David Brown Knocking

[wee-allis]

Hi John,
 It looks great. Just one thing, as you have done such a great job on David so far, I reckon it's going to frustrate the living S#$t out of you now, until you get the opportunity to make the rest look as good.

Any way mate, great job so far and can't wait for the start-up.

Cheers, Steve.

[Scott]

can't wait for the start-up.

Cheers, Steve.

Hello all.
Neither can I. I have not commented throughout this rebuild but I have thoroughly enjoyed the trials and tribulations throughout the process.

Well done Cobba!!!

Cheers Scott

[cobbadog]

All last week after work I did what I could before the heat finally got me. I serviced Dees little Swift on Saturday morning and then set to work on David for the rest of the day until I actually did start him up. First I cranked the engine over without the spark plugs in place to unload the starter so the engine spun over easily trying to pump up some oil pressure first. I don't know how long I cranked it for but I didn't get any pressure doing that. So in went the plugs and some fuel, a bit of choke and a pull on the starter and away it went along with god oil pressure of 38 lbs. A huge grin lit up my face hearing him run again but there were 2 smallish issues, a funny sound from the front of the engine and a small water leak from the bottom radiator hose. SO with the garden hose on a slow trickle I found the horrible noise. I managed to fit the radiator into the wrong pair of holes and the shroud was rubbing against the generator pulley. I now have a new hose and clamps for the radiator, have moved the radiator to where it should be and now I need to make some small adjustments to the governor linkage to allow it to idle properly and then do a fine tune on the carby. I will run the engine again once the hose is fitted and sort the linkage issue and run it for a good long time while looking for any leaks before fitting the tinware back. Once happy with those things I will organize a Service Run up through our local State Forrest giving him a bit of loading up in all gears. Video will be made once I have him running again and will post a link here. Thank you to everyone who has help and passed comment and offered support to me during this project. I have enjoyed it immensely.
As for the paint work on the rest of the tractor, it will take some time before I get David ready for that job. Have a look at the crinkly drivers side guard, then there is a small amount of rust in the base of them too. A small amount of straightening needs to be done on the bonnet and grille but they are not bad.

[allisb]

Oh, well done John! If they are the only couple of dramas you got off pretty lightly!
Good to hear his voice again eh?
Don't forget a retension of the cylinder head etc and reset the valve clearances.
All the best with it.
A B

[cobbadog]

At this stage while my brain is almost engaged I would like to thank the people who helped me out so much with parts and advise,
Syd Ramsey, Oliver52, wee-allis, Bill Hudswell, Peter Green, David Brown Tractor Parts - UK, Clifford Price - UK, and everyone else who has passed comment with good advise, Thank You very much.

[wee-allis]

Hi John,

From my end, you are more than welcome, but let's face it, isn't this exactly what this forum is all about. people with like interests helping each other out where they can?

Cheers, Steve.

[cobbadog]

Yes it is all about that Steve and where possible the system does work. Had David talking to me again today. No more water leaks and found a small oil leak and of all places it is the easiest one to fix, rocker cover gasket. Will get some new cork gasket and make another one. Existing one is made of a neoprene rubber which tends to be a bit hard, probably from heat, so a cork one will fix that. I have put the guidance system back on so I can steer it and drove David out of the car port and into the yard. Clutch felt great, as a new one should. Video coming soon.

[cobbadog]

Here it is at last a short video of David running. Fixed the bottom radiator hose then made a new rocker cover gasket and fixed that small leak, now I can hear a tappet noise out of no where. So the bonnet has to wait as does the scuttle plate but at least it is mobile again.

http://youtu.be/pMKueojExSA

[Scott]

Hello Cobba.
I cannot seem to hear any knocks either.
There was some screeching to be heard at the end of the video though.

Well done on the rebuild.
Cheers Scott.

[cobbadog]

Thanks for the kind words. I started him up the other day and although it was not warmed up there was no tappet noise then. But when I just replayed the video with my sound turned up high especially towards the end of the clip and before the honker honks there is a definite tappet noise.

[cobbadog]

Found 2 tappets that were a bit too wide and adjusted accordingly. For the first time in a very long time and also since we have owned David he finally has a scuttle plate fitted. This is the one we picked up earlier this year from fleabay. So now all the tin ware we have is in place and will now look for side panels to fit. In the mean time I will slowly start to straighten up the bonnet and grille and think long and hard at what is the best plan for the mudguard. It has a bit of rust in the bottom and is like a crinkle cut chip on the flat surface of the guard.

[Razor]

if anyone is interested I bought a water distribution tube from uk for about $150 aus dollars
 I am having them made locally if any one is interested probably for half that cost

let me know if anyone wants one
 Ray

[cobbadog]

I had mine made locally (in Newcastle NSW) for a cost of $80.00 and it is made of stainless steel and fits and so far works a treat. Be very careful with these tubes as they can be fitted in back to front and then will not work properly. All the holes are drilled to correspond with the valve guides. I also sealed both ends of the tube with U-Needit to ensure that it is sealed as best it can be. You are supposed to pein the ends over to make the seal. I did this but as there was a bit of corrosion around the area I simply filled it and sealed it.

[cobbadog]

Just a quick update on the removal of unwanted knocking.
David has about 10 hours on the engine now. Some of it just running in the back yard and driven up and down the driveway. Took him to our Rusty Iron Rally and hooked him to the sled and I was horribly impressed as to how well he pulled. I was asked how much water was in the tyres and the answer was none. The only very noticeable problem was the engine was 'hunting' big time under load. I played with the tension on the spring for the governor and this took care of that issue. Yesterday we took him out to play on a Trek and he ran ok but with room for improvements. Under load he pulled very well but under light loads he sounded rough. I think I may have gone too far with that governor spring tension so I will look at that soon. He stopped 3 times on us as if he was out of fuel. Changed the fuel supply tap from front to back tank and back again and away he went. Even tried pulling out the choke to suck anything through the carby and again it would go again. Removed the carby at lunch time and with the smallest tiny amount of silt like rust sitting in the bowl was removed and it ran well again for the rest of the day. Hard to think that something so small in particle size and quantity and the hole sizes in the jets you can't believe that it was causing any problems. I even fitted a small inline filter to stop this happening so that gives you an idea of how fine the rubbish was.
I also seem to have a brake issue as the drivers side does not seem to be engaging the same amount as the passenger side. Leading up to the trek they were working well. He has a small oil leak on the passengers side but its the drivers side not working properly.