GT 14 RestoMod

[Thor27 769]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you that's a nice looking rear end you got  there....

[Aldon 4,826]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you that's a nice looking rear end you got  there....

Thanks Thor27. Nice of you to notice

Seriously, I was gonna wait until I had the Cam straightened out but I have a lot of time it getting this thing cleaned up, primed, painted and axles polished. I spent close to an hour with steel brush, brass brush and emory wheel to polish the axle shafts. They were less than appealing and one side required the 10 ton puller to break the hub free, I plan on having this tractor until I no longer am around and want to be able to get the hubs off without the same struggle in future. So Polished them and when hubs go on, so will anti-seize.

As I am not trying to win a show with mine, I am doing my GT14 with black frame and Hydro with Red Body. As opposed to all red. To me, it almost looks like some tractors are dipped in red vat:)

[Ken B 3,164]

Coming along real nice!

[Aldon 4,826]

Hydro pedal peg welded onto frame, front welds beefed up, prepped, primed. Also have 1st coat of finish paint on it. So barring bumps in road, should have a rolling chassis this weekend as planned.

[Aldon 4,826]

Considering that I had to source parts and repair the Cam Block and Cam on my Hydro, I am happy that I was able to hit this milestone in the Project. Not sure if I can get enough warm days to prep and paint the internal frame side panels. If I do, then I'll be able to make serious progress otherwise the project will hibernate until Spring. It's going to be a worker but should be nice enough to bring to the show next year....

[Thor27 769]

That looks really good Aldon!

[AMC RULES 37,130]

  I'm really digging the blacked out frame/roller.   

[Aldon 4,826]

I have only been into tractors and wheel horses for 2 years. It took me a while but I finally learned that the market does not really pay the true value of a restored "perfect" tractor. So I decided to paint this one to suit me rather than stay absolutely true to original. Time will tell whether I like it as music as all red. But basic colors will be wheel horse....if you count the more modern ones which had black frames. The body panels will for most part be Red.

And I really like the look of the 5 rib fronts.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Aldon

[JPWH 6,040]

Looking good!
I agree with you on paint colors. Make it what you want. If you sell it later it can always be repainted if the new owner wants. Even if you painted it all red it may not be the right shade to suite others. I think the best approach is to have fun and make it yours. 

[Aldon 4,826]

Woke up to frost on ground. Why can't Fall and Spring last longer?!?!?!

Well hopefully I can get the paint to cure well enough on my inside frame panels so that I can start putting the rock shaft, hydraulics and steering etc together. It is dicey odds at best. So while I wait for paint to dry along with general housekeeping I stumbled on the parts I ordered a while back to modify the gas tank. As it's not going to be a true restoration, I am trying to address the areas of the tractors design I would have thought that Wheel Horse might have addressed had the model continued. One area is the plastic gas tank outlet nipple. While my tank was currently ok, I don't want to have to tear the front end apart to fix or repair later. And odds are I would eventually. I borrowed the idea from a fellow on mytractorforum. I cut off the nipple, ground the area flat and replaced with rubber grommet and elbow. Similar to system on my c series tank. Should last a long time. This along with a fuel sender and gas gage will make fuel issues a lot better.

[wrightorchid 261]

You're making great progress. Looks good.  I like that pattern vise in the earlier pic.

[Aldon 4,826]

You're making great progress. Looks good.  I like that pattern vise in the earlier pic.

I started getting into fine woodworking about 20 years ago but the costs were too high for all the tooling and my job transferred me every few years so I opted out of it. The pattern vise was too useful so I kept it along with the bench I had made at the time. I bought the pattern vise from a place in Georgia. It is awesome!

[Aldon 4,826]

Things are starting to slow down now. While thinking about whether to use ATF or oil and conventional vs synthetic, I made the decision to go ahead and proactively change the axle seals. So I am waiting for them to arrive. Not sure if there is a right way to reassemble one of these but I decided I would work from back towards the front and bottom to top. As such, I don't want to clutter up the area I'll be in doing axle seal swap. I did decide to put the two frame uprights on and installed the shift lever. Ended up having to use bushings as the side plate holes had elongated which is pretty common from my forum research. What is likely uncommon is my jury rigged bushing installation. I opted against welding steel ones in place mostly due to how difficult it would be to get them and resize. No lathe. So I used oil impregnated bushings I located at tractor supply. The collars to lock them were too wide and I had to come up with another way. I took a small drill bit and  drilled 6 or so shallow indentations on the inner side. Then I used steel stick JB weld to wrap around and and basically made a semi permanent lock ring. If I ever need to replace the bushings, it will be very easy to drill out the bronze bushing. Kind of cluged but effective and can't be seen from the outside.

Hope to have seals tomorrow for axles. Then I can install the seat base and the 3 point onto tractor.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Aldon

[Aldon 4,826]

So it seems 2 steps forward and 1 step back has been the theme this summer.

After discussing hydro's and rebuilds and what fluids etc I decided that I should go ahead and swap out axle seals while I have the hubs and axles cleaned up and anti seized. First pick is new seal in place.

while waiting to get my seals I was reading through the forum and read hydro Control loose or won't hold position. I was interested as I had tightened my adjustment as far as it would go and saw no real change.

upon further inspection not only for the project tractor but for the Parts tractor and my other GT14, meaning all 3, none had the key installed that is necessary for the friction cone to work. Indeed I feel it was a tad a pain in the ___ ! And I can only imagine how difficult lining up everything would be with low light and dirt and grease etc.

I found that with Hydro and Cam assembly already installed the only way to install was to use a secondary shaft and assemble everything on hydro control at the minimal tension. Afterward I was able to gently tap the set up shaft out and everything remained in place for installing into tractor.

While the design is not perfect once the friction cone has the key to stop it from rotating I am able to tighten collar and add significant tension to the control arm. It does allow for about a half inch of easier play in both directions before the resistance engages. Easier is not totally loose. It's basically the tension of the cam wedged between the cam block and the cam attachment brackets.

Here you can see the keyway.

Note the slot on the friction cone

I marked friction cone so I could more easily align everything as I installed. I had to insert the shaft through the frame side rail before inserting the key. NOTE the raised dot on collar. I had not paid any attention to this until I got to this point. It helps keep everything aligned.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Aldon

[Aldon 4,826]

I spent the day working out the 3 point hitch and putting finishing touches on the hydraulics. Hope to have that accomplished this weekend. Will post pics at that point.

My other stallions(C161 & GT14# 2) were feeling neglected so I took some time to run them around on beautiful fall day a bit and de carbon the GT14.

The C161 is in queue for restore. Gotta finish the current project, rebuild a 48 inch deck, and then will start the C161.

[HorseHead1089 100]

Looks good! I'm not even half way with my project and I'm already planning another...maybe if we get a nice day this summer we can round up all of the local red square guys and their current projects or favorites. 

[Aldon 4,826]

Are you going to host it? Sounds like a great idea to have a NY meet and greet.

i just don't have the space for it.

[HorseHead1089 100]

Sure would be nice to, we got the space just scheduling and my parents approval I suppose. Maybe a member not to far away will have an actual tractor play ground or various tasks to do.... sure would be cool to get our tractors together at some point. 

[Aldon 4,826]

Well I got new Hydraulic lines and fittings installed. Also got 3 point installed. And the steering tower and tie rods connected. With temps now too low for paint, the project is pretty much at a roadblock until Spring temperatures allow me to paint the body panels, as well as the engine.

With steering wheel temporarily mounted I decided to roll it out into yard to get some pics of current status. Then rolled the beast back into its cave to hibernate for winter. 

[JPWH 6,040]

Looking good! Too bad old man winter has to _______ on your parade.

[Aldon 4,826]

Looking good! Too bad old man winter has to _______ on your parade.

Well I have two other horses so as long as I can get this one done to bring and drive in the parade at the big show next year I'll be happy.

i actually scheduled my 15th anniversary sabbatical in May so I will have some time to focus on it if need be. 

It it would be awesome if I get it done and spend that month getting my C161 done. But 1st things first...

[AMC RULES 37,130]

   Ain't no way...             
you're gonna not touch that thing until spring. 

[squonk 41,150]

Sure would be nice to, we got the space just scheduling and my parents approval I suppose. Maybe a member not to far away will have an actual tractor play ground or various tasks to do.... sure would be cool to get our tractors together at some point. 

Bring them to the Steam Pageant in Canandaigua in August next year. I don't have the exact date yet but is usually the first Wed thru Sat. I'm trying to get as many as I can there. Where I set up, there should be enough room for 25-30 more tractors at least. 

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/58150-steam-pageant-pics-day-1/

http://www.pageantofsteam.org/

[mikekot3 92]

Looks nice !!!

[Aldon 4,826]

   Ain't no way...             
you're gonna not touch that thing until spring. 

it pulls at me already but I would need to set up basement for paint with exhaust fan...assuming the Wife is tolerant enough. Or get the body panels powder coated. Not sure how well the powder coat would be able to match the existing red paint. The latter would be convenient if possible.