New to Me Farmall AV

[Stanton]

Just so happened that we had a cookout tonight. So, after the meal was cooked, I left the coals going. Then, after we finished eating, I piled more coals on to get the fire back up.

Like the earlier pic, here's another of how bent it was (steering box assembly is upside down):

Into the coals it went:

Took it out and bent it a little bit, but needed to reheat, so wanting a super-hot fire, used the heat gun:

It worked like a charm (or a blacksmith's furnace). Got it straightened up fine.

I downloaded a sparks pattern identification sheet earlier today. Tested a little bit of it on the grinding wheel and it looked close to high carbon steel rather than cast iron. That lead me to go ahead and try this procedure. Sure worked well.

[Stanton]

Made some more progress on the front axle this weekend. First was to clean the (2) steering knuckles and wheels. Got them cleaned up, bearings lubricated, repacked and assembled. One of the bolts that holds the front wheel hub cap on was broke off, so had to drill it out and re-tap. Other than that, no issues.

One front axle cleaned and ready for primer and paint.

Next, I removed the (4) adjustable axle bolts to discover they were shoulder bolts. There were (2) of the (4) that appeared to be factory made, while the other (2) had brazing holding the shoulder bushing in place. They were harder to remove than the factory ones. The factory bolts shoulder measured 7/8" diameter, but the modified ones were a little bigger diameter; irregular shape. Here's a pic for comparison, (2) factory bolts on the right:

Axle bolts; before.

Sure glad to have a metal lathe! I turned them down to 7/8" diameter in short order so all four matched.

Turning them down.

Axle bolts; after.

Finished with the bolts, I turned my attention to the adjustable axle itself. What a greasy mess. The front axle extensions came out easily enough--and why wouldn't they? There was enough grease in there to float a boat!

Adjustable axle.

You can see the rod I used to push a paper towel from the left end of the extension showing in the pic. As I pushed it through, grease squirted up out of the bolt holes like a play-dough factory. They were like large grease worms trying to escape a decades long captivity.

So much grease!

After much wiping and rodding, I finally got it down to an acceptable level. Only did one front axle extension this afternoon. Will get the other done this week and the main axle too (I hope).

[BohemianJon]

NICE job on that steering wheel...you do good work!

[Bill E Bob]

Stanton:
Is the notched portion on the main axle tube intentional or just wear? Been following this thread and am most impressed with your elegant engineering.

[Stanton]

Stanton:
Is the notched portion on the main axle tube intentional or just wear? Been following this thread and am most impressed with your elegant engineering.

The notch is intentional (i.e. by design); on both ends. Here's a pic of another AV showing both notches.

Thank you for your kind words.

[Bill E Bob]

Kinda' thought it might be, thanks for the info.

[Stanton]

Been out of pocket the last couple weekends, so haven't been able to make much progress. Got the axle parts all cleaned up:

Axle extension cleaned up.

Half of the axle stripped.

Front axle parts cleaned and ready to assemble.

Got the axle back on the front of the tractor. First time this has been on all (4) tires in a year:

I had noticed that the axle extension bolts at the knuckles were a bit worn when I removed them. One of the bolts didn't have the jam nut. First I tried to re-taper the old bolt, but ended up being too short:

Decided new bolts were needed. Was hesitant about turning a Grade 8 bolt in the lathe, but it proved to be just fine:

New bolt in lathe.

New bolt fit good compared to the old bolt. The longer taper really helped snug up the knuckle to the axle extension:

Proper fit.

Here's a side-by-side comparison, old and new:

Old and new comparison.

Got 'em on and the front end seems a lot tighter now. Hopefully this will improve steering:

Hoping to get part of this beast painted before cold weather hits this Fall. We'll see...

[Dale Finch]

What do you do to prevent flash rust? That looks really good.

[Stanton]

What do you do to prevent flash rust? That looks really good.

Thanks, Dale. Haven't really had an issue with flash rust. Suppose I'd have to go over it again just before priming...

[Stanton]

Had some more time this weekend, so made a little more progress. Over last winter, had watched mustie1 on YouTube replace the engine on a Farmall A and remembered he had to get a replacement oil pump. Went back today and watched that again to make sure his reason for replacing the pump wasn't evident on mine. It wasn't. His shaft had significant wear at one end. My main shaft measured out a 1/2" diameter in the middle of the shaft as well as on the ends.

Disassembled the pump:

Someone used RTV instead of a gasket. I don't care much for that stuff; much prefer the proper gasket.

Was able to get the pin punched out and the gear head removed. That allowed me to remove the key and take the shaft out of the housing. That's when I measured the shaft.

The head is made of pot-metal; looks to be the same as the IH carb. It had warped a little here and there:

Warped head.

Combination of using the bench vice, a crescent wrench, and a press, I was able to get most of the warpage out of the top. Some light 220 grit sanding on a piece of 1/4" glass helped further take some high spots off.

Bent back into shape.

Lightly sanded head.

Assembled the oil pump (sorry, no pics) and installed it back into the crankcase. Got the oil pan reinstalled as well. Had to tap the existing wallered out 5/16" hole at the rear center of the oil pan to a 3/8" threaded size. When I brought it home, the bridge installed in the crankcase just had a 5/16" bolt loosely hanging there and was leaking oil from that spot. All bolts are now snug and hopefully no future leaks.

Am wanting to put fluid in the tranny case soon, but can't since the bearing at the shaft above the PTO is exposed. Bought a belt pulley from muleboss earlier this year with a stuck shaft...

Belt pulley.

...but it didn't take me long to get it unstuck:

Disassembled.

On we go...

[Stanton]

Forgot to mention, the PO must have had some trouble driving this tractor. The oil pan looked like it got high-centered or beat with a big stick. Regardless, the pan was in poor condition, not sloped from the front to the drain. You can see the hump in the pan using a straightedge:

Using a few pieces of metal and the press, I was able to get most of the big dents out and basically got it sloping back to drain again.

[Super A]

Forgot to mention, the PO must have had some trouble driving this tractor. The oil pan looked like it got high-centered or beat with a big stick. Regardless, the pan was in poor condition, not sloped from the front to the drain. You can see the hump in the pan using a straightedge:
DSCN2235.JPG
DSCN2236.JPG

Using a few pieces of metal and the press, I was able to get most of the big dents out and basically got it sloping back to drain again.
DSCN2237.JPG
DSCN2238.JPG

Looks good, this is a common issue on the A-140, especially the Super A --140 with Touch Control. Folks don't set the cultivators up correctly and they hit the oil pain when they are raised.

Al

[Stanton]

Looks good, this is a common issue on the A-140, especially the Super A --140 with Touch Control. Folks don't set the cultivators up correctly and they hit the oil pain when they are raised.

Al

Bingo! After I reshaped the pan, I set it over an empty, dry trash can and filled it with water. After a few hours, no leaks. Didn't want any tiny stress fractures to occur and start leaking oil.

[randallc]

Good Show. Always enjoy and marvel.

[Stanton]

Good Show. Always enjoy and marvel.

Thanks, Randall.