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Photos and progress on the MF8 restoration

1K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  JDBrian 
#1 ·
I have often referred to having this tractor but I've never shown proof. I snapped a couple of shots of the restored chassis today while cleaning out the garage.

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread Vehicle
 

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#3 ·
That tractor looks cold all undressed like that.:bigrofl:
 
#5 ·
IamSherwood said:
Looks good Brian. Time to put the power back in it?
Ps. your shop is too clean.
The engine has the head, carb and flywheel off it. I have a carb kit and head gasket for it. I de carboned the head and I think the rest of the engine is OK. It is a replacement short block but you can't tell from the number how old it is. The head could go back on any time. I still need to paint the engine. I need a flywheel screen if anyone has a spare to sell. It's an electric start model with headlights. The dash was in good shape and the nose piece was almost cracked in half but I repaired it with some advice from Daniel way back in 2009 when we both hung out on another forum. The grill and other front end trim parts are all painted and ready to install. I just got a deck shell so that is another problem solved. I just cleaned the garage up and moved the 8 to that space. With the 314 in there this winter it is going to be tight.

KennyP said:
That tractor looks cold all undressed like that.:bigrofl:
Kenny. I normally keep it covered with a tarp to prevent it from catching cold.
 
#8 ·
Thanks guys. Man was it a mess when I got it. My wife called it Sad Old Red. I spent many hours removing rust and paint from the chassis parts.
 
#9 ·
Brian, glad you have her covered most of the time. Good luck with the rest of it. If I have this figured right, you'll be done about 2015.:bigrofl:
 
#11 ·
KennyP said:
Brian, glad you have her covered most of the time. Good luck with the rest of it. If I have this figured right, you'll be done about 2015.:bigrofl:
What can I say! I got sidetracked with a couple other hobbies for a while, then the poor 8 got sideswiped by the JD314 that I thought would be done by June. If you look real close you'll see the green paint where the 8 got shoved aside. My plan was to have it finished this year. That has been revised to next year ... unless... it gets delayed by a Ford or Bolens or Cub Cadet or Case or ........Whatever.
 
#12 ·
Heres an update on the parts I've been working on lately. There was a surprising amount of work left to do on it. I had to repair both safety switches and the ignition switch and have moved on to a few other bits. I applied some decals only to discover that i have some that are not correct and some missing. I have what appears to be a decal kit for a hydro and I need the gear drive decal for the parking brake and the Electric start decals. Heres some pictures. The side covers managed to fall off the table and get scratched already. Adding the decals really makes them look better. I got the bent steering wheel 90% straightened. I used a drill press and some blocks of wood to bend it back into shape. What I thought was white paint on the rim is actually a crack in the vinyl. I didn't push it for the last little bit of wobble. Got the dash panel labelled and the ignition switch is ready to be installed. The tractor had a primer bulb so I put another one on to cover the huge ugly hole the PO made to mount it. The rubber steering column boot was cracked and nearly falling apart. I got some Permatex black silicone and after cleaning the rubber I carefully sealed all the cracks. After that hardened I coated the entire inside of the rubber cone with silicone to strengthen it. It feels like it's going to be OK. We'll see what happens when I install it. I have all the front grill, mesh and top and bottom hardware ready to install. I have the head milled off and ready for the new gasket and have started to repair the damaged nose piece which was nearly cracked in half at the top centre, It was attached by maybe 1/8". Got that strengthened with long hair FG in the back hollow part of the nose. Now I'm filling all the scrapes and gouges. The plastic dash is in really good condition with no chunks missing from the top like you so often see on these. Some day soon I'll venture out to the garage and install the stuff that is ready to go. I can start wiring and put the engine back together. The red stuff I will prep for paint, but it won't be warm enough to spray it until June.

Ventilation fan Wood Computer hardware Audio equipment Gas
Record player Gadget Audio equipment Electronic instrument Electronic device


Wood Electronic instrument Luggage and bags Bag Office equipment
Tool Bicycle part Crankset Rim Bicycle drivetrain part


Chair Tin Rectangle Bumper Automotive exterior
 

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#14 ·
Thanks. I hope so Will. It's hard to get any time to work on it. We are doing some landscaping this summer that is going to eat up a lot of time so I am not planning on any other GT projects accept to get this finished. Those little 8's sure do handle nice. The steering gear is very well done in them and they have a short turning radius. They would make a very nice first tractor for a young person. I have a decent mower deck now as well to go with it.
 
#15 ·
Glad some progress has been made. Hope the weather warms so you can get some paint on there. I'll be patiently waitng for more updates.
 
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