1978 C-141 Automatic Frankenstein

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

Last November/ December I was talking to @ebinmaine about a hood and rear end for my 312. The rear end is making noises and sounded a bit like a train. The original hood on the 312 was mangled pretty good after rolling backwards down a pit wall.  Apparently the story was the PO let a neighbor borrow it. then the accident happened.
Anyway, we made a deal and I met up with EB in January. I took some smaller stuff home as we only had my Father’s truck. I had to come back later for the bigger stuff.
This May, I borrowed my brother’s trailer, and my Father and I went to get the rest of the bigger parts. 
The parts haul ended up being, a 94/95 312-8 and a 80/90’s Workhorse parts machines, two mowing decks, a 14hp engine, two sets of rear tires, a plow, a few rear fender, and a bunch of miscellaneous parts. The biggest was a 1978 C141 Automatic parts tractor.  I figured I’d try hydrostatic as all my other tractors are 8 speeds.

Since the middle of May I’ve been tinkering here and there on the C141. I’m not done yet but I figured I’d document it.

 

 

The first run.

 

Home from @ebinmaine with the second run haul.

 

 

 

 

Mocking it up.

Edited June 19 by MainelyWheelhorse

[Easton Rich 649]

[ebinmaine 72,988]

Lookin' forward to seeing this one develop.  

[SylvanLakeWH 28,589]

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,284]

Excellent!! 
  I’m actually picking up a C-141 Auto at the Wheel Horse Show next week. Will be the only WH hydro in my small fleet. 

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

Excellent!! 
  I’m actually picking up a C-141 Auto at the Wheel Horse Show next week. Will be the only WH hydro in my small fleet. 

Thanks! ‘Same here, I figured I’d take the plunge and try it. It has the biggest engine of the fleet as well. It ought to be interesting to get used to. It’s funny and nice that the later parts tractors I got in the haul, a 312 and Workhorse. The parts bolt up with no issues. That definitely saves time. My other two tractors have Familial and Local history, so I wanted to keep them relatively stock. This will be another story as it was a rolling chassis. It’s a blank slate.

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

I’ve reworked the thread…. You may get a lot of notifications😬

Edited June 19 by MainelyWheelhorse
Clarity

[ebinmaine 72,988]

56 minutes ago, MainelyWheelhorse said:

Just in case if you guys might have missed it, I’ve been adding the new pics to the original post instead of adding responses.

 

If you "edit" there's no trigger for a new email.  

That's why I almost always add a new post.  

 

Thanks for the heads up. 

 

 

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

If you "edit" there's no trigger for a new email.  

That's why I almost always add a new post.  

 

Thanks for the heads up. 

 

 

Ok, Thanks for the heads up! @ebinmaine

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

Still putting things together and figuring out what I am going to do.

 

C.A.D. (Cardboard Aided Design) at work.

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

Cutting and fitting.

 

What I’m patterning my shift plate after.

 

 

Progress…. with Aluminum... I also started to figure out wiring. I also secured the K321 engine down with two bolts through the frame like my 308 and 312. That took longer than expected.

 

Edited June 19 by MainelyWheelhorse

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

As a bit of something different and while I was figuring out wiring, The Sundstrand pump needed plugs, springs. and cones

 

These are it. @ebinmaine had them.

 

 

As another small thing to do, I also had the correct size pulley bored out, then painted, and installed.

 

Edited June 19 by MainelyWheelhorse

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

Then came the monstrosity of wiring. I used a good chunk of a 94/95 312-8 wiring harness tailored to the K321's points ignition to wire the C-141 up to at least run for now I'll add in the extras later. Thanks to @953 nut, @pfrederi and @ebinmaine for the guidance on it it was a learning experience.

Edited June 19 by MainelyWheelhorse

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

While I had the grease and paint out, I ground the CLUTCH lettering off, painted and installed the brake pedal.

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

At this point I started fitting, and grinding the slots for the throttle and choke.

 

 

The ends of the frame were prepared to be welded as they had cracked and broken off.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the frame was welded it was assembly time.

 

Edited June 19 by MainelyWheelhorse

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

While waiting for the frame to be welded. I worked on the throttle and choke slots the upper dash. Just primer, paint and fine tuning left. This is where I stopped on my last free day.

[ebinmaine 72,988]

Excellent! 

[ebinmaine 72,988]

6 hours ago, MainelyWheelhorse said:

I also secured the K321 engine down with two bolts through the frame like my 308 and 312

 

These engines have four bolts. 

Two you can see. 

Two you can't. 

 

There are two that go up through the bottom of the frame into the engine base. Look at your 312 to see them.  Then duplicate them to the 14. 

 

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

9 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

These engines have four bolts. 

Two you can see. 

Two you can't. 

 

There are two that go up through the bottom of the frame into the engine base. Look at your 312 to see them.  Then duplicate them to the 14. 

 

Ok, I’ll check that out.

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

More progress today, I got the fender on with a bit of massaging from a RUBBER BFH.

I also got the choke on and working.

I also checked out the fuel pump on the K321 and after cleaning it out it does pump. I’ll have to hook it back up to see how well. That’s where I stopped as of now.

 

 

Getting closer….

 

The fuel pump in question….

 

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

Today’s update.., for the C-141, I built the cantilever and rod for the throttle. Then attached and fished the throttle cable and choke by the engine. the starter turns if you jump the solenoid, The battery in it is weak. I’m going to swap the battery tomorrow for the one in the 308 and see what happens. BUT…No magic smoke so at least there’s that.😁

 

 

[ebinmaine 72,988]

Good progress! 

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

After some electrical education and troubleshooting, it was ready for a test fire. During the test fire the engine smoked a bit through the shroud. After a thorough investigation, must have been trash on the stator. Nothing else had burnt. In the interim, I painted the shroud IH Red, and painted the exhaust BBQ black. reassembling the sheetmetal on the engine after the paint dried. I also started attaching the body panels and buttoning things up. 

Edited July 11 by MainelyWheelhorse

[MainelyWheelhorse 1,618]

 

 

 

 

After two months of work, I with the assistance of my Father got the Frankenstein C-141 running and moving tonight. Now to put the hood, drive belt side cover, and modify the shift plate to allow for reverse. Then its off to paint and getting the lights to work.

[ebinmaine 72,988]

Fantastic!