1956 case 311 tractor.

[thegawd]

THANKS DUBS!

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Well it was slow going but the tractor has all new wires for the engine to run anyways. I got new wires, all different colors and soldered on new ring terminals, hell I didnt even crimp them. I ran out of ring terminals though so I need to restock.

well it all looks great until you look at the ignition switch side where I had to do some BS I dont like but I didnt really have a choice.

I had to use mar connectors to connect the wires to the ignition switch. the screws will not budge and I can't replace it yet. that will be a next year thing. right now I'm all about getting this tractor to reliably run and have lights.

theres a couple alternator wires that need to be replaced even though they are actually fine, the old wires just look like shìt.

LOL I need to run the indicator light from pin 1 on the alternator and connect it to the load side of the ignition switch. I do have all of that figured out and ready to do but....

ITS FRIGGEN SNOW ASS RAINING BS OUTSIDE! its more like slush falling from the sky FFS! and wiring in this is frustrating! Yeah I have a barn but the tractor needs to drive it self in. it might fit in my garage but the garage is full. GRRR! LMAO.

I guess dealing with the weather is a small price to pay for an almost free tractor. I have a little more than $300 in it now which isn't bad.

today I'm working on the alternator wiring and the lighting circuits. I have 3 different relays and one of them is going to power the lights. Iv never completely rolled my own relay lighting harness so this will be a first, especially with a 5 pin relay.

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aight, back to work. lol.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Looking good! I thought all y'all up north were used to cold and wet....I know, the older ya get the less fun it is to be out in it. We in Houston feel the same way about rain.

 

[RichLo]

Looking good! I thought all y'all up north were used to cold and wet....I know, the older ya get the less fun it is to be out in it. We in Houston feel the same way about rain.

We in the North still enjoy the warm hot summers and changing of the seasons but once cold hits we BTCH just as much as anybody...... until spring then we puff our chest and declaire how resilient we are for getting through a real winter

(((SORRY NORTH PEOPLE FOR UNCOVERING OUT SECRET)))

But really, it does take a lot more resources to maintain a property up here because of the heavy snow and ice. Look at my snow plow thread to see what I have done to prepare...

 

[thegawd]

Hahahaha it's the transitional parts thats the BS. LOL. this whole not rain and not snow crap can screw off. LOL.

all that I got done was a headlight relay harness. it even works. this is just one of the relays that would be under our hoods for the fuel pump and what not.

whenever I go to the junkyard I grab all of these types of things and so I have a bunch of relays.

I just soldered the wires to the relay, I'll probably never need to change it.

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[thegawd]

Well I had so much fun rolling the first headlight harness that I did not think it completely through. I need 2 or 3 lighting circuits, I think 2 is enough but if I need 3 I still have the first one I rolled. HAHA

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I will have headlights and running lights that I want to be able to flash with a flasher, or something like that. I also have the rear red tail light/spot light.

did I ever tell ya how my FIL is a hoarder and he has a bunch of shìt in our barn....?

I found a whole grocery basket full of tractor lights and every single one of them works along with the rear light which would have actually came on this tractor when it was built.

It has the switch to toggle from rear red taillight or a spot light. sometimes his stuff is gold but most of the time its garbage!

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I figured out how to wire the other small horn/headlight relays, it's all the same and simple shìt.

I need some more fuses, a flasher and ring terminals but today I have some help coming to give me a hand in the bush so this can wait until later.

Actually I have some circuit breakers, I'll use those instead of fuses, they are better anyways!

 

[thegawd]

okay this lighting wiring harness is more or less done.

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I made my own "fuse holder" with double wall heat shrink and a couple push on terminals.

right now the circuit breaker is 10 amps. I have no idea if that's is good enough or not but I have 15's and 20's as well and since the circuit breaker is the only maintainable part I can easily swap it out.

one circuit is for headlights and running lights the other will be for the flashing lights on the fenders. the red on the back and amber on the front kind. of course I still need a flasher for the fender lights but that's simple shìt.

this other switch I have here will be perfect to finish it up. But I will need to steal the switch out of the first harness I made as I'm not even going to use it. LOL

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[thegawd]

Well I got an oil filter and started doing an oil change.... I found quite a bit of coolant in the oil. lots of it actually. I'm going to have to do the head gasket but to be fair, I have no idea how long ago this engine ran before I got it started. I'm hoping that the coolant has just leaked in over the years of sitting.

it takes a weird oil filter by the way.

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when I started filling the oil back up it was leaking around the valve cover. so I pulled the valve cover off and cleaned up the surfaces and cork gasket and actually got it sealed up. I went inside for 5 mins and came out and it was pouring rain! holy crap I got lucky by getting that valve cover back on just in time.

needless to say, I packed up and came inside and finished the lighting circuit.

I bought the flasher and a wiring terminal kit and got'er done. theres some soldering to be done on the tractor but this harness is more or less plug n play, run wires and connect lights.

all the wiring I did on the tractor has been perfect. I have the indicator light for the alternator and all new alternator wiring completed and then guess what....? the 2 pin plug wouldnt fit inside the alternator because it's a 4 pin plug! well I have a 3 terminal alternator off of someone's homemade 12v generator made with a 3.5 briggs so I'm guna put that one on. I really want to see that indicator light work, lol its guna be my only instrument.

then I can put the body back on and ah shìt I still have to refill the oil! I guess that comes first.

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[RichLo]

Very nice progress!

Hopefully the milky oil was just from rain water getting in from sitting outside

 

[thegawd]

thanks Rich but it was indeed green coolant! not good. now that the oil has been changed I'm just going to keep an eye on it going forward. the coolant level has not changed since I topped it up.

the oil was friggen nasty and I couldnt get it all out. this oil and oil filter are sacrificial. I'm going to change it again soon.

the valve cover still leaks. there is only 3 studs holding it on and it's original. the gasket is just cork but is not in bad shape. I dunno, I'm thinking theres some oil passages plugged up not allowing the oil to flow back to the crank case.

I'm going to have to get new gaskets, I'm sure I can find ones already made instead of going the cork route. I should get some gasket materials though as I dont have any.

When I do finally restart it I'm just going to let it idle for like a half hour, then let it cool and check things out. hopefully that will clean all the sludge out. I dont know how long I should leave this oil in before changing it again. I have another oil filter and can do it any time.

do you guys have any recommendations on the first oil change?

right now I am installing the 3 pin gm alternator which entails making a new bracket. this was a part of the "generator" I took the alternator off of and it only took a couple minutes to modify.

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[thegawd]

Carb kit has arrived!

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