrecker didn't damage anything with an angle grinder getting the bits off I've already bought.

Apologies gentlemen, I referred to Kiwimc as Charlie, it was rather late.
As you say Kiwimc all is intact, go for it much easier than swapping bits and pieces like I attempted. Lets just hope the wrecker has not damaged any of the parts whilst dismantling. Are you able to visit the wreckers premises?

OK, out of the anonymous toolbox - kiwimc is 'John' .
I've been reading the workshop manual. All my separating engine-gearbox experience has been with single clutch (of course) cars. The live PTO looks like a bit of a step up. Im going to do some more study and chew the fat with a mechanic friend. Thanks for the replies so far Mervyn.

Hi John(that sounds more polite)
You are welcome, I just hope that all your endeavours come to fruition. Have a good day.

I bought the super d. back end. It's currently sitting at my father-in-laws, but I should have it in a week.

In the meantime I'm working on top cover. The old one was terribly worn (everywhere). Couldn't separate any of yoke, draft control plunger, clevis pin or draft control link even with heat. The triangular retaining plate, its locating pin, & spring seat variously broken & welded together! 'Persuasion' eventually twisted the control link.
Fabricated a pin extractor from $6 2" G-clamp. Some heat, & successfully removed position control pin. It appears to be 5/16 x 7/8 dowel pin for those reading this thread in the future.
[I got a price for a new dowel pin from UK (I can get 5/16 x 1" here in NZ, but thought I'd try for the 7/8" one with its nice chamfered end), 9 & half pence + 35 pound small order, post & shipping charges. I think I'll make do with the 1" NZ pin and grind the end off].

On the newer super dexta top cover I managed to remove all of yoke, spring, through to triangle plate.
Feeling very proud of my pin extractor, removed the worn position control pin on this top cover in-situ.
Devastation this morning when I see that despite my heat shielding efforts I've KILLED the position control spring - yep, that's the one noone appears to stock new. To make my day worse, I can't remove the old spring because the valve control lever, draft control link etc. are in the way. Draft control link clevis pin won't come out. I think I'm going to have to remove lift cylinder assembly, then valve control lever...

Just found nice pictures of the top cover bolts in this old thread (http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl/phpbb ... hp?p=43890).
I was careful to make a dummy cover out of cardboard when I pulled my old cover off. Surprise, surprise (not) my bolts were not necessarily in correct places - lucky most of the threaded holes are open, not blind. Interestingly, the 1960 & 1968 Parts List books I have both list incorrect (but different) bolts for the 5 required for ext. services valve (they get a couple right, but one is too short, the other a UNF thread).

The wrecker I bought my super d. top cover off kindly removed the ext. service valve (when he didn't need to) and threw all the bolts for this and the top cover in scrap ("its what I do") . I have managed to buy a service valve off the shelf in USA (found it on ebay) and amazingly it is all free and gaiter & knobs in good condition. The 5 bolts (in 4 sizes) that hold this on are longer for the flow control valve on super dexta. I've sourced some from Lewis McBride in UK.

Sign off tonight with the picture of my $6 pin extractor - one step forward 3 steps backwards.

The story so far: I've been buying stuff off a parts tractor for my 1960 dexta bit by bit by bit. Steering box, swinging drawbar, handbrake, dash & loom, top cover... Finally decided to buy everything remaining from the gearbox back (which I probably should have done in the first place).

Super Dexta back end (!!) and gearbox arrived today.

Do you see what I see???


I didn't notice it during a quick look when I bought & picked up the top cover on an earlier trip, but to prove the eyes aren't deceiving here is the clue (confirmation) in gearbox casting codes:

Kiwi, i may be able to help you out.
Do you need the long spring inside the lift cover, or the short one?
The long spring (the one that's attached to the huge spring outside) i have lying on my workbench, the short one will need to be removed first.
Just let me know, i'll be happy to ship some parts to New Zealand.

Greetings from the Netherlands.
Rob

Hi Rob,
thanks for the offer of a spring.
It is the short spring, and I have got one that I think will do the job (I don't think I killed it with the gas torch) from my old top cover assembly. I'll message you if it doesn't work.

Did you spot the 10 to 14 spline adapter in my photo above?

John