John's Old Iron.com
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1978 2600 FORD PART 2
I bought this tractor through a trusted 3rd party. The one thing I was told was that the steering shaft leaked oil. During my eval time that never happened. One morning in the shop in the middle of winter I started the tractor and it started leaking oil out of the bottom of the steering shaft. The thermometer in the shop read -7. It was time to remove the hood.
The steering shaft is seen here following removal of the cowl, steering whee,l and throttle shaft
For a complete document on replacing the seal in the steering column please see the Tips and Tricks link. The steering shaft seal area was quite bad on this tractor and a speedy sleeve was used.
In addition to the steering shaft seal failing, the power steering pump was leaking just as bad. My guess is that there was water in the system and it had froze causing the seals to fail.
For a complete document on replacing the seals in the power steering pump please see the Tips and Tricks link.
It's now January and the hood is off, might as well get on with painting the top half of the tractor and addressing its many electrical problems. The tractor was not charging, the cluster gauge did not work, the harness had been damaged and patched, and the lights were bad. I'm not a fan of manufacturer specific parts so I decided to build a new dash, rewire the tractor, and convert it to a Deco alternator. The cluster gauge gets replaced with standard automotive gauges. The Ford alternator is 200.00 which does not include the voltage regulator. Rebuilt Delcos are 35.00 from O"Reilly's with a warranty. The cluster gauge is over 150.00 so I felt I had some money to work with.
The dash was the first to be addressed. I cut out a piece of steel the same size as the dash cutout. I dilled a few holes around at the seam it and bolted it in with 8/32 bolts and nuts. The patch was welded in with the mig, and the bolts later removed and filled.
Next, wiring access has to be from the top, a cutout was made to provide wiring access to the gauges. I installed an oil pressure gauge, voltmeter, temp gauge, gas gauge, and an hour meter all of which are from Auto Meter. I could not locate a tach that would look like the rest of the gauges, work on a 3 cylinder motor, and not be a 10,000 rpm gauge so I dropped the tach.
A new harness was built, the original resistor wire was removed and a Napa 12 volt coil (no resistor req'd) was used. The schematic shows a resistor which I looked all over for, I later found it, its resistor wire. Fuses were added for the output of the alternator and another for the dash supply (ignition circuit) all wiring was soldered and heat shrunk
A GM alternator was fitted to the tractor. Its wired similar to an 8n with diode hookup for the excite circuit. The alternator charges at idle
Here's the new dash after painting. A light was added for the ignition circuit so I know when the key is on.
New dash and wiring installed.
The rear hazard light brackets were sandblasted and rebuilt. The fender gaskets were made from truck mudflaps. The Ford yellow lights are quite expensive, I used common replacements from the ag store as the originals were beyond repair.
With the electrical done it was time to paint the top half of the tractor. The lower portion was painted in the preceding fall. It's now February and all work has to be done indoors, the wood pile has taken a large hit.
From here its standard take it apart, clean, and paint procedures. Everything that would come off was removed, the rest was cleaned in place.
The previously painted parts were covered as was everything in the shop during painting. The PPG Omni really sticks to everything.
Once the paint cured it was time to re-assemble the tractor. The 2600 is coming together.
The new dash is installed and wired.
The tractor is nearing completion. All that remains are decals and rebuilding the adjustable seat.
The last parts were painted and installed.
I like 2n toolboxes. They are just right for pins and clips.
Over the winter the tractor was used for snow removal. As built, it was largely useless in the snow. I ran chains for a while they beat you to to death. The hunt was on for wheel weight. Over the summer a set of weights were purchased on eBay located in Ohio. I was able to get them here using uship Uship is like eBay except you create adds advertising the need to have stuff moved, and companies bid on the job. For 150.00 I had the weights delivered to my door outside Andalusia, IL.
While not pretty the sandblaster does not care. I was missing a few segments but located more at a neighbors house. I now have spares. These are the mounting plates.
Here the threads get chased on the replacement lug nuts.
Here the cleaned and painted lug nuts have been installed. The weight mounting plate goes on next.
The weights were all sandblasted and painted with Rust Oleum and hardener. This is a good place to use up some old paint under the finish coat.
And the final install looks like this. Since adding the weights I've not needed chains but have kept them just in case.
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The steering shaft is seen here following removal of the cowl, steering whee,l and throttle shaft
For a complete document on replacing the seal in the steering column please see the Tips and Tricks link. The steering shaft seal area was quite bad on this tractor and a speedy sleeve was used.
In addition to the steering shaft seal failing, the power steering pump was leaking just as bad. My guess is that there was water in the system and it had froze causing the seals to fail.
For a complete document on replacing the seals in the power steering pump please see the Tips and Tricks link.
It's now January and the hood is off, might as well get on with painting the top half of the tractor and addressing its many electrical problems. The tractor was not charging, the cluster gauge did not work, the harness had been damaged and patched, and the lights were bad. I'm not a fan of manufacturer specific parts so I decided to build a new dash, rewire the tractor, and convert it to a Deco alternator. The cluster gauge gets replaced with standard automotive gauges. The Ford alternator is 200.00 which does not include the voltage regulator. Rebuilt Delcos are 35.00 from O"Reilly's with a warranty. The cluster gauge is over 150.00 so I felt I had some money to work with.
The dash was the first to be addressed. I cut out a piece of steel the same size as the dash cutout. I dilled a few holes around at the seam it and bolted it in with 8/32 bolts and nuts. The patch was welded in with the mig, and the bolts later removed and filled.
Next, wiring access has to be from the top, a cutout was made to provide wiring access to the gauges. I installed an oil pressure gauge, voltmeter, temp gauge, gas gauge, and an hour meter all of which are from Auto Meter. I could not locate a tach that would look like the rest of the gauges, work on a 3 cylinder motor, and not be a 10,000 rpm gauge so I dropped the tach.
A new harness was built, the original resistor wire was removed and a Napa 12 volt coil (no resistor req'd) was used. The schematic shows a resistor which I looked all over for, I later found it, its resistor wire. Fuses were added for the output of the alternator and another for the dash supply (ignition circuit) all wiring was soldered and heat shrunk
A GM alternator was fitted to the tractor. Its wired similar to an 8n with diode hookup for the excite circuit. The alternator charges at idle
Here's the new dash after painting. A light was added for the ignition circuit so I know when the key is on.
New dash and wiring installed.
The rear hazard light brackets were sandblasted and rebuilt. The fender gaskets were made from truck mudflaps. The Ford yellow lights are quite expensive, I used common replacements from the ag store as the originals were beyond repair.
With the electrical done it was time to paint the top half of the tractor. The lower portion was painted in the preceding fall. It's now February and all work has to be done indoors, the wood pile has taken a large hit.
From here its standard take it apart, clean, and paint procedures. Everything that would come off was removed, the rest was cleaned in place.
The previously painted parts were covered as was everything in the shop during painting. The PPG Omni really sticks to everything.
Once the paint cured it was time to re-assemble the tractor. The 2600 is coming together.
The new dash is installed and wired.
The tractor is nearing completion. All that remains are decals and rebuilding the adjustable seat.
The last parts were painted and installed.
I like 2n toolboxes. They are just right for pins and clips.
Over the winter the tractor was used for snow removal. As built, it was largely useless in the snow. I ran chains for a while they beat you to to death. The hunt was on for wheel weight. Over the summer a set of weights were purchased on eBay located in Ohio. I was able to get them here using uship Uship is like eBay except you create adds advertising the need to have stuff moved, and companies bid on the job. For 150.00 I had the weights delivered to my door outside Andalusia, IL.
While not pretty the sandblaster does not care. I was missing a few segments but located more at a neighbors house. I now have spares. These are the mounting plates.
Here the threads get chased on the replacement lug nuts.
Here the cleaned and painted lug nuts have been installed. The weight mounting plate goes on next.
The weights were all sandblasted and painted with Rust Oleum and hardener. This is a good place to use up some old paint under the finish coat.
And the final install looks like this. Since adding the weights I've not needed chains but have kept them just in case.
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