1958 Ford tractor Elenco 4x4

[Al Willistein]

I own a 1958, gas Ford with Elenco conversion. Ford bucket. Much restoration work done. Willing to discuss in detail work done to serious buyer. Price starts at 25k. These are rare. Only 5-6 k made.

 

[john in la]

These are rare
In the mid west or south maybe so.
In the NE not so much
Price starts at 25k
I wish you luck

 

[Sean in PA]

There is a separate classified ad forum on this site. You are only supposed to list things for sale there.

 

[Vito]

Could have bought one for $6500 last year. Wasn't restored but worked well.

Vito

 

[showcrop]

Here in NE half the towns had them for highway work.

 

[Tony Jacobs]

I own a 1958, gas Ford with Elenco conversion. Ford bucket. Much restoration work done. Willing to discuss in detail work done to serious buyer. Price starts at 25k. These are rare. Only 5-6 k made.

Explain what much restoration work means ? A paint job and regular service work isn’t a restoration . Now if you have rebuilt the Elenco kit , the engine , the transmission , the rear end , the hydraulic system added all new tires tubes and rear rims now we are getting to what a restoration is , which is a complete Rebuild of the tractor then of course after the paint work comes the complete rebuild of the electrical system . Oh and by the way there was about 10,000 Elenco’s built because I own the company and have for the last 40 years and still make parts today . So yes it’s Rare but don’t go making bogus claims when you don’t know what you’re talking about . Thanks Tony

 

[Al Willistein]

no bogus claims were made. Engine rings replaced, new clutch, radiator recored, seals replaced in 3 pt hitch, converted to 12 volts with alternator and electronic ignition, new wire harness, replaced 3 pt hitch hydraulic line by splitting tractor in half(tube had pin hole leak due to rain water getting into transmission segment, rain water through shifting boot?), replaced brushes in starter, new exhaust manifold.
Removed hood, front and rear wheels, front axle and all steering components. Stripped all old paint off engine and main frame/rear axle. Primer and 2 coats of paint. New fenders.
It has a Ford bucket frame, repainted black. New bucket to replace original that had structural rust and a dent . The bucket hydraulic pump driveshaft was replaced.
The front axle differential ring and pinion was replaced (bought from Tony Jacobs)
The ring gear teeth were stripped due to no oil in the differential.
Granted to make this tractor showroom ready it would need the lights, toolbox and oil air intake filter repainted and installed.
So selling price would be negotiable.

 

[Tony Jacobs]

no bogus claims were made. Engine rings replaced, new clutch, radiator recored, seals replaced in 3 pt hitch, converted to 12 volts with alternator and electronic ignition, new wire harness, replaced 3 pt hitch hydraulic line by splitting tractor in half(tube had pin hole leak due to rain water getting into transmission segment, rain water through shifting boot?), replaced brushes in starter, new exhaust manifold.
Removed hood, front and rear wheels, front axle and all steering components. Stripped all old paint off engine and main frame/rear axle. Primer and 2 coats of paint. New fenders.
It has a Ford bucket frame, repainted black. New bucket to replace original that had structural rust and a dent . The bucket hydraulic pump driveshaft was replaced.
The front axle differential ring and pinion was replaced (bought from Tony Jacobs)
The ring gear teeth were stripped due to no oil in the differential.
Granted to make this tractor showroom ready it would need the lights, toolbox and oil air intake filter repainted and installed.
So selling price would be negotiable.

Hello Al , You said 5-6,000 Elenco’s were made that is a Bogus Claim or a straight out lie which ever you prefer I was trying to be nice . I posted on here 30 years ago and many times since there was about 10,000 kits made from 1948-1978 . When I bought the company there was no internet and this was the first site I ever posted information about Elenco’s on . I have never counted in all the Minneapolis-Moline kits , the IH kits , The Case kits , the John Deere kits that Elwood made because I only bought the smaller division that produced the Fords and the Massey’s . I can say exactly that there was a 500 Elenco kit order with Massey and I only owned one of those . A great deal of the Factory documentation burned up in factory fire back in the 70’s as I was told by the last partner still alive in the late 80’s . He told me no more 10,000 kits were made from beginning to end . If the paperwork had not been lost I would have known the serial number and the selling location of every single kit produced just as I do for only the 3 cylinder kits somehow that escaped the fire . So as I say I am not picking on you but that number is just incorrect . Thanks Tony

 

[john in la]

My point was fixing everything that is broken and painting the tractor is not worth 25k.
You could spend 25k and have the rear axle seal start leaking while you are loading it on the trailer.

For 25k I would expect every bearing to be inspected and every gasket to be replaced in the entire tractor.

 

[Tony Jacobs]

My point was fixing everything that is broken and painting the tractor is not worth 25k.
You could spend 25k and have the rear axle seal start leaking while you are loading it on the trailer.

For 25k I would expect every bearing to be inspected and every gasket to be replaced in the entire tractor.

Hello John , You are absolutely correct . All these guys call their normal maintenance or general service work and a paint job as a Restoration when in truth it is the farthest from a Restoration . In a Real Restoration every single component is disassembled , inspected and repaired as needed even if it is only gaskets , seals and o-rings . Then comes the painstaking task of cleaning , blasting and painting which when done correctly is very time consuming because a proper paint job isn’t painting the project in one piece because you get everything painted when it is one piece . Usually it has to be painted in multiple sections and pieces . Anybody that has done a real complete nut and bolt restoration knows the difference . Thanks Tony

 

[Sean in PA]

I thought that Ford painted their pre-1965 tractors on the assembly line near the end of the assembly, and only a few things like the starter and generator were black because those were installed after the tractor had been painted. So how is a restoration more "correct" by painting things separately?

 

[john in la]

I thought that Ford painted their pre-1965 tractors on the assembly line near the end of the assembly, and only a few things like the starter and generator were black because those were installed after the tractor had been painted. So how is a restoration more "correct" by painting things separately?

You could paint the tractor in a mostly assembled condition.
But I challenge you to get every component as clean as it was on the assembly line before painting without taking it completely apart.
And painting over dirt is not acceptable.

Either way.
To replace every gasket on the tractor you need to take everything apart.

 

[Tony Jacobs]

I thought that Ford painted their pre-1965 tractors on the assembly line near the end of the assembly, and only a few things like the starter and generator were black because those were installed after the tractor had been painted. So how is a restoration more "correct" by painting things separately?

Well technically Ford painted the tractors including all 1965 4 cylinder models with the starters , generators installed . They painted the belts the distributor caps and wires the harness and everything else because that is mass production . But everything behind didn’t get painted or down in front by the lower pulley . So you’re going to ask top dollar for a real restoration with a mass production paint job that parts of the tractor didn’t painted at all ? Get real , factory correct or not Mass production paint work doesn’t cut it . The Black Starters , Generators are not factory neither is coated exhaust systems . All factory rear rims were Galvinized but most get powder coated silver . Look at factory photos or sales brochures you can plainly see how bad they looked when new you can see everything was painted one color and all over everything . 99% of the Real nut and Bolt restorations are over done by factory mass production standards but the detail looks much better than if you copied the sloppy mass production work and collectors want the more detailed look . Not to mention the paint started peeling off everything that wasn’t supposed to be painted in the first place like the hose clamps and anything rubber .

 

[showcrop]

I thought that Ford painted their pre-1965 tractors on the assembly line near the end of the assembly, and only a few things like the starter and generator were black because those were installed after the tractor had been painted. So how is a restoration more "correct" by painting things separately?

If this were the case why do all of the Ford produced advertising videos of the era , recorded using straight from the factory new tractors, show red starters and generators? The only reason for black is that the owners didn't bring red paint with them to the auto-electric shop when dropping off their units for repair.

 

[Al Willistein]

So, I guess I used the wrong word “restore “. Should have been repairs. Sorry to ruffle feathers for all you Restoration experts. My comment on the # of Elenco conversions was based on what I had read years ago on this and other websites. To use the word bogus and accuse me of lying is rather harsh. I realize I should have listed my tractor on the for sale list and not open myself to criticism from people for not “getting it correct “
It’s all in the way it’s presented, I will avoid forums and not expose myself to keyboard critics.

 

[Vito]

So, I guess I used the wrong word “restore “. Should have been repairs. Sorry to ruffle feathers for all you Restoration experts. My comment on the # of Elenco conversions was based on what I had read years ago on this and other websites. To use the word bogus and accuse me of lying is rather harsh. I realize I should have listed my tractor on the for sale list and not open myself to criticism from people for not “getting it correct “
It’s all in the way it’s presented, I will avoid forums and not expose myself to keyboard critics.

If you are going to post on forums someone usually will call you out on something. Thick skin is part of the game.

Vito

 

[Tony Jacobs]

So, I guess I used the wrong word “restore “. Should have been repairs. Sorry to ruffle feathers for all you Restoration experts. My comment on the # of Elenco conversions was based on what I had read years ago on this and other websites. To use the word bogus and accuse me of lying is rather harsh. I realize I should have listed my tractor on the for sale list and not open myself to criticism from people for not “getting it correct “
It’s all in the way it’s presented, I will avoid forums and not expose myself to keyboard critics.

Well Al since you had purchased Elenco parts from me in the past you know I own the company and I would have told you anything you wanted to know about it . So posting incorrect amounts of kits made is a Bogus claim or a lie which ever you prefer to call just as I said in my post I didn’t accuse you anything other than incorrect claims . Since that is not my claim about the amount of kits made and never was then it is incorrect my claim is what I was told by the last surviving partner of the company when I bought it . As I also said there is no exact claim to the amount of kits made because of the fire . When you look at the production of Ford Tractors during 1948-1978 the years of the kits being built originally it is well over 2 million tractors and as I said there is less than 10,000 kits ! Do the math it is still rare regardless you don’t have quote anybody body else’s figures that have nothing to do with ownership of the company . As for restoration that has been explained by more than guy here it is what it is .

 

[pomester]

1948-1978 the years of the kits being built originally

1958 maybe?