my "new" C-85 8 speed

[tom coffey 42]

I found this last night on Craigslist and drove an hour and a half this morning to buy it for $100.

[67 WH 877 62]

$100! good deal...

[ebinmaine 63,295]

3 hours ago, 67 WH 877 said:

$100! good deal...

Agreed.

 

Does it run and drive?

 

[SylvanLakeWH 24,231]

Love the Blackhoods! 

[classiccat 548]

Welcome!  

 

Fellow C85 owner here.  

 

Nice find; hard to beat that price especially if its a runner!

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,612]

If the motor isn't stuck that's a good deal.

  Get it running and "put er to work"!!

[oliver2-44 8,877]

The C-85 is a very capable, great tractor.

Thats a good deal even if its a non runner and a steal if its a runner!  

The grey motor is a factory replacement "Service Engine" 

Post the motor spec and serial number and someone will be able to tell you the year of that motor

[tom coffey 42]

The C-85 didn't run but the engine wasn't stuck so I brought it home. Today I put in a new battery and it cranks over with the starter so I cleaned the points. They look like new, like they have been replaced in recent past, but I cleaned them anyway. I still get no spark at the plug, so tomorrow I will replace the coil and see what happens. Then I will look into the carb.

[ZXT 2,394]

30 minutes ago, tom coffey said:

The C-85 didn't run but the engine wasn't stuck so I brought it home. Today I put in a new battery and it cranks over with the starter so I cleaned the points. They look like new, like they have been replaced in recent past, but I cleaned them anyway. I still get no spark at the plug, so tomorrow I will replace the coil and see what happens. Then I will look into the carb.

Before you go replacing parts, do you own a multimeter? If you don't, invest in one. Check to see if you're getting power to the coil. It isn't uncommon for 40+ year old things to have wiring problems. 

[oliver2-44 8,877]

If you have some alligator clip bite jumpers hook one end to the battery + and the utter to the coil + and give it a try. That bypasses all the safety switches and any old wiring issues. 

[tom coffey 42]

I have figured out that the previous owner has bypassed the PTO safety switch so the starter will work. I will replace or adjust that switch later to eliminate the bypass wire. He also had a block of wood under the seat to activate the seat safety switch so no butt is required. Now that the points and plug are cleaned I have good spark. I removed and cleaned the Walbro carb. It looked good inside. The fuel pump works great. When I removed the fuel line from the bottom of the gas tank, under the seat, the grommet disentegrated. It was leaking badly already. I will have to rig up a temporary tank until I can, I hope, find a replacement grommet. I found the head bolts were not as tight as the should be so I "snugged them down a bit. I didn't have a torque wrench handy and I didn't remove the head because I don't have a new gasket on hand. I hope the gasket will reseal at least till I can see if this engine will run, or not.

I hope it checks out. The more I look at this C-85 the more I like it and would like to restore it, if the mechanicals all check out.

[ebinmaine 63,295]

@tom coffeycoffey

Good to see your diving right into checking that new tractor out.

Those gas tank grommets are available, I believe.

All of our tractors are older so I don't know the source of those but I'm sure someone else will or you can poke around the website a bit.

 

I don't know if you already have one and it just wasn't handy or whatever but you can get an inexpensive old school beam style torque wrench at most large automotive stores for $20 or so.

 

Not sure if you want to mess around with the experimentation until you get a new head gasket or not but a lot of people have been known to just reuse the old one if they appear to be okay.

Probably more important to retorque in the correct sequence and make sure the cylinder head is flat by sanding it on a piece of glass or Steel as you'll find in some threads.

 

[posifour11 723]

I got a grommet at my local shop in a pinch. Less than $5. 

 

Amazon has grommet and shutoff for under $13. 

[953 nut 51,926]

6 hours ago, tom coffey said:

I didn't have a torque wrench handy

Some auto parts stores have tools like that to lend, call around. You are making good progress.          

[tom coffey 42]

I have a couple of torque wrenches but I'm slightly handicapped and I was working on the WH about 150 yards from where they are stored so I was too lazy to hobble over there to get one, plus I didn't take time to look up the proper torque specs. If it appears to need it I will pick up a new gasket and "resurface" the head with some sandpaper and a piece of glass I keep in my garage just for that.

My favorite old torque wrench is a beam/pointer type. I have checked it a couple of times in years gone by against a click type and found it to be just as accurate, provided it is held properly and the scale and pointer watched closely.

I have since looked up the head bolt torque specs and found them to be listed at 15-20 lbs. this pattern.

Edited May 11, 2019 by tom coffey

[tom coffey 42]

I bought these, as well as some 1/4" fuel hose yesterday to fix my fuel tank/line situation. Now I should be able to start and run the C-85.

[tom coffey 42]

 

Well I screwed up. When I started to install my new valve and grommet I tried to remove what I thought was some remaining grommet but it was actually part of the tank, protruding down, where the hole is for the grommet to fit in. I must have damaged the tank some gouging and prying with my screwdriver because now that I have the new parts in, it leaks badly. I suppose I will remove the parts and see if I can repair the damage. If not I will be looking for a tank.

[ebinmaine 63,295]

Let me know if you need one Tom.

I have a tank from the auction pile and I'm not sure what it fits.

We have all older horses and won't use it.

If it'll work it's yours for the price of freight and packaging.