How do you guys feel about "fixed up" cars?

[Frank DuVal]

Jack, does your 8N look as well used as mine?😁

 

[rodneybeauchamp]

On 7/22/2022 at 4:50 PM, hidden_hunter said:

I suspect we have very few people paying shops here because our labour has been so expensive for so long 

One of the other issues is that of trust. Trusting a company to work on your vehicle without doing more damage or creating more problems than you already have. This is so true with US based vehicles and older vehicles where they have to “learn about them” on your job. Why I try to do as much as I can using my skill base rather than pass it to a shop.

Just my two shillings worth

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀

[SC38dls]

My 38 Studebaker was in a barn for 42 years, a very good dry barn. At first sight we thought it was going to need a repaint but after washing it we decided to buff it out. It worked well enough to save the paint$$. I rebuilt the engine, trans, brakes, electrical and front suspension. The seats were shot so I bought a $25 sewing machine some material off eBay and did them myself. The sewing machine broke so I haven’t done the door panels yet. I don’t work on sewing machines so I trashed it. The shop wanted seven grand for the interior, about half what I have in the total car. I also damaged the front end in a wreck and thanks to help from this forum I fixed it myself. 
It will always be a driver not a show car but it runs very well looks ok and best of all is a blast to drive. It is going to be driven from southern SC to Hershey to be in its first and most likely only show. I will try to do a thread on the trip. 
dave s 
 

[Terry Bond]

On 7/10/2022 at 11:06 PM, Pfeil said:

How do you guys feel about "fixed up" cars?

 

This guy is from another planet.

 

There is a difference between "fixed up" and "SCREWED UP "

[63RedBrier]

13 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Jack, does your 8N look as well used as mine?😁

 

Lovely photo of your property, Frank!  Now, let's see another photo with some "props" in the background...

[Pfeil]

1 hour ago, Terry Bond said:

There is a difference between "fixed up" and "SCREWED UP "

To some people fixed up MEANS screwed up!

[Roscoe]

  I'm currently "fixing up" a '52 Chevy pickup. I would probably be considered a hack by most folks here and would not be able to dispute that. But, I'm doing everything myself- well, with the help of a friend or two when I get over my head. The truck I'm working on has a sentimental connection for me, and honestly was probably too rough for someone wanting a concours restoration. It's not totally stock, although it will look like it to most folks. I've swapped the torque tube drive train for an open drive line so I can drive it, and it will get the 261 I have sitting in the shop floor installed if its replacement 235 dies. And yes, the 261 will have dual carbs, a finned valve cover, and headers. Think 17 year old gets dad's old farm truck in the 60s. 

 This truck has not been inoperable since the 70s I know, and probably not in its life. I knew if I blew it all the way apart I'd never get it roadworthy again, as I have scores of models as a teen to attest to my loss of interest. So I started a bit at a time. 

The bed was repaired to functional- but it's not perfect. It'll have some little battle scars. But I screwed up my courage and shot my first ever "real" paint on it, acrylic enamel, in the factory color and it looks decent I think.

It's a learning experience. Stuff I never thought I could do, I'm doing, albiet not the best, I am sure. But the end result will be a 25-foot-at-25-mph good looking old truck that will give me miles of smiles and memories. And I did it myself. And if , one day hopefully long in the future I die and I have grandkids to inheirate the old guy- they can repair it to concourse level. Or drive it as is. Or do another "fix up" job. At any rate, I'm learning, I'm loving and I'll never forget the time spent on it and the miles of smiles.

I like fixed up cars.

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Roscoe (see edit history)

[wayne sheldon]

I love those 8N/9N tractors! When I was very little, my grandfather had three of them (wish I could have somehow gotten one of them!). At three I was learning how to drive them while sitting on my dad's lap. At six, I was driving them solo, and with some supervision pulling trailers out of the orchards. I was also with supervision loading pallets of peaches with a forklift! I haven't driven one since grandpa sold the ranch when I was about ten.

 

I have restored about a dozen antique automobiles over the years. Most of them were little more than a pile of parts when I got them. And I have never completed a restoration. So one can clearly say all of them were done as "fix-ups". Most of them, by the time I had to sell them, were decent looking, running well, and sorted to the point that they could be driven fairly reliably on extensive tours. A couple, I was forced to sell before they reached the fully drivable stage.

A bunch of them, due to their incomplete and poor condition, I restored in "stages". The first stage was to acquire most of what was missing, fix the major pieces enough to hold shape and bolt it all together. That was the stage of making the pile look like something that actually might be worth restoring. Seeing it like that was always a big morale booster.

The next stage was to get it mechanically together enough to run and drive, and cleaned up and painted enough to look a bit better. Also two big morale boosters!

The third stage. Was to play with it for awhile. Keep tinkering on areas that needed improvement, in between driving it and enjoying it more and more. It was also a time in which I would try to decide just how far forward I might want to proceed. Sometimes this stage took several years, and sometimes I never got beyond this point. Often circumstances forced me to sell the car unfinished. But usually, I got to have fun with the car for a few years.

The intended fourth stage was to finish it. Replace any parts deemed not good enough. Repaint anything that needed it. And do all the final detailing.

Maybe someday I will get to finish one?

[Dandy Dave]

As a tractor mechanic for much of my country life, I sure have fixed up a pile of those old Ford tractors. 9N-2N-8N. I must profess I ran out of toes and fingers and have totally lost count. There isn't one part of one I have not had apart at one time or another. Agree that they are one tough little tractor. Many still work for a living. Being built between 1939 and 1952 speaks volumes of how durable they are. Dandy Dave!

[Frank DuVal]

Jack, that is my "after" photo!   I bought it because it looked like a good restoration candidate. Bought it at a nearby auction and drove it home. 20+ years later, still using it instead of restoring it. But, hydraulics need attention now. Can't lift blade high enough to turn it the other way.

 

I was plowing my driveway after a snow and a passing truck on the state road stopped and a guy asked me if it had brakes. The other person in the truck said sure he does, he drops the blade, to which I agreed! Are the brakes supposed to work? I get mixed answers.🤣  

 

Some of my cars look the same, I shall say no more.🙄

 

Also, you have the one way clutch adapter between the mower and the tractor? I hear it is very important.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

I know about the right/left pedals, just the stopping part eludes mine. Someday I might try looking at the shoes. Most people I talk to say they do not stop well. Of course by now the newest one is 70 years old and so are the memories of people who drove them new, so 99% of the people know them as old used non working well brakes. 

 

I do have a one way clutch for if I ever put a mower behind it. 👍

[Dandy Dave]

21 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Jack, that is my "after" photo!   I bought it because it looked like a good restoration candidate. Bought it at a nearby auction and drove it home. 20+ years later, still using it instead of restoring it. But, hydraulics need attention now. Can't lift blade high enough to turn it the other way.

 

I was plowing my driveway after a snow and a passing truck on the state road stopped and a guy asked me if it had brakes. The other person in the truck said sure he does, he drops the blade, to which I agreed! Are the brakes supposed to work? I get mixed answers.🤣  

 

Some of my cars look the same, I shall say no more.😜

 

Also, you have the one way clutch adapter between the mower and the tractor? I hear it is very important.

Brakes. Yup. Not much even when new. It is more like a dampening device that puts a slow drag in the rear wheels. This is because the drums are fixed dirrectly to the axle. Other makes of tractors have the brakes geared to the bull gears giving them a leverage advantage. If you have one that leaks grease after putting in new seals. (Yes, this happens.) As long as the axles don't have any up and down movement the problem is because the shim pack that adjusts the bearing thrust needs sealer on every shim that is installed. Be sure that there it a thin coat of silcone sealer between each one or the oil will leak out in time all over the brake shoes and drums.  

 

One way adapter. Yes. Very importiant as in these tractors the PTO will keep the tractor moving forward with the stored inertia in the mower as it is geared behind the transmission where it is geared with the turning of the ring and pinion. The override clutch lets the implement slow down on its own when the power is off. Keep the Override Clutch well greased or it will wear prematurely. Take it out in an open field some time without the  Override clutch intalled and you will see for yourself. Also. These tractors came through with a 1-1/8 PTO installed. There is a 1-3/8 shaft that you can buy and install easily. It is worth the cost and trouble in my opinion as that is the PTO shaft size on most modern rotory brush cutters. 

Has this become the fixed up tractor thread? 😁 Dandy Dave!

Edited August 6, 2022 by Dandy Dave (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

20 hours ago, Jack Bennett said:

Hi Frank. First things first, and since you asked about the clutch adapter, I’ll start there. I can’t imagine using the three point without one. The tractor is as dangerous as it fun, and as such it’s real easy to get into serious trouble while using it. The clutch is the only thing preventing the continued rotation of your accessory from pushing you over a cliff, and stopping for a snort of beer. But, it is attached to the PTO, and is only effective if using attachments, such as a rotary mower or post hole digger. It is a one way, non reversing clutch and, since a blade or plow don’t use the PTO, not having one doesn’t affect how, or if, the tractor stops. They don’t cost much and are easy to install……and I swear by mine. The brakes have two pedals, one left and one right to allow for the same effect neutral steer has on a tank. And, they do a good job at 10 mph, but I would neither drive the tractor faster than that, or trust the brakes to stop it if I did.The large tractors wasted time and space because their turning radius was so great that they had to be swung in a large arch at the end of each row, and this is not a good thing so far as planting and harvesting crop goes. So, and I don’t know about the 2N or the 9N, but the8n has a left brake and a right brake, each operated by a corresponding pedal. When the pedal for a respective wheel is pushed, that brake can be locked and the power still being applied to the free wheel will pivot the tractor in its own length. A battle tank is steered in the same way which give a otherwise humongous beast a relatively short turning radius. And, my tractor is a product of my propensity to tear things apart, look at them, fix them if necessary, and reassemble them to a working state. I did not “restore” my tractor. I was bored, I took it apart, I cleaned the parts for inspection, repaired or replaced them with working parts, and painted the whole shooting match to make keeping it clean easy. Golly Sir, at nearly 80 years old I am much more concerned with how my tractor works than what a person who has never even even a tractor comments about how it looks.

Yep. Paint don't make em run Jack. Only what is inside does that. I like an old tractor in it's working cloths. 😁 Dandy Dave! 

[Angelfish]

My brother totaled the same car three times, a  yellow 1978 Oldsmobile Omega (great cars, you could get a full sheet of plywood in the back if you bungeed the hatch down.)  The second time he wiped out the front grille and nose bowl we decided to make our own.  We used plywood carefully cut to shape for the bowl, and expanded steel for the grille.  The headlights mounted to the radiator bracket so no problem there.  Painted it black and silver, and put the grille emblem back on.  That repair lasted many years and became known as the I've killed before look.   Wish I had a picture but I doubt we ever took any of it.