Hey, another guy rebuilding a '43 H! Welcome to the fun and games. (just kidding, its a blast to work on these old sweethearts) Maybe I can help on a few of your questions. "Are the axle seals easily replaced?" Yes, but the hard part is removing the wheels: from the last photo, maybe you already did that. After that, its just a matter of pulling the end plate off and replacing the oil seal and felt seal. "Seems it is leaking either from the shaft that goes through the transmission or behind the brake drum. The shaft is worn on the left side, what is involved in replacing the seal?" You know, it could be that there was so much fluid in the rear end that it was causing you some problems (happened to me: when I filled to the correct level, the leaks quite...just a thought). If you have to replace the bearing and seal, your going to have to get into the bull pinion and differential pinion....not fun, but if your careful its not too bad. "Looking in the shifter hole, there is lots of crud, I drained almost a gallon of water along with the oil. Do I pull the cover to get in there and clean it out?" Every letter series and hundred series collects water in the final drive...its why you'll here allot of people on this forum tell you to drain the water every year. As far as cleaning it out, I filled the rear with a few gallons of diesel fuel (some advise kerosene, but diesel has more oil in it), ran it for awhile, and drained. Worked fine. Kinda you're call if you want to pull the deck and really wipe it clean. *The governor oil cover looks like the tube had been welded and was not seated on the governor,..... Do I need to replace it?" Your choice, but I would. Its not too pricey on e-bay when I see them. And its only a 15 minute job to change it. "What about the belt pulley, do I just remove it since it will probably never be used. It leaks pretty bad." My '43 didn't have a belt pulley, just the blanking plate. Again, I guess that's your call, depends if you're after a work or parade restoration. And if you're a purist, then you HAVE to fix it 'cause it came with it. "The fan blade is missing the springs, what are they for? Can they be replaced?" Those springs keep pressure on the water pump shaft and impeller through the thrust washer. I've never seen them on e-bay, but you should be able to buy them. As rusty as it appears, the fan is probably 'welded' to the shaft. Unless it starts to weep water, I wouldn't worry too much: I've got a '40 with the same condition and have never had a problem with it. Didn't mean to get wordy here: hope some of this helps you out. Keep us posted as to how its going...remember we love pictures! Good luck and have fun.
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