From a newbie. Now what do I do?

[Roadroach]

I have been cleaning up a Cub, for the last three weeks, that was donated to our Non-Profit, #1225. This tractor has been sitting in a shed and has not run for probably 25 years. Thought I was getting along pretty well until I pulled the valve cover off. What a mess in there. How should I start cleaning in there? Is it advisible to just start spraying kerosene in there and letting it run out the oil pan drain? Thought I would get some advise first. I would like to do this right the first time.
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving.

[Bigdog]

Welcome aboard Roadroach! (interesting handle)

Just lay a shop towel along the bottom and spray away. Can we assume that you will pull the oil pan as well since you see build-up at the valves?
Anyway, a good flush with kerosene will take care of a lot of sludge build-up. But I think pulling the pan and cleaning the sludge there and making sure that the oil sump is clean is worth the work.

I'll let Rudi do his welcome right and proper but I just wanted to say that you are welcome here. We'll try to help any way we can.

[kinelbor]

Welcome to the forum!

[Rick Prentice]

Hi Roadroach. I would have to say that a couple more questions need to be answered first. What exactly do you see behind the side cover, just oil sludge? Does the engine turn over? If you remove the spark plugs, is there compression felt on all cylinders? The reason I ask is that my last cub sat in a garage for about 7 years and 4 valves were stuck and had to be freed up. Rick

[Roadroach]

I have drained all fluids and they looked fairly clean. Removed the oil pan and cleaned that too. I sprayed out the sump screen but don't know if the pipe is clear. When I took the valve cover off it is just soft skanky oil sludge build-up. Engine turns over easily, but I believe I have at least two valves that are sticking. I have not checked the compression on the cylinders yet. roach

[Rick Prentice]

When I brought my 48 home, the hood was already off from the previous owner. I was able to gently tap the valves that were sticking, through the spark plug holes. KROIL was the trick! I just sprayed and tapped, rotated the engine until the valve was pushed up again and repeated the process until it worked free on it's own. This will be tougher if the hood is still on. Happy Thanksgiving, Rick

[Eugene]

Kerosene won't hurt anything. My parts cleaner is big enough to put the entire block. I would pull the engine, disassemble and clean everything. My guess is that the entire engine will be gunked up like the valve chamber.

Eugene

[Rudi]

RoadRoach

As BD said, interesting nick

First, to the greatest forum on the internet, and to the Cub Family. You will find that all the folks on this forum are kind, helpful and just full of Cub info and knowledge. They also happen to be the finest folks I have ever met

As for your question, well a simple solution would be to let the kero drain out through the oil pan drain right into a large vessel of some sort. I use a large oil recovery pan... has a pour spout.. strain, drain, and reuse elsewhere... like on bull gears and such.

Have a lot of fun with this Cub.. I guess the 1225 is the Serial # which would make it a 47 and most likely a Circle Cub to boot

Ok, so here is the spiel :

I would suggest that you read this thread: New Members and Visitors, Please READ Prior to Posting. There are many great links to informative pages such as the ATIS FAQ's 1 and ATIS FAQ's 2, The Best of H.L. Chauvin who has written very interesting articles on troubleshooting common problems with your Cub.


Also, you might want to visit the Cub Manual Server as there is tons of info on servicing, maintaining and re-building your Cub. In addition to this basic information, there are also a number of other useful tools available on the server. There is the Specialty Services page which has contact info for neat stuff like getting your seats recovered, buying quality Decals, Serial Number tags and a host of other neat items. Also there are the Parts Pages - both Used Parts Suppliers and New Parts Suppliers pages with links to quality dealers. I am always looking for YOUR favourite dealers for New and Used Parts to include here. These are intended to complement the businesses who support FarmallCub.com Website.

I would also recommend that you visit Binder Books and purchase the three most important manuals you can own for Maintenance, Repair and Rebuilding your Cub. These are the Owner's Manual, the GSS-1411 Service Manual and the TC-37F Parts Manual. Although they are available on the Cub Manual Server, it is better is you also have your own paper copy. Binder Books is the only Authorized IH Publication Reprint House and they have the best quality manuals available. Most other's are not of the same quality. Just a personal thought here, the I&T Shop Manuals, although helpful in some areas, really are not sufficient for the job. If you wish though, they are good additional reference works.

IF you really want to get the skinny on all things Cub, might I suggest you get a copy of Ken Updike's Farmall Cub and Cub Cadet's . Along with Guy Fay's Letter Series Originality Guide, these are two must have's in anyone's collection.

In addition to the above information, don't forget to check out the various articles that are available to help with your Repair, Restore, Rebuild or just your Maintenance Projects. There are a number of sub pages such as Electrolysis or Rust Zapper's, Maintenance Tips, Jigs and Techniques, Implement and Part Sketches and of course the Paint, Decals & Other Finish Questions which has the Paint Chart and the Paint Committee Decisions links.

I truly hope that you enjoy your Cub and that you will be a frequent contributor to the forum. Again, to the Cub Family

[Roadroach]

Thanks for the welcome and advice. Eugene is probably right, I should probably pull everything apart and clean it. I will have to think about it more. I don't want to get into more than I can handle and end up messing things up. I'll read all I can and be back with more ?'s.
Thanks and Happy Holidays.
Roadroach

[DuxburyFarmall]

Welcome aboard RoadRaoch>

This is the best forum on the web.

Chad

[EZ]

Roadroach,

You have embarked on a journey that will be rewarding, frustrating, easy, difficult, informative, fun, heartbreaking, addictive, etc.....,

When you are finished (are we ever really finished?) you will be the envy of those who chose a different road.

Enjoy

[Don McCombs]

Well said, EZ.