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If I remember right, Eric already has a hitch on his car for his bike rack so all he needs is that trailer!
1977 Economy Tractor Project Thread
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Lol Mark hitch is already on but no need for cooler. My 2014 is manual !
Good memory Austen!
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Man that's rich! Love it!! Think my car can handle a economy behind it? Lol![]()
Dad approves!
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Watch out Austen!
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Such a Ford guy...:tango_face_devil:
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Shoot, now I'm drooling...
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"Even while towing, you shant be doddling behind traffic for long."
Well there you go! You have your answer!
:ThumbUp:
Funny watching the drag cars pull trailers! Couple good burnouts in there while they were towing them as well. I wonder what U-Haul thinks when they show up with a fiberglass bodied 1000HP drag car?? :tango_face_glasses:
I like 'em all too!
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Look any different? Kinda, maybe, sorta? Can't put your mind to it? :tango_face_wink:
I plan to have the tractor repainted in the foreseeable future so this update sort of consists of finishing off some other little modifications I wanted to get done before that happens.
Wheel Restoration
I had the factory rims sandblasted and powdercoated by my guy in gloss black. Like the custom rims on my Bolens, these are also a mirror finish. I couldn't believe they were the same rims when I got them back. Wheel restoration- check!
Before:
After:
Jumping Ahead
I discovered the 24" rear wheel models came with about 3" longer kingpins on the front. The rear tires I decided to run which are 9.5-16 vs. the stock 7.5-16 are about 3" taller, and 2" wider so that combo would pretty much level it out. I put some feelers out there and found a set of 24" style king pins from a member on the Yahoo group.
Jumping Back
I love Carlisle tires and have always had great success with them. I decided to run 9.5-16 Carlisle Farm Specialist R1 tires which I mentioned are around ~2" taller and 1" wider than the stock rears. I also wanted to tuck the fenders a bit more as the wheel spacers left a little gap so this was another reason for the bigger meats. These things have some crazy deep lugs in them in comparison to the originals. They each weigh 53lbs and what's even wilder is that they actually each felt heavier alone than the stock tires mounted on the rims! I couldn't believe it. The compound it quite a bit softer then the rock hard Firestone rubbers too so combined with the Rim Guard there's a big jump in weight. The local Les Schwab tire store sells Rim Guard so I just have them pump into the tires after they mounted 'em.
Size Comparison
Height specs
Before
Top of hood: 40.5"
Top of back of seat: 41"
After:
Top of hood: 43"
Top of seat back: 42 3/4"
These were a lot of fun to mount up due their weight but with a help of an extra person raising and lowering a jack while I pushed them up to the hub on the cart made it pretty easy.
Other Doodads
I've always despised the screw-in oil dipstick. Getting a wrench out each time to check the oil is inconvenient. You can swap over to a regular style stick by via a threaded insert tube. Locating NOS dipsticks aren't too hard to find but the insert is. There's been an NOS one I've been watching on Ebay for the past 2-3 years that's been too much money... the reason why it's been on there so long. I tried making an offer in the past with no luck but thought I'd try it again a few years later and it worked out; I guess the seller decided to give up on it.
The insert as the photo showed in the pic needed some love, despite it being never used. I had it powdercoated which will work fine as it's not an exhaust part and won't get hot enough to burn off and necessitate the need for ceramic coating instead... it'll work just fine. I then painted the outside of it and the stick's handle orange. Keep in mind, all this stuff is going to get repainted later on anyway.
Where it Snowballed
When I was talking with the guy who sold me the kingpins he asked me if I "needed anything else" (bad thing to ask me when it comes to my equipment)." I said "you wouldn't by chance have one of those hard to find 2nd transmissions setups, would you?" Turns out he had everything aside from the coupler that's needed but I was able to purchase one as seen below elsewhere. He said he had a rebuilt trans and gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. Awesome! I will most likely do the conversion when the tractor comes apart to get repainted. I was talking with the guy quite a bit about the conversion and the motor has to be slid forward, hydraulic system all as come apart of course, body work off, etc, etc. If I'm tearing the whole tractor apart might as well do the re-paint at the time as I see it. I don't really like doing this kind of stuff multiple times if I don't have to.
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Thanks Eric!
If you can't find one of fill tube inserts, I think it would be very easy to make one. Go to the hardware store and find piece of threaded pipe- I can even measure this one so that you get the right length and or cut one if need be. Take it to a muffler shop and have them expand the opening just enough so the dipstick seal fits tight; voila. :ThumbUp:
Thanks for checking it out!
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Your going to have that one too pretty to get dirty just like the other one. :tango_face_wink: They really did a good job on those rims! Look like brand new if not better. :tango_face_glasses:
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Thanks, Mark.
The paint on the sheet metal looks presentable in the photos but I've repainted several spots where there was rust before on the seat/trans cover pan, especially the area that I had repaired, so it sort of bugs me now that I would just like to start fresh. Not too mention, several parts I've added to it that are not the same shade of orange either. In hindsight, part of me says I could've left everything alone and held off on a future repaint decades down the road but I have a problem with not leaving well enough alone and 'fixing' things like that I guess. :tango_face_wink:
The paint on the sheet metal looks presentable in the photos but I've repainted several spots where there was rust before on the seat/trans cover pan, especially the area that I had repaired, so it sort of bugs me now that I would just like to start fresh. Not too mention, several parts I've added to it that are not the same shade of orange either. In hindsight, part of me says I could've left everything alone and held off on a future repaint decades down the road but I have a problem with not leaving well enough alone and 'fixing' things like that I guess. :tango_face_wink:
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Kind of like me and the old Jake push mower. If I had just bought it I would probably paint it. But some of those bad spots in the paint I remember was there the first time I pushed it around the yard 40 some years ago.
Been a couple years now since I had it running. Last year I tried and it did not fire and I never had time to go back to it. I really need to get it out and clean up the bottom end of it and at least coat the rust with something to neutralize it. I keep it stored dry in the shed but that rust on there just with humidity is still probably slowly eating away at it. By now I'm sure my fuel treatment has also failed and it will be a mess in the carb. :tango_face_plain:
Been a couple years now since I had it running. Last year I tried and it did not fire and I never had time to go back to it. I really need to get it out and clean up the bottom end of it and at least coat the rust with something to neutralize it. I keep it stored dry in the shed but that rust on there just with humidity is still probably slowly eating away at it. By now I'm sure my fuel treatment has also failed and it will be a mess in the carb. :tango_face_plain:
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My grandfather who worked at a hardware store sold it to my parents when they bought their first house in 1965. As I recall the story was it was a used trade in at that time. I think we ran the numbers one time and it dated back to the 1950's but not sure now.
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