1941 B to restore or not?

[Rich Carstensen]

We have a 1941 John Deere B that was my grandfathers first tractor he bought brand new. Unfortunately he passes away in 1950 and the tractor went to the barn, up on blocks to rest. It is still in original condition, even the tires are original and still hold air! We pulled it out about a year ago and are deciding to restore it or just leave it as it is "in it's work cloths"?

The bad about the tractor is that the farm cats "marked" it heavliy in some areas and created some major rust.

What should we do? Restore or not?
 

[old]

Well again I hate the term restore since to do so means to bring it back to the specs as in when it was new. Now to maybe fix it up so as to stop it from rusting that is another story. I wish I had the before and after pictures of my 1935 JD-B that my grand father owned but all I have is this picture and my son driving it in a parade of power at a show. When my dad got it years ago it did not have so much as one spot of green paint on it so my dad had it painted

 

[rrlund]

Anybody can restore a tractor. Nobody can make one original. If it hasn't already been repainted by somebody else,leave it alone. They're getting real hard to find in original condition.
They make a great reference for others wanting to know correct decal placement and details like that. If you want to preserve it,put a coat of clearcoat on it or something.
 

[Stephen Newell]

I think I would work on the areas that are rusted and leave the rest of it alone. If you don't take care of the rust you will have holes in it before long.