Opinions on colors..., working resto...

[colobio]

Greetings to all!!

New Fordson Power major owner here. Put an ad up for a cheap, non-working diesel tractor as we needed one, but didn't want to fork out what most are asking for a running one and since I do custom mods on Mercedes diesels and have worked on race engines and what not for 30 years, I thought this would be a way to get a working tractor without much outlay.

Well, instead of the seal leak the guy said it had, it was the cam cover that was cracked. We have spent days now scraping, power washing and degreasing and can finally see the tractor under all the gunk.

Francoise on our new (to us) 1959 Fordson Power Major - before tear down.


Down to the cam cover:


Steering gear box was FILLED..., with water. Rust had claimed the bearings and made a mess of the shaft. The upper had worn the plain bearing out of the housing, so I had to machine it down to .875 to fit the only 1" OD plain bearing I could find:


That is back together with new bearings, re-sealed and held together with moly grease and we're almost at a point that we can paint it now, but since it's not a pristine copy, there's no sense in painting it perfectly stock colors, so we found a Ford tractor blue (Valspar tractor and implement paint), but could also paint it a light green or some other weird color. Opinions anyone? The Valspar Ford blue and be done with it, or have a custom color mixed?

Also, the wheels seem to have been a more orange-red than the Ford red that Valspar also makes. Should I be more true to the original? Even if I'm upgrading the air flitration, injector nozzles/balancing (I have an injector bench downstairs I do custom MB injectors on so why not..), ported head, Bosch fuel filtration system, etc.? Anyone..., anyone..., Beuler...?? This will be a real working tractor, so it's not so important to me to make it resto'd to original everything, I just don't want the resto-police to do a raid and have to fight my way out with a power washer.

[Bensdexta]

Keep it original where poss, unless you have 'company colours' or are hell-bent on being iconoclastic - with original colours will be worth more too should you ever decide to sell.

An All Spare Parts (bitsa) tractor will be harder to maintain, especially by someone else, as our blue babies tend to outlive their owners.

[Dandy Dave]

Welcome Aboard Mate. I love my 1960 Power Major. Yes, I agree, keep it as original as you can. Dandy Dave!

[henk]

If you don't want to spend much money on paint and have a color that's almost like the power color, you could use Ford 1000 series blue and grey. You can buy it at any NH dealer. Mix it one to one and you have a light bleu, very good paint that's nice to work with.
I've done my plough with it.
The wheels should be orange. Not red.

[colobio]

Anyone know where I can find an air intake cap? Or something like it?

[The Swanndri Guy]

Welcome to the forum colobio, as far as I'm concerned with colour if you are going to paint it, ( some of us are just as happy with 50 years of paint fade.) I would paint it Blue/Orange as close as practically possibile to its original colours.As for painting it some other weird colour, I think painting it light green(DPG) might not go down too well with some of us diehard Fordson owners.Apart from that, thats a nice looking Major. TSG.

[Dandy Dave]

Anyone know where I can find an air intake cap? Or something like it?

They have repros here... http://www.agrilineproducts.ie/

Say, Good Looking Workmate. Did she come with the tractor??? Dandy Dave!

[super6954]

Hi Colobio
It's Nice to see another old girl getting saved I paint all the majors I sell with ford blue and use original ford oem paint (63-00). I found the jobber stuff didn't shine nice out of the spray gun and the original paint keeps its color better and covers real good . for the wheels I use a color called zesty orange from our local Coop here in Canada. I have heard Kubota orange may be even closer to original wheel color from some guys.

On the subject of hotting the motor up I would leave it standard. the time it will take and the gains wont be worth it. I have Heard guys say that tuned the 4d motor a bit for stock class pulling. They had crank and head gasket problems. Standard tractors had these issues to sometimes so why make it more of a risk for 5 or 6 hp gain . That tractor has no diff lock so unless she was weighted to the max you would probably not be much further ahead using the power either She will spin out at stock Hp in the wrong conditions .
Regards Robert

[colobio]

Greetings mates!!

We've decided to paint it a color we matched that Rust-Oleum makes. Got a few quarts to test spray this weekend. Finished the steering box rebuild, chased leaks, more degreasing and a bit of priming.

Here's what the steering gear looked like when I had it apart:


Fran machining an adapter plate for the gauges:


Priming of all the little parts after degreasing:


Fran priming the plow while we're priming stuff:


Just starting to scrape the dirt and grease off:


Steering gear rebuilt, installed, shimmed, and top-side ready to prime:


More pics after we start painting it.

As far as the engine, most of the mods I've done to diesels were for smoothness (balancing injectors, new nozzles, etc) and proper airflow. I did build jeep race engines years ago, raced motorcycles and wrenched them myself, but now it's about getting an engine to run smoothly and efficiently. Don't worry about me going crazy and blowing it or something...

BTW, thanks for the tip on the Kubota orange. Will look at that and see if it will match for us.

[super6954]

No problem if a Fordson major motor is any good it will run just like a watch as Henry ford intended it too, without going from standard .
Good luck with The painting looking forward to the finished Pictures
Regards Robert

[Dandy Dave]

I agree. You will find that the engine is also very economical on fuel. Just over a year ago we lost our electric power to an ice storm and I ran a 35,000 Watt PTO generator for 7 of those days. The generator would light and run the whole house. At 1,425 RPM, the old Power Major only consumed 7/8ths of a gallon per hour.

Your Workmate runs a lathe and paints also. You is a lucky dog. Will she let you drive it when she is done working on it??? Dandy Dave!

[colobio]

Well, had to head out of town to work for a bit, but we did get a chance to prime and paint it. Here's a pic of me spraying primer (after days of us scraping and power washing it):



And here's front half done:


Rest of it painted:




I'll be back this weekend and finish the touch-up then re-assemblng everything and prep/paint the bonnet and radiator cover.

There's a New Major for sale near where I'm working in Western Colorado. Looks in better shape than this one was. They want $1500 for it. Tempting to have it for parts...?

[August]

Your tractor looks good after painting. I took a whole tractor (FSM) apart before painting. It was really hard job

[Dandy Dave]

I would say the New Major is well worth $1.500. If it has power steering, a raised PTO, or a DAR Valve. It is more than worth it. If it runs it is a very good deal. If not, it would be worth the money just for a parts tractor. I was lucky when I landed my Power Major as it has the options I listed, plus a Dual clutch for live PTO. Dandy Dave!

[super6954]

Hi Nice looking paint job There .Just one small question on the restoration Though, Why would you put all that effort into the cleaning down and amazing finnish on that paint and not try to straighten the left fender a little
When you say the other tractor you have been offered is a new Major do you mean it is made 52-58 Just before the power Major or is it a super From 60-64 ish
Regards Robert

[colobio]

Since this is a "working resto," I'm resisting the urge to make everything perfect (including straightening out the rear fender - I tried, but would cause more damage trying to bang that one out than leaving it). I am banging out the front and the hood. Might try again at the rear fender before the second coat, but this steel is real steel, not the tin-foil crap they make cars with these days.

The major is a major, not a power or a super and it allegedly runs and is all there. If I had $1500 extra dollars, I'd buy it. Or if someone were to offer reasonable prices on parts so I could offset the cost, I might consider it.

Back home and make more progress. Got the front end rebuilt and will post pics when I can get them up. Cheers everyone.

[super6954]

Hi Colobio
I had a super major Fender that was bent like yours. When I straightened that I took it off the tractor and put it on sturdy blocks ie rail ties and used another block and a bottle jack under something heavy like the tractor and pressed it back to near perfect . Maybe this would work for you . I fine tuned it a bit with a block and hammer for my personal liking and a guy can hardly tell its been bent. Beating on it with the hammer will just make a mess like you say with that thick proper metal

The ordinary major is probably worth 1500 -2000 in that condition as it has dead drive pto and most guys want the live drive with 2 stage clutch these days. the wheels/tires, tin, starter , rad, hitch, front axle and motor parts are where the money is for parts. it would be a hard sell complete really unless a guy wanted it to restore for his antique collection.
Regards Robert

[colobio]

Robert,

Thanks for all the advice! I'll try the hydraulic press for the fender before we do the second coat and LYK how that works out for me.

As far as the Major, I might do it for the engine parts and such. Might be worth it for that. The two stage on my PM has a stuck PTO clutch. Probably need to hook something up to it and dump the clutch a few times to free it. Little at a time...

[colobio]

Question:

Anyone tell me how the hell do I get the front (only) hub caps off? I've tried spinning with a large spanner (no movement without deforming the caps), I've tried prying off as you would about any other wheel bearing cap, no go, no movement, stuck tight as hell. Are they threaded on or something? Ideas?

[henk]

They are right threaded. I use a plastic hammer to get them loos and thight.

[Dandy Dave]

Sometimes a heavy duty oil filter wrench wrench also works on hub caps. I put a piece of leather belt inside the strap on early automobile ones to keep from scratching them up. Dandy Dave!

[super6954]

Hi
I have had those caps on so tight that I have had to "hit them all the way round" with a proper hammer to get them to unscrew. or the odd one i've warmed round the threads with a heat torch and quenched them in cold water to free them you have to be care full not to set the grease on fire though( makes for an interesting day trust me ) . Dad said they could be a pig to get off when new with the proper fordson wrench . 60 years later they didn't get better from my experience
Regards Robert

[colobio]

Got the beast running, but leaks popping up all over. The drive for the IP is leaking engine oil, the rear main is leaking a lot (engine oil coming out of clutch housing hole), clutch doesn't engage till it's almost all the way out (adjustment, but probably more a thin clutch), and PTO runs all the time..., sigh...

Anyone know where to get a rear main for a PM here in the US? The one parts house I used for filters and the steering wheel doesn't list them.

Thanks so far for all the help, will post pics of the finished product soon.

[colobio]

Another question for those knowledgeable about these..., the thing won't idle at low, it just shuts down, even if I open it back up before it's totally dead. And..., it runs smooth with no smoke, but just will not start without starting fluid? Ideas?

[super6954]

Hi Colobio
Not wanting to sound to negative here but she sounds like a dog with a nice paint job I usually find when i Paint a tractor that if you spend a week cleaning oil and dirt off the leaks are still there, I never paint till its been run . Do you have any Ag dealers in your area that sell A&I products jobber tractor parts. They list a lot of stuff for majors including the seal you need But crank main bearings are not cheap you kinda have to shop for those.

On the subject of the oil leaking does she have any oil pressure ( checked with a proper gauge) these majors are famous for wearing the cranks and pounding the seals out also the IP drive shaft bearings wear bad too .
if she wont start with out either the motor could be a bit worn or the timing could be out, Have you found the excess fuel button on the pump stop arm( but should not need this in warm weather) it could be any number of fuel pump or injector issues to at a guess but with your diesel experience you would know this.

The pump works on a vacuum govenor it could just need the idle touched up a bit look on the intake manifold and there is a butterfly valve with an arm poking out .there should be a high idle screw at the top and a low idle screw at the bottom, screw this one in a bit and see what happens , it wouldn't be the first one where the screw could even be missing . my super was stopping like yours and I adjusted it tonight it doesn't stop now at idle, and it starts better too so that could be linked to that issue also make sure the air cleaner hose, and all the vacuum lines and connections are good to they can all affect the govenor.
If the pto doesn't stop it could be adjustment or the disc is stuck to the cover plate due to lack of use/ rust, or motor oil contaminating it have you tried it with a load on to see if it stops then
Regards Robert