Well the work has begun on the #60 Elevating grader that came from North Dakota. This will be an ongoing thread showing the mechanical restoration of this piece.

We got the engine pulled for a complete rebuild. Once the engine was on some jack stands, disassembly could begin. It was easy to see why the engine would not turn over as the cylinders were completely stuck with rust and several of the jugs were cracked internally. With the side covers off it was easy to see that the internals in the crankcase was going to be in great shape. Everything had a dry black layer on it with no rust anywhere. Luckily the rods were all 90 degrees before and after top dead center, so it was easy to pull each of the cylinder assemblies complete as a stuck unit. Ahhh, now the engine should turn. Wait....nope. Still stuck. Hmmmm. I thought to my self lets check the clutch as the lever was stuck on the power unit drive gear box. So off came the drive gear box and I wasn't too surprised to see that it was full of mouse nests. Generations and generations of mouse nests. Honestly I had never seen a clutch compartment so bad. Certain components could not even be recognized as to what it was. Everything was a complete ball of rust/dirt/grass/burlap/seeds/insulation/mouse carcasses, etc. and the odor was less than pleasing. The entire clutch and flywheel was removed to expose nothing but the crankshaft flange. Ahhh, the engine should turn now. Wait....nope. Still stuck. There was not much left that could be causing this. Had to be in the gear train on the front of the engine or in the water pump. The fan did move as I could feel the gear backlash in the fan gear. With the condition of the inside of the crankcase I knew it had to be the water pump. Off came the waterpump and the engine turned over very easily. I used my large pry bar to pry up on the crank to see if the lower main bearings had wear. Absolutely no upward movement at any of the mains. I liked what I saw, but still took the main caps off to plasti-gauge the mains and pre-lube as they were extremely dry. All of the mains were right at .004" Perfect! With some oil on the crankshaft main bearings it turned over as smooth as glass.

I do apologize for the pictures being out of order.

More to follow.

It amazing what mouse pee can do to iron. Them cylinders look like someone dumped acid in them. I think the five years since They remembered turning it over must be closer to 25. Good to see it apart and looking forward to hearing it run.

P.S. The sideboom looks great earning its keep.

That clutch sounds like the steering clutch compartment on my TD6...it was packed completely full of the same mixture, with some prickly pear cactus & CO-OP dog food thrown in for good measure. I soaked the clutch in diesel for 6 months & still ended up busting the drum up with a BFH to get the usable disks out. A pack rat was the culprit in that case...

whats the serial number on the engine?

Engine serial number is 6A33.

with a total of 259 6A power units made for the 60 elevating grader that makes it a 1931 Peoria Built Grader.
208 were produced in 1931

Finished the disassembly. Pulled the radiator and front gear cover. All gears look great. We rounded up a good complete clutch including a flywheel. The old one was pitted so badly that you could not see the timing marks for mag and TDC. We had a good set of jugs, pistons selected for this project. Rings are ordered. I took one of my spare heads and had it rebuilt in advance. The crankcase is clean and ready to have parts put back in it. Gaskets are here. The water pump came apart. The impeller was stuck in it housing. The shaft was also seized to the rear bushing. It was obvious that a new water pump shaft and bushing was in order. We are looking good on the engine. We also had a little time to take apart the rear drive unit. The gears look great! Should have the engine back together early next week.

Hey WyoCat,

I know this project is going to turn out great... It's in good hands... No... Great Hands...
Glen

Thanks Glen! I am blessed to be able to and honored to have the opportunity to work on this special piece. I know it's going to a good home with the Paso Robles Pioneer Day Museum and being a working display at Best of the West show in Santa Margarita, CA. I have my work cut out for me on this, but I will enjoy it no doubt.

Chad you have your "Best" shows mixed up A bit. We are now "Best of the West" as the Best a Show on Tracks as you know was a fabulous show in 2008 and we wanted to have our own identity. I can't wait to operate the No. 60 at the ACMOC National in Santa Margarita in 2017. We will be hosting the National beginning 1 year and 1 week from tomorrow. Holy cow do we have a lot of tractors to finish up between now and then.