My 1966 Massey 135 Tractor (Pics)

[MasseyWV]

Today, I pressed the new valve guides into the cylinder head. The cylinder head was not heated, but to make the job a little easier, I did freeze the new valve guides and allow the cylinder head to sit in the hot sun for a few hours prior to pressing the new valve guides into it. Nickel anti-seize was used as a pressing lubricant to prevent galling.

 

[Soundguy]

very nice looking!

 

[vegaome]

Hello Massey,

So will you put new bearings in or just use the old ones? Cant wait to see you break the transmission down. Really enjoying the thread. Thank you

v/r

Mike

 

[Soundguy]

going that far.. I hope he does all new bearings.

when done it will be a new (old) tractor

 

[Mike476]

The following is a picture of the distributor from my Massey 135's Continental Z-145 gasoline engine after disassembly and cleaning. Everything is in great shape and wear tolerances are well within specifications. Prior to reassembly, the distributor body, hold-down clamp, washers, and bolt will be sandblasted, primed, then painted to match the original colors. The remaining parts will be lubricated with special grease, where appropriate. The distributor cap, rotor button, points, and condenser will be replaced.

Good to see, saves having to replace the shaft or housing. Apparently the bushings can be hard to find, although if able to spec the material a machinist should have been able to fabricate a replacement.

 

[MasseyWV]

So will you put new bearings in or just use the old ones?

going that far.. I hope he does all new bearings.

With regard to the bearings, I haven't decided what I'll do yet, but it will greatly depend on the condition of the remaining main and rod bearings. If they're all in the same condition as the first main bearing, I see no reason to replace them. The picture doesn't do it justice, but aside from being oil stained, it's as close to looking new as one can get. Regardless of how they may appear, I still intend to use plastigauge to determine if the bearings are within tolerances.

Cant wait to see you break the transmission down.

Currently, I have no plans to take the transmission apart. It was working fine previously and everything looks good, so I see no need for it. However, when the time comes for the clutch to be replaced, I do plan to replace the front transmission seal, just to be on the safe side. It's tempting to pull the engine and replace the front transmission seal now, but I would have to move the tractor so it's properly positioned under one of the I beams of my garage, so I can use my chain hoist.

 

[Soundguy]

yeah.. if all mics in tolerance and no ware layers gone on the sheels could reuse them.. but check price of new anyway. might be so cheap that it don't matter.. not to hard to roll em in with a lil assembly lube..

 

[MasseyWV]

yeah.. if all mics in tolerance and no ware layers gone on the sheels could reuse them.. but check price of new anyway. might be so cheap that it don't matter.. not to hard to roll em in with a lil assembly lube..

The total cost of new main and rod bearings would be about $150 (possibly less) and I've done many engines exactly as you describe, which generally isn't too difficult unless one of the bearings is stuck. It's rare, but it happens. My tractor restoration budget is tight, but added costs aside, I'm more concerned about the possibility of damaging the crankshaft while replacing the bearings. Regardless of their condition, if one bearing is suspect I plan to replace them all.

Over the years, I've found that if considering the possibility of reusing existing bearings, in addition to using Plastigauge, the key is very careful inspection of the bearing surface for embedded metal particles or other contaminates.

 

[MasseyWV]

Recently, I completed a significant part of the project, priming the engine block.

I couldn't risk sandblasting the engine block because parts of it are exposed, so I had to do it the hard way. After taping plastic over exposed openings, I carefully cleaned off any remaining grease and dirt, then used a Dremel tool to prepare the surface, before grinding down casting flaws for a smoother finish. I then cleaned it with Prepall before finally priming it. Getting the engine block ready for primer took several days.

The following are pictures of the engine block after it was cleaned, prepared, and primed. Note the upper 2-3 inches of the transmission bell housing, which was also prepared to allow for some primer overlap until the transmission is cleaned and primed at a later date.

 

[Soundguy]

sure looks nice.