...funny how much more often that happens now that I am older! LOL
Approx. 5 years ago, a guy my parents know called and indicated that his Mother In Law had a couple "old Johnnies" that had been sitting in a barn for years, and might be for sale. Both were pretty nice, late B and late A, family decided not to sell the B for "sentimental reasons" so we played around with the A to make sure it would run...usual stuff, clean the carb, drain old gas, clean fuel bowl, new cap, rotor, pts, condensor...once it got running good, Dad"s buddy decided he wanted it so we were out all the way around. The guy had just retired and wanted a hobby, thought maybe an old tractor was the answer. I told him he really needed to replace the missing air intake stack, and he drove it home about 20 miles, parked it under a tree with a shingle over the hole in the hood where the air intake belonged and a rock on the exhaust...for the next 5 years.
Two months ago, his wife called and asked if we were interested: what we found was the same nice late A complete with the yellow paint on the hood to make it look like a 20 series, that looked like it had sat out in the weather for 5 years: motor stuck, clutch froze in disengaged position, and brakes froze. BUT! The price was right even if we decided to write it off as a parts tractor.
We got it home, loaded up the cylinders with a mix of Marvel Mystery Oil, white vinager, and PB Blaster and let it sit a few weeks. Made a couple attempts but it seemed stuck good. I figured it for a partser, Dad (who is usually the pessimist) kept saying "I think it"ll be fine!"
Today, waiting for parts for the Jeep we are restoring we pulled it to the shop, took the clutch apart got it all freed up, put a pipe wrench on the crank while the clutch was off, and with very little effort it spun!
All looks clean, no crust or rust, it"s full of Kerosene/Marvel Mystery oil now and sitting in the barn while we do the carb ( a trip accross the border to Pa for a gallon of REAL carb cleaner, not that enviro friendly useless stuff mandated here in NY is needed), the frozen governor shaft, and wait for some gaskets, and a new air stack.
Pics and update when we make a move!
Approx. 5 years ago, a guy my parents know called and indicated that his Mother In Law had a couple "old Johnnies" that had been sitting in a barn for years, and might be for sale. Both were pretty nice, late B and late A, family decided not to sell the B for "sentimental reasons" so we played around with the A to make sure it would run...usual stuff, clean the carb, drain old gas, clean fuel bowl, new cap, rotor, pts, condensor...once it got running good, Dad"s buddy decided he wanted it so we were out all the way around. The guy had just retired and wanted a hobby, thought maybe an old tractor was the answer. I told him he really needed to replace the missing air intake stack, and he drove it home about 20 miles, parked it under a tree with a shingle over the hole in the hood where the air intake belonged and a rock on the exhaust...for the next 5 years.
Two months ago, his wife called and asked if we were interested: what we found was the same nice late A complete with the yellow paint on the hood to make it look like a 20 series, that looked like it had sat out in the weather for 5 years: motor stuck, clutch froze in disengaged position, and brakes froze. BUT! The price was right even if we decided to write it off as a parts tractor.
We got it home, loaded up the cylinders with a mix of Marvel Mystery Oil, white vinager, and PB Blaster and let it sit a few weeks. Made a couple attempts but it seemed stuck good. I figured it for a partser, Dad (who is usually the pessimist) kept saying "I think it"ll be fine!"
Today, waiting for parts for the Jeep we are restoring we pulled it to the shop, took the clutch apart got it all freed up, put a pipe wrench on the crank while the clutch was off, and with very little effort it spun!
All looks clean, no crust or rust, it"s full of Kerosene/Marvel Mystery oil now and sitting in the barn while we do the carb ( a trip accross the border to Pa for a gallon of REAL carb cleaner, not that enviro friendly useless stuff mandated here in NY is needed), the frozen governor shaft, and wait for some gaskets, and a new air stack.
Pics and update when we make a move!
