I’ve been working on sanding and cleaning up the pieces in preparation for painting. There are lots of pieces to work on. I thought I need to sand away all the paint so that’s what I did for the radiator except the metal grate, and then I started on the neck piece that holds the gas tank. After reaching out for advice to the person who had the tractor before, Rory, he said sanding down to bare metal might not be necessary. Glad I only got so far on that tactic before needing to change my path.

I got some degreaser that works like a charm. It cleaned up the radiator bottom so I could sand the rest of the grime away, and I also finished most of the gas tank holder. The flap to access the tank won’t open as the metal has warped and won’t allow it to open. Need to find another way to open that.

In the meantime, I prepped to degrease a larger portion of tractor like the engine block, putting down a plastic tarp. Glad it’s getting warm so I can open the garage when I will be using this chemical in a larger quantity.

I recently got a 1949 Allis Chalmers Model B tractor to restore. I will document the process here and try to include pictures, as I know there are people who knew the original owner and others who are friends of mine interested as I go along.

The tractor is in good shape. I am not sure about the engine, as I don’t believe it has run in at least 20 years, maybe more. The metal and main parts are in good shape and all current parts have stayed in tact except the obvious hoses and such that would decay over time. My goal right now is to prep and paint the metal to put back together as much as I need to test the running of the engine.

After all is finished, I hope to keep the tractor to show it a the local engine show and in parades since the town I’m in has a big culture surrounding farming.

The question I get a lot is, have I done this before? Nope! I haven’t done anything like this before but I am very interested in it. I got hooked when I attended the engine show in my town last year, 2022, and bought a set of books on automobiles of the 1920s. I figured if I start on simple engines, it would be easier to get going. Plus, the history aspect is one of my special interests.

I am doing this as a way to engage my hands as I work in the software industry and my work is based on a computer. I haven’t really been into physical hobbies as my executive functioning skills have struggled, and I was always the helper of others doing the tasks. My next post will be about the work on the radiator, as that is the first part I started with.