My 982 refurb project

[dtanner]

Dennis M Day

you are moving right along on your rebuild.I see that you are going to have a great tractor when you do finish it. keep us posted .

 

[dday]

Well a little progress to report - maybe too much turkey got in the way. I dug out the hyd. lines that run from hydro pump to valve and noticed the supply line had a nasty flat spot on about 6" of tube, where I think it had been rubbing on the frame (see 1st picture below). There could not of been much wall thickness remaining, and I hated to think of the mess it would make if the tube did develop a leak - so I went looking for a replacement tube and found a used one on eBay that was in good shape. Painted it and set aside.

Next I started on the dash - like a lot of things on this tractor, it was pretty rough. The gages didn't work, the wiring harness had some bad places in it, the fuse holder was bad, and the plastic dash was cracked (see next picture). Again I went to eBay and bought a used plastic dash (that correctly said IH CC on it) and amp & hour meter. These parts haven't arrived yet - so on to the steel dash refurb.

Next I disassembled the dash & controls, cleaned, painted the red / black / silver parts, and reassembled. I dropped the steel dash over the steering column, and mounted the hyd. valve and the lines to it. The result is in the next picture. Well it's starting to look more like a tractor now.

Now I will work on the wiring harness and finish up the dash when the other parts arrive.
More next time.

 

[jbaker]

Dennis, the bottem picture is looking goooood

 

[jchamberlin]

Dennis: I'm impressed by your attention to detail. Your posts are also very easy to read. You should have a wonderful tractor when you're done.

 

[dday]

Jeremiah: thanks for the kind words. I hope my posts may inspire others to refurb their CC. I know I'm really enjoying my project.

 

[dday]

Well time for an update - the results have been slow and at times frustrating lately. First the good part - the dash. I received the used plastic dash I got from eBay and it looked in good shape. I cleaned it up with some Turtle Wax trim restorer and the first picture shows how it looked before assembly with other parts.

Next I set off to find some new and correct gages (amp & hour meter), since the ones in tractor didn't work and looked terrible - see next picture.

I found some used gages, again on eBay that looked pretty good. Also needed a new choke cable since old one was broken, and a new steering wheel (old one was way too small and looked like a toy wheel). Again eBay resecued me and I assembled all these parts on tractor, as shown in next picture.

Now to the frustrating part - the wiring harness. I knew it needed some attention, but I didn't realize it needed lots of help. The main issue was that previous owner had installed a 3 position ignition switch (off/ run/ start), and eliminated the fuse for lights. Since the lights were always powered, he had added an on/ off switch in placed of the light fuse in the dash. Then to top things off, many of the wire colors didn't match the wiring diagram - so I had to use a continuity meter to determine and label each wire so I knew what was what. Well I found a used 4 position ignition switch (off/ run + lights/ run/ start), rewired and added the light fuse back in place of the on/ off switch, cleaned all terminals and then installed the wiring harness in tractor. Unfortunately no pictures to show all this work.

I also cleaned up the rusty old battery box, painted and installed in tractor as shown in last picture below.

Well on to the engine next - I have already done some worked on it, so hopefully it won't take too long - if the Christmas season doesn't interfere too much. Have a Merry Christmas if I don't post again before Christmas!

 

[jchamberlin]

Dennis: Looks good! You're not the only one to go through the entire harness to fix just one little glitch.

I like the values on the ammeter, but you can probably get a used IH one cheap, they're pretty indestructible. I think the values on the standard ammeter are +/- 30 at least for the Quiet Lines and newer units employing an alternator; I don't know about the older starter/generator types. (I think the D'Arsonval movements themselves only require about 50 milliamps for full range movement, resistors are put in the circuit to "calibrate" it to higher values.)

Regarding your parts purchases on "Evil Pay," you've certainly come up with some enviable finds, but have you tried posting your needs in the Classified section on this forum? I'm sure there are some folks who would be willing to help you out, but we need to know what you lack.

Anyway, great project, good progress; enjoy the holidays!

Finally, be careful of the spot where your original broke; the dash on my 782 pulled up over that same screw --I think that area gets a lot more stress due to the "locking" PTO switch, it's easy to tug and pull on it with more force than necessary.

 

[jstertz]

Dennis--Looking good! I'm impressed with your attention to detail. In the end it will really pay off. I'm surprised that you put one of the old "sundial" hourmeters in though. It is quite easy to change those things out if your ever have the need to have an exact "correct" original. However IMHO, the newer ones are much easier to read at a glance. You don't have to practice all you didn't pay attention to in math class, when you're trying to figure out how many hours it has been since you last changed the oil or the air cleaner

! That not withstanding, I love the fact that you out sourced a great looking dash. I wish I had done that with my 682. Now that the beautiful painted hood is right next to the dash with the hairline crack in it, it looks worse than before. I second Jeremiahs thoughts on the wiring. That was one of the most frustrating things to figure out on my project and the harness on my tractor was nearly original. Way to do it right.

You won't regret it!!!

 

[dday]

Jeremiah - thanks for the comments. The new (used) amp meter seems to match the picture in the 982 operators manual, so that fit with my objective to try to make it like it came from factory (within reason). You are right, I should probably try the "Wanted" section for parts, but most of the eBay parts I've found so far are from a 982 being scrapped out, and I was in a hurry to get them. Thanks.

 

[dday]

Joshua - thanks for your comments. The used sundial type hour meter I put in the dash, matches the picture in the 982 operators manual - so I assume that was the factory intent. But I agree with you that the new digital ones are much easier to read. Oh well, if I change my mind some day, like you say it's easy to change it out. Thanks.

 

[dday]

Happy New Year - time for an update. Inspite of a lot of distractions over the holidays, I have been working on my Onan engine lately. When I got the 982, it started and ran good, didn't smoke - but looked pretty sad. Below are two photos of the "before" condition.

One issue I did notice after I had run the engine for a few minutes was a few drips of oil coming from a rubber hose underneath the front PTO clutch. I traced the rubber hose and it runs up under the RH head to the top of the crankcase. I posted this as a question originially on the main forum but didn't get many comments. I'm puzzled as to why this engine has this external crankcase drain hose, when it also has a PCV valve on the top of the crankcase that is connected to the air cleaner - I'm surprised there are both hose and PCV valve. Does anyone with an Onan have a similar open ended hose under their PTO, and does it drip any oil? The photo below shows the oil drain hose with blue tape on it, while the purple tape is on the wiring to alternator.

The next photo is more of a top view of same area, and also the vacuum line to fuel pump is shown with silver tape on it. Note the oil drain hose just attaches into the top of the crankcase.

Well on to the refurbishment. First I cleaned all the gunk off - it was pretty bad, with even a few mice nests to clean out. I disassembled and cleaned the PCV valve and filter - it looked like it should of been working. I removed and disassembled the starter, cleaned it up and put dry lube on the bendix. Put a new oil pan drain plug in as the old one looked questionable. Then I started cleaning and straightening the tin work, getting it ready for painting. Next I found a new (used) muffler to replace the RH one which had a big hole in it. I noticed that each muffler had a support bracket from the top of the crackcase to the muffler flange clip that the parts manual did not call for - but it looked like a good idea, to provide more support than just the lower supports, so I left them on, and in fact I made a new one for the RH side since the one that was on there was very light weight. Next photo is a view in from front of engine and shows the new muffler and support brackets (with a bit of blue tape on them for clarity).

The next two photos show the finish engine all cleaned and painted up, with new filters and fresh oil, ready to go back into the frame.

Well now on to the firewall, fuel tank, and getting engine ready to install. More next time.

 

[tbdavis]

Just wanted to say hi to the folks here and tell Dennis thanks for all the picks . I'm New at all this but enjoy learning and working on my recently acquired Cubs . Have a 126,127 and 147. Most of my 127 is in prime and waiting on the engine to be bored 10 over before I can go much further . Tinkering with the 147 while I wait and finished cleaning and putting new bearings and such in today . Not confident I can add much now but hopefully later down the road.

 

[jchamberlin]

Dennis Day - Engine looks GREAT!

I don't know why there is a second hose into the crank case. I know that on a lot of car engines the PVC valve connects the crankcase to an outlet below the throttle plate, that is, where it is exposed to manifold vacuum; and a second hose often attaches from the crank case to the air cleaner snorkle above the throttle plate where it would be exposed to atmospheric pressure, I assume. I've often wondered why there are nearly parallel paths from the crankcase, but then the PCV valve is for "Positive Crankcase Ventilation" --I suppose the other one could be termed "Passive Crankcase Ventilation." --Hey I'm trying to be funny, don't write that down anywhere.

.

Seriously, like you, I would like to hear from a bona-fide mechanic why there is a second hose connection. Perhaps it helps with condensation control.

 

[mfrade]

Jeremiah, on an auto, your example would be for a closed loop system. The vacuum below the throttle blade pulls the crankcase gases into the carb but the second hose takes filtered air from the air cleaner and passes it into the crankcase. No gas(es) would move without allowing air in on one side. Some of the "hot rodders" simply run a cover that has a filtered element on top of one valve cover with the pcv valve on the other. HTH.

 

[dday]

Time for another update as I have made some progress in the last week. First I worked on installing the wiring harness behind the dash and connecting to gages and switches. I put a bit of hose on the valve bracket to protect the harness from the sharp edges. The following picture shows this work:

Next I installed the battery and hooked up the harness. I noticed the parts book calls out a battery hold down strap - but this tractor didn't have one, and I never have seen what a factory solution was, so I took the liberty to use a rubber strap and metal hooks into the sides of the frame, as shown in the next picture:

Next I was ready to drop the engine into the frame and hook up the drive line, and cables. I had quite a time getting the engine mounting bolts in place with the 4 new rubber rag joints - they were much stiffer than the old ones that were in there, and the new ones didn't want to compress easily to allow the engine to move rearward for the bolt holes to line up. Next picture shows it installed.

Next I worked on the firewall to clean it up, and paint it. The following picture shows it installed:

The next item was the fuel tank, which needed cleaning out. I also installed a new shut off vavle with screen on the bottom of tank, since the old one didn't work. Also, I put in a new gas cap / gage, since the old one was all cloudy and you couldn't see anything. I installed the tank assembly into position in tractor, as shown in next picture:

Lastly, I couldn't wait any longer - I just had to see if the old gal would start up. I just knew I had screwed something up and it probably would not start. So I charged the battery and put some gas into it, and crossed my fingers as I turned the key. It took a few cranks to prime the carb but it started right up - with no smoke. That made my day! I started it several times over the last few days to check for leaks, and purge the air out of the hyd lines, and check the hydro contol for neutral setting. It sounds better than I remembered with 2 decent mufflers now installed. I'm looking forward to finishing it up by painting the sheet metal and tire rims. But first I think I will focus on making sure the sheet metal all fits properly - as I remember there were several ugly gaps that didn't look factory intent. More next time on the sheet metal. Have a good CC day!

 

[jbaker]

Dennis, Very Nice

 

[jchamberlin]

Looks awesome Dennis! Glad it started for you and happy to hear there was no smoke. It sure is pretty!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Dennis, NICE!

 

[ksharpe]

Hey Dennis,

I agree with the others, it looks great.

I will take a look at my Onan when I get home tonight and see if I have the mysterious rubber hose.

Question for you / others... I have read postings about grommets used to seal up spark plug hole in the sheet metal on the Kohler engines. I noticed mine doesn’t have any, nor does yours. Is there supposed to be some type of seal around the spark plugs and the oil filter? I can feel air pouring out of these locations when it's running. I can’t find anything on parts look up that shows them.

Keep up the great work on documenting your progress!

 

[jchamberlin]

Kirk: Harry Bursell is adamant that the spark plug holes in the sheet metal had a rubber seal around them from the factory, it aids in cooling as you suspect.