This Just Showed UP at My Back Door.

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

My neighbor is into old cars and just pulled in with this gem He found down in Md.

 

Then he said he also had this in the bed of his truck.  Said he brought it along in case I wanted it.   Yep!

 

Accepting all interest and info on it's ID.

 

[SylvanLakeWH 24,231]

Nice truck!

 

Nice ! (Early 60's RWP - Ran When Parked) Love the walrus tusks!!! 

 

Lucky man!

[oliver2-44 8,877]

Interesting RJ project.

Wow, that  Briggs engine has a Shower Cap Muffler.................Score

 

58/59 RJ

Briggs not the original engine, but if it runs .........

Homemade belt guard, but nicely done.

Left front rim might need a littttle fiberglass repair

Seat should be a round hole seat.   Dibbs on that square pan one,  I might have a round hole one to trade you!

Rectangular tube front axle is correct for RJ

Hood has "Wheel Horse" stamped into it.  Correct for 58/59 RJ

Homemade foot rest.

3 Piece transmission.  When you remove the tool box look if the top of the transmission has a date code cast in it.

 

 

[ri702bill 7,380]

RR tire might need a tube...Ventilated RF rim might need a tire (and JB Weld) !!  

 

Nice score even if it ends up as "Yard Art".

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,068]

@Ed Kennell interesting ! You have about 60 days before BS so you can fix it. Leave the pipes on the front , they are Sir Skunky catchers , you can chase you know who around the grounds at the BS.

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

17 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Love the walrus tusks!!!

Ok, I just dubbed him Sir Wally.

[953 nut 51,940]

                                                      

Ed, you need to have Mrs. K bake your neighbor his favorite pie!   Not every day you get an uncut RJ hood, shower-head muffler and a three-piece transmission to ad to your Big Show sales buckets.

[wallfish 15,957]

A well weathered RJ-58. 1961 deck with a lift selector added on the tractor.

Savable  Trans likely has water in it.

You should be able to read the cast code on the trans near the shifter.

[Blasterdad 2,564]

I've been looking for a "yard art"  for a couple years now, I even made a spot for one with paver edging & mulch tucked into the end of the Lilac bushes.

My problem is I wouldn't sleep at night knowing that "Sir Wally" was siitting outside in the rain & snow, poor thing. Too cool of a  to watch rot. 

I'll probably find a crappy old blown up MTD or something & spray bomb it red. 

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,645]

11 hours ago, Blasterdad said:

I've been looking for a "yard art"  for a couple years now

I'll probably find a crappy old blown up MTD or something & spray bomb it red. 

  Except that MTD will look like trash and not “art”  ! 
  Nothing wrong with letting one retire. I clear-coated this one to stop it from rusting away. 
  As you can tell I love showing it off as much as my running driving machines !! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 24,231]

I give mine the @peter lena treatment...

 

 

[Pullstart 59,858]

Other than giving it a Greasy Pete before storage, you could silicone the shifter shut, or better yet I set one out once for a Christmas lights holder and removed the shifter and siliconed a spray paint cap over the hole.  

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

I may have to spend some time soaking her in PB to see what loosens up before I retire her to the flower garden grave yard.

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

Had a couple hours this afternoon, So I took a closer look at Wally.

 

I pulled his tusks.   I don't know what the PO used them for, but they were bolted on with 3 grade 5   1/2" SAE bolts that are capable of pulling 36,000 lbs.

Got the junk wheels and axle off.  The spindles look good, but are still stuck in the axle and soaking.

 

The rear wheels look OK and one is even holding air.   The hubs, axles and keyways are OK.  The tranny is free and works in all gear and needs axle bearings and seals.   No water in the case.    The shower head is rusted thru.          Engine is locked and probably junk.

Check these long hub set screws.

 

The steering wheel is stubborn, but I will win.

 

The deck shell looks good and the cast iron spindle support is not broke.  It's locked up but I didn't attempt to free it yet.

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,068]

I knew you would have it fixed by the BS. 

[oliver2-44 8,877]

4 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

   The shower head is rusted thru.          

 

If the tapered back part is ok, I’ve seen where people rebuild the. By putting the front half of a pepper pot muffler on it. 

[rjg854 10,766]

I seem to remember @buckrancher making a new part for a showerhead muffler.

[squonk 39,011]

16 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

 

 

 

 

The steering wheel is stubborn, but I will win.

 

The deck shell looks good and the cast iron spindle support is not broke.  It's locked up but I didn't attempt to free it yet.

 

 

Get a bearing separator and a bolt grip style puller on that. Way more power can be applied

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

Well, Wally is a pile 0 parts now.

 

The worse part was getting the frozen cotter pins out.  I did have one bolt with most of the head missing.   Had to weld on a new head.

 

[Lane Ranger 10,520]

 

The shower head is rusted thru

 

 

Ed :  check if that shower head back is ok !   The back if good can have a new face put on !    You can pen off the old rusted one and pen on a new Pepper Pot Kohler muffler face on the old showerhead - they will fit perfectly!

 

 

 

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,068]

Ed after you derust everything it will be 10 or 15 pounds lighter.

[Retired Wrencher 4,895]

On 4/18/2024 at 6:32 AM, Sparky said:

  Except that MTD will look like trash and not “art”  ! 
  Nothing wrong with letting one retire. I clear-coated this one to stop it from rusting away. 
  As you can tell I love showing it off as much as my running driving machines !! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You did a good job on that Mike real cool. Nice to look at with your morning coffee. 

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

On 4/19/2024 at 11:31 AM, squonk said:

Get a bearing separator and a bolt grip style puller on that. Way more power can be applied

A bigger two jaw, bigger wrench, and one rap with the BFH and she left go.

 

 

Now that only leaves the spindles stuck in the axle.

 

[Ed Kennell 35,929]

Spindles are out.     Clamped the axle in a big vise and twisted the spindles with a 36" pipe wrench.  All looks good.

 

Also got the steering shaft and the fuel tank out.

 

 

Edited April 21 by Ed Kennell

[OoPEZoO 370]

So, I met up with Ed yesterday and Sir Wally is now snuggly tucked away in my shop.  I believe he is salvageable.  Ed did the hard part, taking everything apart without busting anything.....well done sir, and thank you!  I messed with the old Briggs a little this morning, and it freed up with just a little twist of the wrist.  I stopped there as I'm assuming there is a lot of metal on metal with no lube inside.  I'm going about trying to identify it right now.  I can't seem to find any markings or stamping on the block, but I may not be looking at the right place.  It is pretty cruddy and I can't coat myself in shop grease today due to other obligations.  As far as the transmission, like Ed said, it appears to be free and shifting.  I do not see any numbers cast into the top to identify it, but I believe it is 5003 due to the vertical tab on the side plate?  I also don't want to touch it until I have time to clean it up and crack it open for fear of doing more damage.  I believe it had been opened at one time, because it has gasket material sticking out from around the case, and if I read correctly, WH didn't use gaskets on these from the factory?  So who knows what I will find.  The rest of the tractor needs a solid going over with a lot of TLC, but everything seems solid and straight.  There is a slight tweak in the steering shaft, but should be easily fixable.  The frame and fenders are in great shape.  Tool box and gas tank look salvageable.  The back of the shower head muffler appears to be solid and salvageable.  I'll soak the crap out of it and work slowly.  Rear wheels are usable, tires are pretty much shot.  The front wheels are gone, which is a shame as it appears finding something that fits correctly appears difficult and/or expensive.  But I will manage and I'm not putting a timeline on it.  If I have to, there are temporary options already in the shop.

 

I was up until well after midnight last night researching and reading the RJ threads here.  Especially with regards to rebuilding the transmission.  I'm not sure what the end result will be with this guy.    I believe that decision will have to wait until I find the internal condition of the engine and transmission.  If the tranny is good, it will get rebuilt and continue to power Wally.  Enginewise, if it is easily salvageable, I may reuse it.  If not, then I'll be doing some bigger project brainstorming......probably of the electric driven nature.  Either way, it should be fun.  I'll start its own thread once some real work can begin.