CC 149 Winter Projects.
 

With temps getting down to minus 29F or minus 34C, it seemed like a good time for some shop work. I have a list of fairly major to minor projects lined up to do to the CC 149. It's been plugging away without much love for a couple of years.



Some of the things I have to do are build a grill (started today). Fix or replace the exhaust and route it underneath and toward the back. Pinch the front axle mount to take the slop out. Put thrust bearings on the steering knuckles. Put a thrust bearing on the Ross steering box and reset the follower. Replace one or two steering link ball studs. Change out the lights for LED's. Get rid of all the rattles in the hood and related mounting features. Do some fiberglass repair on the dash. Paint the fender pan, hood, dash tower and hood/ grill support.



And I just got in a three spool valve to add more circuits to the hydraulics.



When I added a hydraulic pump to the front, it interfered with the pristine factory grill so I decided not butcher it. it's been running with no grill for a few years, so it's time.

I had to space the mesh out about an inch because of hydraulic hose interference. This is the upper grill. I'll build a lower grill as well, but it also will be a shield for the hydraulic pump.

Only thing to do is shop projects this time of year.
Gotta love winter. NOT. We are right there with ya. 28 below this
morning and projected - 38 tonight and tomorrow. Without the wind.
Stay safe, enjoy the shop time.

Ken

I do have two questions which might stir some controversy. I was just googling around about putting thrust bearings on the steering knuckles and there seemed to be every where from "don't do it moron" to "it's awesome" and everything in between. I do have a FEL on the tractor.

Anybody have real world experience to share?

Slowly chugging away over the past couple of days mostly disassembling and scraping off the first layer of dirt. With the loader off and the engine out, getting at stuff is much easier. The axle channel needed a little squeeze to get the 1/16" play out of there in the first move to tighten up the steering play. Some pressure with a 5/8" bolt through the pin hole and some moderate taps with a big hammer on the flange close to the frame rails pretty quick resulted in a light friction fit.

I'll replace the four ball stud joints on the linkages with Heim joints.

I'd really like to replace the roller balls and cups in the steering box but the cheapest shipping I can find to Canada is $55 for the $22 parts. In Canadian pesos that's over a hundred bucks! Some research indicates that the JD 110 has the same box and I do have a JD :bigeyes: farm dealer in town. Does anybody know that for sure?

Forgot to add the pics

Ambush, here is a link to JD110 Service Manual, maybe it'll help.
Check Section 70....
http://www.wfmfiles.com/download/man...20(Jan-74).pdf

Thanks Ironman. But I guess I need to know if they are the same physically and a JD part number (which I may have already).

I did a complete tear down, of a MF10 last winter and used your paint formula with Tremclad, Magic catalyst and Xylene. I was really impressed how well that worked and I'll definitely be doing the same on this Cub! Thanks for that tip!

JD parts...
https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/...on/pgId/218343

Thanks again Ironman, I appreciate the help!
I’m not sure that’s the same because they only show and list as needing one “washer” which I’m assuming is the bearing race. And they sell the balls individually. I’m going to just buy bearing balls at a local supplier.

Today was spent stripping more stuff off and making a list of repairs and parts.
Tomorrow I’ll take the weights and tires off. The tires are fluid filled so not that easy to manhandle, but they do roll :)

Then I guess I’ll just start the unpleasant grind of cleaning everything up. I split the tractor last winter to go through the hydro and change the cork gasket, so I’m not going to pull it out this time around.

On second thought, it isn’t much work to split the tractor and it makes working on things so much easier. And I’m going to be changing color too.

I wouldn’t say by the looks of it that I’ve gotten a lot done, but it does seem to soak up the hours, stripping paint, wire brushing, sanding, straightening and planning.
I gathered up bearings balls and a thrust bearing for the steering box. I drained and swabbed out the hydraulic reservoir. I got the frame painted. Today I rebuilt the steering box and painted it, so it’s ready to go. I’m making a pile of cleaned and ready to paint pieces for when I mix up some more paint. I couldn’t find a gasket for the steering box quickly or for a reasonable price, so I made one from a thin felt pad same as the original. The new ones are foam, I think.

In case you were not already aware, replacing the plastic bushing at the top of the steering tube with a bearing will improve smoothness.
The bearing from your front wheels will fit.
To keep it from riding up and out of the tube you can dimple the tube with a center punch or apply some JB Weld to the inner edge of the tube.

Yes, thanks again Ironman. I learned that right here on OCC from the very knowledgeable and always generous membership! :beerchug:

The tedious job of stripping and prepping small parts and linkages is nearing an end and I’m glad.

All are primed, many have the first coat and a few the second coat.

I’ll be happy when I can get the whole frame and attachments back together and start on the main body.

Looking good Ambush!

I would not paint the fins on the pump.
3 coats of paint will inhibit the cooling.
Same goes for the engine and the head but that will just burn off.

CC 149 Winter Projects
 

Ambush,
I can appreciate the hard work you have done to get as far as you have. The work is often dirty and tedious, but the long awaited results are something you and many others will appreciate in the years ahead.

The process reminds me of tearing a large phone book in half...(remember what those are?) a page at a time. Those who have the determination to press on will get everything done in a step by step sequence to complete the project. The learning experience is the greatest benefit from this long process, followed by tremendous satisfaction!

Keep up the great work! :beerchug:

You are right finruskw and I will clean that paint off the pump case.


I thought about just watching the paint dry, but I got bored. I got the heat gun out and peeled the decals off. Then I started stripping the paint off the hood, front bezel and the tunnel cover. The stripping gel took the first layers of non- factory paint off with very little effort. The factory paint needed a bit more scraping but about 98% came off pretty good. I’ll wire brush and sand tomorrow. It’s nice that the metal is all solid and straight. Just as few little welding jobs to do.

I have to try to repair the dash too. It feels like plastic, but seems to maybe have a fibre imbedded in it I’ll probably try a short strand fibreglass with a thin sheet metal backer.

Yeah, most of them are like that from folks slamming the hood shut, that and it not being adjusted properly.

^^^. Yes , that side of the hood support was 1/2” too low and no bumper on the support flange. I’d put an adhesive foam strip on there shortly after getting the tractor, but should find something better.

CC 149 Winter Project
 

A "sand" (media) blast cabinet would be a small but wise investment for the type of work you are doing. You can strip finishes or lightly "sand" painted or powder coat finishes that are in good condition before painting.

"Sand" (media) blasting leaves the best surface for a quality paint job to follow. Aluminum oxide works best all around from my experience. Great for cleaning up all kinds of small parts too! :biggrin2:

^^^ Sometimes I think about getting a small sandblasting cabinet, but it’s one more thing in the way and wouldn’t get used much, so I plod along.

It took me a few hours to carefully strip the several layers of paint off the dash. Again the added layers came off quick and I had to work quite a bit harder to get through the factory layer. I was being cautious because there are not many nicks or scratches in it and I don’t want to add any. The whole dash sanded up pretty nice.

I cut a strip of heavy tin and ground the galvanize off for a backer to repair the corner. I buttered a 1/8” layer of long strand fibreglass on the tin and held it in place with light pressure from small clamps. I still have to profile it with a sander. Once that’s done I can paint the dash and set it aside.

When I was cleaning the underside of the dash I found the manufacture date for it. March 8 1973. It’s in pretty fine shape for being fifty years old and likely not always being cared for much.

Lots to do today so not a lot of tractor time.

I got the Fiberglas contoured off and a thin layer of bondo to fill the little voids. A quick sand with #240 paper and a wipe down with Exylene and it was ready for paint. I put on three coats from a rattle can and in a week or two, it will get a couple coats of clear

Then I had a couple small weld repairs on the hood. At one point the cross strut at the rear of the hood had broken loose on one side and they just put a big pop rivet through it. I rewelded it and filled in the rivet hole. I also welded in the grooves worn into the cross strut by the hood tension springs. I stripped all the paint off the underside of the hood while I was working on it anyway.

It seems like what takes fifteen hours to prep takes 1/2 hour to paint. I got a first coat on some body parts today. I’ll give them twenty four hours before a wet sand and 2nd coat. This will be a 10/10 paint job. Should look pretty decent at 10 feet or going 10 mph :)

I’m sure some of you guys know this trick already but: when pouring paint for mixing, tape off half the opening with masking tape then cut a 1/2” hole in the tape to pour through. Saves a lot of clean up and some paint too.

Looking great Ambush and thanks for the tip! I hope I can remember that the next time I paint.:biggrin2:

Second coat on these parts and one more tomorrow, then I’ll let them harden up good. The drive assembly went back into the frame and I can start putting some linkages back in and set up the brakes. There’s a lot of little things to clean up yet, while paint dries. I’ll probably leave the seat pan and fenders for last and just get everything else on the tractor and out of the way. The engine will be last in because I have a couple things to do to it yet.

That looks great. What paint are you using?

I'm using Tremclad which is almost the same as Rust-O-Leom. I sprayed the frame because of all the hard to reach corners and contours.

For the rest, I like to roll it because it's inside work here in the winter. For rolling, I like to mix six parts paint, one part Xylene and not quite one part hardener. For the pieces in the pic, I mixed three ounces of paint, one tablespoon of Xylene and almost one tablespoon of Majic catalyst. I may do just a bit more catalyst on the last coat. To be safe, I wait twenty four hours before sanding and recoating, otherwise the Xylene may soften and crinkle the previous coat. I use small foam rollers with the rounded end because they don't leave fuzz and you can get them into fairly tight corners.

If you want to polish and clear coat, you can get a very good paint job. I probably won't bother, since it's a working tractor.

I got some linkages hooked up today.


Whenever you take something this old apart you find lots of little things that need attention. There are two T-bolts that hold and tension the hood to the bezel. Well there is if one isn’t missing and has been replaced with just a bolt that is sorta doing the job.

So I made a T-bolt. Now I’ve been welding over fifty years had many certifications, so I consider myself fairly aware. A couple days ago doing some little tacks in the hood, I had a few bubbles, that I attributed to contamination. Today welding the T-bolt, I got porosity. Hmm, bit of galvanize probably. Grind it out and do it again. Same thing.

It took one more time to realize I was out of shielding gas. DOH!!

My throttle control needed a little fix too. Somebody buggered the threads on one end and drilled it through and put a nut underneath. Not handy. I took a 10-24 wood nut, knocked the cleats off and tacked that on. Lots of thread.

I was going to get lots of stuff bolted back onto the frame today when I realized I hadn’t painted all the stripped and cleaned bolts. So I did that.

I made a couple of plates to replace the way oversized washers on the grill and hood support. Those slots are long wide and sloppy.

I got the bezel and hood back together and the new LED lights in there. The LED’s are remarkably brighter. You can see the new and old side by side in the one pic.

I cleaned all the electrical terminals and took out the only non factory wiring there was. A PO had added a switch in the dash and a three wire cord to go to a flasher at the rear for taillights. I’ll rewire that if I think I need them. The wiring is in very condition actually. I’m going to rewire the headlights and that’s it.

I loosely bolted in the hydro control and steering column and set the dash tower over that.

I think I’ll assemble as much as I can tomorrow to free up some bench space. Fuel tank and brackets are next in line.

They look good too, I think.

Got the dash back together, mounted on the tower and all the wires hooked up. The little bolt holes in the dash tin were enlarged so much I had to use some stainless upholstery washers.

It probably took two hours of fiddling, nudging adjusting and sticking my tongue both sides of my mouth to get the tower, dash, hood and front support to finally line up half decent. The other half of decent can go to heck.

I decided to add an edge bead to the rear of the hood to break things up and quiet rattles.

I’m trying to decide if I should work on the engine next and just finish up the whole front end. Or carry on with stripping and painting the fenders and seat pan.

I completely rebuilt the engine a few years ago, so nothing major. I have to cut off and extract the leftover thread from the exhaust elbow. There is just enough oil leaking from the valve cover to attract and build up dirt. Set the valves and check points and timing. Paint the tins. And I should go through the starter/generator

That piece of edging you have on the rear of the hood is going to wear right down into the fiberglass of the cowl if you are not careful to keep it adjusted so it is not touching it.

I have the exact same edging in my 149 for a number of years now.
There is no problem with wear whatsoever, however the edging tends to stick to the cowl and has pulled some paint off.

Key words here are

"if you are not careful to keep it adjusted so it is not touching it"

Key words here are

"has pulled some paint off"

I do have the hood support adjusted to limit contact.

A question I do have though; is there a factory hood support rod or cable for this tractor? I really don’t like the way it rests when open. I made a rod for a Massey hood, but the mounting points were there already

You can make one out of a chain. Do you have the left and right hood latches?