I've had a couple of very busy days trying to open these old girls up to get an idea of how bad they are, and what parts and repairs will be needed to save them. Luckily the 30 has huge engine side covers that almost let you stick your head in the sump, so that makes life a lot easier, but everything was rusted solid on 2 of them after decades of sitting out in the weather unprotected, the 3rd tractor was pretty good to get the head and cylinders off.
Only 2 tractors had heads, they are off, as are all the cylinders and pistons from all 3 tractors, plus a heap of other loosening done, the crankshafts and conrod bearings look good to my untrained eyes, some obvious water damage that should clean up OK, the bearings look good. I've seen some nasty stuff like a broken cylinder, and two conrods where the previous "Mechanic" used 2 different sized split pins to try and secure the conrod cap nuts, necessity is the Mother of invention they say, but overall I'm very relieved.
You might notice a photo of a transmission shaft rear bearing looking not quite right, I think it still has the right number of ballsm but sadly the cage that secures them in place is long gone. I haven't had time to investigate that further, that tranny has a lot of sand in it, and all the main clutch linkages are rotted away, and clutch collar shot, the other tractor has had it's main clutch collar removed, so I'll need clutch parts for sure, and a radiator fan or 2, plus a brake band, manifolds obviously.
I'm trying to slowly open up the water pumps so I can work towards getting new shafts made, everything is seized solid, I've gone through about 12 gallons of loose juice already.
I'll need to find a couple of ZR4 maggy's if I decide to keep the shafts the original length, I'd like to return the tractors to original spec if I can.
Mike
