Refurbishing my Z145 135

[The kid]

Hi Kid, No pictures as yet but will get some on my thread, don't know when. I have a few acres in concord grapes so I have been trimming those when we get a break in the weather. Have some posts to set and wire to string when the trimming gets done. Those jobs must be done before they start to bud. One of the pictures shows the grapes in the background.
I really want to get the tractor to the house where I can pressure wash it and degrease some. But I am anxious to see the the hood and fenders back on also. I will put them on for pictures before I start the brakes. Also want the tool box moved from next to the seat to the side as it is in the way by the seat. I will be in Michigan last week of March but I know that the next sunny dry day after that I will have the tractor out for pictures.
I have the original shift pattern plate. I will get a picture of that today. It is divided into 12 sections. It has raised areas that were white against a black background. I have been trying to paint it without success. I tried to make a stencil but failed that and also tried free hand painting, not good at all. the lines are 1/16". Just mentioned it as you had some ideas about the David Brown Hood ornament. Wait for the picture on my thread and It will make it clear as to what I am dealing with.

DB Pilot

I saw that plate you put up. First thing that came to mind was alien cypher out of a scifi movie. :laughing: Then after looking closely I saw the shift patterns. I looked for over thirty minutes on the net looking for a restored tractor with that plate intact. Many of these tractors where sold in the UK and I'm thinking that is where the answer lies.. Hobby stores, Hobby Lobby craft store has a modelers area. They sell some very high quality brushes. One type in particular is a synthetic tiny q-tip looking brush. Easily cleaned with thinner. They sell both acrylic and acrylic enamel. If you know the colors and had one of those Harbour Freight helping hands magifiers I believe they could be reproduced.

 

[DB Pilot]

Hi Kid, Those are some good ideas. I have thought about a silk screen process but I don't know how to do that or if it would work. I will definitely check out the craft stores. The colors are easy just flat black background and white alien symbols :laughing: The first thing I tried was paint the whole plate and then lightly buff the plate to let the raised areas show. didn't work . I think these plates were easily damaged so it might be rare and worth the effort to repaint it. If it was easy it wouldn't be any fun.
Hey I just got a thought. :scratchchin: I know a guy who makes model trains. He might know how to do this.

I'll let you know how it works out. Would love to post a picture of the plate in place on the tractor.

See you later

 

[The kid]

Hi Kid, Those are some good ideas. I have thought about a silk screen process but I don't know how to do that or if it would work. I will definitely check out the craft stores. The colors are easy just flat black background and white alien symbols :laughing: The first thing I tried was paint the whole plate and then lightly buff the plate to let the raised areas show. didn't work . I think these plates were easily damaged so it might be rare and worth the effort to repaint it. If it was easy it wouldn't be any fun. Hey I just got a thought. :scratchchin: I know a guy who makes model trains. He might know how to do this.

I'll let you know how it works out. Would love to post a picture of the plate in place on the tractor.
See you later

Silk screen involves a micro fine screen coated with a photo sensitive chemical after exposing to light it's then washed leaving the areas you want to screen. It would be difficult to get a (1 to 1) perfect match on top of the embosed areas of your plate. Many of the L type symbols are repetitious and a stencil might could be made to to all of those. If it where me I'd look into a sharpie style paint pen and carefully draw the symbols on the plate in thier correct colors. If you where to look thru my refurbish thread I restored the front and side metal emblems. They turned out nice. It just takes patience, a steady hand, and hold your mouth right. I cleared over them to preserve them. When I get time I'm going to reproduce my engine I.D. tag. There's company over in the UK that does itm but wants $100 for one which includes setup. If I had several wanting on for Z145 I would commission him to do them. Same company that does the Z129 and Z134 engine plates. A bit too pricy for just one. Take care and let me know what you find out. He might be a source to do my engine plate as well.

 

[The kid]

Hi Kid, Those are some good ideas. I have thought about a silk screen process but I don't know how to do that or if it would work. I will definitely check out the craft stores. The colors are easy just flat black background and white alien symbols :laughing: The first thing I tried was paint the whole plate and then lightly buff the plate to let the raised areas show. didn't work . I think these plates were easily damaged so it might be rare and worth the effort to repaint it. If it was easy it wouldn't be any fun.
Hey I just got a thought. :scratchchin: I know a guy who makes model trains. He might know how to do this.

I'll let you know how it works out. Would love to post a picture of the plate in place on the tractor.

See you later

I found a company here in the states that will create the Z145 engine nameplate for me. A really good price. All that will be needed is to have the plate stamped with your serial number. Most trophy shops will do it for a very small fee. I rounded up the original rivets too. I'll post a picture when I get it in. This is a startup business and looking for some word of mouth business to get started. I saw some if his work and looked very professional. Chemical etching. -kid

 

[The kid]

LED GAUGE LIGHTS

I had a bad bulb in one of my gauges and decided to switch the bulbs over to LED. They are brighter than the original 7S and 9S bulbs. They are direct replacement of the filament bulbs. If you have replaced your gauges then you probably have either a 7S or 9S bulb in the rear of it. He's a pictures of both, filament and LED.

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Here's a picture of the gauges with both types installed. The two on the left are LED and the two on the right are filament 7 watt. You can see the LED's are more true white and the filament are a yellow tint.

View attachment 308764

 

[The kid]

For sake of not starting a debate on what is and what is not correct. I replaced my fuel line which was fuel injector line stubbed at the carburetor and stubbed to the fuel tank cutoff. This method works well if you take precautions and stay clear of the exhaust manifold (which I did). It was rated at momentary 302 degree F. Mind you this is not how it came from the factory.

For the record my fuel line was in no way near the manifold and was secured to prevent it from getting close to any heat.

It is an alternative to fabricating a hard line with double flared ends which is needed. A compression fitting is just a dangerous as my so called "rubber" fuel line. Actually not rubber at all, but it's been referred to it as rubber.

To restore the fuel line back to original state, to do the job your going to need a metal fuel line. I used a coated brake line 1/4" which came in a six foot stick. You only need about 25 to 26" of line. Stay away from copper unless it's hard drawn straight stock which will flare properly. The cheap copper lines (like in a roll) will split when trying to make the second flare needed to seat properly.

You will need a double flaring thin wall tools to make the correct flare on each end. Not flaring properly is almost guaranteed to leak. Beware of cheap flaring kits. You get what you pay for. Pay a bit more a quality kit that will last for years. Mine will flare copper, steel and stainless steel. I use a Blue Point Double Flaring Tool Kit for Thin Wall tubing (made in USA) Model TF528D. It has hardened dies and will make a perfect flare everytime. I bought mine off ebay used for $15.50 plus shipping. I see them all the time go for over $100.

You can see in the pictures how I bent the line to give extra clearance away from the exhaust. The factory original line was actually closer to the exhaust than what I have done.

I used a cheap tool from Harbour Freight also. It's simple and does the job perfectly. That would be the tubing bender made by Pittsburg. It will bend four different sizes. I bought all my tube bending stuff last year when I was replacing brake lines on my 41.

It took me about two hours to make and replace the line. That's including removing the sheet metal (in one piece) , draining the tank and removal and putting it all back together.

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[MasseyWV]

[SNIP]

I noticed on my tractor the cotter pin was missing. I didn't know if it was put in from the inside or outside. I just knew it was missing and needed to replace it. There is no way to replace they pin without removing a component off the tractor to gain access to the inside. Here's what I came up with as a simple solution.

Take two pair of needle nose pliers and shape the cotter pin (get the proper size for the hole) and shape it so one side acts as a spring. Then simply tap it into the hole and your done. The cotter key keeps the hole clear and allows oil to drip off the tip indicating a leak inside. Simple but effective. I used a 5/32 X 1 1/2" cotter pin.

View attachment 307227

Why not simply remove the inspection cover (2 inches away from the cotter pin) and reach inside the bell-housing to replace the cotter pin? Like this...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...y-1966-massey-135-tractor-56.html#post3229978

 

[The kid]

Sneek Peek

Here's a couple of pictures as I was finishing up the tractor. More later.

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[murphy1244]

You are not restoring the tractor so you can do whatever you want.

 

[murphy1244]

Looks real good Kid