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GT-14 resurrection thread

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ZXT

Figured I'd move out of the introduction forum and start a thread documenting what I'm doing and have done to my GT-14 to hopefully bring it back to life. I hope this is the correct section and that this sort of post is allowed. If it isn't, I apologize. 

 

I ordered a new carburetor for it due to the fact that the original has close to 1/4 inch of side-to-side play in it. $14 on ebay. Can't beat that.

 

Confirmed by a few of the pictures I posted in my introduction, the right side wheel/axle was sticking too far out. I glanced at it in the rain and automatically thought that the C clip holding the axle in had come off, and that the axle was slid out. I was wrong, the hub is simply loose on the axle and is slid out about as far as it can go! 

 

The good news of not having to pull the trans apart was soon overshadowed by discovering that the hydro pump is stuck. I cannot turn the pulley on it. I'm not sure how it would've taken on water, but maybe it did. I suppose it's possible that it's simply burnt up. I guess I'll have to pull it off and see what I find. 

 

I need to buy a pair of tubes for the front tires. One leaks from the sidewall where it's sat flat, and the other is off of the rim and I assume it'll leak the same way. The rears already have tubes and appear to hold air. I'd put new tires on the front of it, except for the fact that it still has the original wheel horse tires all the way around, and I think that's neat.

 

Our local antique tractor and engine club that I'm a part of is putting on a show this weekend and I was hoping to have it running and take it to that. With the hydro pump pulling this stunt, I doubt that'll happen.

 

More updates and pictures to follow as I progress.

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953 nut

:WRS:

When looking for Sundstrand parts you can substitute :wh: Charger and :wh: Electro pumps and hydrogear parts can be used on the GT-14. The gear drives require a slight bit of modification but it isn't too bad a job.

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ZXT

Thanks for that info! I was curious whether or not I could substitute pumps from other tractors, since the manual on here notes that the GT has its own part number. I assume you're talking about the 90-2046 pump? 

 

I need to do some research on the hydro systems on these as I know absolutely nothing about them. I assume the "hydrogear" is the transmission itself?

 

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

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953 nut
32 minutes ago, ZXT said:

I assume the "hydrogear" is the transmission itself?

That is correct. The drive gear ratio from the transmission into the differential is different on the GT-14, but the output gear from the GT-14 can be transplanted to the Electro/Charger. You may only need to refresh the pump itself and @daveoman1966 can provide a wealth of information on the pumps. Worthwhile to take a look at the acceleration springs and valves before you go much further. This manual will come in handy.

 

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ZXT

Thanks for those links! I'll definitely read through that thread and the PDF. 

 

Hopefully the rain will subside soon and I'll be able to investigate further.

 

 

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SylvanLakeWH

:text-welcomeconfetti:

 

We like pictures!

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fast88pu

Their are 2 styles of pumps on the gt14. Hydroogear and piston piston. Some were changed out under warranty to the piston piston style. It depends what you have in order to rebuild it

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ebinmaine
12 hours ago, ZXT said:

start a thread documenting what I'm doing and have done to my GT-14 

Cool

:popcorn:

I'm in.

 

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19richie66

Me too!

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Aldon

My favorite model. Good to see another get refreshed.

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Pullstart

@ZXT :text-welcomeconfetti:

 

it it sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you!

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ztnoo

@ZXT,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm a GT 14 owner also. I have the first year, 1969, 1-7441 model that I've owned going on about 40 years now.

There several of us GT 14 model enthusiasts here at the forum, but they are not as common in many ways to older Wheel Horses, or even some later models.

They are a bit of a hybrid, but several guys here know much collectively to be able to advise you how fix about any problem you'll encounter.

If you do a search of GT 14 related threads, you'll find a wealth of info on prior common problems and their fixes (or workarounds).

 

I saw in Classifieds you were looking for a gas tank. The common problem is the busted/split plastic nipple on the bottom corner of the tank (damn poor design flaw, IMO).

Aldon arrived at a relative easy fix for that if your tank has no other problems.

Also I noted you are looking for a wiring harness. I'd give up on that idea and fabricate your own all new harness. You'll be time, money, and problem free ahead if you do that. The chances of finding a trouble free used GT 14 harness are to be equated with winning the $1 Billion lottery this weekend.

I believe both @Aldon and @19richie66 have done work in this area and can probably provide good advice.

 

As to the mower deck, if you had original mounts and the old style mule drive I could provide advice as I've had lot of experience keeping mine running over the years.

Aldon has adapted the new style deck mount and front mule drive to one of his GT 14s and can be of some guidance in that department.

Sounds like your first order of business is likely sorting the tranny out first. If you have to split the cases, just remember surgical cleanliness is next to godliness when dealing with hydro internals.

Regards,

Steve

 

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ZXT

Thanks, guys!


Fast88pu, thanks for the info on that. I was unaware there were different models. I'll have to check to see what I have.

 

Hey, Steve. I've been taking advantage of the sorry weather we've been having and I've spent hours on end reading through threads regarding GT-14's and just wheel horses in general. The amount of knowledge on here is incredible.

 

The issue with my gas tank is the nipple, as you figured. I have the tank stashed away somewhere safe, i just need to find it and see just how bad it is. I too agree that it was a bad design...Isn't the gas tank part of the grille on 69's? I cannot fathom the logic behind that. 

 

I figured finding a good harness would be near impossible (And I did buy a few tickets for that $1 billion lottery, for the record). I didn't expect to find one in good shape, just one that I could use as a pattern for the length. I can build a new one without a problem, especially with the guidance of the wiring diagram available here. 

 

I don't appear to have any of the deck mounting parts or the mule drive. There are tons of little things that got lost when this tractor was taken apart (Various brackets, sheet metal, choke/throttle cables to name a few). I'm fairly certain that I will have to change to the new style mule drive, I just need to research which tractors have compatible pieces. 


Addressing the transmission is the next thing on my list. I'll be as clean as possible. I've been into a few Chrysler 727 automatic transmissions with great success, so I'll follow the same cleaning procedures I did with them. 

 

Thanks again!

 

 

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ZXT

Took me about an hour, but I found it. Has a crack along the top which I think I might be able to plastic weld up..maybe. The nipple is broken, as usual.

 

The new drive belt I ordered also came in. Looking at the tractor, I'm missing what I've seen referred to as the parking brake handle.. Looks to me like it only disengages the hydro unit. Not sure where or how it attaches to the tensioner pulley.

 

Here are pictures, as promised. ID tag on the transmission reads 90-1140.

IMG_3501.JPG

IMG_3502.JPG

IMG_3503.JPG

IMG_3504.JPG

IMG_3505.JPG

IMG_3495.JPG

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ztnoo
11 hours ago, ZXT said:

Isn't the gas tank part of the grille on 69's? I cannot fathom the logic behind that.  

 

No the plastic tank and the cast iron grill are two separate pieces. The '69 grill was open in front which exposed the plastic tank to potential damage.

Later models had a solid cast grill in front covering the gas tank.

 

Here's Aldon's gas tank repair thread:

***

Additionally, after looking at the pic of the ID tag on your Sundstrand tranny, I don't think you have an original GT 14 Sundstrand tranny.

Somebody in the past may have already done a tranny replacement on your tractor. Does your tractor had four bolt/lug hubs???

My understanding was all GT 14s came with 90-2062 model trannies.

Here's the ID tag on my tranny:

1865726935_IMG_0490GT14stevestranny.JPG.b4dc937c17ccd4991ad75bccf915188a.JPG

 

Here's your tranny tag pic (90-1160) rotated 180 degrees:

IMG_3495.JPG.cf5da0e9a01f2b9fc66693f45d462c72.JPG.26d65dd834000054b6ce81daff5363ae.JPG

 

Edited by ztnoo
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ztnoo
10 hours ago, ZXT said:

Looking at the tractor, I'm missing what I've seen referred to as the parking brake handle.. Looks to me like it only disengages the hydro unit. Not sure where or how it attaches to the tensioner pulley.

 

Just noticed something else you said.

The idler pulley which is attached to the "parking brake" handle, must be in the down position to tension the drive belt properly which allows the engine pulley to rotate the tranny pulley.

If that idler is in the up position and not tensioned against the drive belt, the tractor will either not move at all, or very little.

That handle also operates a locking pawl in the tranny when pulled up, but its not a "parking brake" or even a stopping brake in the conventional sense.

Often the handle gets used to try and stop a tractor on the move, but over time it usually destroys the teeth on the pawl, rendering it useless.

Never engage the pawl with the tractor moving or rolling.

 

Edited by ztnoo
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19richie66

I have used nylon "zip ties" and a soldering iron and basically "welded" the plastic back together on a tank. if you take your time you can melt the crack back together and fill it with zip tie strips.. Sand it and paint it and it would look brand new.

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ZXT

Good morning, Steve! The gas tank being open to the front is what I was referring to. I cant imagine why anyone would go out of their way to expose a fragile piece of plastic to both sunlight and whatever the user might run into.. Lunacy. 

 

Thanks for the link to the gas tank repair. I came across it last night and have already ordered the necessary pieces. I wound up buying 2 fittings with a shut off valves in them, because I was able to find them with grommets for what I could buy 1 plain 90 degree fitting. I doubt I'll be able to operate the valve with it on the tractor, so I'll just leave it on all the time.

 

I agree on it not looking like I have the original trans; it appears I have one from a C-160. It does still have 4 lug hubs and the original wheels. I'll have to see if there is a tag on the hydro pump itself and see what it is.

 

Thanks for the info on the parking brake handle. I knew how the tensioner worked, but I was unaware that the trans had a parking pawl in it. Knowing that, I'll never pull the handle (when I get a handle on it, that is) while moving. That would be equated to throwing a vehicle in park while moving.. Not good. 

 

19richie66, I had not thought of using zip ties. I figured I might use a piece of another gas tank, but a zip tie would be a lot easier to work with. I also use a soldering iron. I've seen "plastic weld" kits for sale, but I haven't needed one bad enough to get one. Think I should stop drill the cracks? Not sure if they'll continue to spread or not.

 

Thanks!

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ztnoo
3 hours ago, ZXT said:

The gas tank being open to the front is what I was referring to. I cant imagine why anyone would go out of their way to expose a fragile piece of plastic to both sunlight and whatever the user might run into.. Lunacy.

 

Yeah, I guess that makes for two design flaws in the first model year if a guy really thinks about.

I went back to your intro to look at some of those pics.

Looks like the tractor does not have the gas tank heat shield installed.

You may have it in whatever loose parts you have with the tractor.

It bolts up to the two flat metal bars that join the cast dash frame and the cast tank grill frame.

It extends about 2/3 of the way down the back of the tank to help deflect exhaust heat.

It is needed or at least something that serves the same purpose because of the close proximity of the exhaust to the plastic tank. It gets really hot in that area.

Nearly every GT 14 tank I've seen, including mine, has some heat damage which has changed the shape of the tank on its right rear corner.

I can't think of much more of a horror story than melting a hole in a full 6 gallon GT 14 tank while operating it. That would be scary as hell if an exhaust spark or extreme heat ignited the tank. Yikes!

So maybe chalk that up as design flaw No. 3 ...........and catalog that for future reference.

 

I'm just thinking of things as we go along here, mostly based on my own experiences with this model and all that I have learned at this fabulous site about GT 14s.

Edited by ztnoo
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19richie66

I would just start by sticking the soldering iron in at the ends of the crack. Then weave  the solding iron back and forth across the crack slowly melting the two sides back together. Then once you have melted the entire crack together, go back and start melting the zip ties into the crack seam slowly. Let it harden up and then sand it. You could even fill it with epoxy, then sand and paint it. Hope this helps. I sealed a 200 gallon water tank this way till they could find a new one and it held for almost a year and a half. 

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19richie66

I have a heat shield if you need one. I put an aluminum tank in mine and don’t need it.

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ZXT

The tank does have some heat damage. I'll go see if I have the heat shield shortly. One thing that I know I have (or had) that got separated from my parts is the air cleaner 90 degree elbow that places the air cleaner outside of the hood. I recall putting it in a place that "i just knew I would remember"... you know how that goes. Hopefully I can find it, as It looks like it might need to be installed prior to the tank.

 

Richie, If I cant find my shield, then I'll be interested in yours. I'll follow your method when working on the tank. I'd just used an epoxy, but I've yet to find any that will stick to polyethylene and hold up to gasoline. 

 

I have to move a few old cars that haven't been run in months so that I can get my Datsun (Which i haven't run in about 2 years) out of the way to work on the GT.. I'll report back with my findings here in a bit once I can get to it.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited by ZXT
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ebinmaine

Love this thread.

Awesome that folks are Sooooo helpful.

 

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953 nut
3 hours ago, ZXT said:

appears I have one from a C-160. It does still have 4 lug hubs and the original wheels. I'll have to see if there is a tag on the hydro pump itself and see what it is.

The axles from the GT-14 could have been transplanted into any number of :wh: transaxles.                 

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ZXT

Sheesh... What a day. 

 

I have the thing out where I can work on it now. Everything started and moved except the RR brake was stuck on my Datsun. They used an aluminum brake drum.. Dissimilar metal corrosion. Finally got it free and the car moved.

 

Next, i tried to drag the thing with two flat front tires. I remembered it being heavy, but dang.. My back wasn't having it. About that time, the mail man dropped off the tubes for the front tires, and I've been putting them in for the last while. It now rolls and steers! 

 

I have to clean up here in a bit, so I doubt I'll have time to really tackle the transmission issue. I think i'll go ahead and throw the new carb on it, rig up a gas tank and see if I can't get it to fire up. I did come across the gas tank shield, so I should be good in that regard.

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