[AT] SHE RUNS! (long)

George Willer gwill at toast.net
Fri Oct 28 19:22:18 PDT 2005


Al,

Congratulations!!!  And thanks for sharing.  That's the euphoria that makes 
it all worth while.  Trust me... you'll be even happier when you get that 
!#$%^& Cub combine engine running.  :-)

George Willer

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Al Jones" <aljones at ncfreedom.net>
To: "Antique-Tractor" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>; <farmall at atis.net>
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 9:07 PM
Subject: [AT] SHE RUNS! (long)


> All, I posted this over on Redpower.  Just wanted to share my happiness.
> To set the stage, I haven't heard my tractor run since January of '04
> when I drove it on my trailer, and tore it down to a rolling chassis for
> paint.  It literally took THIS long to get it to semi-running condition
> again.  I still don't have the wiring done, and there's a lot of small
> details left but I'm hoping to have it presentable for our local
> Christmas parade. When I first subscribed to ATIS 10 years ago, bringing
> my Super A back to near-new was just a dream.  Hard to believe I've come
> this far!
>
> It has been one of those weeks. Nay, it has been one of those MONTHS.
> School has been so busy lately that I feel like I am passing myself
> coming and going, some days I honestly just want to tell my students to
> "go play" and lock myself in my office! Then after hurricane Ophelia we
> have been dealing with the joys of flattened corn with no end in sight.
> Wednesday evening I got home from school a bit early. Took the 424 and
> trailer and helped my daddy move 6 bred sows to another pen for
> gestation, came back to the house and decided I would tinker on the
> Super A. When last I fooled with it, I had >>no<< spark at the mag after
> getting it all back together from being painted. So I got one of those
> free, "vote for me" paper nail files I had laying around and went out to
> tinker. Filed the points and noticed obvious crud on the file so I knew
> they were dirty. Put it back together and hooked the spark tester back
> and still nothing. In the mean time, my wife had come back from a trip
> to town and so I went to greet her, figuring that I had done all I could
> do and might as well get ready to order a coil. Decided I would give it
> "one more try" and then I would call it a day. While she and I chatted,
> I rubbed the points vigorously. Put it all back together, hooked the
> tester up, and on the third click of the impulse A SPARK! My first
> thought was it really didn't look like much of one. What I really wanted
> was such a hot, firey spark that my tester would just shatter from the
> electrical force and I would be left with singed eyebrows. But it was
> blue so I decided to give it a try. The tractor has NO wires right now
> so I would have to "wind" it with the crank. Gave her a few pulls,
> nothing. Choke, two more pulls, LOUD BANG!!! Well she must be out of
> time. Sure enough had the wires plugged in 90 deg. off. Two more pulls,
> then some choke, another pull, all of a sudden, a puff of smoke, soot,
> and she was off!!! Sputter sputter miss miss, "push the choke in dummy!"
> and she leveled out. Let it run a couple seconds, oil pressure is where
> it needs to be, time to bleed the touch control, since there's no bat.
> box on it yet the instrument panel is wobbly, it inadvertently moves the
> throttle to idle too fast and she dies. Two pulls of the crank and away
> we go again! Touch control's working good, have forgotten the pin for
> the right linkage so grab a nail for a pin for now. Run to the house to
> tell the wife to "bring the camera!!!!" Shoot a little video of it,
> finally decide I have had enough and begin to shut off the gas (again no
> wiring yet!) about that time she runs out on her own (I had only put
> about a thimbleful in the tank) and come to a stop.
>
> After the uphoria wore off, I took a quick walk down to my grandaddy's
> field. (My wife and I are living in his old house) Stopped to pick up a
> few pecans that had fallen, continue on to the field and crack a couple
> to munch on as I go along, the faint smell of gas and oil on my hands.
> Walk right past the spot where my dad remembers the Super A being
> unloaded its very first time, brand new from the dealer, in 1948. I
> strolled across the branch (creek) where it worked for so many years.
> Time to turn back now, past the old pear tree, grab one to munch on,
> admire the sunset, and now ornery youngun's flat corn, and none of that
> other mess means a thing. The ol' bird runs again, and I didn't even
> have to call a professional in to make it go! We still have a long way
> to go, wiring has to be done and I am praying the hood and grille will
> fit right after all the work that had to be done to them. It's
> absolutely filthy from being under the shed, even with a sheet over it.
> No telling how long it will take to wash it so I can really enjoy the
> new paint. But she runs. I can remember as a young boy talking with
> grandaddy about how "we are going to get the 'ol Super A painted one of
> these days." He never got to see it but I am finally almost there.
>
> Thanks for letting me share
> Al
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> 





More information about the AT mailing list