Murraymountain's "Ole Blue" Widebody

really makes me wanna build my widebody but ive got too many projects as is mabey next summer

@Murraymountain the only issue with building my old widebody is that it's a good functioning mower that mows grass well and the fact I already have 1 too many projects.

Welp, got it going finally.





I went round and round with the clutch working properly for a while. Finally got the belt broke in. I robbed the MM's OG brakes and rebuilt them and put them on this thing. Now the clutch/brakes work pretty good. The brakes won't last long but who needs those I think I'm gonna wait a little longer for things to go wrong before I put the skid plate back on tho. Also gave this guy his first bath in two years.




Now I am running into a new issue. It's been giving me trouble as far as staying running goes. First time it's ever gave me engine troubles. It just randomly would shut off and not start back up unless you give it the beans when it tries to stall. I gave it the beans this last time and that didn't keep it from stalling. Since then it will not start. I haven't really looked into it yet. When it stalls it sounds as if I just simply turned the key off, which would lead me to believe it is spark, but when I give it some gas down the yap it tries to fire off and sometimes does. So currently, I have some suspicions about my electric float because that is about the only thing that could cause it to stall the way that it does other than no spark. Anyway, we shall see.

Very nice! 

But remind me why Blue is Red.  

I second that motion lol

Nevadablue wrote:

Very nice! 

But remind me why Blue is Red.  

Rustbucket Garage wrote:

I second that motion lol

Hahaha, there's two reasons and only two for why I named it Blue. 1, because Lil' Red and Ol' Red are both taken, and 2, to trigger/confuse people

Good job on all 4 answers.  

I love the job you've done with it! Took me a while but I read through the build and build off threads just now,  great work! 

Double check your valve lash in regards to the stalling,  worst case scenario you've ruled it out, I'd also check the pulse line for the fuel pump.

You mentioned the fuel solenoid?  I'd check that.  Also, if you think spark.  I would recheck the plug wire from your mouse nesting...  But definitely that fuel solenoid,

Brianator wrote:

I love the job you've done with it! Took me a while but I read through the build and build off threads just now,  great work! 

Double check your valve lash in regards to the stalling,  worst case scenario you've ruled it out, I'd also check the pulse line for the fuel pump.

Thank you! If I could only have 1 tractor it would be this one. I'm very sentimental about stuff like this  

The valve lash could probably use an adjustment now that it has an hour or two of run time since being apart. But you got it with the fuel pump... that was it. I unhooked it from the carb and just went back to a gravity feed just to see what happened and it ran perfect. I'm thinking that leak in the pulse tube is my issue...

MightyRaze wrote:

You mentioned the fuel solenoid?  I'd check that.  Also, if you think spark.  I would recheck the plug wire from your mouse nesting...  But definitely that fuel solenoid,

I checked the wire after I pulled it and it was fine. It already had prior mouse damage from about 4 years ago that I took care of then. I thought the mouse did something to it to make it die when it would heat up but I'm glad that's ruled out.

Anyway, I guess I'll throw another list up.

-Belt guards (not sure on this one)
-Fix snorkel
-Bluetooth Speaker
-Fix winch
-Finish brakes
-Get 20 inch V-tread rear tires (Later mod)
-Build a heavy duty trailer hitch (Later mod)
-Fix steering wheel popping off

Unfortunately, the Christmas parade rules have changed since I joined the forum and now, instead of a having to be 16 to be a driver, you now must be 18. So I was not able to take this to the parade . 2023 it is.

Anyway, a few pics from yesterday. We got wheelie happy lol.



The American Flag tag got a little smashed up from dragging the ground  





Anyway, it's coming along!

Okay, time for an update






The things still left on the list are fix the winch, fix the snorkel, but first and foremost, FIX THE STEERING WHEEL FIX THE STEERING WHEEL FIX THE STEERING WHEEL!!! I’ve parked it for now until I get that fixed as that ‘little issue’ resulted in an accident this weekend. I was headed up a hill with some speed and hit some bumps which was just enough to pop it off. Of course the only logical thing to do when going up a hill at speed is to hold onto the steering wheel 100% as that is pretty much your only anchor point. So when that popped off, I fell to the side and off at speed (the floor was covered in mud and oil and I also didn’t have any traction on the floorboards or balance so I just fell) and hit the ground almost head first. Luckily I was able to roll out of it and made it out with nothing more than a bruise and small cut. The most damage that was done was to my pride and some really bad scares as my mom and some really close friends watched it happen.

Anyway, still got a little more to do as well like exhaust and fixing the fuel pump and the amount of oil being spit out of the pvc. I honestly would be stupid I let those go.

Some pics of the oil that I didn’t know it was spitting everywhere… anything and everything wet looking is oil soaked:




So I definitely need to sort that out. Now that I think about it, it always used to soak the air filter in oil when it was stock, so it may just be that it needs a rebuild. That being said, I may just go ahead and pop a catch can on because there’s probably no good way to fix it other than the imminent rebuild.

Anyway, some good news from the weekend, it did get really muddy! Sucked some down the carb for sure but eh, we’ll just pretend we didn’t know that. I’m gonna stop driving this till I know I can take better care of the motor lol. It’s served me well.

Wow that does look pretty oil soaked, at least all that stuff is well protected now!  Lol. What you thinking, blowby past the piston rings or a bad gasket?

Well I took care of the head gasket a few years ago. That’s the reason I got it for free. I know it has piston slap and probably bad rings but it’s hard to believe that that much oil is being pushed out from blow by. Another thing it could have been is that I know I overfilled it the last time I put oil in it, so I believe that contributed to it. It seems to have slowed down now but it’s also on the add mark so that’s probably why. In the end it just really needs to be rebuilt. My mistake was taking it apart to begin with lol. For now I think I’ll have to settle for a catch can, an actual snorkel or air intake system of some sort, and a new flywheel so I can at least reliably say it’ll always start. That flywheel gear is really getting bad.

Anywho, I said I wouldn’t drive it anymore and I really haven’t but I decided to get it out in the snow today and drive it down a 2 mile paved road. I went up this backroad and turned around and on my way down the hill, in 5th gear at like 3500 RPM the trans locked up and I slid down the hill because it locked up on ice. I know it locked for that little bit of time because it immediately killed the motor. Like, 3500 rpm to 0 rpm in less than a quarter of a second. It’s done this to me before in the mud pit. It also did it again after I restarted it and started moving. I don’t know what it could be but it only makes sense that it’s got to be trans related. It’s not like it does it in a certain gear or RPM or when accelerating/coasting or engine braking, etc, it’s just random. I managed to limp it home about a mile before someone came and picked me up and it didn’t give me any problems. I just stayed in no higher gear than 3rd and never really gave it any throttle because there was no snow to slide on if it did lock again.

I have no idea what is going on with the trans, but at this point, with the trans acting like it is, and the motor blowing oil everywhere, and the steering wheel popping off, it’s just too risky to drive it. I’ve gotta put some time into it now before I can think about ripping it again. I’m gonna cause major damage to the machine or myself if I keep driving it like this. So expect some work to be done to this thing real soon here…

I forget, have you had this trans apart before?

Yeah a year and a half ago. It’s documented on page 4. Maybe this pic will bring it all back.




It is doc locked and everything. Was one of the healthiest MSTs I’ve seen to date. I’ve probably put less than 10 hours on it since rebuilding it too.

Yeah! I remember now. You even have a grease point on the input. Hmm, does it shift when locked up and if not, when in neutral, does it roll? I'm wondering if it is all engine.

MightyRaze wrote:

Yeah!  I remember now.  You even have a grease point on the input.  Hmm, does it shift when locked up and if not, when in neutral, does it roll? I'm wondering if it is all engine.

It wouldn’t shift until I pressed the clutch. Of course, that’s what it’s supposed to do, and yes it does roll in neutral.

Welp. I've most definitely determined that the locking up issue was 100% trans and nothing to do with the engine. Yep, that's all trans oil you see filling up all the fins... another one bites the dust...



You can see where it went in this pic... Kinda funny cause it still drives.



Where it is right now...




Anyway, I had decided to hop on Ole Blue here just to run it down to our second home on the property and have a look at some of our property that was flooded from our creek/river bursting their banks. I went down, hopped off and looked around for little then got back on to head back up. Started going around a corner and noticed it wasn't pulling itself at all. Pulled up in front of a tiny incline in 1st gear and it refused to go. I hopped off and left it running in 1st with the clutch off. It just sat there in gear and was just barely rocking itself back and forth. I even managed to pull it backwards while it was in gear running with ease. It was quite obvious that it was not belt slip (everything sounded normal and there was no burning smell/smoke). So I got on and went around another corner in 3rd gear and just gave it the beans... I don't know what happened, but the trans made a hard whine and just like that it was driving completely normally again. I went up a big hill just fine. Tested it a little and it acted fine. I put it in 5th and started coasting down that same big hill. Close to the bottom, "BOOM" motor immediately quits and wheels lock up. I slide about 8-9ft, get off and start recording. Went 'round and 'round with getting it started again and when I finally did and let off the clutch, the motor immediately stalled again. So now it was obvious that the input pulley was locked up. Here's where I goofed... Fired it back up and let off the clutch slowly this time. Two loud pops happened and it went back into gear and started moving. That's when I drove it to where it is now and left it. Didn't know anything had happened until a day or two ago. I went down and robbed the battery tray and was greeted with the first pic...

So yes, trans is officially blown! Somehow it still drives but it obviously has seen it's last ride for a good while. So this is probably where this thread will be going into hibernation for a while.

That is just sad news, that thing looked awesome when it was sitting up on the bench.

I'm trying something totally different but doubt it will be any better but I have to try it.

Darn it. The transaxle breaking is my biggest worry on these old rigs. No parts around here at all. I’m hoarding a spare 206 for the Rat Rod.

Thanks for the compliments… I really liked the look of it too. It was just so clean in every way.

But anyway, I said this thread was going into hibernation, but I guess not. I’ve made some plans for Ole Blue in the far far future. It was nice to have ‘em back for a little while but I feel like this is where he’s met his demise for probably a few years now.




Now I want to talk about the plan for a little bit. As you know I have many many projects right now and there is no way that Ole Blue will come back anytime soon, but, new plans are in the works. I have always kind of wanted to keep the hydrostatic thing going for Ole Blue… I feel like it really gave it character, so, seeing these new discoveries all over YouTube and learning some things myself about hydros, I did the right thing and snagged Ole Blue’s ORIGINAL hydro out of the junkyard AND an identical twin for free! Now you might ask, “why two hydros?”… hehehehe. Yes, I am planning a full hydrostatic 4x4 build with full independent suspension all the way around. Now you can see why it might be a few years before this project gets underway… we’re going from stage 2 to stage 4 or 5 just like that! Ambitious? Yes, but that’s why we’re waiting. I’ll probably have to put a V-Twin under the hood cause I don’t think my trusty beloved 14.5 has it in ‘er to run 2 hydros at high speeds. I’ll definitely be keeping this motor tho. Anyway, thought I’d share my new plans and finds…

Well, my brain started turning the other day and I thought to myself, if I’m putting two hydros in this thing and a different motor, why should I let the good parts that are on it now that won’t be used or are easily replaceable when it comes back go to waste? So I pulled it up to the shop yesterday and pulled the motor, the trans, the front wheels, the skid plates, and a few other things I needed for Alfredo. Put it back on the ground with junk 15 inch wheels all the way around and shipped it back down to it’s resting spot under a porch. Unfortunately on the way down I was looking behind me to see the direction Ole Blue was veering to and when I turned back around I was about to hit a massive log. I had just enough time to dodge it with the golf cart, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for Ole Blue to dodge it. The front wheel caught the log hard and somehow busted the steering gear. Not a huge deal but unfortunate.





Anyway, there’s a little update for ya! Whether this is where this thread goes in to hibernation or not, who knows? Only time will tell.

Murraymountain wrote:

Whether this is where this thread goes in to hibernation or not, who knows? Only time will tell.

Hopefully not! You built this rig into a bad@$$ machine and I hope you're inspired to get it motorvated again soon!

Brianator wrote:

Murraymountain wrote:

Whether this is where this thread goes in to hibernation or not, who knows? Only time will tell.

Hopefully not! You built this rig into a bad@$$ machine and I hope you're inspired to get it motorvated again soon!

Thanks! Unfortunately it won’t be up and going for a while as I have the MM to focus on. If I find the perfect motor for it I will stash it under the hood and wait until I’m ready to focus solely on this rig and build it to the best of my ability. It’ll be a while but I certainly won’t let it sit there forever lol.