So now what? Ford 600

   / So now what? Ford 600 #1  

sdfireman

New member
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Dec 4, 2008
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Ok, I just acquired a 1950's Ford 600 with a loader and gannon today, real cheap..............I mean like, "OK buddy, get this thing off my lot and it's yours!" cheap. It was in this family for most of its life, and now I am out to save it. It was driven to its' current location and parked 3 to 5 years ago, judging by the size of the bushes growing through it. There is a good tractor mechanic local, and I will get a restoration book soon. Where do you start with something like this mechanically? What comes first to get it running after sitting for this time? I'm not aftera cosmetic restore at this point, I just want to use it.

Any advise appreciated.
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #2  
There is usually a reason why a piece of equipment was parked and left to the bushes. I think that in order to help you restore this tractor we need to know a lot more info about this tractor's history. Basically anything can be made to work again if you have the money. Trying to determine how much time and money to spend and where is when to work begins. I can think of 100s of questions to ask but my first - will the engine turn over? And is the clutch rusted to the flywheel? The answer to each question will lead you down a different path but if you stay very methodical you and the mechanic will figure out if this tractor is salvagable. BTW is this a gas engine? Much more info and pics would be handy.
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #3  
G'day for a start welcome to the world of old fords hopefully yours has no major probs start with the engine first, drain the oil and check for water in sump if the radiator is full and you have water in sump it prob came in through exhaust which may have locked eng up, see if it will swing over ( pull plugs / injectors out and turn by hand first and you want to turn over at least three revolutions) if it turns over the clean all the fuel system (new filters etc) fill with cheap oil & filter ( cheap because you are going to drain it after it runs long enough to get hot and change filter) pull the bung on the trans/rear end to drain any water that may be in bottom of there (just let enough out to get any water out e.g 1/2 gallon) then hit the starter( make sure it is out of gear ) hopefully it will fire up if it does then great all you can do then is try the operation of all the functions gearbox/hyd/pto etc good luck and let us know how you get on:)
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #4  
I'd suggest that for starters you hit the Yesterday's Tractor Forums. While there's certainly a fair amount of old tractor knowledge here, YT is nothing but old tractor folks. There's a Ford-specific forum, too. You will find some of the same people there as here (Hi, SouNdguy!).

Basics that even lowly I can suggest are these:

0) Get a shop manual! These tractors are pretty simple if you have any mechanical aptitude. You can probably find one on the YT site.

1) Pull the sparkplugs, put the shift in neutral, and see if you can turn the engine over by hand. If not, an engine rebuild is fairly likely (seems I've seen tips on freeing a stuck motor somewhere, though).

2) If the engine turns over, I'd put in fresh plugs, points, condenser and wires, and either charge or replace the battery. Drain the gas tank and add fresh gas. Change the engine oil. Maybe clean the carbureter. Make sure the clutch is free. Then see if she starts.

3) If she starts, or maybe sooner, I'd change the transmission/hydraulic/rear end fluids (might be all the same, they are on the N and NAA Fords, but I don't know the 600). Start her up, put her in gear, and go for a drive, assuming the tires hold air. You did air up the tires, right? :)

BTW, is the "sd" in "sdfireman" for San Diego, South Dakota, or something entirely different? Hmm, did I ask you this before? CRS has me in its clutches.
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #5  
I'd start with pulling the spark plugs and putting some cheap ATF fluid in each cyl, and then let her set a day...

see if she will rotate by hand and if so, do a half rotate and refill the cyls.. lightly thread plugs in to keep dirt out.. and remove them when rotating.

if she rotates good, charge the battery ( oem was 6v positive ground.. many have been converted to 12v / negative ground ).

change the crankcase oil... grab 6qts... this will be low hour oil.. so walmart is fine.. 30w.. or 15w40.. etc.. a fram ch6pl or napa 1004 filter element is needed if it is a canister filter.. or if it has the spin on conversion.. a ford 300 dual, a motorcrafft fl1a.. a fram ph8a.. or a napa 1515 or 1452 will fit.. plus about 20 others!

spin the engine over with the starter to expell the oil in the cyls.

then install new autolite 437 plugs.. or champion h12 ( 512 is part number ).
fire order is 1-2-4-3

put in new points and capacitor, and rotor and distrib cap.. preferably plug wires too. ( metal core cut to fit wires are chep at tractor supply ). tisco ignition products are ok.. but not my preference.

you will want the I&T fo-20 manual from TSC as well.

set points at .025 plug gaps too. remember to put a small smear of grease on the leading edge of the rubbing block for the points . tha will lube the cam / rubbing block.

many times the ignition switches go bad.. so have a jumper-gator clip wire ready to power the coil.

drain and clean the fuel tank and verify gas to the carb and see f it flows good by pulling bowl drain... might have to rebuild carb if it is dirty.. or flaot / needle /seat sticks.

spin her over and see what ya got.

600 series was from 55 thru 57.. midle digit of model # denotes trans.. IE.. 640 is a 4 speed.. 650 is a 5 speed. 660 is a 5speed with dual stage clutch.

post back for more info. ( unit has seperate trans, hyds and diffy compartments..)

here's some ignition part numbers you can use:

Side-Mount Distributor: 8n thru 4 cyl thousand series
Points:
NAPA #CS749
NAPA HEAVY DUTY PIERCED (ventilated) #CS753
Standard Ignition #FD-8081
Standard Ignition Blue Streak #FD-8081X (Premium)
Condensor:
NAPA #FA66
Standard Ignition #FD-75
Standard Ignition Blue Streak #FD75X (Premium)
Rotor:
NAPA #FA67
Standard Ignition #FD-108
Distributor Cap:
NAPA #FA352
Standard Ignition #FD-128

side mount points hold down screws #8-32 X 3/16
FORD AUTOMOBILE dealer parts counter. come with built-in lockwasher. p/n 355047-S7 (#8-32 X 0.19)


soundguy
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #6  
Ford 600===Tractor would not start. We rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the wires, spark plugs, rotor. Tractor fired up, but as it got warmer we had to add the choke to keep it going, and that only lasted so long. It would quit after a while. So we looked at the manifold. Sure enough it was broken at the exhaust point. We replaced it. Now it starts, but after awhile it quits and adding throttle does not help. Any suggestions?
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #7  
If it quits, check spark, if spark is good, check fuel.

Sounds like you may have a fuel obstruction.

Os, posting onto a 8 year old thread may limit the responses you get. ;)
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #8  
If it quits, check spark, if spark is good, check fuel.

Sounds like you may have a fuel obstruction.

Os, posting onto a 8 year old thread may limit the responses you get. ;)

Thank you so much Soundguy! Yes, I think it is fuel obstruction. Just not sure what to do. Rebuilt the carburetor, blew out lines, there is good fuel flow from tank to carburetor, put in a new manifold. We can't get it started without ether and after it runs for two or three minutes it sounds like it is running out of fuel, but if we pull out the choke part way, it will go another minute, but then it quits. We put in a new manifold because it was broken at the exhaust point.

We have spark. That is definitely not the problem.

Thanks for letting me know that I responded to an old post. I am new to this and really don't know how to make a new post.:eek:


Zena McFadden
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #9  
Hi Zena, Don't worry about the age of the thread - You're up at the top of the forum now and the topic is relevant so you'll get responses anyway.

Pulling the choke to keep it running normally indicates fuel blockage, yes. Also can be a pointer to low compression. Have Mr. McF. carry out a compression test and check the valve clearances. You will need to go through the carburettor again to double-check the original work.

Report your findings back here.
 
   / So now what? Ford 600 #10  
Also consider a fuel vent blockage. If the tank isn't venting it will eventually develop a vacuum and the engine won't be able to pull fuel. If that was the problem, you will get a "whoosh" when opening the fuel filler cap immediately after the engine quits. That's your clue.
 
 
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