Restoration Project: O' Whitey

[Farmall51]

I had forgotten to post a pic of my screwed up serial number plate:

007.JPG

Thankfully, I have been able to decipher it, thank goodness for casting codes.

Aaand....that pretty white paint!

005.JPG

One more thing. The IH Archives at the University of WI has full digital copies of Harvester World magazine online. Thought it would be fun to look for white demo information in some of the issues in '49-'50. Found a VERY interesting pic on the cover of the May, 1950 issue:

Harvester World white Super A.JPG

Look at the Super A emblem. Normally there would be the word CULTI-VISION in white at the bottom of the circle. In other words, CULTI-VISION would form the bottom part of the circle. The decal on this tractor is a solid black/white bordered circle, like a normal A, B, C, or circle Cub decal. I had wondered how they handled the fact that these letters were in white and wouldnt' show up well on white paint, I guess now we know!

By the way, the reason there is a NATIONALIZED sign on the IH dealer's window, and the guy is holding a Soviet/communist newspaper is because 1950 was during the early Cold War and this small town was staging a mock takeover to illustrate the dangers of communism. Pretty interesting article in and of itself.

Al

That is interesting . I think you did a great job on finding out the missing number or at least getting close .

[Thehiwayman]

I had forgotten to post a pic of my screwed up serial number plate:

007.JPG

Thankfully, I have been able to decipher it, thank goodness for casting codes.

Aaand....that pretty white paint!

005.JPG

One more thing. The IH Archives at the University of WI has full digital copies of Harvester World magazine online. Thought it would be fun to look for white demo information in some of the issues in '49-'50. Found a VERY interesting pic on the cover of the May, 1950 issue:

Harvester World white Super A.JPG

Look at the Super A emblem. Normally there would be the word CULTI-VISION in white at the bottom of the circle. In other words, CULTI-VISION would form the bottom part of the circle. The decal on this tractor is a solid black/white bordered circle, like a normal A, B, C, or circle Cub decal. I had wondered how they handled the fact that these letters were in white and wouldnt' show up well on white paint, I guess now we know!

By the way, the reason there is a NATIONALIZED sign on the IH dealer's window, and the guy is holding a Soviet/communist newspaper is because 1950 was during the early Cold War and this small town was staging a mock takeover to illustrate the dangers of communism. Pretty interesting article in and of itself.

Al

That is interesting . I think you did a great job on finding out the missing number or at least getting close .

Here is a thought for future...
Have you removed the last two rivets and examined the plate from the back...you may find the perfect reversed image on the back of the plate...
I found this out by accident while looking for an obsolete oil pan from GM the oil pan was so rotted and scaled up with rust it was absolutely impossible to see anything of the number I absolutely had to get this number to do a natioal parts search...I got the idea of removing the sludge and bottom baffle in that oil pan and there it was! the number clear as day like it was new only the back indentations...

I am in the process of learning about my New "White Cub" and came across your post

[Super A]

Yes, the problem was IH just didn't stamp these numbers deep enough.

[Thehiwayman]

Yes, the problem was IH just didn't stamp these numbers deep enough.

I was wondering if that trick would work because you are right, the stamping on mine it very light on mine as well but I didnt know if it would have shown through anyways...

I found an A that I really like myself...I knew one wouldn't be enough

and so it begins

I'll be watching your progress good luck and have fun!

[Super A]

This is what folks call a "teaser."

There have been some interesting & exciting developments with Ol Whitey in the last few weeks.

More info to come soon!

Al

[rcbaughn]

I want pictures!!! Have any rest work started? I read this thread and can't wait to see it finished. Got an estimated timeline? Or a roundabout timeline on completion?

[Super A]

Got an estimated timeline? Or a roundabout timeline on completion?

Now that's funny right there.......

I am hoping to make some progress this winter. I have been sort of hoarding parts, making plans, etc. It will be a looong time before it's completely done. I do have some exciting news to share about it in a few weeks, but can't say right now, don't want to jinx it....

Al

[Rob in NH]

i think he might be milking that job

[Super A]

Check out the pics of my hood. Again no doubt what it was!

10157125_830115657011773_2768959075638872097_n.jpg (59.35 KiB) Viewed 2182 times

1472947_830115577011781_8193983420410153839_n.jpg (70.5 KiB) Viewed 2182 times

Maybe it's just me but it looks like there is a red stripe hand painted for the red part of the IH emblem.

10290198_830115630345109_4616116300178958566_n.jpg (96.23 KiB) Viewed 2182 times

Al

[Super A]

I promised some exciting news on this project a while back. The project has had a major update and re-focus as of yesterday. I present to you "Bucket of Bolts"

Let's take a closer look:

Yep, it's what's left of a white demo Super A. I saw parts of it listed on Ebay back in September. My first notion was to contact the seller, and see about the block since Ol' Whitey's is cracked. He sent me the serial number and the casting code off the block, and it was from a tractor way earlier than mine, but I decided to purchase it. It is basically a short block with all the internals installed and it was running when parted out. After a couple more phone calls, I explained where the tractor serial number was and the seller checked it out and lo and behold, the serial number is 2814xx. This means this tractor was probably built during the first 2-3 days of 1950 production! At that point a lot of the tin work and other goodies had been sold, but all the main castings--stuff with date codes on them---were still there. So I think the plan is to use my new "Bucket of Bolts" and bits from Ol' Whitey to make one.

I'm going to send the head out over Christmas to be reconditioned, and then we'll go from there.....

Al

[Super A]

This thread is on its second page so it's time to turn some bolts. I am teaching a new-to-me course at school this semester, Small Engines, so the white demo is sort of a ginuea pig.

Took the pan off and got her on the stand. Notice the oil filter! You can't tell but it's in backwards. Evidently the end of an old filter got stuck in the block and they tore it off. We'll get it clean so we can see what we're doing and then pick the old filter bits out.

I don't have pics but the crank started out looking good. The students put plastigauge on a rod journal and it measured about .003 which is on the far side of the spec. The rod bearings were a dull grey with some pits on them. When they took the main bearing caps off, there was some pitting on the rear main journal. So I figure I might as well see about a crank grind. The BIG surprise came when they took the timing cover off.

[Super A]

Look at this!

The governor gear put up a little bit of a fight coming out. There's been some water in this engine in the past. We had to wail on it pretty hard with a big piece of cold roll steel and a hammer. Fortunately, it looks like the bushing in the block is ok.

Years ago, when we had the cracked block replaced in our 230, the governor gear and cam gear in it were also missing teeth. Evidently something serious got tangled up in those gears at some time or another. The crankshaft gear looks fine.

Here's the best pic I have of the crank right now. The rod journals really look nice but there's too much wear.

If everything goes good, the block will go to the machine shop this week to get cleaned and magnafluxed. I want to show the students a few things about the head and then it will go also for a valve job. I have to mull on the crankshaft. I have one ground .20 under, been setting on the shelf, out of an A. Might end up using it.

More soon...
Al

[Dons Super A]

You're really moving along. I'll be watching this thread a lot as I'm working on restoring my grandfather's 52 SA. Great job and keep us updated!

[Tinkertoy]

Thanks for the kindness during my time of grieving for Friday, my kitty Al....believe me, it really helps....keep at that restoration job Bud !!

[Super A]

Thanks for the kindness during my time of grieving for Friday, my kitty Al....believe me, it really helps....keep at that restoration job Bud !!

You're welcome. It's almost been a year since my little buddy "Milkshake" flew the coop and hasn't been seen since. We were unloading groceries out of the car after a night trip to walmart and didn't realize she snuck out. I miss her.

The stuff is back from the machine shop. Head re-done, crank was polished and standard bearings will fit. I brought it home a month or two ago, that's how busy I've been. Well when I took it home I sprayed down the crank with WD 40 and set it in the corner. Checked on it yesterday and guess what? Surface rust on the #1 main bearing journal! Fortunately one of my friends was heading back to the machine shop today to pick up some stuff for his Fairlane so he's taking the crank down to have them check it. It was just some light rust which wiped off, but I want to be sure it's ok before it goes back together. (Which I will get to work on so it doesn't rust again!)

Ol Whitey is at my house now, picked up from the farm, and soon will begin donating parts. I think I will probably just swap in the entire camshaft rather than trying to press off the gear, as well as the governor gear. I have two (reasonably) good rims so I can put Whitey's wheel centers on the other demo and get it where I can roll it around.