I now own a tractor!...Allis Chalmers C

Apologies in advance if the photo is huge, I suppose I'll learn as I go.

Thanks Bill.  Yes, it is a C with a B front end and tractor number 50XXX.  It looks like that puts it at a late 46 or early 47 if I read the serial number chart correctly. Someone hand painted CA on the sides of radiator, but I assumed safer to look at number on tractor.

Thanks for the welcome, FloydKS.  I think I've just really wanted to prove that things could be fixed despite the outward appearance and my lack of experience.  I'll throw out the first real operation question.  Does my starter need to actually have a switch mounted on it to work, or can power be supplied directly to the post on the bottom via solenoid and large wire?  Picture should show "post" I describe on the bottom. 

Edited by redbirds - 12 Mar 2018 at 1:18pm

Rodney Thompson aka Rod (NH) has all this info for you at   http://rodnh.byethost12.com/?i=1. I've found everyone here very helpful for my B work.

Thanks for the input already. I’d just like to hear it run then see where to take it from there. Here’s a pic of some of the back. Stock? Homemade?

Congratulations on the Allis!

Nice C!  Love the front tires.  Welcome to THE forum.

Redbird

Yes, I fiddled with all the prescribed ingredients to free the pistons. I settled on sliding a fine feeler gauge along the top edge of each piston and letting pb blaster and transmission fluid seep in. Had to shape a new key for the crankshaft pulley and just put very slight pressure with a bar as I noticed the fluid was making its way down. Eventually that and some persuasion with a wood block got it moving. I was patient with it and now it moves well. Need to get to the point I know I have a spark and work on a hand start. It turns well enough I believe it is possible.

Great, Steve. Thanks for looking and commenting. That is how I think I’d like for it to operate, if possible. I found a diagram for wiring and will lay it out to see if I’m on track.

Welcome to the Orange Asylum, Redbirds!  Dave here.

You've stepped into the tractor world basically same way as I did many years ago, bringing home a very stuck '48 B that looks strangely more like your C than a B.  I broke mine free too... it had a magneto, rather than distributor, and it started up for me for my first time on a cold, damp night when SHE didn't know it was out in the shed... raining dirt, rust, embers and oil out of the exhaust on the first snorts.  WEAR A HAT!!!

The ignition system is incredibly basic.  Power flows from battery to coil, then from coil to distributor.... through contact points, to ground.  When the points open, magnetic field in the coil collapses, and you get a spark out the coil tower.  That spark flows through coil wire to center of distributor, and hopefully, the rotor is pointed to the wire going the the correct spark plug, and hopefully, the point timing and dwell are approximately appropriate, and there's a little fuel, air, and compression in the accordant cylinder to pop it off in the RIGHT DIRECTION.

Lap the valves and check the springs before you put the head back on, so 'ya don't hafta do it again later.  It'll run.  Even if there's a big gap between pistons and liners, and the rings are missing, it'll still run. 

That’s encouraging Dave! I’ve already had the head back on for a bit and have done a bit of valve adjustment. You are correct in that these things seem to be amazingly resilient. When I popped the valve cover off, the rust was crazy. After Scrubbing, brushing, spraying, etc, now the springs move up and down in time with the rockers and it’s really sort of hard to believe. Pure labor and patience leads me to believe there are lots of things, previously abandoned, that can be fixed. I want to see the results of working and trusting that it will free up. I’ll compliment quality equipment too, in that nothing so far has been a shock other than owner neglect. The parts are what the manuals describe and what you see is what you get. It’s a fun challenge and a learning experience.