New 2N owner - possible restorer.

Hello, everybody.

First, my sincere thanks to all who are involved in making this incredible resource available and sharing their knowledge in this forum. I've been lurking and reading and learning for a week or so now. In the process, I've learned that the tractor I was given (and have not yet moved) is a 1945 2N.

The tractor is still sitting in a pole barn (with a good roof) about 50 miles from here. It was running when it was parked, which was about a dozen or so years ago. The tires still have air in them, though they have sunk into the ground. It seems to be complete, including all the fiddly little pieces (like radiator cap, knobs, PTO cover, seat,) that seem to become souvineers to passers-by.

Chances are good that it will start. One of my thoughts is to squirt some PB into the cylinders and let them soak for a few days, then squirt some oil into them and crank it a few times in hopes of loosening up the rings and establishing some compression. Of course I would make sure the crankcase and trans have the appropriate levels of the appropriate fluids in them. The gas tank needs to be drained and fresh gas put in, of course.

My question... are there other precautions I should take to prevent possible damage before attempting to start her? Are there other things I should take a peek at to make starting and running more likely considering how long it has sat here?

I will be doing what is needed right now to preserve it, in hopes of doing a full restoration eventually. It will probably get a sandblasting and coat of the proper gray paint at the very least. Another question though... it is painted like a Red Belly, and shows no evidence of this being over-paint. Were these ever sold with that paint job?

An image link is included. I've partly dug it out of the junk at this point... and evicted the mice that had moved into the seat cover.

At this same site is a Farmall B in a swamp with a tree fallen on it that has broken the axle that I can have as well. I'm considering disassembling what I can from it and essentially parting it out. Everything from the dash forward is intact.

Thanks again!

Change engine oil and filter, drain and replace tranny oil.

charge the battery, or replace if you have a spare 6v laying around.. remember.. positive ground. May want to repolarize the cutout relay after you charge/replace the battery.

Perhaps pull the distribuitor and run some brown paper or an ignition hone thru the points a couple times... these are your 'test' points, and once you get it running.. you should replace them... even properly honed points aren't as good as new points.

When you are ready to start it for the first time, roll the engine over a rev or two by hand to eject any excess oil out of the cyls.. then install new plugs..then DO prime the oil pump by pulling that big hex plug to the left of the water pump and squirting some heavy gear oil in there.. like 85 140.. or 90w.. pop the plug in fast, and get the engine rolling over.

Have some ether ready to help it.

Also.. pull the plug on the botom of the carb to make sure you have fuel flow thru the float needle. Might have to do a quickie carb cleaning before you do the start attempt.. maybee not.

HAve a jumper wire handy in case the ignition switch has gone south, so you can jumper around it. if it don't start.. check spark.. next check fuel.

Don't forget to clean/oil the air filter sump.

Soundguy

Ed Gooding (VA)

08-28-2001 04:02:50
63.21.138.149

Hi Dave. This tutorial was posted a couple years ago here, when someone asked about starting a tractor that had been sitting for 15 years:

The engine has been sitting for 15 years. You don"t hit an engine like that with a starter motor and promptly try to do compression checks. The engine has no oil anywhere except the bottom of the pan, and almost assuredly has rust on the ferrous parts. Those are things like a camshaft, crankshafts, bores, rings, etc.
Considering how easy it is to pull the head, I"d pull the head. That way I can see how the bores look and judge how my rings and such are to know if I"m going to have to rebuild it, or if I can get away with it.
I"d try turning the engine with a wrench on the crankshaft pulley. That"s the only way I"d turn the engine, by hand. Use gentle force. Does it move at all, or is it frozen solid?
If it moves at all, I"d immediately get oil down along the rings by simply dribbling some there (hence the niceness of having the head off). This will greatly reduce the damage rust particles will do and reduce the chances of breaking a ring when it catches on the ridges in the bore from the rings sitting there for so long.
If it doesn"t move at all, then I go on to white vinegar. Nice stuff. Pour it in the cylinder bores, and let it dissolve the rust. It may take a couple of hours, or a couple of days. It depends on how bad the rust is. Just keep checking the engine until it finally turns. Sop it up (again, nicer with the head off) once the engine turns, and oil things to float the rust particles. Examine how badly the bore is damaged and determine if you can live with the damage or if you must rebuild the engine.
Lets assume we"ve finally got the engine free, and that you can live with the damage in the bores. With the head still off, I"d spend some time cranking the engine over by hand. I"m not trying to build up pressure, I"m trying to get oil circulating and onto bearing parts. I prefer to do this by hand so I can feel things like the scraping of a galled bearing.
I also will probably have pulled the lifter covers so I could jam all the valves open, eliminating the load on the cam faces. They are probably dry and rusty. Spinning them against the lifters will result in damage to the cam.
After a while I"ll stop cranking by hand (unspecified time, but usually until my arm gets good and tired). I want to see signs of oil flow though! Once I"m convinced the oil pump is indeed moving oil, I"d use the starter motor to spin it faster, and see if I can get oil pressure now.
Got pressure? Good, keep cranking. This gets the oil into/onto all those areas that are dry and probably rusty, or at least have rust particles floating around on them, without putting a load on them like compression or valve springs do. It also takes one heck of a long time to get oil into and through completely bone dry passages. I like to crank an engine for something on the lines of half an hour on the starter motor. Yes, that means breaks to cool the starter down, as well as recharging the battery. Fine by me!
Only after all this would I start allowing valves, one at a time, to ride against the camshaft. Again, I"d spin by hand to feel for anything. I"m not going to simply pull the camshaft if I feel galling, but I"m certainly going to note which valves induced it for future reference.
Only after all the valves are riding on the camshaft, going up and down properly, with oil pressure being sustained, would I put the head back on. Plugs installed to give me compression, so I can listen for interesting crankshaft sounds against compression.
Then, and only then, I do a compression test. I also wouldn"t get worked up yet if a reading were low. Stuck rings are quite likely in this engine due to the years it"s spent sitting. I"d simply note the low compression.
Now is when I"d consider trying to start the engine. Once I"ve got it running (ignoring the blue smoke) I"d be listening very closely for evil engine sounds.
About now I"d change the oil again. I don"t like rust floating around in the oil, especially with the filtration system the N uses. I"d very seriously contemplate using a flush. But that would be predicated on how much sludge I found on things while I was in there. The flush has a fair chance of helping to loosen up the potentially stuck rings. Dump again, but this time I would probably use good old Marvel Mystery Oil. For whatever reason, the darn stuff seems to work well.
Work the tractor gently, with increasing loads as I verify that things are working adequately. It would be a while before this machine saw something as harsh as plowing with me.

Hope this helps..... ..... Ed
"52 8N475798

Man, I gotta get on this list for gift tractors!!!

Good luck with getting your 'new' 2N going. It shouldn't be too hard, from your description.

IMHO I wouldn't use PB Blaster in the cylinders... maybe some MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil), maybe even some kerosene, but MMO would be my 1st choice.
By ALL means change out fluids!! (although, you may want to wait on changing the engine oil until after the MMO/kerosene/PB drains into it :-)), just don't forget to clean the air cleaner, too. As I'm sure you're already well aware, you'll most likely need an ignition tune-up (points, condenser, plugs, wires, maybe a coil and ballast resistor, too).
Make sure to prime your oil pump, before you try and start 'er, too. Remove the pressure relief valve (a large headed bolt near the distributor that doesn't appear to hold anything in) and it's spring (don't loose the spring) and squirt some motor oil in there.

As to the color... ALL 9Ns and 2Ns left the factory solid gray. The darker "battleship" gray than what your (sheet metal) appears to be. Of course, who knows what has happened cosmetically, in the last 60 years. As to "sold with that paint job", yes, some of the later 2Ns (typically dealer stock after the 8N was released) were repainted "red-belly" in an effort to "boost sales", but I wouldn't think that a '45 would fit that criteria.

As to the B... Again, if it was me, I'd probably check prices, etc. of the axle(s) required to get it going, before I decided to part it out... Of course, you'll probably net more cash in parts than in its entirety, but...

Again, congratulations and good luck...

Steve

Thanks to everybody who has replied so far. The plan is being developed, thanks to your advice.

I was talking to sandblasters today, and one mentioned that he had a dead 8N in his yard with a loader on it that he could go look at for reference.(!!!) I'm trying to find out whether he would like to get it removed from his yard... he needs the space, after all. Hmmmmm .

Man, moving that B is going to be a job. It is at the bottom of a ridge in a swamp, with three wheels... and of course there is that tree! But I'm convinced it will be worth the try.

I know the image is out of place here in the 2N section, but though ya might enjoy a peek at it. Mebbe I have the model wrong and one of you can set me straight.