Tearing further into the 107
 

So Recently I finally decided to bite the bullet and start fixing everything I know needs fixing on the 107. I started with the speed control lever, but while having it off decided to pull the steering wheel, dash cowl, and whole tower. Will also do some stuff up front, fortunately nothing with the engine itself. The current list stands as:

• Fix hydro control lever to remove play that it had
  
• Loosen friction on the hydro linkage so it moves easier
  
• Drill and tap out a broken screw (one of the 4 that holds the dash cowl and tin)
  
• Drill and tap out a broken bolt (one of 2 that hold the throttle control)
  
• Clean up rust beneath tower and make sure it is all clean
  
• Neaten wiring and make sure it is all clean and tight
  
• Clean up the space between engine and cast iron grille housing
  
• Install graphite PTO button that I stole from my parts 105 (not perfect but still in pretty good shape)
  
• Adjust throttle linkage where the cable connects so I can get WOT (knocked out of proper adjustment when I tore everything apart for valve adjustment)
  
• Increase governor spring tension -> less RPM loss under load

It seems like a long list, but most things are small easy jobs. Nothing in the list has been serious enough to prevent me from using the machine, and I haven't used it much anyway over the past few months. But since I'm using it even less now, and because it may see slightly increased use this summer (and possibly a few shows :biggrin2:) decided it wouldn't hurt to just fix these all now.

Fortunately the hydro is pretty much good (leaks slowly but that doesn't bother me too much), engine is pretty much good other than the linkage adjustments described above and needing a new S/G belt. Steering is solid with very little play. Crazy part is that I'm looking forward to all this work, I think it's gonna be fun to finally tear into this tractor in a bit different way than previously :beerchug:

Will update and get some nice pretty pictures for you guys, here she is in her current state before any repairs:
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Before you all go I do have one question, how does one remove the ammeter from the dash? I cannot seem to figure it out for the life of me. I could just leave it in and disconnect the wires but I would rather be able to clean it, the tin, and the cowl separately. There must be some way as my 106's has been replaced. Anybody know?

Unless you have something oddball, there should be a "U" shaped metal bracket on the rear of the meter. It is insulated and slides on the wire terminal posts. After you remove the nuts that hold the wires on the posts there is another set of nuts that when tightened pull the meter tight into the hole.

It's decently rusted but yeah that's exactly how it is. Guess it isn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be :beerchug:

I should hopefully start work either tomorrow or Thursday night, depends on how busy I end up being.

Work has officially begun! Unfortunately it's dark out but I've got a pretty good worklight to use. Came in for a break to eat dinner, but here's my progress so far:

Got the steering wheel off; my wood puller jig straight up crumbled, but fortunately there's always the BFH option :biggrin2: . Straightened up the puller as best possible, then sat on the seat and applied as much upward pressure as I could onto the wheel with my legs, and whacked the top of the puller bolt about 10 times. She loosened right up no problem.

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Also pulled the fiberglass cowl and dash tin; removed the ammeter as per ironman's advice. Then the choke, then the throttle, and lastly the 3 screws (4th one is broke and I plan to drill/tap for replacement). Came right off no problem, removed grommet for around steering column and separated the tin and cowl. Turns out there's a lot of crud under there so good thing I can clean it!

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Next step is to remove the solenoid, my light switch, the key switch, 4 bolts holding the hydro shaft mounts, and the 4 main tower bolts. Tower should then come off no problem. Going back out to do a bit more work so should make a little more progress still.

Update #2, today was a very productive day for working on this little project. Got a bunch more done, there's still more to go though.

Cleaned the dash cowl and tin, they're much cleaner now :beerchug:

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Got the whole dash tower off, wasn't too difficult. Had to unbolt the steering gearbox (easy enough, just 2 bolts) and mess with the hydro control shaft a bit but it popped off with little trouble. Also ran my screw taps/thread restorers through all the nuts and bolts to make sure they go together again easy. Unfortunately the friction adjuster nut is way too rusty to loosen up, but at least I can actually get some lubricant down in stuff now so it may be ok as it is.

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Dash tower is in decent shape, some light rust at the back edge of the battery tray and a bit near the bottom, but nothing too bad. Still gotta clean it and the surface of the tunnel cover on the tractor. My light system came right out with the tower and you can really see the simplicity of it.

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Overall a pretty good day. Still plenty of work left to do. Next thing is to clean the dash tower up and then drill out and tap those 2 broken bolts. Once I get the tower back on the tractor I will start work on the front end.

Amazing how all the little nooks and crannies fill up with crud. Or the
broken bolts and studs a guy finds. I guess 50 years of work will do that
to a tractor, or a person for that matter. Nice work

Ken

Hmmm, I maaay or may not have been the one who snapped off those bolts though :biggrin2::biggrin2:

Wasn't all my fault though, 30 years outside in the elements will rust them to the point where they break if you try to remove them :bigthink:

That's also why I'm keeping my screw tap and thread repair set handy, running all the bolts through with that sure goes a long way to prevent future breaking!

Made some more progress tonight, unfortunately no pictures because there's nothing to take pictures of.

Started on all the nitty-gritty small tasks that needed getting done. Fixed the steering shaft threads so I could get the bolt on properly, fixed the splines on the hydro control shaft with a bunch of intricate work with a file. Then began work on the dash tower, cleaned it all up good. Then drilled and tapped the two broken bolts out. Ran the taps through all the bolt holes and nuts and such just to keep everything clean.

For the sheer heck of it, and because I still have all the wiring complete, I hooked up the battery and actually fired it up (note: solenoid has to be grounded in order for it to work :biggrin2:). Still runs good minus a ridiculous rattling noise that turned out to be the plate that the driveshaft runs through that blocks off the front of the tunnel. Had to unbolt it to remove the tower and it was just rattling on the driveshaft.

Tomorrow morning I might dump a bit more gas in her, mount the steering wheel, and a temporary hydro lever, and take her for a little drive :biggrin2: .

Took it for a drive this morning. Without the dash tower on, it almost reminds me of like a Ford Model T interior with the exposed steering column. Strange to look down and see the engine but cool nonetheless.

Got pics and a video of it. Governor is out of whack, you can really hear the RPMs drop when I start moving, and my hydro lever still was slipping on the shaft. Ended up clamping vice grips lower down on the hydro shaft to use.

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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XWFTig7rr8

She rattles quite a bit, don't worry none of those sounds are internal. It's a combination of a worn drive hub, loose hood, loose tunnel cover front shield, and possibly worn basket pulley keyway.

Fun to see it living!!


Good work!