A-800 Ranger restoration

[diggerjames 64]

Looks really nice andy I'm loving the led bulbs!

[wheeledhorseman 573]

Thanks James - Mark and Richard added these to tractors a while back so nothing new here. Despite the LEDs being much brighter I've actually kept to original spec for my C-120 and the headlamps I added to the C-100, it's a necessity here as the tecky alternator wasn't designed to power headlamps but this project is a kind of custom so I'm not sticking to factory.

 

Here's the before and after.

 

 

 

In a way I should perhaps have kept the blanking plate as its rare to have one in pretty good condition but I'm really chuffed with the way the tractor looks now as my original aim was to mould it into a kind of miniaturised C series here and there.

 

I included the wiring for front and rear lights in the loom I made but haven't connected the headlights yet - saving that for a nice day when I can work outside in warm sunshine, yeah like that's gonna happen soon!

 

Andy

[callum12 256]

sorry for bringing up such an old thread! nearly a year old to the day

anyway, how are you wiring the headlights? where are you earthing them? i was going to earth them to the bonnet with an earth strap running to the engine but I'm really no sure. i want to keep the wiring down as i've already crimped a wire between the rack and pinion for the steering when it was hanging loose! i assume you're fusing the LEDs? i was going to use relay but then worked out that my LEDs only need 0.5A so a relay is not necessary. I'm interested to hear how you've done it compared with me, I'm sure you're far more experienced. 

thank you 

Callum

[Damon N Jackson 8]

On 4/1/2013 at 6:42 PM, wheeledhorseman said:

Thanks Garry - already proving useful as you'll read in a moment.

 

 

Progress has been maintained through the use of several more 19kg propane bottles than I got through last year. Log burner was part of last summer's plan but it didn't happen for a number of reasons so it's burn gas or do nothing. Pleased you can see some merit in this project  - more about the engine coming up.

 

So another two weeks have passed, it's been barely above 0 degrees C and a biting cold easterly wind......

 

Garry's manual has helped with two issues that were puzzling me, firsltly the battery tray. Having restored the tray that the tractor came with to its factory size I noticed that the mounting holes didn't allow it to fit properly. The answer is that The A-800 didn't have a tray, the battery was originally held in place by clamps.

 

 

So the little tray had apparently been borrowed from another tractor of some sort and then modified to take tha standard size battery. I'm going to continue with the plan though to have a smaller battery fitted in the style of the C series as it's part of what I'm trying to achieve in the project.

 

The second issue that's been puzzling me is the rear fender arrangement. The standard C series fender is too wide for the tractor and looks out of proportion with everything else. It also has central cutout which is of course not symmetrical with the centre line as on a C it has to take into account the belt guard and creates a large opening through which the gear shift protrudes. All very strange and hardly what you'd expect from the WH design team.

 

Although the diagram in the manual is an artist's impression rather than accurately drawn, it does show two things, first that there was to be a 'gate' cut out for the gear shift and second that it doesn't much look like a C series fender.

 

 

It led me to look at an A-800 owned by Hammerhead and sure enough his very original example has a fender with 'gate' for the gear shift that is also a more sympathetic size and style. The photo also shows that the US model had the engine spayed red.

 

 

so it appears that in Belgium engines were fitted to finished chassis as they came in Tecumseh colours and for some reason, possibly cost, a standard C series fender was fitted even though it really doesnt suit the tractor and creates a large 'unfinished' opening. 

 

 

Not just my example (above) but also the reference photo from Meadowfield's website http://www.wheel-horse.co.uk/a800.htm

I feel better about cutting down the size of the standard fender now though in that it wasn't intended to have the big fender (only in Europe).

 

Another 'cheap' option for the A-800 in Europe was a rigid plastic steering wheel (albeit made by Kelch) more akin to something you'd find on a child's pedal car IMO. So I've cleaned up a soft touch wheel from a B-165 I parted out which is the same as the early C series.

 

 

Spot the difference? Chalk and cheese I'd say and I think from Hammerhead's example that they used the soft touch wheel in the US model.

 

So here's where the project has got to as of today's work.

 

 

Remanufactured a suitable choke cable using the throttle cable from a 200 series parted last year so the POs adaption i.e. manually operated from the side of the engine has gone. Steering wheel looks good I think.

 

 

Engine tin is back though Garry's manual indicates that the HT lead should run inside the tinwork - I was wondering why there was a hole above the spark plug, now I know.

 

It's coming on but there's still lots to do. You're right about paint and the cold temperatures Richard - I've been struggling and the finish is unlikely to be as good as I'd like but if I leave it till it warms up a bit I'll have little time to work on the project. The hood is painted and hardening off - a slow process given the temperatures but when I can fit the hood I'll be much maore able to judge what to do with the fender to make it look more in keeping. Ian (Stigian) always makes his steel 'nip and tuck' surgery look so simple - I suspect I'm going to find it the greatest challenge of the project.

 

Andy

Could you possibly send me a few pictures or diagram of how the clutch/brake system is in yours please?