MF7E Refurb project

[Cub Cadet 613]

Afternoon all, After a few busy months I finally had the chance to make a start on the massey! The aim is to get it running for a show late in July.

 

Heres some before photos in case you forgot

 

 

 

 

 

First job was to get the front up on some axle stands, remove the hood and front wheels. The steering needs some work as everything is very worn.

 

 

 

 

it needs some serious degreasing as well so the engine was next to come out, it also helps to have the engine on a bench as it will need a partial strip down.

 

 

 

 

here you can see just how worn the axle is, it is a very lightweight casting and unfortunately it is a bit twisted.

 

 

Next I made a new bush for the axle, should work just fine.

 

 

after a bit of cleaning up. the original paint is in excellent condition, just a shame someone painted over it.

 

 

 

These are going to require some attention at some point.

 

 

On closer inspection, one of the engine mount holes has cracked, just visible above, now welded up.

 

 

The idler pulley and steering column was removed and then everything given a good clean. 

 

 

For a 56 year old machine, i'm surprised nothing is rusted solid, didn't even have to use any heat. 

 

 

Next job when i'm home next is to replace the bearing in the idler pulley and sort out the worn steering components.

[Westie1 29]

These little tractors look ace, I would love to find one some day.

I'll enjoy following this!

 

Ah I didn't realise this was you Ewan lol

Edited February 12, 2019 by Westie1

[Stormin 4,458]

 You going to do a full refurb, Ewan, or just a sympathetic rebuild.

[4x4forks 258]

Cracking looking machine . Should keep you out of trouble for a while 

[Cub Cadet 613]

On 2/12/2019 at 5:10 PM, Stormin said:

 You going to do a full refurb, Ewan, or just a sympathetic rebuild.

 

A sympathetic rebuild, there is a lot of wear that needs sorting, the crankshaft bearings sound a little rough so the engine needs some attention. An serious degreasing and then something to seal the paint and rust

[HeadExam 1,783]

3 hours ago, Cub Cadet said:

 

A sympathetic rebuild, there is a lot of wear that needs sorting, the crankshaft bearings sound a little rough so the engine needs some attention. An serious degreasing and then something to seal the paint and rust

Here is the engine manual and a Massey 7E page so you can see original tyres and paint  http://www.simplicityva.com/ymf/executive.html  .You probably don't have the Kohler spec and serial number decal that was originally on the engine so you will have to look closely at the TP manual and find what sump, generator, air breather, rope start or electric start or both and other parts that were particular to your engine, by doing so you maybe able to determine the original 7 hp Kohler variant Duro Corporation installed into the Massey 7E. I would say it is real possible that it is a spec number of 2801 or very close to that. The TP manuals allow you to look up the spec number and cross reference which parts were used on your tractor.

K161-L161_7HP_TP1053A.pdf

[Cub Cadet 613]

7 hours ago, HeadExam said:

Here is the engine manual and a Massey 7E page so you can see original tyres and paint  http://www.simplicityva.com/ymf/executive.html  .You probably don't have the Kohler spec and serial number decal that was originally on the engine so you will have to look closely at the TP manual and find what sump, generator, air breather, rope start or electric start or both and other parts that were particular to your engine, by doing so you maybe able to determine the original 7 hp Kohler variant Duro Corporation installed into the Massey 7E. I would say it is real possible that it is a spec number of 2801 or very close to that. The TP manuals allow you to look up the spec number and cross reference which parts were used on your tractor.

K161-L161_7HP_TP1053A.pdf

 

Thanks Alain! yes, as you say there is no engine spec number decal, the small hp decal is present and after scratching off the paint we can determine that it is a 7hp model. 

[Anglo Traction 1,016]

 Good luck Ewan,  I'll be following your progress .  

[Cub Cadet 613]

After a busy year i'm finally getting round to posting some photos, nearly a year later!

so heres some photos.

 

 

Steering gear after a cleanup, I like the fact you can see red paint under the yellow. This is because a MF7E is a rebranded and repainted moto mower which were red.

 

 

Steering column, needed a good cleanup but been well greased so no wear.

 

 

Looking better after a bit of a clean.

 

 

 

 

Will try post some more photos later, having difficulty uploading them 

[Cub Cadet 613]

Finally worked out why my pictures wouldn't upload, stupid phone now takes photos in an unsupported format (by this website), managed to change it so here we are.

 

 

 

 

 

new sump gasket made

 

 

Once stripped down, it was time to give the whole tractor a bit of a clean up ready to put back together. 

 

The crankshaft bearings were jiggered so the engine was stripped down.

 

 

 

 

Back together and already sounding better.

 

 

 

Back on 4 wheels, i'm yet to clean the wheels up but i'll get round to it one day.

 

 

 

There was no way I was going to put this mess of cable back on so a new wiring loom was made later on.

 

 

Someone had tried to fix the coil bracket at some point so I fixed that.

 

 

 

New idler bearing.

 

 

 

I gave the tin work a light sand then used some wax and buffed it up, looks great and will prevent rust.

 

 

 

Focus turned to the seat which was rusty, with some wire wool and water I managed to clean it up nicely.

 

 

 

[Stormin 4,458]

  Keeping the patina look then, Ewan.

[nigel 1,876]

Perfectionist just like your old man 

[the showman 4,074]

Looking good Ewan, 

[Cub Cadet 613]

Next part of the rebuild was to fabricate a couple of parts. One of them was the part that the hood fastens to. 

 

This is the only picture I could find of this part so a bit of guess work was needed.

 

 

 

I made up a bit of a template to test fitting first.

 

 

 

 

Heres what I came up with. 

 

On the picture it looked like there was a piece of round bar welded on as a bit of a strengthener so I welded that on later.

 

Fortunately I had the original choke and throttle controls so fabricated the brackets for these from the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All sorted out, looks just like to original so i'm happy with that

 

 

 

Last job was to make a battery tray, it didn't have one originally but Its more secure.

 

 

[Stormin 4,458]

  Superb fabing Ewan.   I love the chrome control levers.

[Cub Cadet 613]

1 minute ago, Stormin said:

  Superb fabing Ewan.   I love the chrome control levers.

 

Thanks Norm, so do I! I'm glad they weren't cut off with the rest of it.

[the showman 4,074]

Coming along nicely Ewan, nice work mate.

[pmackellow 2,738]

Top job Mr Smith !

 

[nigel 1,876]

Great job Ewan real attention to detail 👍🏻

That steering wheel looks the same as the one on my Australian greenfield