1946 B.F. Avery Model A Tractor Restoration

[IronCanine]

The rear end/trans axle was a chore too. A lot of leak points and heavy castings. The diff looked perfect. All the bearings were super solid. We replaced the seals that made sense. All appropriate bolts were thread sealed and all external mating surfaces were sealed with Super Black RTV. This is tough when you're bringing together such heavy and large pieces.

[IronCanine]

Successfully removed what was left of the broken lower frame stud on the left side. So much prep goes into getting something like this painted. Eric did a stellar job.

[IronCanine]

As noted previously the rims were pretty pitted and required a lot of attention. The original tires weren't very interested in giving up those rims either. These poor guys had to really work to smell authentic 72 y/o air.

[IronCanine]

A lot of time getting these rims perfect. Eric counted 12 coats (primer 1 through the last coat of clear) on the back rims...From the looks of things, I believe it.

[IronCanine]

Getting her back in a roller without scratches was a challenge for sure. But my brother was in town...so between him, OLDYELLOW and oldyellowssun...it made for fun work. I got her back in the basement this past weekend and I gotta say she's really starting to look smart. Hopefully in the next week or so we'll get the engine dropped back in and make some some serious head way on final assembly. We've decided to take it to full paint before we try to crank the engine. So I'm sure that won't be stressful or problematic in any way. Fingers forever crossed....

[plainred65]

Thanks for taking the time to show this restore. I don't know much about tractors, but I've always loved looking them over at the county fairs.

[Ol Blue K20]

I just found this..beautiful thus far. Subbed to watch

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by plainred65

Thanks for taking the time to show this restore. I don't know much about tractors, but I've always loved looking them over at the county fairs.

I love following all the projects on here. Seems only fair to share what we're working on too.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I just found this..beautiful thus far. Subbed to watch

Thanks!

[Advanced Design]

Great detail work! Tagging along for rest.

[Russell Ashley]

That is looking great. I'm in Lawrenceville so not far from you. I'm going to have to make a Varsity run over to Athens for some chili dogs and then drop by to meet you and see your project. My mother's cousin had an Avery tractor back in the fifties.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Great detail work! Tagging along for rest.

Thanks for following!!! No mods or LS swaps on this one though...hope it's not too boring

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

That is looking great. I'm in Lawrenceville so not far from you. I'm going to have to make a Varsity run over to Athens for some chili dogs and then drop by to meet you and see your project. My mother's cousin had an Avery tractor back in the fifties.

Thanks. Door is always open...Eric likes Dunkin Donuts.

[IronCanine]

Speaking of the metal master himself. While I continue to be uncomfortably on the road...Eric has pushed on with the tins. He soaked the pan seat for a few days in the electrolysis tank and then massaged the dent out of the lip..

[IronCanine]

Some things are too big to go in the water and require hand stripping. Look at the grain on the grill. Any manufacturing experts want to chime in? Temperature of the metal? Type of metal? Type of press? Number of dies? Just curious.

[IronCanine]

...and now the hood. One of the hold downs in the back was broken. You can see the repair piece that was made by a previous owner. To our great fortune, the PO kept the broken end of the bracket...Eric rejoined the two original pieces and scrapped the patch.

[Ol Blue K20]

Amazing how clean that metal is.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Amazing how clean that metal is.

Eric is certainly relentless in his preparation.

These bits had a couple of things going for them...I think this was a relatively low hour, mostly shedded piece. More importantly, that dang lacquer paint was stuck pretty darn good with mating surfaces painted more times than not.

A testament to the original paint is that we actually left some in a few places. Either out of respect or exasperation. Eric can tell you which.

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking great though

[OLDYELLOW]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Eric is certainly relentless in his preparation.

These bits had a couple of things going for them...I think this was a relatively low hour, mostly shedded piece. More importantly, that dang lacquer paint was stuck pretty darn good with mating surfaces painted more times than not.

A testament to the original paint is that we actually left some in a few places. Either out of respect or exasperation. Eric can tell you which.

Exasperation.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by OLDYELLOW

Exasperation.

Figured.

[IronCanine]

Finally back home on a weekend and just so happens my girls are away, so a perfect time to make some hay. I was very lucky to find 70 year old NOS rubber motor mounts which were surprisingly resilient for their age.

[IronCanine]

Eric graciously came over to the house on a Saturday with the motor hoist so we could go about the business of giving the old girl her lump back. It was funny that I could find NOS rubber bushings, but struck out on output shaft/clutch assembly bearings. All with good numbers on them. Luckily (like a lot of things on this tractor) the originals were solid as a rock and were good to go with a clean up. The bell housing is not only a mounting point, it also is the back wall of the oil pan (I guess you just have to keep adding oil to keep oil in this thing). Fly wheel on (after trying it once 180 off), then clutch, pressure plate (Rebuilt by Clutch Dynamics in Lansing) and output shaft assembly. And finally the clutch cover.

[IronCanine]

With the engine finally back between the framerails, I could finally put a lid on it. The TDC mark on the flywheel appears to be a few degrees off actual TDC. I rolled her to TDC before it got capped and noted the discrepancy on the mark. Copper coat on the head gasket and a bit of high temp thread sealer on the head bolts. Torqued all 18 headbolts to 35 ft//lbs from the inside out in the same pattern indicated by the factory manual...and I gapped the spark plugs

[IronCanine]

Yes...I think if we had it to do over again, we'd paint the block before assembly. But we came to this sequence honestly. We were working out of Eric's shop and my basement. We're both busy and trying to work different pathways of the project. Initially, when the engine was at the machine shop I thought we'd assemble and crank before final paint. Only later did we change our minds (about going to completion prior to attempting to start her) after a conversation about how we thought they did it from the factory and a practical discussion about what problems could arise and how we'd deal. We also had things that clearly needed to be painted as subassemblies. So this means I've got a bit more assembly then she's back to Eric's for final paint. In the meantime here's a look at some of the paint work Eric has gotten done while I've been off at meetings.

[mongocanfly]

man I really like that red....it looks great...

[Advanced Design]

Looking very good!

It is interesting the engine is mounted on rubber bushings as I didn’t think the designers would have been concerned about vibration. The paint / build sequence and discussion is applicable to all our projects...sure helps with a nicer looking end result.