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1967Craftsman's

6hp Craftsman Power Unit Restoration

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Well I put yet another craftsman in my shed thanks to a member of MyTractorForum, along with a spare engine too! I bought this from him and now I got both the 6 and 10 horsepower version! It needs A LOT, mostly everything BUT i will get it there. 

It all started with me seeing this tractor somewhere on the forum but I forgot where and remembering the fella having it, then meeting the fella at a local tractor show and expressing interest in it saying "if you ever wanna sell it let me know". Then it turns out my first craftsman or the one in the 3rd picture on the left is having problems and asking the fella for some pictures of now my tractor on the right in the 1st and 2nd picture. He then sent me a message saying he was thinking of selling the tractor and asking if I was still interested in it, needless to say I asked if I can come look at it and then went to his house to look at it and then struck a deal. 

When I bought the tractor the fella I bought it from said he bought it from a kid to restore it, but was never gonna get around to it so he offered it to me before he put it for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The kid was gonna scrap it when the fella bought it! I am now the 3rd owner as far as I know, unfortunately no manuals or paperwork came with the tractor when I bought it though. 

My personal plan is to document the restoration here when I can and have time, and ask as many questions as possible if I or my stepdad don't know the answer to them. I am going to take as many pictures as possible when the resto gets started and throughout the resto and upload them here as well if my phone allows me to. I also am going to "bag and tag" and label every nut and bolt possible when I take it apart, (because I made that BIG mistake on my other tractor).

Look for more on this tractor coming back from the dead in the hopeful near future....


Below are the pictures the fella sent me when he started talking about selling it.....

download.jpg.0743740e469109583b1655c7dd13d056.jpg856908869_download(1).jpg.822f243c9cd321b651e51ff0a55e5d43.jpg

 

It is now in my shed with my other Craftsman, now I have both the 6 and 10hp versions!

752510368_download(2).jpg.b828f346ac3ee80c847ac79b3b4a20f6.jpg96772016_download(3).jpg.29f48e022579ad0e84d541baf9298852.jpg

 


So far I took the gas tank off...... 
1714676979_tank2.jpg.b2da76a48616c51071206ff6b88d9298.jpg

 


and found a nice nest......

1777967550_tank1.jpg.f7d3867950b2d55c15d2bc58d53517f0.jpg1012924947_tank3.jpg.65ee7f95f6080db06cc1a210c67aa865.jpg1761039640_tank4.jpg.d1d7e54e82a2c44c3ae22831151528bc.jpg

 


I cleaned all the rust out of it, I completely cleaned it out twice with rocks CLR and PB blaster.....

1640833362_tank5.jpg.168689359ef459f944e40ff2189432d0.jpg

 

 

Results after cleaning one..... 
546359405_tank6.jpg.525ff8390eda831a020105e4b75e5bdd.jpg

 


Results after cleaning two and letting the CLR sit for 36 hours.....

1048595047_tank7.jpg.f3e2a156940080f1bd96625e70e94fd8.jpg

Edited by 1967Craftsman's

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I also put some PB blaster in the spark plug hole to try and free up the engine since it won't turn over by hand, I put the PB in everyday for 2 weeks but at the end of the 2nd week of the engine still not turning and the PB evaporating I put some ATF and kerosene in the spark plug hole. That too evaporated and didn't work either by the next morning so I am gonna have to most likely rebuild the engine. I took the engine head bolts out when I put the ATF in the hole just for this reason of having to take the engine apart so I can try and save some time.

 

Before with the ATF in the spark plug hole......1161367030_atf1.jpg.4a00d6a0d06d8cee1cb88beb0d51e5de.jpg

387289266_atf2.jpg.3cbe0e99fbd4f807f097d9665df93e14.jpg

 


After with the ATF not in the spark plug hole......

624439251_atf3.jpg.594ca59c8e8e374c62342274b98b122c.jpg

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Well folks, I took the shroud and starter generator cover off and the flywheel screen off too and found a nice big nest I vacuumed out the nest since the pictures.....

 

1131084301_shroud1.jpg.8e2c6615b72cf826fd910c77f751492d.jpg1666523162_shroud2.jpg.5779a016a6faba81ff22e43779e0c183.jpg

 

I also took the air filter off, and it looks like it's the original one! I right now plan on blowing it out with the air compressor gun and seeing how it looks. It will most likely have to be replaced, so I am planning on getting an NOS one for the engine and saving the original to be on the safe side but we will see......

221600332_filter1.jpg.a19fa8d6b9124dcce22c968ff113dd6e.jpg1752725114_filter2.jpg.169a55296fadc2182a968e5c2b6a1c09.jpg

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I also took the head off the engine, here is what it looks like when I first took it off along with what the oil looks like when I pulled the dipstick after I noticed there was no more transmission fluid in the spark plug hole . As you can see there is carbon on the head......

2046058046_engine1.jpg.30519ff25ad8bbd88bec4d4f44f04f4f.jpg1570100893_engine2.jpg.a9c9c8345cbe6b92b74947cb44b838da.jpg1056952278_engine3.jpg.ff849d387deffff9fa04c97200cbbb30.jpg

 

This is all for now, more to come soon.....

Edited by 1967Craftsman's

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On 1/4/2022 at 2:44 PM, Stormin said:

 That should come up well considering what you've already done with your other. :thumbs:

 

Thank you for the compliment, my plan is to do this tractor even better than my other Craftsman! I won 4th place out of 5 with my other one last year at the local fair. Long story short, there is a girl with a wheel horse that is nicer than my other Craftsman and she won 1st place the past 2 years in a row so I wanna make this "new" Craftsman as good as hers if not better and try to snag that first place.  

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On 1/9/2022 at 6:34 AM, Maxwell-8 said:

never seen these. I can see it is getting a long-deserved overhaul! great job :handgestures-thumbupright:

 

Thank you for the compliment. These tractors are around, I know of 3 others but I wanna say the 6 horsepower is more common than the 10 horsepower so there could be more out there that I don't know about. 

 

I wanna say this tractor has been sitting for maybe 5 years but I think more outside. Since I got my 10 horsepower I looked up more information about it on VintageSearsGardenTractors and while searching for information on there I saw the 6 horsepower version and wanted one, then I saw this tractor on the other tractor forum and I wanted it bad to go with my 10 horsepower so needless to say I am VERY happy I got it.

 

Edited by 1967Craftsman's

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I'm back with some updates on the tractor. I cleaned up the head, the top of the piston, and the valves the best I could with a brass brush. Here are some pictures, the first picture is when I was cleaning the head. I sprayed some PB blaster on it and used the brush on it......

535588318_motor1.jpg.ece28b0adb6896bec80b5402840efede.jpg

 

All cleaned up now, is the condition of the head "normal" so to speak in the first picture with those tiny looking crack things?.......

1417291968_motor2.jpg.b3df1337e3e0ec461a05cc8ccb77dc8e.jpg1817414752_motor3.jpg.2c0eccf16017910ededa5d1f044663f5.jpg

 

Here is a picture of the rest of the engine, this is the best I can get it clean unless someone has a tip to make it cleaner than this any help is appreciated. I am thinking of maybe replacing the piston head right now anyway, but there again why fix somethin' that ain't broke and replace something when it doesn't need it so i'm not sure yet. The piston wall is pretty smooth with minor small scratches......

1982684954_motor4.jpg.8ee96bff2d7686aa212dd723049a024c.jpg

 

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I also took a couple parts off the engine and a part off the shroud to put them in the parts washer and to sandblast them......
1838721622_engineparts1.jpg.178b3df31d029285581751131450c65e.jpg1596982431_engineparts2.jpg.0074d9a5637c3d19830a2831a8e93b1e.jpg

 

In the parts washer......

2055919144_engineparts3.jpg.f08875ffafe60c2838675053b24ef65e.jpg

 

 

All washed and sandblasted, now they are ready for primer and paint.....
968872257_engineparts4.jpg.f08415457baffb3b093925bfa9fe1572.jpg

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4 hours ago, 1967Craftsman's said:

 

535588318_motor1.jpg.ece28b0adb6896bec80b5402840efede.jpg

1417291968_motor2.jpg.b3df1337e3e0ec461a05cc8ccb77dc8e.jpg1817414752_motor3.jpg.2c0eccf16017910ededa5d1f044663f5.jpg

1982684954_motor4.jpg.8ee96bff2d7686aa212dd723049a024c.jpg

 

 

Responding to my post above.....

 

I also have this picture of the engine looking inside the carburetor, I think I see oil there so I think I found my problem of where the ATF and kerosene went.....

oil.jpg.cbccee12fcda04879d3c76529cea8bda.jpg

 

Now this is all for now, more to come soon......

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Well I got an "update" on the tractor if you call it that. I went to my local tractor supply before I went to work one day to start thinking about paint and see if there was some yellow paint I could use for cheaper, instead of that special $40 a can paint that I used on my other tractor that would be a VERY close match to the original color. I also went in for a new belt to put on the shroud and starter generator. I took the top of my battery box off my other Craftsman to compare paint, and I ended up buying 1 spray can of Majic Cub Cadet yellow because when I looked and compared it with my battery box it looked nearly identical. I also asked the cashier when I bought it what he thought and he said it is the closest I will get to my battery box, well I got it home sprayed it on a little piece of paper and this is how it came out...... 

168895514_yellow2.jpg.60cb383b98c4d374267ce60deeecfb0c.jpg

 

These pictures above and below are from tractor supply, notice how it looks VERY similar in the below picture but maybe its the lighting in the camera. It looked the exact same in the light in the store too so I took a gamble and unfortunately lost.......

1039332019_yellowpaint.jpg.242e22fe8c7cfe9c1974da0a496be45e.jpg

 

 

On another note, we have a couple other cans of yellow paint at home so I figured I would try one of those too on a piece of paper. When I sprayed it unfortunately it came out too light so It looks like I'm gonna have to go with my special $40.00 a can again.....
985806099_yellow3.jpg.3c5dc798315088175f47b9de13bc24bf.jpg

 

This is all for now, more to come soon.....

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It is always really hard finding a color that is a close match. I am having the same issue with my Wheel Horses.

The color on the plastic cap is always very different from the color sprayed on metal.

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Well folks, 

 

I got some good but bad news, my gas tank got sandblasted the other day and it has a small hole in it. It can easily be repaired but it was something that I didn't expect. I will try repairing it myself, if not bring it to someone if need be.....

1483366481_gastank1.jpg.6c78678b6609d913eaa738c6ac1862c5.jpg1483366481_gastank1.jpg.6c78678b6609d913eaa738c6ac1862c5.jpg548634013_gastank2.jpg.376c77936b80b12de30a3201fd474d9d.jpg

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  I've known holes like that be brazed. A fabrication shop may do it for you. BUT! And it's a big but, wash the tank out thoroughly with water then run compressed air through it for a while.

  JB weld could also be an option.

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Well folks, 

 

I'm back with an update on the tractor. All the engine bolts are out of the engine, the belts are off and out of the way, and the engine is now ready to be taken off the frame. The engine will be taken off in the spring and after I get my other 10 horsepower Craftsman running though, I don't want too much apart at once from 2 different tractors and I don't want too many projects apart at one time. 

belts.jpg.a9cf2a324a7251d5eaa4ee8da04ae54d.jpg 

This is all for now, more to come soon......

 

Edited by 1967Craftsman's

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On 1/23/2022 at 4:34 PM, Stormin said:

 So we've to wait till spring? Oh you teaser!:poke:

 

LOL unfortunately yes, although it could be and maybe sooner. Sorry. I don't do much outside this time of year in the cold weather because I get cold very easily, and as I also said I don't want too much apart at once from 2 different tractors and I don't want too many projects apart at one time. It could be sooner but most likely it will not be, I will keep everyone posted. 

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Hi folks,

I'm back with an update on the tractor, which I again got some good but bad news on. The bad news is I found another small hole in my gas tank after it was sandblasted, the good news is I got a brand new Autolite spark plug for the engine and I bought an NOS air filter.....

The bad below......
1931101236_tractor2ndhole.jpg.d688b23728965dc0b41f6ffe17e90684.jpg

 

 

 

The good below, the new spark plug....
363932959_sparkplug.jpg.c569e631586a71aba78b868173b9b1c8.jpg

 

 

The new NOS filter below, I only got it for around $13.00 on Ebay.....

792348567_newfilter.png.f67f16cf5dd8f46bb3f0bc4392c8e563.png

 

 

The old spark plug below.....

274570406_oldsparkplug.jpg.c8d3ff89d898421cdd3e97e172f2d227.jpg

 

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Comparing the old filter to the new NOS one. At this point some (or maybe all) folks would say ok you can throw the old filter out now since it looks disgusting and you got the new one, BUT that is not me. I will save it even when the NOS one is in..... 

668441039130932844.jpg.43b078c37e3c7d6b1c69833d43f1693c.jpg1030223680_filter6.jpg.f453704ac7c1cbc704357f6bdba7c705.jpgIMG_20220202_145020_0.jpg.3ce6ad345817966e193ea23c95744167.jpgIMG_20220202_145001_4.jpg.9f19607f227c8cb9d0a68553ba88bb6c.jpg

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