8n Ford Or.. A Fool And His Money

You cannot really check the compression on an engine that has not been run in years. It will not have oil in the rings and on the cylinders, and may have some rust on the bores. You will not learn much. As John says above, turn it over with the spark plugs out and test for compression with your thumb, turning the engine over by hand, If it pushes air past your thumb on all cylinders then it has enough to start the engine. If the engine truly turns over freely, squirt some oil in the cylinders, change the oil in the crankcase, drain any fuel from the tank and lines and clean them if they do not flow freely, fix your ignition problems, and start it up and find out what you have there...
 
No No no parting out, these are desirable tractors Dennis Carpenter has everything you need 1939-1952.
Squirt oil down there if your thumb pops >good enough. Also they do sell 6vt pos ground alternators for
these. Me too, my generator took a dump so I'm using 8vt battery.
Also these engines are half a V8 so they run smooth and silent as a cat.
Or get a head gasket from Napa check things out, wouldn't doubt some sticky valves too.
sam
 
If it sat for 10 years I'd mix up a batch of 50/50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone and pour some down the plug holes, Let it sit for a day then turn it a 1/2 turn and repeat for a few days. The rings will probably be stuck and the valve guides as well. Just went through this with a little Kubota diesel that had no compression after sitting 20 years. It runs like a top now. Not sure whats in the atf but it beats oil hands down for softening carbon deposits. Makes the best penetrating oil I've ever used as well.

Greg
 
i sure do wish i could tell you guys that it wont end up parted out and i'll take the time to fix the old girl up .
but i cant . to put it in quite simple terms .. i dont have any real need for a tractor and living on a fixed income i have other needs and wants for my fun money .

now with that out of the way lets not get the idea that i wont give an honest effort to save it .... there are two factors working in its favor .. the motor is free
and i am a very persistent cheapskate with a plan .

i notice i am not the only fan of atf and acetone for a penetrating oil ... gosh its wonderful stuff and dirt cheap .

i may not have mentioned it but before i rolled the engine over the first time i pulled the plugs and gave each cylinder a healthy dose . i know some might not agree with checking compression on a engine that has sat for so long . but the thumb over the hole method doesnt tell a person much other then its moving air . but a compression tester with a few squirts of heavy oil gives a lot more info .
if it will show a minimum of 50-60 psi to support combustion i'm willing to take a gamble and throw a few bucks at it with a new coil points plugs and wires .

if it doesnt show a 50-60 psi minimum i'll pull the head off and give it a look over ... but at that point it isnt likely to bode well for the old girl .

my inner cheap skate has a budget in mind of $500 i gave $300 for the tractor and spent $7.67 in gas getting it home .
so once my funds allow it it has $192.33 left in the kitty .... i think i can do it and still have enough left for a pizza or two .
 
At $300 you stole it. Before you replace any electrical parts clean them up and inspect them. If the wires aren't cracked they are probably ok for now . You can probably clean and regap the plugs. Before you replace the points see if you can clean them up with a bit of sandpaper and set the gap. If it runs at all it's worth at least $1000. If you place an ad saying you are parting it out people will assume that it is seized up or has a broken piston or something.

If it gets spark, air, gas, and enough compression to move your thumb it will run. You may not need to spend any more money at all to get it going.

You'll want to clean out the air filter. It's the oil bath type.

[Edit] Pay some attention to the carb. It may be plugged up due to the old gas having been allowed to dry up in it.
 
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At $300 you stole it. Before you replace any electrical parts clean them up and inspect them. If the wires aren't cracked they are probably ok for now . You can probably clean and regap the plugs. Before you replace the points see if you can clean them up with a bit of sandpaper and set the gap. If it runs at all it's worth at least $1000. If you place an ad saying you are parting it out people will assume that it is seized up or has a broken piston or something.

If it gets spark, air, gas, and enough compression to move your thumb it will run. You may not need to spend any more money at all to get it going.

You'll want to clean out the air filter. It's the oil bath type.
[Edit] Pay some attention to the carb. It may be plugged up due to the old gas having been allowed to dry up in it.
 
I'm not to concerned about the carb... it looks a lot like a marvel carb to me . If so they are about as simple as a carb can be .
I'm sure it's full of varnish from the old gas shouldn't be a big deal I hope .

I did learn something todAy ... 8n's have 4 speed transmissions. Go figure I didn't think there was much differance between the 9n and 8n except the brakes and a couple horsepower .
 
I was going to say the carb as well. If just trying to get it to fire and start then try a shot of starting fluid. The if it fires off start working on the fuel stuff, If not mistaken that had a old manual pump on it. Be careful as the diaphragm may have cracked etc which will et gas into the engine. Also will not push the gas to the carb. (don't ask how I know about such things).
 
well guys it isnt looking good ... i knew the rear wheels needed quite a bit of work . but they might just have met their end .
i pulled the visably worse of the two off and gave it a few pokes with a screw driver .
its not good .... itll need at least two to three more inches cut out to find good metal . if i can find another 28 inch rim to cut sections out of it might be do able
but new rims arent in the budget .... donations anyone ?

20160530_180514.jpg
 
I was going to say the carb as well. If just trying to get it to fire and start then try a shot of starting fluid. The if it fires off start working on the fuel stuff, If not mistaken that had a old manual pump on it. Be careful as the diaphragm may have cracked etc which will et gas into the engine. Also will not push the gas to the carb. (don't ask how I know about such things).
Good point about the starting fluid. The 8N has no fuel pump, though. Just gravity. The screen in the settling bowl could be clogged, and of course make sure the valve is open. Simplest test of all that is to unscrew the drain plug on the bottom of the carb and see if gas runs out.
 
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