Love it when a plan comes together.

Got Jeff's 2394 all together and running. Have to re-torque the heads tomorrow, was going to finish tonight but the torque wrench that Jeff borrowed fell apart so I'll have to get a different one in the morning to finish.

I want to thank some of the wonderful folks here who helped out. Nutty (Tom) and ACG (Loren) and 1370rod. Took a few calls to Loren and Tom and one to Rod, but we were able to get it done.

I am no master mechanic and wouldn't normally do a job like this for anyone else. There is too much risk that I would mess up and cost them money. In this case I did it for a good friend who couldn't do it himself. Also, Jeff just couldn't afford to hire it done so if I hadn't agreed to help he would just have been without a tractor. Had to work in his machinery shed with no heat and a dirt floor so it was cold sometimes and hard to keep stuff clean. Lighting, as you can see in the pics, was poor to say the least. But it was better than outside in the rain and snow we had today. We didn't have a parts washer or even a presure washer, so we didn't get to carried away with cleaning the outsides of all the parts. The oil pan and manifolds and such were cleaned inside and wire brushed outside. Was a bit cold to be washing parts in a pan of diesel, so we only did what we had too.

Over all it went pretty good, but we did have some problems. The kit didn't have the seal that goes between the oil pump and block, also came with a bad sleeve o-ring. So that meant a trip to the dealer. Had to make a trip to another friend of Jeff's for the torque wrench too.

I did learn a few things along the way. 1, don't drop a main bearing bolt on your nose, I shed some blood on that one. 2, case made the rear main bolts so it's a (insert profanity here) to get a socket on to torque them past the rear main seal holder. 3, Who ever put those 12 point bolts up in, behind, under, around back of, beside, that cast piece at the back of the pan should be (insert another profanity here)repeatedly. 4, always check the number on the rods so you get them in the right holes the first time. Only got the first one wrong. 5, don't put the water manifold on til you get the injector lines on. 6, make sure you get ALL the injectors tight. If you don't it sounds just like a valve leaking and you can spend a bunch of time re-setting the rockers trying to find the tight one. 7, I don't know what case uses for gasket sealer, but you could hold a submarine together with that stuff. The oil pan and some other stuff it took a hammer and chisel to get it off.

Guess that's why a good mechanic is worth what they make. I can't imagine how funny it would have been for someone who knows what they are doing to have watched me stuggling along. lol.

Here are some pics of the process, the last is Jeff with his happy face because the tractor is actually running behind him lol Also a video of the first start up. Hope you enjoy.













[/url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQjwkbVEQsI

That's a beautiful thing you have done.
K

Even with all the aggrivation, it's worth the $2k a dealer wants to do that job. Yeah, ya cuss some, and freeze some, but I've done three that way, now. The dealer did two, and screwed both of them up... One more thing, don't forget to put the oil pan plug back in BEFORE ya put 18 qts of oil in it (don't ask me how I know that one!)

didn"t take pains to get it clean ??????? my first thought when I saw the pic. was how the h#ll did he get that engine that clean !!!!!!!!!!!

I am on the home stretch of my current major repair job. I am no master mechanic either, but I have done two total engine rebuilds along with five major engine jobs, and all the constant repairs involved in having a dozen vehicles and lots of equipment around. My current project is major collision damage to my '05 snowmobile. It is the second time that the sled has had this same repair, the first time was at the dealer. I have been surprised to find a lot of little things that were not quite right or plain wrong or just not done right. When a kid is getting paid $15.00 per hour to wrench on something that he is not likely to see again, and the boss is on him to get it done and get onto the next one, it is not likely that there is going to be the attention to detail that an individual such as you, who is taking his time and taking pride in his work, is going to give to the project.

I bet if you were to see what goes on at a dealership you would feel MUCH BETTER about what you have done.

Why do you think they don't let anyone back there anymore ? Insurance ? they make a nice scapegoat.

Pictures are great but I don't think the video came through.

Looks great. I too am looking for the dirt you are talking about. The engine looks pretty clean to me.

Rick

Having been there and done that on a wet sleeve JD 4020 I can appreciate your workmanship. Really nice job, dirt floor or not.

Mark

Done that with a 5 gal. pail of oil on a truck oil change once. LOL. won't make that mistake again. Did forget to close the water drain tho.

BTDT; dirt floor & all more than once!
Congratulations.

Looks like a great job to me, even though I can't hear it run.
Jeff is lucky to have a good friend like you.

Well done, thats a great job in difficult conditions. You should feel proud.

OOPS, here's a link to the video.
Untitled URL Link

Great job, Jon. That's a happy man in that last pic. Thanks for sharing with us.

Lots of credit to you Jon. I did many repairs on my excavating equipment out on the jobsites in the mud, cold and weather. Makes me shiver just lookin at that.
Nice job and a great gesture.

Dimental, that is fundimental without the fun. Well done and looks pro to me. best of luck. Jim

People ask about the cost of repairing some tractors. How can you put a dollar value on the last picture? That moment when you hear the sound of an engine brought to life again.
SDE

Looks good to me. I did the head gasket on my 1600 in a dirt floor shed with less than weather tight walls/doors a few years ago. Also did the hydraulic pump in a 3 sided lean last year. Wasn't the funnest job, but I got the job doen both times for a fraction of the $$$.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Looks good to me. I did the head gasket on my 1600 in a dirt floor shed with less than weather tight walls/doors a few years ago. Also did the hydraulic pump in a 3 sided lean last year. Wasn't the funnest job, but I got the job doen both times for a fraction of the $$$.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Hey great job! I rebuilt a small block 400 Chevy once, but never a tractor engine! I will be pulling my baler apart this Saturday, same conditions, a dark barn, cold, ect, but not as complicated as your job. I will try to post some pics. Figures I have to start it on breeders cup weekend! Lo, thanks fir the pics.

Been working on old tractors, trucks, jeeps since 1973. Finally poured a floor in my shop in 2009, still don't have any heat. Concrete floor is nice, maybe someday I'll get heat.

That is what's so nice about working on equipment like this the sound of it running that SWEET sound of the labor you and anyone who helped you work on this tractor, I've been working on a Ford 850 the past 3 weeks and finally got it to run yesterday evening late still have some minor issues but that sound, nothing like it.

Just proves what can be done if you take your time and are careful! For the last 35 years I have had nothing but a shadetree to work under, and they get COLD, DRAFTY, and WET! I feel that one of my better accomplishments was rebuilding a 1951 Pontiac straight eight, years ago, that someone else had already dismantled.
You did yourself proud, and I know that your friend surely appreciates what you have done! It sure did sound good running in the video.

(quoted from post at 19:11:41 10/30/13) Been working on old tractors, trucks, jeeps since 1973. Finally poured a floor in my shop in 2009, still don't have any heat. Concrete floor is nice, maybe someday I'll get heat.

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Paul, I helped my wife's stepfather build a big new shop building ten years or so ago. He was looking into buying fiberglass insulation and found out that it was a big enough job that he could hire it done for less than he could buy the insulation for himself.