[AT] Restoring 1936 John Deere B

[Arthur Southwell]

Hello AT List,

I've lurked on this list for years. Now I have something to contribute. Hope 
it is of interest to you.

Dec. 2014 I took on the job of restoring a 1936, Unstyled John Deere model 
B. SN. 15942. I finished it May 5, 2015. I put over 250 man hours into the 
project.

At lot of time spent drilling out broken bolts and removing bearing races in 
blind holes and bearing races I couldn't drive out with a punch.

It had stuck exhaust valve in one cylinder and a stuck intake valve in the 
other. The piston rings were worn out. On the clutch drum end of the 
crankshaft,

the splines were badly worn from running a long time with a loose "Galloping 
Gear" ( driving clutch disc ). The rear axle bearings were worn out, as were

the steering gear bearings and the governor shaft bearings. A lot of this 
was old age, but the governor bearings suffered from lack of proper oiling 
as the oil

pump screen was totally coated with a thick layer of sludge. The engine oil 
hadn't been changed in many years, probably because the drain plug was 
rounded

off so badly a pipe wrench couldn't get a grip to remove it. After the 
engine was torn down and the crankshaft removed, I drilled the oil drain 
plug out and re tapped

the threads. By using the inner net I was able to procure all the parts, new 
and used, that I needed to restore the old Popping John to it's former 
glory.

Believe it or not, NAPA had the best price on the steering gear bearings and 
the governor bears. They were the same P/N as 1957 Chevy outer front wheel 
bearing.

NAPA # PB 01.

Arthur Southwell
Arcadia, FL, USA