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Not much gray

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By Robert Adams
In response to "She is a good looking tractor but the only thing I can find wrong with it is that there is not much Gray on it !  ;- )"

Yes, not much grey or gray on the Farmall.

The gas tank and hood (one piece unit) is at the local repair shop. Today, God willing, I will remove the radiator and take it to the same shop. I am slowly buying appropriate parts to include nuts and bolts. There is a Hodge podge of fasteners on this tractor and I am going to restore it to uniformity. Bolts where there should be bolts and screws where there should be screws. Of course I refresh old threads on bolts and in bolt holes as well as in nuts. Then a little oil or grease to reduce further rust and all is well.

I may get to try my hand at sand blasting today too. I have a very old red wagon to try out as well as some of the tractor parts. The wheel weights, although heavy at 150 pounds each, are a straight forward sand blasting chore. The air cleaner tube which runs between the air cleaner and the carburetor on the Fords is a mess on the 640. I let rain water get into it and it fouled the carburetor as well as seriously rusting the inside of the tube. I can blast it inside and out then prime it both areas too. The rubber connectors were age hardened and I managed to cut them away. I can probably find some appropriate tubing and cut it to length.

I was contemplating cleaning the gas tank and repairing it myself, but for just three times my cost I can get the repair shop to do it. The bonus is I don’t blow up or poison myself with fumes. I started cleaning the carburetor from the Ford 640 yesterday. I soaked it in the cleaning tank for almost all day then dunked it in water to neutralize the cleaner. I started scraping off mud, rust, whatever. Today I will get back to it and continue the process. It takes a while, but when I am done, the carburetor is like new.

Tractor Boy

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