# Restoration



## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

Hello.

I am new to this forum and a new owner of a 1942 Farmall H with a M&W hand clutch. The tractor was my grandfather's and he recently passed away, so I purchased it from my grandmother for $300. My grandfather bought it from his brother-in-law quite a few years ago and paid $500 for it. This past weekend I put about $250 in parts and got it running. It mainly needed simple maintenance items such as a carb rebuild kit, coil, plugs, wires, distributor cap, points, condenser, oil filter, oil and of course the most expensive a new battery.

The engine runs great with little to no smoke. It fires and sounds beautifully. It took it for a 5 mile drive in road gear and everything sounded great.

I would like to restore this to make it look nice, somewhat parade ready. I do plan on using this on my acreage for moving snow, mowing and getting dead trees from the timber for fire wood. It will definitely be used in that manner for many years to come.

My questions are... how much work would be required to give it a fresh coat of paint with new decals and make it look nice enough to put in a parade? Do I need to use a blasting media to remove the old paint and rust? Should I use a dissolving agent to remove the paint? Is any of that necessary? Do I need to disassemble the entire thing? I'm new to the restoration concept, so I'm looking for any information. I'd like to do it myself if possible, but would consider taking it somewhere if needed. 

I'm open to all ideas and I would like to have it ready for the 4th of July parade. My cousin bought grandpa's 1954 Farmall Super MTA about 3 years ago and his is pretty much parade ready, so we would like to drive them in the parade in memory of our grandfather.

Thanks,

Jerry


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum Bossman. Any such restoration project is going to be labor intensive for sure, and I'll tell you that working it in the woods and so on will certainly put a nice paint job at risk. If it were me, I'd remove all the greases and oils externally and then paint it. I would not recommend at all media blasting it as an assembled tractor at all. The sheet metal is where you really need to spend the effort and detail. Others more savoy in tractor restoration will sound off with more better advice but I would not media blast it as this would be a big mistake. Thanks for the pictures. Looks like a heck of a tractor and an awesome history and fabulous price!


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

tractor beam,

Thank you for your fast response! I appreciate your point about the woods putting it's potential toll on the paint. For this reason is why I ask all the questions. 

Thanks again!


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Well, the woods are pretty rough on a tractor, as opposed to using it in a field. You'd be amazed at the freak things that will occure as branches catch things out there in the sticks. My loader quit twice for instance. Once from a branch that caught the quick connect hoses and unhooked one of them. I was so snowed for a few minutes too...........Why the .... won't the loader go down?"............Was relieved to find that it was just a matter of hooking it back in place! The other was a hose clamp snagged a branch and busted the clamp, causing the hydraulics to suck air. Then the time I caught my protected grill in the woods..............


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

............Nah. Do the restore, keep it out of the woods!


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Oh yeah!............Broke a tire valve stem too.............


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

At least they were all cheap fixes aside from the grill. That one was a $250 bill. It's still broke.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

For starters, pressure wash the whole tractor, then armour the seat and tires. You will see just how little it will take in paint here and their to bring it back to shine. Warning though: the more you do, the more you'll want to do but the end results will be very rewarding! Bye


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I was going to suggest applying degreaser to it then spraying it, but this is not the best for the invironment. Then change your oils, cause they will get water in there after the power washing.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

tractor beam said:


> I was going to suggest applying degreaser to it then spraying it, but this is not the best for the invironment. Then change your oils, cause they will get water in there after the power washing.


I use a degreaser that is made from citrus juices, called Super Citrus. Warning on the bottle says, Do Not Drink! Worked really good cleaning the grease off my tractor. Bye


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

Ok. I will try the degreaser and see how it looks.


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

Any idea about how much paint it will take to repaint it?


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

bossman432 said:


> Any idea about how much paint it will take to repaint it?


Depends on if you are going to paint everything or just the sheet metal, also if you're going to spray or brush it on. I used a quart of white, quart of black, and a gallon of orange to do mine with a brush. Hope this helps. Bye


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

BelarusBulldog said:


> Depends on if you are going to paint everything or just the sheet metal, also if you're going to spray or brush it on. I used a quart of white, quart of black, and a gallon of orange to do mine with a brush. Hope this helps. Bye


What type of brush did you use? Did you get brush lines? Do you wish you would have sprayed it?


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

bossman432 said:


> What type of brush did you use? Did you get brush lines? Do you wish you would have sprayed it?


Just used cheap brushes from the dollar store. The paint went flat as it dried, so no lines. I used paint designed for steel and rust. I have never sprayed anything with a paint gun, and didn't want to have to tape up everything. If you don't know what you're doing with a spray gun, you will get runs in the paint. I did however remove the glass from the cab, and took off what parts I could. Bye


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

I've done a couple of spray jobs in the past and they turned out really well, but on both of those projects I did not have to deal with taking anything apart or dealing with an engine, because it was already apart and there was no engine.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

By the way, I used a high heat paint on the exhaust manifold and muffler, same as used for painting a wood stove. Question, is there anymore sheet metal covering the engine and fuel tank, or is that the way it was made? Bye


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

No, I have all the sheet metal and I'll be uploading a picture of that soon.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

You say you're going to use this tractor in the woods and also ride it in parades, touch ups with a brush are going to be easier and faster than taping and spraying every year. Just something to consider. Bye


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

That's a valid point.


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## bossman432 (Apr 26, 2011)

Sheet metal pictures.


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## BelarusBulldog (Feb 19, 2011)

That is going to be one good looking tractor when you are done! Take your time and it will all come around for you. Keep us posted with your progress, and take lots of pictures to show us. Thanks Bye


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