# Buttercups Electrical



## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Been having a bit of trouble with the old 8N.
I got to working on it and found that the water pump was seized up and I had trouble with the electrical. So into the shop it went.
The original 12 V conversion that the previous owner did was not quite working properly, and after poking around with it for a while, I decided to re-do the whole thing. The lights aren't working and the battery won't charge. Hopefully I get it sorted out.
Once I got the hood off, I found that when I smacked the front of it in the winter clearing snow.... I'd pushed the rad back and jammed the fan into the overflow hose for the rad!
DOH?!?
Good news, the water pump, fan and rad are fine. Just a little adjustment there and we were good to go.






























Who knows, if I don't lose my last marble doing this, I will also give it a good service. I'll most likely be posting as I go, and I'm sure there will be a post "my tractor won't start" in my near future!:lmao:


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Cool tractor, and a very interesting project keep us updated.


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## Snafflekid (Jun 13, 2013)

There is a lot more space under the hood than I expected.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Got a chance to work on her again today. Got the alternator and the wiring pretty much done.










I prewired a socket so that I can also pre-wire the headlights, and then just plug them in when I put the hood back on. Also have started the wiring for the rear work light. Tomorrow I may run down to the local parts dealer and pick up a new battery, and a couple of light switches and maybe even a key switch for the ignition. Once that's all done, a major service is in order, plugs points and condenser as well as an oil change and new filter. She should be just like new..... until I try and start it. Hopefully you diehard 8N fans are getting ready to help me trouble shoot my self inflicted problems.
Need to break out my new wire feed and see if I can get the left hand fender welded back on her. I've never welded before!!
Cheers.


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## Thomas (Nov 1, 2006)

She's beauty thats for sure Bill.
Puttering in your new shop/barn gotta feel good comparing to outside.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

It does feel good Thomas. Working on the equipment is just so much different than working on these buildings. It's more like a break than anything. Hopefully I can solve all this tractors problems and then get back at the buildings this week. I can't wait to get the shop completed so that I can tinker whenever I like!


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## Ken N Tx (Sep 20, 2003)

It looks like you are doing good...edro:

Welding the fender ?????


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Ya, Ken N Tx,
With the tracks on her, the fenders are raised up about 2 or 3 inches to give a little extra clearance to keep your arms out of the way, and to keep the tracks from beating the lip of the fender. Consequently I have a piece of 4 x 4 angle iron bolted to the axle where the fender attaches, and the fender is bolted to that..... I threw a track last year and tore the fender off. Thankfully it was only that home made bracket that took the hit!


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## Fredneck (May 25, 2012)

best of luck with the project, bill, looks like fun.

as a novice welder myself, a word of caution. practice on something else first. something u don't care about 

but if only the bracket was damaged, couldn't u just replace it, and not need to weld anything?


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Wish I could just replace the bracket there Fredneck, but the bracket is a home made affair as well. It kind of lifts the fender up and away from the tracks. Besides, I have a bit of welding in my future, and this bracket looks like one of those good practise pieces to get started on.

Well, at the end of the day, I put the hood back on the tractor after doing a bit of a tune up and new oil and filter. That filter change on these units are a piece of work. What the heck was old Henry Ford thinking! I think it's the same filter arrangement as my '50 Ford Custom. Had to pry the filter out because they don't seem to come with the folding handle anymore, then you have to some how bale the oil out of the filter housing. I ended up making up a devise out of an empty dishwashing bottle and a short piece of gas line I had laying around. Stuck the hose in the oil filter housing, squeezed the bottle an let the bottle suck the oil up out of the housing. 
Anyways, I got the new alternator bracket all screwed up so I had to hoist the hood off again and re-work the bracket. What a pain! There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the parts that come with the kit. I'll have to research it a bit to see what they had in mind. Got her back together though, and got her to fire up... won't keep running though!!! I'll have to dig into that, hopefully it's just low on fuel.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Well, like I said, I did a little research and I finally found out how to install the bracket to hold the alternator. Too bad everything was already reworked and I had no way of seeing how the original generator was installed. Anyways, I finally got a nice neat installation without the brackets either rubbing a hole in the fuel tank, or sticking a way out the side of the tractor.









I managed to get her back together properly and then I had to work on trying to get her going.










I checked out what I did and thought that the only thing I did different was the installation of the resistor. I jumpered out the resistor, and she fired right up. The only thing that makes sense was that I replaced the old coil a couple of years ago with a new 12 volt unit. It runs great. I did have the ammeter hooked up backwards, but this is the first time it's ever worked since I got it. Change the wires around and it works just fine.
Had fuel flooding out of the carburetor so I figured that that will be on the next rebuild, but.... I took my plastic headed mallet and whacked the carburetor a few times and slowly it stopped leaking.... must have been a stuck float. It stopped leaking and we are good to go.
Next is the welding. We're going to try that tomorrow maybe.
I know this install is old school to some of you, but I had a ball doing it and had never done this sort of thing before. It was great. Good practise for getting at my other fixer uppers!


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Well, today I did a bunch of chores that needed doing, then I got back at the tractor.

Got the bracket for the fender welded up and got the fender mounted again. Had a run at a bit of wiring and now I have lights both front and rear. She's all done and ready to go back to work!



















It was nice to work in the shop with more than just lumber, hammer and nails!


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## smokinmad (Dec 24, 2013)

*Engines*

When Ole Henry, got the burn, to get into the tractor business, he did it, with a rush. He designed the 9-N tractor, around the Model T's, 4 cyl. engine. So, your probably right, in assuming, that the engine in your sweet looking 50 Ford, is the same. In fact I read somewhere, that the Model T parts, will work on these N's.


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