1943 Dodge WC51 Windshield Wiper Repair

This will be a short posting. The driver's side wiper blade came off its arm when I was washing the truck several days ago. I took a look at things today and found that a small bracket on the end of the arm has rusted through. No problem, I can fix it. Yes, I'm cheap. Or maybe I don't want to take the time to try and find and order a replacement, pay an exorbitant amount for shipping, then have to wait a week or two for it to show up. But mostly it's that I just like the challenge.

1943 Dodge WC51 Charging System

So, the blog I did a couple days ago regarding brakes mentioned that brakes are usually a problem on old vehicles that will need serious attention. Another very normal problem is the charging system. This truck has a 12 volt generator and regulator. I think it came from the factory with a 6 volt system but somewhere along the way it was converted. At least it still has a generator. I don't like it when people put in one of them new-fangled alternators in old vehicles, but I digress.

With the charging system inoperative, my usual first step is to check if the regulator is working, so I pulled it off the truck and opened it up. After a few minutes of looking things over, I spotted what looked like a broken wire. It was quite difficult to see, but yes, there it was. A broken wire barely thicker than a human hair. Ok, so maybe it is several times thicker, but it's still whisper thin. The photo below is the repair I did to it. I soldered in a larger solid strand wire to splice between the end of the broken wire and its terminal. The two photos below show the white wire I added. If you look close at the blow-up photo and squint real good, you can kinda maybe see the thin wire soldered onto the end of the bigger wire.

Yes, most people would have just gone out and bought a new regulator, but where's the challenge in that? (sticker shock: I just looked online and the cheapest one on eBay is $135, NAPA is $190-$240)

1943 Dodge WC51 Fuel Tank, Gauge and Sender

The fuel tank was out of this truck when I purchased it. The previous owner had the tank cleaned and the inside coated with a sealer, which was a good thing, as I then didn't need to mess with it at all. Just slap the tank in and hook it up. Or so I thought...

1943 Dodge WC51 Master Cylinder Repair and 2025 Tractor Show

Ah yes, brakes. One of those systems on an old vehicle that usually needs a lot of work. And this truck's brake system falls into that "usually" category. I figured I'd try the easy three-step fix first. You know, the Dead Dodge Garage (youtube) method.

Step 1 - see if brake pedal goes to the floor

Step 2 - fill the master cylinder with brake fluid

Step 3 - pump the brake pedal until something changes - hopefully the pedal starts to get firm

With this plan in mind, I'll dive right in. The first order of business is to get access to the master cylinder (MC). On virtually all modern vehicles, it's under the hood and in easy reach to allow for servicing. This truck? Nope. It's under an access panel in the cab floor. Fortunately the panel was held in with just "a few" bolts. Eight to be precise...

1950 John Deere BN Valve Adjustment

John Deere manages to make things difficult. Even the most basic task of adjusting the valves was way more difficult than it had to be. The carburetor float bowl is in the way of getting the valve cover off, so I had to drop the bowl. The large stem poking down in the photo is what the bowl nut threads onto. That stem is still in the way to get the valve cover out all the way but there was just barely enough room to do the job. I suppose since the carburetor on this tractor is not the correct one, it just might have been easier if the right carb was in place, but I doubt it. Most of these DLTX carburetors are very similar in construction.

1950 John Deere BN Brakes - Can You Say Scope Creep?

The brakes on this tractor did work but not very well. Neither brake pedal would spring back like they're supposed to after releasing the brake pedals. Also, the right hand brake was adjusted too tight and was dragging some, so my first order of business was to try and loosen the right side adjuster. It was stuck and did not want to budge one little iota. Ok, so let's pull the brake drum off and see what's going on. That was the first level of scope creep, removing the drum, and it was an hour-long endeavor but the drum is finally off. Come to find out though, that's the least of my worries.

1950 John Deere BN First Wash and 3Pt Hitch Repairs

It was time to break out the pressure washer and get the growth off the BN today. Here's an after shot.

1940s Blue Diamond Generator AKA Gas-O-Lectric Plant AKA Pioneer Gen-E-Motor

I'm not sure what the official name for this generator is, but I'll call it a Blue Diamond Generator since that is the name at the top of the tag. All three names in the title are on the tag in various places, so I guess folks can take their pick as to which one to use.

Seagull ST3601 Manual Wind Watch "Kit" from AliExpress

This is a first for me. I ordered parts from AliExpress to build a watch. I know everything is made in China, but I wanted to see what the quality was like for things that are so very cheap. I bought a Seagull ST3601 hand-wind movement with a swan neck regulator (cool!), a stainless steel case with sapphire crystal and mineral glass display back, a black dial, two sets of hands (black and white) so I could have an option if I didn't like one set, and a brown leather watch strap.

1950 John Deere BN - Narrowing Rear Wheel Width

This tractor's rear wheel width is 74 inches, outside to outside. My little dump trailer is 72 inches in width between the sides. The more astute may see a problem there. I measured the wheel width before I bought the tractor, so I knew what I was getting myself into, although this job ended up being a huge endeavor. As I mentioned in the first blog posting of this tractor, the previous owner graciously offered to deliver the tractor to me, so I didn't have to do this painful job away from home. That would have been horrible, now that I know what it took to get the job done.

This first photo is of the left side. If you look closely at the nuts relative to the round opening, the nuts barely (if at all) have room to rotate, and there's a small lip that makes it so a socket can't get all the way onto the lug nuts. This may be a problem. [I later found out that this small inner lip is actually a register for the center splined hub to fit into - more on that later.]

1950 John Deere BN - Cleaning the Gas Tank, Fixing an Oil Leak, Repairing the Voltage Regulator, Finding and Fixing A Hydraulic Leak, and a New Ammeter

The gas tank on this tractor is filthy with rust and crud. It won't run more than a few minutes before the tank's outlet is silted over with junk, so it's time to take off the tank and do some deep cleaning. It's not as easy as it sounds though. The tank is bolted to the hood as a unit and the steering shaft also goes through the hood so the shaft has to come out. The steering wheel needs to come off to get the shaft out. A woodruff key is in the end of the steering shaft to key the shaft to the steering wheel. The woodruff key was so rusted in the shaft slot that I ended up shearing off the key with a hammer and cold chisel. Normally these woodruff keys slide out of their slots fairly easily.

Changing A Tire The Hard Way (and Replacing the PTO Shaft and Cut-Out Relay, and Fixing the Carburetor) - 1941 Ford 9N

The day I showed up to buy this 9N, the previous owner told me he was filling one of the rear tires with air on the tractor and the rim let go. As in, a section of the rim flange blew out. See it there? Kinda hard to miss. That was back 4-1/2 months ago. I figure it's time to tackle this little problem, as the tire obviously won't hold air the way it is and I can't move the tractor very easily.

When Will The Madness End - Several New Projects: Wisconsin, Briggs & Stratton and Other Engines

I have tractor projects coming out of my ears and what do I do? Buy two new projects (update - there are more, read to the end). Oh boy. At least they're small projects, and they were too cheap to pass up. Ten bucks for two Wisconsin single cylinder engines.

First Time Fiddling With The 1950 John Deere BN - First Issues: Water in Oil and Gas Tank, Corroded Magneto Points, Stuck Throttle Lever, Stuck Choke, Broken Carburetor (and Float Repair), and Stuck Clutch

My newly acquired tractor made it home yesterday afternoon. The person I got it from owns a tractor rental company and he kindly delivered the tractor to me on his mighty-nice roll-back hauler. It was a big rig to fit down my cramped driveway. As you may or may not have noticed, the Massey Harris Pony hasn't been unloaded from my dump trailer yet. I got that tractor a month ago, although Christmas goings-on were in there also.

1957 Greenerd 3 Ton Arbor Press No. 3

When glancing through random online Craigslist/FB Marketplace ads, I occasionally run across something I need. Yes, you read that right, "need." This time probably wasn't one of those times, but this new addition is something I've wanted. It's a Greenerd 3-ton arbor press. What's an arbor press, you say? When these things were invented over 100 years ago, they were used to press arbors into things, like pulleys or whatever. An arbor is just a round rod like an axle or spindle, and it gets pressed into something like a hub or pulley. Thus the name "arbor press." You can probably guess these presses are used for a multitude of jobs besides just arbors.

1950 John Deere BN "High Clearance" and State of the Collection

The tractor situation is pretty normal. A week goes by and Yet Another Tractor (YAT) shows up at my doorstep. Ok so this one isn't exactly here yet but I have paid for it and the place that has it will deliver it in a few days. Incoming is a 1950 John Deere BN. The "N" in BN signifies a narrow front, also called High Clearance because it sits a little higher than a normal John Deere B. JD accomplished that by putting on larger wheels/tires. The regular B had 38 inch wheels in the back and the BN got 42 inch wheels (although 38 inch wheels were an option). The BN also got a single front wheel rather than the normal tricycle front with two close-together wheels.