Wife's old B

[Boomer84]

My wife's grandfather had a thing for old tractors. He has acquired many over his lifetime and gave most of them away. Every one of his grandkids got a nice running old tractor as teenagers. This particular B was special as it was his Wives favorite to drive and use. My wife was gifted this 1940 B and has been a cherished belonging ever since. A few years ago, before I met my wife, she fell on some hard times and had to sell the B to a family friend to make ends meet. A few weeks ago we found out that that family friend still had the B and he was in a bit of a bind and wanted to sell it. We were able to buy it back and haul it home last week.

Since we got it home I've been making a plan to get the old girl running again. It has been stored outdoors, non running for many years. The engine still turns over so hopefully I wont have to dig too deep into the innards. I'm planning to drain, flush and refill all fluids, rebuild carb, rebuild ignition system and rewire the entire tractor. The wiring is a dang mess. It was converted to 12v at some point and the goats have eaten most of the wires. Thankfully these tractors are so simple, only half a dozen or so wires on the whole thing, I should be able to get it going again soon.

The front tires are badly rotted and don't hold air, so I need to source a couple of those. Other than that just some touchup paint and some TLC and hopefully I'll have Little Red running again.

My wife's grandfather found out that we purchased the B and he is beyond excited to see it running again. He wants to take the ole girl out for a drive again before he is unable to. So I would like to get it done fairly quickly.

Attached is a picture of my father and my daughter on Little Red after we hauled her home and put her in the shop.

[RedFred]

I hope it all goes well with getting her going she's and nice looking tractor considering it sat outside for many years.

[Bob McCarty]

Welcome to the forum.

[SamsFarm]

While at first thought I was going to say this is a "story with a happy ending"!

But this story is still being written, and is sounding good!

I hope your story has many wonderful chapters, and no ending!

Ps,

Thats a nice looking "stored outside" tractor!

[Boomer84]

While at first thought I was going to say this is a "story with a happy ending"!

But this story is still being written, and is sounding good!

I hope your story has many wonderful chapters, and no ending!

Ps,

Thats a nice looking "stored outside" tractor!

Yes I hope to keep you guys updated as to my progress. Found this place doing research and seems like a lot of good knowledgeable people here willing to help if I need it.

We were very surprised as to the condition of the B. A good wash and buff will have the paint looking pretty dang good. The engine turns over and no weird noises from the trans/rear end while moving it so hopefully some new fluids, wires and some TLC will have her running again.

[Cub-Bud]

Welcome to the B club. Many members here have a B; I've got a '45. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Boomer84]

Haven't accomplished a whole lot on the B this week, but got a few little things started. Disassembled the carb and got it soaking in some cleaner, waiting on rebuild kit to reassemble it. Drained the engine oil and found some water in the bottom of the sump, maybe an inch or so or water, the oil was also way overfilled. Several gallons of oil was in the crankcase. Ran some kerosene thru the motor to flush out anything that might be left, changed the filter and refilled with fresh oil. Turned the engine over with the starter and its making good oil pressure and oil is getting to the top end and no funny noises so hopefully I don't have to tear into the engine any deeper.

Also checked my compressions. All 4 cylinders have decent compression, a bit low, but I think after a few heat cycles the rings might come around.

Started gathering the wiring and connections needed to rewire the tractor. Whoever did the 12v mod and wired this tractor last did a heck of a botch job on the wiring, so I've created a new wiring layout diagram and started building a new custom harness for this particular B. Sounds like a big job but these little B's only have a couple of circuits so it's fairly straight forward and easy to lay out a new harness.

[Tractor Rod]

Your B looks great for being parked outside for so many years. After you clean up the surface, paint, with new decals it will look super! The best part is the “innards”….. sounds like they are in great shape so fluids, oil, and wiring should be a piece of cake. Enjoy and glad it is back in your immediate family! Keep us informed.

[Boomer84]

Haven't had much time to work in the shop the last few weeks, but have managed to get a few little things done. Drained the transmission/pto fluids, found a lot of water in the gearbox, removed transmission cover/shifter and inspected the innards. Found a little surface rust in the tranny, all the gears and bearings seem to be in decent condition so I cleaned and flushed out the gunk and refilled with fresh gear oil. I had similar findings in the rear drives, water in with the oil, flushed and refilled with fresh oil.

Next on my agenda is to flush out the fuel tank and lines and get the fuel system reassembled. Just received my tune-up kit for the magneto so will be tinkering with that as well. Flush the coolant system and get her running again soon.

I love how simple this little tractor is. I'm having a blast tinkering with it. My wife thinks I have a new addiction and will be hunting down another tractor to rehab after this ones up and going.

[Boomer84]

Does anyone happen to know the thread pitch for the idle jet in the zenith carb? My threads are a bit buggered up and need to get a tap to chase the threads. My current tap and die kit doesn't go that small.

Pic of jet.

[Don McCombs]

Contact Morgan at McDonald Carb & Ignition. He would know.
706-367-4179

[Boomer84]

Haven't given an update in a while. I've finished the carb rebuild, had to have the tool and die machinist at work help me with the damaged threads on the bowl, Got it taken care of and put back together. Started the wiring a few weeks ago, when I opened up the electrical box that holds the ammeter and light switch, found it packed full of spider and wasp nest that caused the inside of the box to be badly corroded. Cleaned up all the rust primed and painted that. While doing paint work I repainted the battery box, the bottom of the fuel tank, and the front wheels. Got tires mounted on the front and got the front end put back together. Got the new wiring harnesses 90% completed. just need to finish the wiring in the switch box. Also got fresh fluids throughout the tractor. After I finish the wiring I've got the give the magneto some attention and put the rest back together and run it. Hopefully my next update will include a video of it running.