A Quick Comparison

Looking back on some of my original photos of the strip down has reminded me of where I started (on the left). As the strip down started in January, 7 months later it seems progress although slow has been made. Please with the results so far, nothing more to add and time to go down the Pub.

Not So Good

Well, just when I thought I was getting somewhere a problem !

Having attached, and mastic'd the bottom bulkhead plate on to back of the dashboard and then painted it (see right). I then realised that I'd attached the bulkhead plate to the wrong side of the steering box mountings.

As can be seen I mounted the bulkhead on the engine side of these mounting points. This meant that when refitting the throttle linkage, the throttle rod disc on the front of the bulkhead didn't sit flush with the bulkhead.

No option but to remove the bulkhead and mastic before repositioning this time on the right side of the steering box (seat side) before repainting. A wasted mornings work!

Top Coat

More progress, Sunday saw me start the progress of top coating Tillie. Due to the complex share of the Tractor I've decided to do this in two sessions. The first as seen in the pictures was intended to get a good covering of paint in the difficult to reach areas as well as building up an overall nice base coat. I'm very pleased with the finish. The top coat being Ferguson Vintage Grey from Agriline. Hopefully, this photo allows some comparison of the dash now top coating against in primer from my previous blog.The second photo shows the rest of tractor. I'm greatly inspired now to get Tillie up and running asap. The plan I'm considering is to fit the last few bits of tin such as the battery tray assembly, drag line arms, throttle linkage, seat bracket and give it one last top coat.

I'm thinking of then refitting the petrol tank and rad without refurbishing these parts and trying to get the old girl started again. This would at least check out the engine and clutch refit. If successful, this would also allow some room for me to start on the bonnet paintwork.  

Dashboard

It feels like I might have finally turned a corner. Today, I started the progress of preparing the dash for painting. I'd removed the dash and related tin work as part of the refurbishment. A quick acid dip and then begins the process of wire brushing, and wet and dry paper. When I purchased Tillie, she had a hole in the dash for a headlight switch, As I don't have lights at the moment I've decided to fill the hole by using a small square of sheet metal and some body filler. 

 I've also taken the opportunity to replace the dash breather mesh. With the dash in place the whole lot has been primed and silicon sealant used between the mating parts. Once the dash was mounted, I was pleased with the results.

I've also started to apply grey primed to the main tractor body and axle as can be seen in the above photo's. Turning may attention to the seat and sprung bracket, I removed the old seat from the bracket with the aid of a disc cutter. A 24hr acid dip for the bracket followed by an hour removing the surface rust has left me with a salvageable part. A big push in June, may just see Tillie up and running in July? 

Front Axle

A month or so has passed since my last update. I've been busy with Tillie. The good news being lots of progress has been made. The not so good news is that I've missed my target date of the 6th June for getting her back on the road. Whilst this is disappointing, I'm pretty relaxed about it, what will be etc etc.

I'm hoping that by July I should have the top coat applied and looking to road test (fingers crossed).

With the engine refitted its time to refit the front axle. This was a straightforward affair offering up the axle to the engine block on a trolley jack.

With the axle fitted its back to the wire brushes to remove all the old paint and corrosion (a job I'm completely fed up with now!). This time a different colour primer (as its kicking around), red oxide.