Massey Ferguson 35X restoration

greendragon3

hi all , we are currently restoring a 68' fergie 35x for a friend , its a full strip down - check everything over and replace or repair job , stay tuned for regular updates over the next few weeks , the owner has inherited the tractor from his uncle and he informs me that the engine was reconditioned a few years back so hopefully it will not have to be touched , first off was to get rid of the old ford cab that was fitted to it many years ago , it had literally rotted on to the half axles and we had to use some serious force to get it off ! :thumbup:

greendragon3

once the cab , bonnet , tank and dash were out of the way we got her outside for a well deserved soaking in jizer degreaser and a good long blast of the power hose ,

greendragon3

greendragon3

greendragon3

so as usual with most things it hadn't seen a grease gun since it was new and needless to say the front axle and drop legs were shot , so we stripped them ( well to be honest they just fell out when we jacked her up lol ) and rebuilt them with all new shims and bearings , also the center pivot beam had wore into an oval shape so that has to be replaced as well , when we were at it he wanted to fit a new clutch and investigate a fairly major oil leak coming from the bottom of the bell housing , when we split her we found out that the rope seal on the crankshaft was gone so we replaced that with a new one also , few pics .

greendragon3

kay 9

Good thread. Great to see them ppl still keen to do them up. Have it in my head to do up a 20 my grandfather bought many moons ago and a 65..

greendragon3

the owner and myself are on the look out for a decent set of original 35x mudguards and also a proper hitch and draw bar assembly for the back of the tractor , if the wings need a bit of fettling its not a problem , cash waiting !!!!
you can contact me ( terry 0877437783 ) .

Thargor

Good man Greendragon, love these threads and wish we had more of them, only the boat restorations over in Sailing are better

greendragon3

new center beam arrived today with some new bushes , its as tight as a drum now ,

cute geoge

brillant update and photos

My father in law has a similar 35x and it is semi retired but a cousin carries it for power washing sometimes .It is after developing a leak from the pto and there is nothing showing on the dipstick.
Any advice on what is wrong and is it that big nut up near stick for topping up the oil in backend

SmartinMartin

Fantastic thread, watching with interest. I have 2 35Xs and a goldie, all working grand but cosmetically fookd. Would love to restore them eventually.

Avns1s

cute geoge wrote: »

brillant update and photos

My father in law has a similar 35x and it is semi retired but a cousin carries it for power washing sometimes .It is after developing a leak from the pto and there is nothing showing on the dipstick.
Any advice on what is wrong and is it that big nut up near stick for topping up the oil in backend

You can replace the seal around the PTO shaft and it's not a big job.

Yes, you top up using the bung to the left of the gear sticks. Make sure it's on level ground when topping up.

greendragon3

small update guys , we decided to put her temporarily back together yesterday and give her a bit of a run to check out the clutch and the new brakes , everything seems to working fine but when we got her back into the shed the blasted new rope seal that we fitted to the crankshaft is leaking again so we had to split her again last night and investigate , only managed to take a few pics and a short video of her running .

greendragon3

quick video of her running ,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmLNOYJ4k0

TheBody

Love your threads. Keep the pics and videos coming.

I'd love for you to restore my old Massey Ferguson 65. Nobody can seem to get the pto to engage with the tractor running despite a new clutch in it.

Avns1s

TheBody wrote: »

Love your threads. Keep the pics and videos coming.

I'd love for you to restore my old Massey Ferguson 65. Nobody can seem to get the pto to engage with the tractor running despite a new clutch in it.

Has the clutch been set up properly? As in has the 2nd stage been set after fitting the clutch by adjusting the bolts around the outside of the pressure plate?

greendragon3

got stuck into the wee massey again yesterday and noticed that one of the brake pedals had a lot of play in it even after fitting the new shoes and adjusting them up so i whipped off the pedals and noticed that the activating rod was well worn where it connects to the back end so i manufactured a shim from an old one i had lying about and it worked a treat , i have a full set of brass bushings ordered for the pedals and housing so i wil get them fitted tomorrow and hopefully they will make a job of her , some pics .

greendragon3

so with that taken care of it was time to change the oil in the back end , it seems that this had not been done for a very very long time judging by the sh*t that came out of it , not sure where the needle bearings have come from but they warrant further investigation

greendragon3

so it was off with the lift head and top of the gearbox and a thorough flush out with kerosene and a good blow through with the air line afterwards , still cant see where the damn bearings have come from which is kind of worrying ???

greendragon3

when the lift head was off the client decided he want the draft control spring that lives under the seat replaced because it was badly worn and not working properly , thats when the fun started trying to get it shifted , plenty of heat ,c cursing , a big hammer and ample amounts of blood sweat and a few tears from the ould fella we managed to get it out , a new one is on order , lets hope it goes in a bit easier , me nerves wont be able for it !!!!

greendragon3

got a load of new bits yesterday and started to piece her back together , first off the draft control system ,

greendragon3

then stuck on some new gaskets and replaced the top of the gearbox and the steering box , and also the side covers ready for some new oil .

greendragon3

i have also replaced al the pins and bushes in the pedals but i dont have any clear pictures of these ( camera phone is on the way out )

we got a new swinging draw bar assembly and a new hydraulic diverter for under the seat because this man wants to run a log splitter off her at some stage ,

greendragon3

next job is to replace the dreaded rope seal ( again ) on the back of the engine and get her back together ready for another test drive , should be set for rubbing down and cleaning then and hopefully primer and paint soon , the brother is flat out working on the bonnet trying straighten out 50 years of dents and dings and patch the rust , i will start taking a few pictures of this work the next day i am out .

greendragon3

a lot of wire brushing , welding and prepping this week , hoping to have her in primer by next Saturday , i was at the wheels and some of the panels today with the 4" grinder .

greendragon3

greendragon3

pablo128

Electrolysis would be the right job for those panels. Dunno if you've seen it done, but here's a Youtube video. Feel free to skip through it, as it's a bit long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKZv14-K71g

Great thread btw. Keep up the good work.

greendragon3

well we didn't make as much progress as we had hoped this week , i ended up with a dose of pleurisy on my lungs and had to have a trip to the hospital but on the mend now , we had to do a lot of rubbing down again and some prepping with a minimum amount of fillers on some of the panels and bonnet , we also mocked up the wings to see how they were lining up , have to clean everything thoroughly now and get everything hanging up ready for primer during the week hopefully .

greendragon3

marlyman

greendragon3 wrote: »

next job is to replace the dreaded rope seal ( again ) on the back of the engine and get her back together ready for another test drive , should be set for rubbing down and cleaning then and hopefully primer and paint soon , the brother is flat out working on the bonnet trying straighten out 50 years of dents and dings and patch the rust , i will start taking a few pictures of this work the next day i am out .

What process are you using to install the rope seal??

greendragon3

marlyman wrote: »

What process are you using to install the rope seal??

well after a few attempts we decided to replace the actual aluminum housing and the rope together at the same time , that seems to have done the trick

greendragon3

primer time at last , few pics , they are not great as the ould fella took them when it was getting dark :eek: .

greendragon3

we also got some of the red bits in first coat ,

colm_mcm

Coming along great, maybe it's the camera, but it looks a bit orangey?

greendragon3

colm_mcm wrote: »

Coming along great, maybe it's the camera, but it looks a bit orangey?

ha ha yeah i know , its the ould fellas ****e camera . im heading out today so i will get a few proper shots with the iphone ,

greendragon3

well i got a few better pictures today and we managed to get one coat of grey on the other bits , she coming on nicely now .

greendragon3

greendragon3

paints dry , assembly time whoooo hoooo .

greendragon3

gholian

Wow that is some amount of work. I am a month into a 1965 135. Belongs to me Father. I have to do all that you have done. Just wondering did you sand blast any of it or use grinder/wire brush on a drill to tackle the rust. The primer you used is that a rust inhibiting Primer.

greendragon3

gholian wrote: »

Wow that is some amount of work. I am a month into a 1965 135. Belongs to me Father. I have to do all that you have done. Just wondering did you sand blast any of it or use grinder/wire brush on a drill to tackle the rust. The primer you used is that a rust inhibiting Primer.

good man , great to hear of another one being saved , we wire brushed everything with a 4" grinder , did a lot of hand work on the smaller hard to get places . its slow tedious work but the end results are good , we use sparex high grade primer , no rust inhibitor needed if you get her well cleaned down first and try to apply the primer and paint in a warm dry shed . kerosene heater is a god send .

gholian

Thanks for that. I thought I would have to sandblast some of it. If there rust under the paint/primer will it come out through eventually in your experience.

greendragon3

gholian wrote: »

Thanks for that. I thought I would have to sandblast some of it. If there rust under the paint/primer will it come out through eventually in your experience.

yes it will work its way through alright and sooner than you think too , try to do as much preparation work as you can before you spray , it will stand to the tractor in the long run .

gholian

Will do, Thanks for that.

greendragon3

bit more assembly .

greendragon3

greendragon3

phew nearly there now , last few bits on the tractor and we are waiting on the wiring to be finished monday or tuesday , i filled her with coolant and diesel hoping to fire her up but a diesel pipe had corroded and burst when we were bleeding the system so no fire until monday when i get a replacement ( sods law ) :mad: .

greendragon3

greendragon3