And life goes on!!

Eyecatcher · Mar 24, 2015

Finally got the old 8n on the road to re-assembly. About half of the radiator shroud was missing, but the rad didn't leak, and the tractor didn't run hot, what little I had ran it, so found a used shroud, gave it and the rad a new black paint job, and re-installed. Fan hit the bottom of the shroud. New mounting pads, shroud like new, what the heck? Soon found that the mounting bracket solder joint had failed next to the lower hose. Rad has a metal tag soldered to the fins, which I assume indicates a new core had been installed at some point in time, but the rest of the rad is a little rough, dents, globs of solder etc. We have a local rad shop that does good work, & I figured it would be better to take it to him than try to fix myself. He agreed with me that it would be better to just re-attach the bracket rather than try to rod it out etc., as old as it is. Said he had to remove the bracket, sandblast the tank, reattach and leak test. Said if he didn't find a lot of leaks, it would run $40 - $50. Called me & told me that the brass lower tank was old, and the metal was pretty brittle. He had remounted the bracket twice, and it didn't leak with the bracket off, but as soon as it was re-attached, small cracks would show up in the tank. Said he thought he finally had it, but advised me that it would probably be ok, with no pressure on it, fill it, run it, and don't replace any water that came out the overflow. Said he would even remove the rubber seal from the rad cap. Guess I'll try it, but think I'd better start looking for a rad. Bottom line is, I invested $50 in a bum radiator. By the time I get this thing back together, it will be the most expensive N in Fla.

Soundguy · Mar 24, 2015

It is meant to be a 4 psi system, not 0 psi.

Get a rad in it. If it fails without you noticing, you have a really neat and expensive paperweight
that used to be an engine...

Eyecatcher · Apr 6, 2015

Finally g0t a gas tank rigged and have been running the N around the farm and fixing all the small things. The radiator doesn't leak! But the manifold and the carb do. I have a large floor mounted belt sander that my son ran the manifold on until he got it pretty close to flat. It was pretty bad, with it bolted up, could insert a .020 feeler gauge under either end, Now about .005 under the front end. Gonna try double gaskets and see what happens.
The carb, however, is a different story. It has a Zenith carb. I assume someone has switched it from a Marvel Schiebler. There are no numbers on the carb. It had a ton of white crystalline material in it, from water I guess. I couldn't get it clean, so soaked it in a mild muriatic acid for a short time, and it cleaned up pretty nice. Cleaned with carb & choke cleaner, and installed a new needle & seat from a kit. It will constantly run gas out the intake unless the engine is running, but of course running very rich. I tore it down again, and it had a lot of real fine grit in the bowl, I assume more of the crystalline stuff that I didn't get out. Soaked it overnight in acetone, blew it out and re-assembled. Same thing. I have no idea what the float setting should be, bit it looks about right, the needle moves freely, and the float is not damaged. Any ideas?

Soundguy · Apr 7, 2015

About .25", with gasket

Eyecatcher · Apr 8, 2015

I'm assuming you mean with the gasket in place, there s/b .25 from gasket surface to bottom of float. I lost the funny little clip that clips the needle to the float. Without that, would that cause the needle to hang up and gas keep pouring out? It seems to work ok holding the top of the carb and working the float by hand, but it sure floods when installed on the tractor.

Soundguy · Apr 8, 2015

make sure the flaots are not hanging up on the sides of the carb.

Eyecatcher · Apr 10, 2015

Had carpel tunnel surgery on my left hand Monday, so I'm typing one handed. Still trying to make a decision on which way to go on the carb. Seems no matter what I do, if I turn the gas on, engine off, In just a couple of minutes, gas running on the ground. I've read several places that one must always shut the gas off when not in use to keep it from filling the engine sump. Is this leak a common thing? Am I expecting too much? I've read that the aftermarket carbs leave a lot to be desired, and have been watching for a good used MS. Now there's a guy on e-bay from Jax that says he rebuilds these for a hobby, and wants $95 + shipping for a rblt TSX 241. That may not be a bad shot. I hate to give up on the zenith, seems like such a simple mechanism, it shouldn't be that hard to fix. The float seems to be ok, doesn't rattle, not heavy and not rubbing as far as I can tell, but I had a small engine mech tell me that sometimes he has to replace the float on a single throat zenith, altho there appears to be nothing wrong! Whatta you think?

Soundguy · Apr 10, 2015

100$ for a rebuilt 241? Sounds good to me.

The float, if intact and adjusted should shut the fuel off unless the needle, seat or seat gasket has issues.

There might be film leakage, but you shut gas off for that. But if you get a trickle at shutdown, something is not correct

NC419N · Apr 13, 2015

I always turn off the fuel on my 9N. Never have trusted the needle to get seated properly rebuilt the carb and sometimes it would seat and then leak other times not so cut off the fuel and not worry

Eyecatcher · Apr 18, 2015

I hope I'm through throwing money at this thing! I bought the rblt MS carb and installed it, along with a double set of manifold gaskets and new brass nuts. It runs great! Haven't tried it under a load yet, but did drive it around in the freshly roto-tilled garden area, and didn't bother it, so I'm back to the body work. As I said before, my son patched up all the sheet metal rust holes in the fenders and hood. I'm amazed at what a job he did. A thin skim of bondo is all it'll take. I did work on the doglegs, they're about ready to paint, but waiting for the carpal tunnel surgery to heal before getting any dirt in the wound. should be hammerin dents this week.