1965 Massey Ferguson 135

Coming to a close now. Decided to prefit primed bonnet and panels as they need a little persuasion and its better to do it on unpainted surfaces. They all fit well and Mollie looks pleased. Now back to the paintshop.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

The restoration has moved on a bit but rather slowly because of other tractor work, vintage tractor events and holidays. New Good Year tyres, a new seat, a refurbished steering wheel and some red paint all help the appearance and the engine runs like new. New mud wings with original cast handgrips are being worked on along with the remainder of the tinwork

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

After some delays and distractions (people keep bringing me tractors to fix) we are starting to put things together again. Mollie looks a bit impatient and would like to see progress on the painted engine gearbox and rear transmission. Once again Eugene Dixon at Maine Surface Finishing has done a super job. The paint finish is really good and should last another lifetime. Believe it or not putting it all together again is very time consuming but hopefully things will move on from now. We have a target date for completion but we will keep that under wraps in the meantime!

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

A really badly worn set of balls on the lower links is an indication of a lifetime’s workload. We decided to retain the original arms and get the balls replaced. Ashgrove Engineering cut out the old balls, made new balls and new seats to match, fitted them and finished the job with a nice tidy weld at each end.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

The picture shows some of the preparation of the main train of the tractor for blasting prior to painting. This requires great care and attention to detail because blasting shot really is not very kind to threads, engines, transmissions, clutches and hydraulics. These must all be protected. By leaving nothing to chance we are certain that there will be no contact with these areas. A combination of tapered rubber bungs, purpose cut wooden covers sealed with polyurethane based sealer (doesn’t react with the paint) and duct tape are used too ensure good seals. Threaded holes simply get a bolt inserted and exposed bolts are easily covered with piece of pipe secured with a nut. The shot blast operator at Maine Surface Finishing is very sensitive to vulnerable parts of the job and will treat them with caution. Again preparation is the key and nothing is left to chance.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

Some of the parts have been blasted and painted stonleigh grey. We believe in removing and seperating as many parts as possible so that all rust and old paint will be removed in the blasting process and everything will be properly painted. Otherwise rust on surfaces between joined parts will persist and will quickly show through the new paint work after the first rain shower. Maine Surface Finishing like to receive the tractor in 3 seperate lots - firstly all removed parts for grey painting in a large box, secondly the main trunk of the tractor on our unique wheeled frame and thirdly all parts for painting red. Thus nothing gets lost, everything is the right colour, neither paint nor time are wasted a really quality finish is achieved.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

The engine has now been refitted. We replaced the water pump, fuel lift pump and thermostat and now we will get some fuel to it and get it running. It was missing the domed plate in the bottom of the oil filter housing so the oil was not being filtered properly as the filter element was not sealed. Someone must have chucked it in the bin with the old oil filter, ages ago. You see you can never assume thet everything inside is ok! These are no longer obtainable so we will make one on the lathe. It tell us something about the perkins engine - it will keep going whatever the conditions! Unfortunately we have been distracted by having to do some urgent repairs to another 135 but life is not always simple.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

Ah, Mollie is getting impatient and wants to see progress. Project should gather speed now that we have got the engine back. It got new pistons and liners, con rods rebushed, crankshaft polished, big end and main bearings, new oil pump, crank shaft and idler gear and the cylinder head and valves overhauled. Along with the new clutch goes in a new thrust bearing and carrier and new clutch cross shafts and bushes. Also, the injector pump and injectors were serviced by Tommy Wright in Ballymena

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

Some slack was evident in the steering box. Nothing to get alarmed about but we decided to overhaul it anyway. It was stripped down, cleaned, rebushed and the oil seals, gaskets and ball bearings were replaced in the bottom end. The steering column ball race was also given a complete overhaul. The result a nice tight and free moving steering mechanism. A new main gear lever replaced the worn one before fitting the steering box back on to the transmission housing.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

As can be seen in the photo there is a lot of oil sticking around the inside the bell housing. This could only have come from the engine or the gearbox. The crankshaft rope seal has been replaced on the engine so there will be no more leaks from that side. As a precaution however we replaced the oil seals and gaskets in the gearbox. It was necessary to remove the gearbox as the drive and pto input shaft combination cannot be pulled forward and removed until the pto constant mesh gear is dropped down. To allow this to happen the pto driveshaft is pulled to the rear (after removing the bearing). Inspection showed the rest of the gearbox is in very good condition

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

Called with Colin Gillan, Ballymena today. He was asked to do a full assessment of engine condition and to refurbish/restore it to "as new" condition. The photos show new oil pump, pistons and liners. Some work to be done yet on cylinder head, injector pump and injectors. We are assured that the crank shaft is in good condition and new seals and bearings have been fitted. Colin has a high reputation locally for quality of his work and we are looking forward to hearing engine running. We will upload a video in due course.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

The diff lock was seized solid. We had to remove the half shaft and housing then remove the mechanism, free it up and fit a new oil seal and bushes to the diff lock shaft. New gaskets were fitted to both housings. Before the half shafts are replaced new oil seals will be fitted at the wheel ends to prevent oil contamination of brakes.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

One problem we were aware of when we got the tractor was the repaired crack in the hydraulic lid. This damage was apparently caused by a fork lift that was fitted to the tractor. Luckily we found a good second hand lid in a breakers yard and this is now ready for fitting after the innards have been transferred from the origonal. We are confident that the hydraulics generally are sound as we tested them before dismantling.

1965 Massey Ferguson 135

Here ia a picture of a 1965 model 135 which we have been asked to restore. The customer wants the tractor finished to a very high standard. The engine is in fair condition and would probably run for many years but the first priority is a complete engine overhaul. The cab will not be refitted and every effort will be made to maintain origonality. So here goes. Weekly updates to follow.