Just because... 1950 8N

Caver Dave

Caver Dave

Just holdin' it down here in BFV
Moderator
Joined
Mar 10, 2005
Location
Hooterville (24171)
You know when you have enough "projects" (including long overdue maintenance of existing vehicles/equipment) to keep you busy until at least the end of this century... and you find something that's not only a want, but a real NEED... and you say to yourself "Self, ain't no way you need another project, so let it pass and work on the backlog!" ???

Yeah, we don't have the slightest grasp of that concept either!

We present the newest addition to the BRF herd! Maybe down a little in the cosmetic department, but at 70 years old, what/who isn't?
In the "plus" department, it's meant to be repaired (versus replaced when broken), so with a little over 1/2 MILLION made, comes with huge cult-like following/support network, all the parts are available VERY AFFORDABLY to the point you could almost build one (aside from engine blocks, but thats what Funk & flathead V8 conversions are for
šŸ˜‡
)!
Plan to get it running reliably (came with 12V conversion/full wiring harness, new plugs, new wires, new carb, and Service/Parts & Assembly manuals), loosen what's stuck/tighten what's loose, change the fluids and PUT IT TO WORK!
Will likely ospho the rust thru (left/front side of hood is the only spot), the SS grill *WILL* get polished, and that'll be the end of any beautification efforts! šŸ¤£
 

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farmboy said:
First thing on your list should be a generator to alternator conversion.
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Yeap, came with a Dennis Carpenter conversion kit... alternator, brackets, belt, 12V coil, and full wiring harness. Was going to get a 12VDC battery Sunday at Rural King, but the interwebs weren't aligned on physical size, so will measure the actual space and go from there.
justjeepin86 said:
At least it seems to have good tires! The ones on my grandpa's super A are junk and I need to replace them.
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Rears are decent, but 2 different brands/tread patterns... left front is decades newer than right front (<severely dryrotted, but held air for for his use?).
My local tire jobber actually has the fronts (4.00 x 19) IN STOCK! šŸ¤©

According to the old 8N curmudgeons, pre-lube before turning it over is a must, though there are likely 100x more that were just cranked until started. Going up tonight to put some "been sitting a long time" lovin' on it...
- Pull plugs and squirt a cup of ATF down the holes (in case the rings are rusted to sleeves)
- Squirt some motor oil down the pressure gauge tube (supposedly runs straight back to the main/rod bearing galleys)
 
justjeepin86 said:
At least it seems to have good tires! The ones on my grandpa's super A are junk and I need to replace them.
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Mine too, my grandpa passed away from Alzheimer's in 2015 and Grandma gave his super A to me. I helped him my whole childhood work on that thing. Before he was diagnosed he was cutting in the woods and dropped the right side tire off in a hole and twisted the block off inbetween the 2 and 3 cylinders. I just purchased a running parts tractor a couple weeks ago and will be swapping the motor over and then planning to repaint and mostly restore like he always wanted to do but never had the money.
 
A group size 35 12v battery well fit in place of the 6v one you took out
and fyi it's easer to pull the distributor out and set the points then leave it mounted and set them
 
Rsnake69 said:
In 1950 ford 8n came out with the side mount distributor, that one is a front mount. probably a 48,49.
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Actually, it is a 1950 (confirmed by serial number) with front distributor, prior to the "mid-year" cutover at serial #263843, when they went to side dizzy... so 20k got the front mount and 80k got the side
 
I have a 1950 8n with a front mount distributor, just like you said itā€™s the first half of 1950, mine was painted at some point but left in the weather, has a fairly new rebuilt engine and I just rebuilt the carb.
 
UncleWillie said:
A buddy of mine builds a lot of parts for www.just8ns.com it is always neat to go by and see what he is building. If you need posts go check them out.
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Just don't be in a hurry. They sold me a part and then told me it was backordered but they would ship next week. 5 weeks later I could no longer get a response by phone or email and filed a claim with PayPal. They magically responded an hour later at 10pm that they were sorry they couldn't get my parts and would issue a refund. YMMV
 
YotaOnRocks said:
Just don't be in a hurry. They sold me a part and then told me it was backordered but they would ship next week. 5 weeks later I could no longer get a response by phone or email and filed a claim with PayPal. They magically responded an hour later at 10pm that they were sorry they couldn't get my parts and would issue a refund. YMMV
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My friend only makes them. The sales are someone else thing. HE makes pretty much all the hard lines and aftermarket alternator mount kits. I know that just8ns building is down in Shelby and is pretty small so I don't know how much keep in stock.
 
Love old Ford tractors, we have a 49 8N we use for light bush hogging and snow moving. Keeping the brakes decent is always a chore with oil leaks. The cheap Ebay electronic distributors are junk, points are easier to keep up than those things failing.

Looking forward to seeing it cleaned up.
 
Spent a few hours Friday afternoon pulling the plugs and giving the bores a liberal dose of ATF and several hours later, was able to turn the rotating assy. by hand!
My BIL came over from Topton, so we spent Friday PM/Saturday AM pulling stuff off... battery, hood, old wiring, remaining 6V components, oil bath filter, etc. (the later took about 1.5 hours in the parts washer to fully de-funk). Then installed the new harnesses, 12v solenoid, 12v coil, cleaned/re-gapped the points and had fire! Then gapped new Autolite 437 plugs, new wires laced and with got it to fire with a couple snorts of starting fluid! Didn't have oil pressure, so stopped... many say to pull the pressure relief plug/spring/plunger to fill the oil pump to prime it...
Had other things on the agenda today, but managed to grab a new Group 35 battery (thanks for the tip @baggednissan ), new battery clamps, and couple things for the lights (who'd have thunk that AdvanceAuto would NOT have a single headlight switch? šŸ¤¬)

Will get back on it as able... was great to hear it purr (minus any bad noises)!
 

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No problem after 16 years in the battery business and growing up on old ford tractors mowing with a woods finish mower mostly you learn a few things about both.
 
Had a few minutes this evening to get back in the shop (wife had to work late), so...

Got the new battery installed, new eyelets crimped onto the existing battery cables, removed the headlights (they were flipped w/ drain holes up šŸ™„), cleaned up the intake pipe (about 50% chrome/50% rusted), mounted the aircleaner and primed the oil pump! Wanted to see if the "new carb" worked (alloy job came with tractor) and got it to run on gas! Ran great, but guess the coolant was low and it got got warm quickly (had been running for 6-7 minutes) and let the steam out. Added 1.5 gallons for the next time (once the hood w/ fuel tank and lines are installed)...
 
My son came up last night, so making good use of his back, we got the hood set back on and the fuel line re-installed...
Decided to roll it outside (still a lot of drips burning off), add a gallon of fresh no-ethynol to the gallon of stale 5 year old fuel (the oldtimers claim it will burn in the 6:1 compression) and see if it'd fire. Took a few tries before the fuel made it to the bowl... but it started!

 
Since we couldn't leave well enough alone, decided to give it a test drive! The PTO spins, the hydraulics work (even in <40* weather), the brakes did well, didn't overheat despite what I believe is the original radiator & 0# cap... and I was grinning the entire time!

Still have some "cleanup", more parts to reinstall, and full fluid changes to go before starts getting the beatdown!

 
Might as well go ahead and put a PTO seal in it if you plan to use it. You just know it's going to leak!
 
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