The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

I have just purchased a petorl Dexta. The head has been off for many years follwing a blown head gasket. Some help in getting it going please.
1. What is the correct ignition timing?
2. What is the correct valve clearances?

Any common faults I should be looking for?

PJJMS
Well done. Finally got your Dexta.
Can't help you with your questions, but I guess it won't be long before Sir Brian logs in, to help out a "fellow petrol Dexta" owner.
Don't forget pictures, pictures and pictures.
Kiwi Kev

Thanks Kev,
Just sold a diesel one a few months back. It's going to be interesting to compare. Bet it starts easier.

OK found a manual on the nl Dexta site with valve clearances and timing.

Next question - head bolt torque?

The engine has been sitting with the head off for years and the bore has surface rust. Do they have wet liners or is it a rebore if it comes to that?

Another South Island petrol Dexta on the forum!!!Don't forget to add your tractors details to the Sticky "Petrol Dexta Register" at the top of the forum. Cheers TSG.

I think it has been posted here somewhere that the engine is a Standard Motor Company, that would mean that you could very well find some information about it by googling for "standard motor company"

Edit: I just couldn't resist the urge to google it and here's a page with some information http://www.ytmag.com/ttalk/messages/485837.html

Foxen,I think we concluded that the Dexta petrol engine is a "Turner engine" . Go to "Petrol Dexta question"TSG.

The Swanndri Guy wrote:Foxen,I think we concluded that the Dexta petrol engine is a "Turner engine" . Go to "Dexta petrol question"TSG.

I think we concluded that the petrol Dexta was build by Turner and the engine was by Standard Motor Co, but not sure where the engine was built

One for the experts?

The engine is a Standard Motor Company engine, similar but not the same as the one used in the M-F 35 petrol.

The tractor was assembled by Turner Engineering of Wolverhampton.

They have wet liners.

Some have rotator caps on the exhaust valves unlike the M-F engine.

I will check and post the head bolt details and the tappet settings later today when I get my breath back.

Hey there, I watched that auction too, glad to hear it went to a good home! Damn good deal you got. I have a full repair manual including 41 pages on the petrol engine, give me a bell on 03 5724044 evenings and you can borrow it to use or copy, I'm only over the hill near Blenheim. Derek.

I hope it turns out OK Derek, but for that sort of money theres not a lot of risk. The LH guard and foot plate and completly rotten but apart from that its in about the same as the last one I did up. Some pictures of that posted a few months back. I will keep this one original as it seems they are not so common. I have a Nuffield I am doing up as well and will probibly end up selling one or the other when complete unfortunitly. Oh for a bigger shed! Being a smaller tractor the Dexta has a lot of appeal though.

Congratulations on your new find. I am totally jealous. One thing I found in going through my '59 Dexta (diesel) is how comfortable I was, even though I've never restored a diesel tractor before. You will probably feel the same, going in the other direction.

Although American-made Ford tractors and English-made Fordsons have their differences, much is the same. So, you may find this link to the restoration of my '53 Ford Golden Jubilee (s/n 1742) to be of some help. I have additional photos if you might need them, plus, I have the tractor back at work, now and can easily take additional photos - just ask.



http://picasaweb.google.com/tractorNstu ... estoration#

Enjoy the journey!

Don

Wow! Thanks for the link Don. A fantastic record and there are a lot of parts that look like they are off a Dexta.

Are the threads on the petrol engines BS or UN series threads?

Should be all UN.

Silly question time.

I have the engine together and ready to run but I think it has one wrong battery terminal fitted, negative on the earth.

Is positive earth correct? Still has a generator fitted.

Can be either, mine has a negative earth but Ford tractors of that era were positive earthed.

To be sure, take the leads off the dynamo and flash the small terminal on the dynamo to the output terminal of the battery, that will stop any problems.

I have the engine back together now and had the tractor running today long enough to test everything (around 3 or 4 minutes). It has a couple of holes in the radiator which could be why it had a blown head gasket. It seems low on compression (80 psi) but I'm not sure if this is because the engine was stuck, and the rings still are, or because it has overheated. What should the compression be? I will get a muffler on it, fix the water leaks and give it a good long engine run up to temprature to see what happens.

On the plus side everything works. Hydraulics work properly, PTO is fine, as are the clutch and brakes. Good enough to encourage me to get on with ordering some parts and get restoring.

A related story on the compression. I had a ford 4000 a few years back that had been sitting for years when I bought it. I got it running and drove it home (40k's) and it ran like a dog for the first 20k. Even had to use 1st gear on some of the hills. Then it had a big cough, puffed some smoke, and then ran fine. I assume the rings freed up, and I never had to touch the engine after that. It ran very well with good power, and still does for its new owner.

That is good news!

I would agree that you need to run her for a few hours. Dotty was the same until I put her on the grass cutter. Now she pulls well.

I would also put Automatic Transmission Fluid in the petrol for a little while. It helps clean things up. I am also finding that the lead free petrol causes sticking valves on both Dotty and my TE20. The ATF helps with this too.

Thanks for the tip on using ATF. I will mix some up for the next run.