Fordson Major - recent engine rebuild
Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 1:24 am
Hi all,
This is my first post. I bought a 1953 Fordson Major Diesel around 5 years ago and didn't really know what I was buying (although I am a motor vehicle mechanic by trade) but bought it from a photo sent to me on my mobile phone.
I have been slowly restoring it ever since and have managed to replace many parts such as the brakes, cables, PTO seals, water pump, etc and repair other items such as the hydraulic control unit and the wings, etc. The biggest challenge though started when the engine overheated and upon investigation (followed a jet of steam) a crack in the engine block was discovered on the front left hand corner (very common I later found out). When I investigated and assessed the issue further I found that the crack had been backfilled at some time previously with car body filler. Once I had removed all of the filler I found (to my horror) that some previous owner had ran an angle grinder blade through the crack and into right through the block into the water jacket! I though it was curtains for the block and reading other forums, it normally is. However I managed to prep the wound to the block and (taking into consideration other repair methods) manufactured a 3mm steel plate from a cardboard template and managed to drill and tap the block and secure the plate with M6 high tensile bolts cut to length. Between the plate and the block I sandwiched a layer of Belzona 1111 to seal to repair and used EB25 high temp/chem resistant sealer on the inside. This is now a permanent repair.
To make matters worse, I also found that water was getting into the sump and found that the liner seals (single version) were perished. When i removed all 4 liners I found the second problem, massively damaged liner seats; highly corroded and seat metal missing. Again the Belzona 1111 came to the rescue but it was a really difficult job as the access for medium sized hands is difficult. Basically I had to make some mini "shuttering" in the shape of the liner seal seat at the bottom of the block. Believe it or not this was achieved by using the bottom of a plastic "vanish" powder pot which is almost the right size. Once in place and applied with belzona 1111 I was later able to use a Dremel to shape the newly formed liner seats to spec. It was a slow and tedious task but well worth it. The new liners fitted back in beautifully and I was able to rebuild the engine with new pistons and again I sealed the liner and seat faces together with a thin layer of EB25.
The last thing that was an issue was that there was a crack running down though the block between cylinders 1 and 2 which ran right through the throttle rod cavity. I had wondered why I had previously seen water dripping from the rod on the outside of the block. So to repair this leak/crack I used a Dremel to assess the tiny crack in the cross shaft housing from inside the block and laid a tiny strip of steel micro-mesh around the crack and smoothed in some Belzona 1111, later dressed it with a dremel and sealed it with EB25. Following that I cleaned the cavity internally (from one side to the other) with a coat hanger and tiny strip of cloth and pumped the cavity full of EB25. Once it had cured I re-drilled the cavity with a long drill bit making a new passage for the rod but leaving a coating inside. Applied some silicone gun grade to the rod and refitted it. It works a treat, no leaks. The engine is now fully rebuilt and running fine.
I hope this gives some hope to people who are struggling to find replacement engine blocks for their Fordson Major tractors and want to consider this is an alternative to replacing the block. Let me know if you need any further details. Cheers.....
This is my first post. I bought a 1953 Fordson Major Diesel around 5 years ago and didn't really know what I was buying (although I am a motor vehicle mechanic by trade) but bought it from a photo sent to me on my mobile phone.
I have been slowly restoring it ever since and have managed to replace many parts such as the brakes, cables, PTO seals, water pump, etc and repair other items such as the hydraulic control unit and the wings, etc. The biggest challenge though started when the engine overheated and upon investigation (followed a jet of steam) a crack in the engine block was discovered on the front left hand corner (very common I later found out). When I investigated and assessed the issue further I found that the crack had been backfilled at some time previously with car body filler. Once I had removed all of the filler I found (to my horror) that some previous owner had ran an angle grinder blade through the crack and into right through the block into the water jacket! I though it was curtains for the block and reading other forums, it normally is. However I managed to prep the wound to the block and (taking into consideration other repair methods) manufactured a 3mm steel plate from a cardboard template and managed to drill and tap the block and secure the plate with M6 high tensile bolts cut to length. Between the plate and the block I sandwiched a layer of Belzona 1111 to seal to repair and used EB25 high temp/chem resistant sealer on the inside. This is now a permanent repair.
To make matters worse, I also found that water was getting into the sump and found that the liner seals (single version) were perished. When i removed all 4 liners I found the second problem, massively damaged liner seats; highly corroded and seat metal missing. Again the Belzona 1111 came to the rescue but it was a really difficult job as the access for medium sized hands is difficult. Basically I had to make some mini "shuttering" in the shape of the liner seal seat at the bottom of the block. Believe it or not this was achieved by using the bottom of a plastic "vanish" powder pot which is almost the right size. Once in place and applied with belzona 1111 I was later able to use a Dremel to shape the newly formed liner seats to spec. It was a slow and tedious task but well worth it. The new liners fitted back in beautifully and I was able to rebuild the engine with new pistons and again I sealed the liner and seat faces together with a thin layer of EB25.
The last thing that was an issue was that there was a crack running down though the block between cylinders 1 and 2 which ran right through the throttle rod cavity. I had wondered why I had previously seen water dripping from the rod on the outside of the block. So to repair this leak/crack I used a Dremel to assess the tiny crack in the cross shaft housing from inside the block and laid a tiny strip of steel micro-mesh around the crack and smoothed in some Belzona 1111, later dressed it with a dremel and sealed it with EB25. Following that I cleaned the cavity internally (from one side to the other) with a coat hanger and tiny strip of cloth and pumped the cavity full of EB25. Once it had cured I re-drilled the cavity with a long drill bit making a new passage for the rod but leaving a coating inside. Applied some silicone gun grade to the rod and refitted it. It works a treat, no leaks. The engine is now fully rebuilt and running fine.
I hope this gives some hope to people who are struggling to find replacement engine blocks for their Fordson Major tractors and want to consider this is an alternative to replacing the block. Let me know if you need any further details. Cheers.....