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1950 A-C WD Resurection


85_Ranger4x4

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I have a WD-45, needs some kinda major work (final drive seal, clutch and shift tower rebuilt) but the problem is I am always using the darn thing and its problems so far are pretty easy to live with. Just keep an eye on the final drive when I plow (it is down in the furrow so it leaks then, take it easy when shifting, be absolutely positive the shifter is dead straight up and down going into third so you don't lock it into first and third at the same time)

I had a "come and get it or I am going to junk it" offer on a '50 WD. Engine is turns all the way over, one tire on each end holds air, fairly straight tin, has a Char-Lynn torque generator on the steering but no pump or brackets. Both rear tires have awesome tread with no real checkering, the one has cracks from sitting flat for years, I hope to save it. Its rim is shot from having fluid in it (for weight) which is why it went down but I have another rim. Both fronts are same as shot. Oil is high but clean... been sitting for 30 years so hopefully it is condensation. It is supposed to have a WD-45 crankshaft (1/2" more stroke) and overbore pistons (1/8" over with a "Power-Crater" design) Trans shifts beautiful. Needs rewired but it is simple, only three wires go to the engine. It already has a 12v Motorola alternator on it. My biggest concerns are the painted over oil filter (when was the last time it was changed before it was parked?) and something is stuck in or on the hydraulic pump, the lever doesn't want to move. I figure if nothing else this thing has several not cheap parts for my two other A-C's... but it was also a member of my great grandfather's fleet a long with my WD-45.

As I started on it to get it ready to get home so I can really get moving on it. It had a bad list to starboard and was down by the stern:



Need to work some bugs out of the ignition (just blew them out, nothing was below the dust cap, set of points, maybe a cap and rotor and it should be good to go):



Char-Lynn PS torque generator. Will probably pull it off and keep for parts for the '45.



I see no signs of it every having a PS pump or reservoir which makes question how good the steering unit is considering the hoses are not capped.



Got another front tire on it that holds air. I blew one out of my '45 a few years ago and borrowed this one off of it to finish the season.



I pulled it ahead and tried to jack up the rear, it didn't work from here as I was jacking up the whole side of the tractor. Ended up going off the hitch. The wheels are set clear in so I can't jack on the axle like I have with my '45.



I accumulated a set of tires/wheels off an old combine in my tractor pulling days, will work fine for this until I decide if it is worth putting a tube and a tire (maybe) on. It makes it look like a tractor rather than an abandoned hulk. Kinda shocked how decent the paint looks, after 15 years in that spot sitting in a pile of dead weeds with lichen growing on the out side away from the fence it looks a lot better moved out.



I need to measure it and see if it will still go on a trailer if I go ahead and put the other rear tire on so it actually sits level.

The carb is off and apart, both the throttle and choke shafts were stuck but they have since been freed up. Hopefully a tune up, a battery (robbed from another tractor) oil change and a small fuel tank will get it running so I will know what I have. Then flush the tank, swap the steering shaft, rewire, tires and add a snap coupler hitch and it should be able to intererchange with the '45 in the field. It is going to be sweet to have one I can leave a drawbar and 3 point hitch on (for the hoist and snow blade) and one set up with Snap-Coupler (plow, disk, rotary hoe, cultivator, subsoiler) so I don't have to keep switching one back and forth.
 
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85_Ranger4x4

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Went and measured it Saturday, it was sitting at 76.5" wide, no way it would go between 79" trailer fenders with the other combine tire on it. So while it was cool I ran up town and got a set of plugs and oil filter for it.

Kinda cool, this has been on there awhile:



They put a lot more effort into it than Wix does (BTW a modern A-C filter looks identical to the wix but has 2x the price)



Filter base is nice and clean though:



Plugs and filter are changed:



Plugs are a little crusty from sitting, look ok otherwise though:



Getting ready to push it on with dad's 4020:



Pausing mid push to remove the ramps so we can get it farther up the trailer:



Bathtime!



And finally home:

 

PlumCrazy

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Sub'd.

We have close to 20 of these tractors at the farm in various stages. WCs, WDs, and a few 45s.

Let me know if you end up needing parts, we have accumulated a few extra things over the years.lol

If you ever feel like parting ways with that PS setup...give me a shout.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Sub'd.

We have close to 20 of these tractors at the farm in various stages. WCs, WDs, and a few 45s.

Let me know if you end up needing parts, we have accumulated a few extra things over the years.lol

If you ever feel like parting ways with that PS setup...give me a shout.
Thanks, I will keep you in mind on the PS unit but for as much as I like the one on my WD-45 and for as much as I miss it running dad's WD I doubt I will let it go too far. :D

Hopefully it won't need too much, I notice the front of the hood has no bolts so maybe after it was parked someone robbed the pump setup.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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I got the second combine tire on last night so it looks a lot better. It is semi-comical that both the wheels on the right are orange (rear is rusty) and and both wheels on right are white (was a IH combine and front must be a later replacement)

Dad's WD is still at my place from filling in drowned corn with his little homemade 3 point planter, since it so rare for the three of them to be in one place anymore I thought it was a good chance for a family picture. These three WD's comprise my great-grandfather's fleet in its prime. My great uncle bought a WC which impressed his dad enough to sway him from JD and he bought the WD-45 new. Then he picked up the WD's used sometime after. The C I got in 7th grade from one of my parent's neighbors and hauled home in three pickup loads to put back together.

Left to right is: 1953 WD-45 (mine), 1950 WD (mine), 1950 WD (dad's (30k newer than mine)), and 1947 C (mine)



 
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We just drug home a 1941 C not long ago, its our first non WC based Allis. Original plan was to flop the carrier in the rear end to run backwards and attach a forklift mast to it, but....its in too good of shape. Now we are thinking of just restoring it back to original. It came home in boxes.lol Previous owner dismantled it and sandblasted almost everything, but never finished.

Ill see if I can dig up pictures of some of ours. All are on the road to restoration, but none have seen paint yet. My 45 and two of Dad's WDs are ready for paint though.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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I don't know what the guy's plan on my C, he had it pretty well torn down and had truck tires/wheels on the rear. Head was off the engine but the shortblock was intact with minimal wear on an engine stand. I remember we got it all back together and had had a funky looking bracket left over, could not come with any place it could possibly go. :icon_confused: This was in 97/98 before we had internet. Started scouring books (most of ours at the time showed the wrong side) and it turned out to be the brace for the steering gearbox.

I would like to get the '45 shipshape and then fix any/all leaks on the WD and paint it too. I don't know if I would call it "restored" but it would be hard to go all out making it perfect and still use it. I like tractor shows and all but it is a lot more fun for me to take them to the field (all 6 acres of it) and use them. Like that cultivator on the C, I would be crying wrestling that rockshaft on if I had a bodyshop quality paintjob on the rear fenders and backrest supports. It was a riot cultivating corn though. :icon_thumby:
 

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We aren't scared to to scratch them up either. Lol

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85_Ranger4x4

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Been attacking the WD in my free time. Latched onto it with the B and got it moved out of the road.

Couldn't wait to get this morphadite sickle mower bracket ripped off.



Done!



I need to get pins to hook the cylinders back up to the rockshaft. I see no reason why this bracket utilized the limp lift arms. Granted the cylinders have to deadhead before the valve will switch to use the outlet (I suppose the sickle mower had a cylinder on it) and leaving the cylinders on the arm would have splattered the bracket. And you can see I have a snap coupler bell on the platform, I have the original welded claws from my WD-45 (dad upgraded it to D-17 ones) so I just need the lever to make that work.

The oil pan drain plug was stuck, and some ninny used blue silicone on both sides of the pan gasket so it was halfway pushed out. Removed the front engine support and dropped the pan. Breaking the silicone to get the pan off was a pretty good fight. Nice and clean inside though, not much "gunky buildup" anywhere.









I need to get a tape and measure the crank to see exactly what I have for stroke. It has aluminum pistons but going by the ruler on my leatherman is tough to get 4.5". Crank is full of numbers, I need better pics and to research it.

Next I pulled the hood and fuel tank off. Ripped the sediment bowl housing off the tank and started flushing it with water since it was full of dirt. I set it on the dog tie out so the ground wouldn't plug the hole... and the tie out punched through the tank. There are at least three pinholes elsewhere... so I need a tank. I think dad has one but I need to see if it is much better. We have a small nurse tank to test run it so no big deal.



Fuel tank support was full of dirt and walnuts so I pulled it off and washed it out while I was there.





Cleaned up the throttle pivot and buttered it up with never seize so it moves nice and smooth now.



And then the battery box... the battery that was in it fell apart and took its toll. I got a new one for my WD-45 a few years ago and hung on the old one just in case. It just has a hole in the side, this one one whole end is loose and it has a hole so I ripped it off. Will also make rewiring easier to have wide open access to the backside of the dash with no battery box in the way.



The cable that went to the starter was shot, bare wire and the end was so rotten the bolt ripped out the ends when I loosened it to get the battery out. I was rooting around my garage trying to find something else and stumbled apoun a cable the same length. Needs a new bolt but it will work for awhile. Sometimes it is nice buying acreages with sheds fully stocked with sketchy used parts. :yahoo:



Pulled the valve cover off, very clean. No gunk at all to speak of. Turned the engine over slowly and all the valves moved so that is a plus.



Motorola alternator was stuck, I pulled it off. Just because I have it and I know it is fairly new I am going to try to put the alternator on off of my 2.8 (internally regulated like the Motorola)

Roughly as it sits now, you can see it had a WD-45 air filter. I found a WD one in my parts stash so I don't have to have one hose crammed into another hose to fit the WD carb.



 
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85_Ranger4x4

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Did some digging in my parts stash:



Difference in air filters:



Radiator is still holding water. Hoses are seeping but to test run I won't care.



Oil pan is clean and ready for install. A little heat and the plug came around.



Alternator is going to take a little finesse.



Bigger than the Motorola



Hard to be real scientific with a tape measure but they are bigger than 4"... so it is overbore. :yahoo:



4.5" crankshaft too, we have a punched out 226 here. :icon_hornsup:

 
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Got one of the 45's out last night and drug our "new" toy (AC 303) through the field for 4th cutting....even had an AC gear under the wagon.


 

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That is pretty cool, A-C square balers are not that common around here. Everybody seemed to have a good little round baler and another one or two stashed somewhere for parts though.

Dad has a round baler, someday I want to get it going.

The head is off the WD, I have pics but not on my PC. Valve seats were full of trash, intake guides didn't look so hot. Valves cleaned up nicely. Need to get the head cleaned so I can get the guides put in. 4.125" bores have very little wear.
 
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That is pretty cool, A-C square balers are not that common around here. Everybody seemed to have a good little round baler and another one or two stashed somewhere for parts though.

Dad has a round baler, someday I want to get it going.

The head is off the WD, I have pics but not on my PC. Valve seats were full of trash, intake guides didn't look so hot. Valves cleaned up nicely. Need to get the head cleaned so I can get the guides put in. 4.125" bores have very little wear.
We have a few Roto Balers too. I might start a general AC thread to cover all the AC junk myself and other members might have.lol. I bought an early 49 WD a few weeks ago, then Dad picked up a Series I D17 last week.

I have been updating my Ranger thread with Allis posts...at least people know what I'm working on when I say no Ranger progress. Lol


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Lots to catch up on.

Power steering delete kit being test fit before paint.



Difference between a WD and a WD-45 carburetor.



Had the rebuilt carb looking all snazzy with a new hose and the correct air filter.



Fill with oil. Dang, we struck oil. The tappet cover plate on the side of the engine is leaking profusely :sad:



It was at this point I first tried to start it, the starter was really draggy so it came apart was cleaned and lubed and put back on. Then with decent cranking speed it would kinda halfheartedly try to hit. So we pulled the manifold off.

That could be problematic:



And that won't help either:



We messed around and compression was still pretty chincy on three. Vacuumed it out and pulled it around with another tractor to try to blow any debris out of the valves to no avail. Time to go deeper. :annoyed:



Ew.





It was trying to cut through the scum.



The heads look like some startled cartoon robot face.









Three intake guides were cracked, all four and been knurled which dad isn't a fan of, so we put in new intake guides. Exhaust looked fine.



So I got to learn how to run dad's valve grinder. He had a slow Saturday and touched up the seats and adjusted them so the valves contacted them correctly when I wasn't there.



It goes under the knife while the '45 watches the door.



Cleaning, cleaning...



Head is ready to go.



New headgasket:



We now have a capitated WD! :yahoo:



Went a head and pulled the oil filter/base and dizzy drive off so I could get that plate off and change the gasket in that. Made it nice to line up the pushrods... would have been a neat pic with the pushrods going to the valvetrain but didn't think of it.



As it sits now, head is on, water manifold is on, valve cover needs cleaned but is sitting on the head and the head is torqued. Valves need set and the rocker arm assy is speed wrench tight so that needs torqued yet too. And a new legible oil pressure gauge is sitting on my dining room table waiting to go in.



Don't worry, that is the old thermostat on the frame rail.



GF has school this weekend so I hope to get a lot more ground covered on it then. The Ranger wants its nest back.

So far, lower radiator hose, put tape on engine heater and put it back in (removed to drain water this tightwad used to check cooling system integrity), oil pressure gauge, manifold/carb and it is basically a blank slate for wiring yet. I just have a wire running from the starter switch to a key switch to the coil to test run it. Still need to procure a 60a ammeter and a light switch. Toying with the idea of just mounting normal sealed beams since one of the buckets is loose on its stick. It won't be my show queen but will still look nice, it will be great to have halogens for night time field work and pushing snow as opposed to the "correct" twist in turn signal bulbs the my other three tractors have. And I need to clean out the other fuel tank yet too.
 
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bcw

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My credo
Cant fix it use a bigger hammer
See an ol wd 45 brought up memories of my grandpa. his free time was spent collecting old farm equipment and restoring Allis Chalmers . I grew up hearin there's nothin like a allis chalmers. Cant wait to see what you do to her. Good luck
 

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