Doris the Dexta renovation

[brewdexta]

I've got some rear wings (they only have rear wings ) from Agriline that I bought about 8 or 10 years ago

They fit well enough and are well made but the shape is very wrong, especially when sat next to another dexta, really obvious. But they will keep the mud off your pants, it depends how original you want it. I've only trial fitted them to make sure they fit before disassembling the tractor and I found a pair of originals in not too bad nick last year so the repos they will be going on ebay.

I also bought a pair of repo footplates at the same time, and they aren't too bad, the ones on the tractor had disintegrated almost completely but the bits that were left weren't too dissimilar so I may have got lucky.

 

[Rig Pig]

Strange that they have gone to the effort of having reproduction bits made and failed so badly in the fit.

 

[brewdexta]

if its just a working tractor you want they work and fit well mechanically, but if you want it somewhere near original then they aren't much use. It is surprising seeing as the far east are pretty good at copying stuff.

Its usually the bracing that rusts through on the dexta wings, and a bit at the bottom with the all important "enfo" embossing. I was going to drill out the spot welds on the bracing bits on the repos and transfer them to the old wings, or at least see if it was feasible. Then a pair of original came up on ebay that weren't to bad so I canned the idea.

 

[brewdexta]

I left the hydraulic top box alone this weekend and concentrated on fixing the hydraulics of a second hand pallet truck that I need to move some machinery around. This went a lot better than the Dexta hydraulics and I had time to do dismantle the drag links so they can be shot blasted. Not very interesting however I wouldn't mind finding some new rubber boots for the new ball joints.

Pretty easy for a change, the fact the Dexta was throwing so much oil around meant that some bits are easier to dismantle than others. Only minor issue was the clamp on the left, somebody has tried to tighten it even though the clamp has had some trauma before and can't be closed any more. The threads are stripped and the nut won't come off. You can see an undamaged one on t'right.

quick meeting with a 1mm slitting disk saw to that, I shall fashion a new bolt out of a coach bolt as they have a square shank.

I probably have about another 4 or 6 weeks of occasional evenings and weekends work to get ready for the blaster.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Paul.]

I don't now how big those ball joints are, but I have bought a few boots from this seller,
http://www.balljointboots.co.uk/

 

[brewdexta]

Thanks for the link Paul, looks good to me.

 

[brewdexta]

Eventually got back on this, engine stripped ready for new liners. Crank may be OK with just new shells, I'll have it checked before deciding. I'm still doing lots of building work in my spare time but luckily a friend looked at the dexta and declared he was bored watching telly and wanted to give me a hand, worked well, he finished stripping it in a couple of hours while I moved a few packs of concrete blocks around the back of the house.

The head has already been overhauled, new valves springs etc and little bit of a skim.

new oil pump on order and I'll book it in to have the liners pushed in and honed and possibly the crank ground next week.

Cheers
Andy

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Good to have a pal like that.

 

[brewdexta]

It is, he's a mechanic by trade which helps

I wanted to do it all by myself but I'm beginning to realise it would never get done with two young daughters, an ever growing list of DIY and working away a two or three days a week. The last engine I overhauled was when I put an 1100 A series engine into my Mini Clubman which was 35 years ago so probably good he's around.

 

[brewdexta]

I was tidying the workshop yesterday and came across 5 tins of Fordson Empire Blue, all different manufacturers (supposedly) but definitely different batches. The reason was that many moons ago I was trying to match the paint with the tractor.

I found a bit of unmarked paint under the bonnet and cut it back to rmove the grime then used it to try and match the paint. I tried Sparex and a couple of others, some were darker, lighter or greener than the original.

I gave up a decided to get it mixed, until 10 years later I come across them again and decided to let my inner Yorkshireman and common sense speak.

Fordson had different pain suppliers and batches so there wasn't a very rigid Empire Blue tint, more a range. Given that most of the paint was the same make (Withams) with different paper labels put on by different resellers, I dumped all 5 tins into a clean 5 litre bucket with an airtight lid and give it all a good mix.

It's synthetic paint and hadn't seperated out or had a skin on it and mixed well. Ive tried a bit out on a bit of scrap metal and if it dries ok I will use it on the tractor.

I have the block to paint, most restorations mirror what the tractor was like when it left the factory, i.e. everything including cables and rubber covered in empire blue. Well the tractor is ovet 50 and it hasn't just come out of Dagenham so it will be painted accordingly with new components and cabling left as they are.

Cheers
Andy

 

[brewdexta]

The empire blue turned out OK, after mixing the various tins to get 5 litres I tested a bit and it dried fine so I have just given the block a coat. On the castings I'm etch priming then top coat. Although I love Langy's engine blocks, they really suit a 'rod, it would look wrong on an old tractor if I ground down the casting imperfections and gave it two costs of epoxy then top coat so it was all smooth, you need to see those imperfections on an old piece of industrial machinery.

On the tin work it will be 2 coats of epoxy then topcoat.

cheers
Andy

 

[arther dailey]

I am with you on that, go to a classic tractor show and there is nothing worse than an otherwise excellent resto done on a tractor to look closer and the paint is as thick as custard, hex bolt heads are virtually round because of it, looks goddam awfull, each to his own obviously,but doesnt do it for me.Arther

 

[brewdexta]

I've been putting this job off for ages, but I need to keep the momentum going so did a bit of this yesterday. Its cleaning up the main Chassis. I could take it to bits and get each part blasted but the main lump will still be big so decided to stop taking it apart at this point and start reassembly as I can get to all the bits I need without taking the rest apart. There are couple of things still to take off like gear levers but I will leave the main castings alone.

Here's the lump before I start to clean it up.

And had a test with a twist knot wire wheel, it turned out really good, it doesn't take the character off the casting but removes paint and rust. The only trouble is its filled the workshop up with dust very quickly so I may drop the lump into the barn below to finish it.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Welderpaul]

I was tidying the workshop yesterday and came across 5 tins of Fordson Empire Blue, all different manufacturers (supposedly) but definitely different batches. The reason was that many moons ago I was trying to match the paint with the tractor.

I found a bit of unmarked paint under the bonnet and cut it back to rmove the grime then used it to try and match the paint. I tried Sparex and a couple of others, some were darker, lighter or greener than the original.

I gave up a decided to get it mixed, until 10 years later I come across them again and decided to let my inner Yorkshireman and common sense speak.

Fordson had different pain suppliers and batches so there wasn't a very rigid Empire Blue tint, more a range. Given that most of the paint was the same make (Withams) with different paper labels put on by different resellers, I dumped all 5 tins into a clean 5 litre bucket with an airtight lid and give it all a good mix.

It's synthetic paint and hadn't seperated out or had a skin on it and mixed well. Ive tried a bit out on a bit of scrap metal and if it dries ok I will use it on the tractor.

I have the block to paint, most restorations mirror what the tractor was like when it left the factory, i.e. everything including cables and rubber covered in empire blue. Well the tractor is ovet 50 and it hasn't just come out of Dagenham so it will be painted accordingly with new components and cabling left as they are.

Cheers
Andy

I'm at the painting stage too..... shortly.

Did you paint the engine block with a brush/roller or spray it? The castings are not the smoothest of finish so i'm planning to paint these bits with a foam roller and send the tin work off to someone who can spray properly. I use/used a twist knot brush in a grinder and other than a bit of fiddling to get in nooks and crannies it's given a really good prep.
I don't think Ford were too fussy about finish and not averse to the odd paint run here and there - at the end of the day they were working machines not show pieces.

I don't have much left to clean now, the engine is back together and I am slowly rebuilding it. I'm basically sorting out each bit, putting it back together and then will be taking a lot of it apart for painting, basically to avoid damaging the paint. It's surprising how much fitting back together is needed after so many years of rust, neglect and 'repairs'

 

[brewdexta]

I don't think I'm catching you up, I've got a huge pile of stuff to repair and paint.

I brushed the block, 2 topcoats, I haven't bothered to etch prime the block. I didn't take it all the way back to metal apart from the odd place. I removed the factory installed paint runs

I painted it on a cool day, if it was any warmer I would add a touch of Owatrol Oil to the paint to give a longer wet edge. I will spray most of the rest, with the odd exception and where it has gone back to metal completely I'll etch prime.

 

[Welderpaul]

I only do a few days every Christmas holidays so we might finish at the same time
I don't know if you have taken them off but it might be worth checking inside the axle trumpets - the rear wheels were really difficult to turn, harder than they should have been, even allowing for the diff etc - they were full of broken down oil, metal filings, old birds nests etc
The rest of the oil in it wasn't in much better shape...more water than oil - took ages to get all the dregs out.
Even though I've changed all the oil seals etc, the PTO is leaking oil, even with no oil in the casting - i'm not sure how that works but something else to sort.

 

[brewdexta]

I emptied the oil in the back axle, it had quite a lot of gunk in it but doesn't sound as bad as yours. The oil didn't need the drain plug to escape, some numpty had put a longer bolt in the PTO and cracked through into the axle casing so as soon as I took that bolt out I was suddenly wearing a couple of pints of ancient oil. I gave the insides of the back axle a good clean out and renewed the PTO oil seal but the PTO shaft was a bit pitted so suspect it may weep a bit.

Here's the inside showing where the bolt cracked the inside of the axle casing

and here's the recovered bits. It was obvious that this had happened and the owner was conscious of it as he had wrapped horse hair around the bolt in an effort to seal it.

 

[blenkie1]

Are you planning on making everything original? Just wondering if you would keep the Dynamo or have a modern alternator. We have a dexta, it's not a restoration project or anything just a working tractor but was wanting to change the charging method as it's always flat. Is fitting an alternator a simple job?

 

[brewdexta]

I believe it is easyish to fit an alternator however I'm going to keep the dynamo and fit a socket for a trickle charger, irrespective of whether you have an alternator or dynamo, if you leave the battery a long time between charging they soon lose their ability to keep a charge. Just remember to unplug the charger before you drive off

 

[brewdexta]

I have a couple of weeks before the engine gets reassembled so time to clean the rest of the engine bits up and paint them. I started sand blasting components late last week, just looking at the inlet manifold at the moment. Its an aluminium casting and has a glow plug in it and a tap to inject diesel for cold starting once the glow plug is warm. When I got the tractor, the glow plug didn't work on the button, mainly due to the loom being one lump of melted plastic.

I will give a test tomorrow however in the mean time I was hoping to get it out of the inlet manifold to make blasting easier. Unfortunately its stuck and the manifold is quite delicate so I've left soaking it in home made penetrating fluid, the half ATF half acetone mixture that I've heard is better than commercial products. I guess the acetone will evaporate away so I've given it 3 squirts this evening with half an hour in between then a good soaking before leaving it overnight.

If the glow plug works and its still stuck I'll mask it up well and sand blast the manifold with it in situ. If its FUBAR then I'll need to get it out some way or the other, I'm not sure about using much heat on ali, maybe a little from a propane torch.

I've noticed that the acetone separates out and floats on top of the ATF so I have put it in translucent bottles to remind me to give it a good shake before use. They are HDPE which is acetone resistant. I bought the cheapest litre bottle of ATF I could find, I presume its all much of a muchness when being used to free up stubborn threads?

Cheers
Andy