I purchased a (supposedly) 1952 Allis-Chalmers B with a narrow front end (must be from a C from my reading) and I'm looking to first rebuild and get it running and then restore it. I've never owned a tractor before, I didn't even grown up on a farm, but I sure as heck have got the itch to get this beautiful machine running again.

I paid $700 dollars for it (I probably overpaid), it has 2 frozen pistons, and has been apart for about 8 years in a garage, it looks in pretty good shape. It came with a Woods L59 belly mower.

I know I have to clean up the engine, I was thinking about buying an overhaul kit with pistons and sleeves. Here are my questions:

How'd I do?

Where do I start with the engine, do I just buy the overhaul kit (on YT ~ $650) and start digging into it? I don't know much about motors but I'm pretty mechanically inclined and can figure things out. I understand it's a big job, it'll be a learning experience.

I figured I wouldn't worry about getting the pistons unstuck (was left outside and some rain apparently got in there, it doesn't look all rusty but they're stuck) and just pop them out with the sleeves since the overhaul kit comes with the sleeves, can I do this? Should I do this?

He said I should bring the head to have it professionally cleaned, it looks gunked up, not rusty or anything). Do I really need to bring it in? I heard someone online saying to make sure and get it "cooked", what does that mean?

Anything I should look for specifically before or after pulling the sleeves/pistons? What should I take pictures of to help on forum questions?

Any books you recommend?

Best place for parts? (DJs, YT, OK, anywhere else?)

Where can I find a picture of an original 1950s B so that I can see the original color scheme for all parts/body?

Sorry for the book but I figured I'd ask the experts.

 

Motor stuck, a kit with pistons and liners would be a good start. You might be able to save the  liners and pistons, and just install new rings if you really know what your doing. Yes, you can pop them out as a unit, but you need to get the piston out of the liner so you can take out the connecting rod and reuse it.

  Motor is very simple. When the liners are out you can pressure wash inside the block and clean out all the gunk.  The bottom end is somewhat different than a car motor. The bearing caps normally have a few shims between the block and cap on the bolt. Removal of a couple shims will allow you to tighten up the clearances. YOu will need to measure the crank and bearings and get the clearances set right. If you have not done this, you wil need a little help or advice when you get to that point. A micrometer would help. The crank has to be round. Several thousandths out of round would not be good... Taking the head to a shop and letting them fit the stem guides and lap the valves might be a good idea.

I have the IT and another service manual and have read through them a bit, it actually looks pretty simple, it's just the nuances that I don't know. I'm looking for the owners manual now so I can read about general maintenance that will tell me a bit more on what to grease/lube/etc that will give me a general idea about the tractor.

I'll take some pics from every angle this weekend.

Hubnut, thanks for posting that link, that's kind of what I was looking for, only been searching for B stuff ha!

I saw the tractor and I wanted to work on it and the guy said he didn't have the energy so I asked him a couple weeks later if he'd sell it because I really liked the way it looked and wanted to work on it.

Like I said, we'll get this cleared up this weekend, it already sounds like it's a C though.

I noticed that the paint is really thick over the serial and I can't even read it clearly, can I chip some of it off or what should I do?

Is there multiple places I should be looking?

I was reading "The Little A-Cs" PDF and it said they were made from 1940 to 1950. TractorData says 1940 to 1949.

I post some pics of it this weekend.

I think they were all stuck and he removed 2, it looks in pretty good shape but he said he left it outside and some rain must've gotten in there an it seized up.  He said he removed the 2 and honed the sleeves and couldn't get the other two. So at least it's all apart and take some good internal pics.

 

Wash the water jacket out and get the 75 years of river mud and goo out of the passages.... When you were in the corn field in 1955 and the motor got hot, where do you think the guy got the water to put in the radiator ? 

That is amazing to think about, I never would have imagined, it's so foreign to me.

I stopped by Harbor Freight to pick up a engine stand (the ones online I wanted were like a grand), they didn't have what I wanted in stock which is probably a good thing since I'm not sure if a standard engine stand will work with a tractor.

Will a 1500 lb or 2000 lb work for this? Should I be looking elsewhere than Harbor Freight? I checked on Craigslist but didn't see anything.

I used this for a 302 FORD about 10 years ago also.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-stand-69886.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-stand-69886.html

We split the tractor and removed all the outer stuff from the block, I'll take more pictures of the block and internals tomorrow.

I think we have to remove the crankshaft/camshaft in order to pop the sleeves out, we tried it with a 2x4 and a mini-sledge but it just chewed up the 2x4 since it was off center because of the crankshaft.

I picked up a nice 2000 lb engine stand from harbor freight, I figure buy once, cry once, just in case I work on something bigger in the future. I'm only 34 so I have a few years left in me to get into some stuff.

So the block only has the internals and gears left on it, it's sitting on some 2x4's on the engine stand, I may take the crank/cam out tomorrow or wait until next weekend. We'll see how I feel, I pulled something in my arm and it hurts a bit. All in all a good day!

Have a great night, gents!

Today I tore the engine down and removed the crankshaft so that I could pound out the sleeves. I tried with a 2x4 and it just chewed up the wood, I tried with an oak log as well and it fared a bit better but wouldn't budge with my mini-sledge. I didn't have time to take more pictures of the internals but I will next weekend for sure.

Should I put some acetone/ATF in the bottom of the block so that it can hopefully seep down the sleeve and loosen it up? I'm not sure what else to do. I though about buying a sleeve puller but that wouldn't work because only 1 of the sleeves doesn't have a piston in it.  Any other ideas?  Should I just be using a pine 2x4 or something else?

It all went fairly well so far, there were only two parts that gave me a bit of trouble:

1. The steering arm/drag link (or whatever it's called, the long bar on the side with the ball joints on them), I couldn't find the name of it or anything in my 2 manuals that said what it was or how to take it apart. When I took off one of the nuts I couldn't figure how it was supposed to come off, I hammered on it a few times and it wouldn't budge, I thought maybe I had to pop the ball joint apart.  We ended up putting a propane torch on the part the threaded end goes into and heated it up, then I whacked it (the threaded end) about 10 times really hard and it didn't move, I was getting frustrated and I was thinking that it may not come off that way so I was just messing around and just tapped lightly on it 3 times, not even hard enough to hurt your knuckles if you did it to your hand and it popped right out in front of our eyes! My dad and I looked at each other and started laughing so hard, we couldn't believe that happened.

2. The crankshaft pulley - I took the nut off the set screw and didn't see that it had a flat-head slot in it to unscrew it so it took me a little bit to figure that out, then I read online that there was another set screw behind it so I was digging in there trying to get it (it apparently doesn't have a second one), there is a key back inside there that I thought was the second one.. I was wondering why I couldn't get my screwdriver to bite. I also read online that you should use a puller and a bearing splitter to get the pulley off because they break easily.. out came the propane torch again, a crowbar, and the mini sledge. After it got nice and toasty I put the crowbar on the back inside lip and hammered it a few times, then moved to the other side and did the same thing, eventually it started to move and I kept at it until it popped off. I didn't break it!

Also, I was able to adjust the images so I'll post them here:

Bob, I'll surely keep this updated.

Here's another update along with a ton of pictures (kind of an inventory), hopefully you can tell me if I'm missing anything and what you think of the general condition of it.

I picked up a two foot long 1 1/4" steel bar to bang on the sleeves/pistons, it definitely made a difference. I hammered all the sleeves out and then hammered the pistons out of the sleeves so that I could get to the connecting rods. I also removed the camshaft and power-washed the block.

The previous owner marked 2 caps and 1 rod, upon closer inspection though, the original owner marked all the caps and rods with a chisel, very nice of him!

I'm going to call up a machine shop this week and see what it would cost to get the block/head cleaned/machined/line bored and check out the cam/crank to see if they need any work. I'm not really sure what I should have them do, I'm just going off your suggestions.

I'm thinking about purchasing the major overhaul kit on YT, I checked out the parts dealers in the parts link at the top of this forum but it didn't look like any of them had any kits with the valves/springs/etc, it looks like I need them as well. I'll call them up (or any other place you guys recommend) and get a quote before I pull the trigger.

http://imgur.com/a/Ly9On" rel="nofollow - http://imgur.com/a/Ly9On

I know absolutely nothing when it comes to telling if something is good or bad by looking at it because this is the first time I've seen most of these components and I have no reference for what a good one looks like.

Thanks!

I talked to a machine shop up here in MN and they said they are pretty busy (like months). They referred me to another place that I need to call tomorrow when the right guy is in. I also asked them what it would take to get it done right and they said around $1000 depending on what I want done.

I bought the DVD on how to rebuild the B, C, and CA engine from J&D productions, it was helpful but they didn't go much into what should be done at the machine shop.

With the pictures I've posted and knowing that I'm going to replace the pistons, sleeves, gaskets, bearings, etc with a rebuild kit, what do you think I should have done at the machine shop? Do I just bring them the entire engine and have them tell me what I need? Unfortunately, I don't know anything about rebuilding engines so I don't want them to have me do stuff that I don't need or that is easy enough for me to do it myself.

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Hot tank block/head

Regrind crank/cam

Line bore

Should I have them lap the valves or should I do that myself?

Anything else?

Hot tanked

Magnafluxed

Reground Crank to .020

Line bored

Put on the new flywheel ring gear (it had some eaten up teeth on it).

Grind and lap the new valves I purchased.

I called him 2 days ago and he said the block is done but he said he thinks theres a crank in the head.. I told him that I wanted him to magnaflux them before I bought the parts but he told me to go ahead and order the parts last week. I'm running up there this weekend and he said worse case he'll send me home with the block and he might have a head.

What if there is a crack in the head? Any worries if there is?

He didn't machine the block surface where the head attaches, he said I can just go over it with a flat file to remove the high points and the gasket will seal it up tight. Is this ok to do or does it need to be machined? He seemed really knowledgable so I kind of trust him but I'd rather have a second opinion from you folks.

I'll start rebuilding the block in a week or two after I order a bunch of parts and I'll pick up the head during gun deer season. I can't wait, I should have it running before the new year!

http://www.grobetusa.com/9-piece-file-set-with-handles-item-32-4809/

What is the best way to clean all the filings off?

Also, I noticed this brass piece was in the bottom of the torque tube (where the engine connects to the back part). What do you think it's from??? I'm assuming I'll need a new one of whatever it is:

You can see where I found it here:

Thanks again, more updates to come with better pictures since I got a better camera.

One hiccup is that when I picked the block up the deck has two 1/16" to 1/32" deep gashes that run right across the cylinder like so:

They are a little thinner than that but I wanted you to be able to see the location of them, that's as best as I can remember, I'll grab an actual picture tomorrow.

I called him up and told him that those were not in there (and I have pictures) before I brought it to him and he said he'd make it right whether it was machining it or whatever. He originally said they won't cause any problems but I'm not sure what to do.

Now I'm wondering what can actually be done if those sleeves have to fit just right?

It's always something, isn't it? Oh well.

I should have the head back this weekend so I'm putting in an order for things that I will need to get the engine running next week (if possible), here's what I have so far:

Thanks!!

I took this week off hoping that I would get it running, the head isn't done yet which sets me back a little bit but I ordered all the parts and they should all be here in the next couple of days so I can work on putting the block together.

I still need to order a carb kit (need to find out which model Zenith I have tomorrow) and the pilot bushing.

I suppose I'll run into things here an there that will need to be replaced, I'll update the thread as I go.

I'm just going to get it running before the end of the year, I'll break it all back down this spring/summer to sand blast and paint it. I'm looking forward to buying a nice air compressor and the blasting/painting equipment.

 

I built a large electrolysis rust removal system to help me remove the rust from the parts I'm reusing, here's a small example of how great it works (I started with a 5 gallon bucket but scaled mine up a bit to a 14 gallon tub):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka6ArN_ehas