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The restoring thread
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:40 pm
by Grimlock
Okay, he has arrived home with yet another lump of scrap iron that used to be a tractor and he is going to restore it and I thought that you guys may be interested to see how a job like this is done.
The tractor in question is a 1969 / 70 David Brown 990 Selectamatic.
I will post pics and technical info as the work progresses.
Here is what it looks like now : -
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http://i41.tinypic.com/23t0560.jpg[/img][/img]
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http://i44.tinypic.com/34eym9y.jpg[/img][/img]
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http://i40.tinypic.com/166aant.jpg[/img][/img]
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http://i39.tinypic.com/2ltpxqt.jpg[/img][/img]
Work will begin shortly.
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:47 pm
by ghostinthemachine
wouldnt this actually be a custom restore
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:17 pm
by Dirge
Nope, i will be restoring it to its former glory, it will ( hopefully ) look the same as it did when it left the Meltham factory over 30 years ago.
If people are interested i will list all of the parts that i need to do the job
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:40 pm
by Ironhide
She's a beaut!
GL on the job
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:11 pm
by Sideways
Please. Post what parts you'll need and the overall steps you'll do. I love this kinda stuff.
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:37 am
by HailStorm
Where do you find your parts at?
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:59 am
by Dirge
Where do you find your parts at?
tractor scrapyards, dealers, restorers, specialist manufacturers or sometimes even embedded in a hedgerow. ( where do ya think i found the tractor )
Please. Post what parts you'll need and the overall steps you'll do
No problem, I will be starting with the clutch coz i burned it out trying to drag start the tractor.
I am having a day on it tomorrow so I will know better then what parts are needed. its gonna be a long job.
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:02 pm
by SentinelPrime
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:35 pm
by Dirge
i wouldnt mind the armoured JD. I could really cause some trouble with one of them
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 8:22 pm
by Grimlock
He causes enough trouble without armour and machine guns ....
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:22 am
by Time Traveller
Bad: exposed tires.
here's one of my faves, one always shows up at the Iola car show. a McCormick Orchard Grove:
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:20 am
by Cliffjumper
awesome tractor
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:08 am
by Dirge
Okay it has a new clutch in it.
First i removed the steering wheel
then i disconnected all of the wiring ( well i ripped it out and threw it away, who needs wiring ) from the dash plate
i disconnected the hand throttle from the fuel pump, then removed the dash plate
i emptied the fuel tank in to a suitable container ( which wasnt big enough so i spent an hour cleaning the overspill up before she saw it )
i removed the fuel tank
I then supported the rear half of the tractor just behind the bell housing with axle stands ( which were cunningly disguised as breeze blocks coz i couldnt find the axle stands )
I then placed a trolly jack under the back of the engine
i undid the 10 bolts that hold the gearbox and the engine together then i wheeled the front half of the tractor forwards to get at the clutch ( well what was left of it anyway )
exactly why the jack decided to loose hight very rapidly is anyones guess so I ended up with the front half looking like it wanted to blast in to space or something, however never fear the loader lifted it.
i replaced the clutch disk and treid to put the two halfs back together, but i forgot to chock the back wheels with the resulting loud crash as the breeze blocks gave way and the gearbox hit the ground, I did eventually get the two halfs back together but she came home at that point, so I had other more important things to attend to.
More when I get time
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:35 pm
by Rumble
I am liking this thread already, keep it coming Dirge.
Rumble.
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:57 pm
by Time Traveller
sounds like you've gotten an incredible amount of work done already! Me, i am just trying to keep the beaters on the road.
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:25 pm
by Dirge
its easy when you know what you are doing. plus i have replaced many clutches in david browns, but never one as chewed up as this one
Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:56 pm
by Dirge
I have rebuilt its engine over christmas, before kath left.
First i took the exhaust silencer off then the bonnet.
Then i removed the sump plug to let the engine oil drain but i forgot to put a pan under it with the end result of her swearing at me as she slipped on the oil and fell on her a$$
Then I removed the sump and oil pump and untightened the 8 bolts ( 2 to each of the four conrods ) that hold the two halves of the big ends together around the crankshaft and removed the bottom halves.
I then removed the rocker cover, rockshaft, shoverods and the cylider head.
to my unending horror i saw that the compresion rings in bore #3 had scored the cylinder wall, meaning that the engine block needed reboreing.
so i removed the pistons and conrods then i tried to remove the crankshaft, i spent half an hour pulling, pushing, swearing and generally abuseing it, before she just undid the screw that holds it in place
I then had a guy come in with the correct tool to rebore the engine block making it bigger by 1 70th of an inch i then fitted new liners and slightly bigger pistons ( wahey, more power
) then I reversed the order of the above to rebuild the engine.
We then spent 2 hours trying to start it, before with the help of easy - start ( the second biggest sin in motoring cause they get addicted to it and then they wont start without it ) it came to life
it then blew the silencer straight up because some dunce hadnt tightened it on ( yes, i was sworn at again )
Only one thing to do now ........
road test
Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:57 pm
by Commander Megatron
Get pics of it on the road Dirge!!!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:37 am
by Dinobot
You have to have a costume on when you get it on the road for pics. Mad Max maybe?
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:22 am
by Dirge
i was thinking more like evil kineval or lewis hamilton
if im drunk enough maybe even batman