Li'l Red 1

Hey, is that a MTF sticker I see? Didn't know you were on there, lol. The Murray is lookin spicy! I really gotta get painting some time lol

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Hey, is that a MTF sticker I see? Didn't know you were on there, lol. The Murray is lookin spicy! I really gotta get painting some time lol

LOL Yeah, I'm on there too.  Not as much these days.  There are a couple "not so friendly" people on the friendliest tractor forum.  People here are a lot more open minded to things.  Especially modding tractors to do other things.

I have a couple sears suburban threads over there.

75 ST/16

77 18 Twin Hydro Project

Needless to say I have a lot of tractors.  

Shot of the crew before we moved. Before the Sasquatch hotrod and I obtained the 82 murray.

mightyraze wrote:

Thanks MatthewD!  I like it a lot! Welcome back.  Long time no see!

Thanks, I hope to be more active now

Well, I tore Red back apart today.  Maybe I can get some bracing done.  I see that I have blown out my sump gasket.  That seems to be the source of my oil leak on the engine.  Need to order a new one.

I was thinking of using my old horizontal engine plate from Sasquatch II to give some more stability.  It's pretty thick.

The other front tires from Sasquatch proved to not work out for Red.  They were a bit too wide and when turning would catch the footboard so I put the old ones back on.  I hope to get a new set of xtracs or something similar for the front.

Also, I think I will take this opportunity to reswap the pulleys.

That plate should help quite a bit I would think. Are you gonna weld it on top or bolt it down so it's removable?

I think I will trim it up and bolt it to the bottom of the frame. I cannot bolt it to the top as it would interfere with the rear fender pan. I already had to make a dimple for the clutch spring bolt.

I have a few angle iron pieces too that I may bolt across. as well. Once the engine is off, I will see about finally making that skid plate for the transaxle. Also, I will get that 4th point of contact for the transaxle that I tapped out.

That all sounds pretty good mighty! Hopefully she'll be solid as a rock when you're done!

I hope so.

So, while I have this apart. I was looking over my gas tank that now has several layers of leak stopping epoxys and it is still leaking. New "same" 2.8 gal tank is around $100, and the smaller one that looks like it would work is still around 60. I have some MUCH cheaper ideas like making a basket that bolts into the OEM location and dropping in a gas can into place that can be tied/latched into place safely. What other ideas to you guys think?

I actually have another Widebody tank laying around, I'd use that lol. Actually I'd try to find an MTD because the newer ones have like 3 gallon ones that go under the hood. Mount that and you're good to go

2 1/2 gallon red plastic gas can will work fine... they come in several shapes... find one that will fit, drill and tap the bottom for a fuel fitting... could even plastic weld a bung in for more support (soldering pencil works well for this) or do a through fitting with a nut on the inside (put it directly below the fill hole and use a LONG extension on a ratchet to tighten it down... trick? hold the extension and socket vertical facing up, put the nut in the socket with the rubber washer on top, then lower the TANK over the extension till you can start the threads on the fitting

Lawren Wimberly wrote:

2 1/2 gallon red plastic gas can will work fine... they come in several shapes... find one that will fit, drill and tap the bottom for a fuel fitting... could even plastic weld a bung in for more support (soldering pencil works well for this) or do a through fitting with a nut on the inside (put it directly below the fill hole and use a LONG extension on a ratchet to tighten it down... trick? hold the extension and socket vertical facing up, put the nut in the socket with the rubber washer on top, then lower the TANK over the extension till you can start the threads on the fitting

That's kind of the direction I am leaning.

Got my new sump gasket in today for Red.  Now to clean it up and tear it in half to put in the new gasket!

aincha done yet?

haha, wish i had that much time! LOL

I think I found my oil leak.  Not just around the sump but also around the shaft!  Good thing I already have one of those seals.



Now while the engine is off, I will work on that frame bracing. I'm also going to swap out my pulleys. I think my belt will still work after. I'm going from a 5 on the front and 6 on the back to a 6 on the front and 5.5 on the back when I start putting it all back together.

Since there is only 4 bolts to the engine plate up top.  I think I can also add to structural strength by adding at least 2 more bolts up top!  That in conjunction to the other plate I am going to add on bottom.  I have sourced a washing machine door that I am going to use as a transaxle skid plate.  LOL!

So it's the oil pan gasket AND the crank seal? Or just the crank seal?

Both. Not the drain side, but the other side leaks on the pan. The gasket appears blown out. As well as the bottom oil seal. I was thinking that guy was inset more. I have an extra that will work out.

Oh ok. I just cured an oil leak on the MTD a bit ago. Mine was the PCV gasket, just used a bit of gasket maker and it stopped! Nice not to have oil all over the frame all the time now hahaha.

Yeah I would probably not hurt to rtv the valve covers. I'll check those out while I am at it.

Well, did get the engine gaskets replaced as well has the oil seal on the bottom.

Got the halves split:



There was a major oil blowout here:



Same side, other side of the alignment pin.



Basically about 2 inches of non-gasket.  Also the bottom oil seal was just warn out.  New one was installed.



Engine buttoned back together and sitting on the stand on the workbench.



Now onto the frame.

Oh... the oil flapper bracket in the sump was very loose. Wrenched that back down.

Definitely a lot of oil seeping out of that old crank seal. It'll be nice to have that fixed!

Not much done today.  Decided to go 5 inch on the transaxle and got that on.  I got the plate cut to size for the belly.  Not attached yet.  Also got 2 more bolts installed on the engine mounting plate.  That alone was pretty noticeable.  

Also put on another brace for the transaxle.

It seems those gaskets are hit or miss. Plus it doesn't help having like 42 cubic inches of area in the crankcase being added/removed 3600 times per minute, and all that pressure difference being pulled through just a few holes. That's actually part of why pulse pumps work so well on these engines lol. Also, did you loctite the bolt for the oil slinger? I figure that would prevent any future problems. I like your idea to stiffen up the frame, but aren't you going to have to cut a big hole in the middle of it for steering? I see that box steel there, do I sense a bumper coming soon?

So what tires, engine, trans, etc. are you planning to use Rich?