Case model c

[Mikey the Monkey]

Hello, currently bringing a '36 case c back to life. Took old radiator off yesterday. What should I do or look for while it is off? Water pump? Timing chain or gears? My first Case, so I'm learning as I go

 

[moll]

More info would be good, how deep do you have to get into it like, is the engine stuck?
I usually take the head off, pan, clean out the water jackets and system, clean out the
block, etc. If the water pump feels good and no play ill try it first and if it leaks I
have to come apart again, only thing a guy can do if it isn't running in the first place.
If you can get it running before the radiator comes off you can check for leaks and
attention but as the rad is off now you will just have to disassemble and inspect, reseal
as you go. I have found over the years that unless the tractor has history of disassembly
and cleaning you never know whats in the water system/passages until you work it and see.
So mainly reason I go through all that work is so I know what I have before I use it.

 

[oldproudvet]

What I like to do is, with the pump off, head off, flush well, I've a pencil tip made out of copper tube I can put on a hose and go down head bolt, stud holes and really flush, then I'll fab up a plywood plate and a cork gasket, cover the water pump ins and outs, + any other outlets and fill it with muriatic (SP?)acid, the stuff you get at the hardware store for cleaning concrete before painting or sealing. It's a mild (around 13%) acid but use rubber gloves and eye protection. Your block with have significant iron deposits. If setting for a long time, they'll be dust, but after flushing you want to get as much out as possible. It won't touch lime deposits. Be sure and flush well. But your tractor was filled/drained etc over its years with well water. I've seen engines that slowly heat to boiling, it may take half an hour, but upon running thru this process found significant deposits, particularly in the rear of the block. I had a Studebaker President st 8 in the shop once that had the mud piled to the top of the block, in the rear, and the coolant couldn't get around the rear cylinder. These, as most did, had a brass tube, coming out of the water pump carrying cooler coolant all the way to the rear, but it had deteriorated. Take the time to clean the block as best you can, I guess is the point

 

[Don Rudolph]

Years ago we brought a DC back from Texas that would quickly overheat. After pulling the leaky radiator, we had to actually bust up the water pump to get it out because the lime buildup was so bad. The radiator and block were plugged tight. I would suggest removing the water pump to have a looksee inside the block. It will more than likely need a valve job so I'd take the head off as well. Don

 

[Mikey the Monkey]

thank you for all your insight, i really appreciate it. I inherited this tractor, hasnt run since the 60s, but has been inside. was siezed up but i got it moving freely. ive taken off manifolds, head, mag, carb, radiator. i plan to replace all these parts. also a valve job is in the near future. i guess from the looks of it i should pull the water pump out? as it is easier to flush that way?

 

[kevinthefixer]

If this thing hasn't run in a half-century you might as well replace that water pump while you're looking right at it.

 

[Ron Sa]

We had a C Case in our family for over 50 years. I ended up restoring it. Here are some tips about cooling system rust that might be of use.

With head still on and radiator off, I back-flushed by making an adapter to run water into the head and black flow out of the block where water from the radiator normally enters the block. This was done down at a steep edge of my pond. With the C pointed down hill, I rigged a centrifugal PTO sprayer pump on another tractor and pumped lots of clean pond water backwards under pressure thru the C engine for about 15 minutes.

This still left a lot of flake rust at the rear of the engine but it greatly slowed down the amount of flakes the very powerful C water pump would pump up onto the top of the radiator core.

How well the engine will cool depends to a large extent on how well the water circulates thru the radiator core. Of course there are other factors involved with cooling. Rust flakes tends to get trapped in the top of the core tubes. Rust paste tend to gather and become hard and plug the core tubes lower down. The bottom of the radiator comes off and one can poke a wire up from the bottom but the hard rust paste tends to offers a lot of resistance to being poked upward. Standard radiator cleaner is of little to no help to unplug a plugged core tube because the cleaner cannot circulate thru the plugged tubes.

Thru the water inlet on the left side of the block, a small rod or heavy wire can be poked all the way to the back of the block. A magnet on the end of a wire can be poked back to the back of the block on the left side and attract rust flakes.

In the pitch black of night with the radiator off, shine a small pen lite into this water inlet hole and you can see some details of the rust situation. Is the front sleeve pitted? Is loose rust laying at the bottom of the cylinder sleeves? Also in the dark, shine the pen light into the front hole in the cylinder head and get some idea of the rust situation in the cylinder head. Also look into the fuel tank with the pen light in the dark of night and get a good understanding of the condition of the bottom of the fuel tank.

With the head off, you get some idea about the condition of the sleeves on their inside. If sleeves are not reusable, pulling them out makes it much easier to clean the rust out of the block. A berry hone works well if the sleeve surface is still useable without reaming it.

Getting the water pump off may be a real chore because of the pilot diameter being rusted tight. On 1/12/19, I posted how I do that and what to look for to fix the pump. Its a tricky pump to fix.

Nuf for now. Good luck with your project.

 

[Ole CC]

Try your best not to damage that water pump. They are getting pretty hard to find.

 

[wilson ind]

Pull sleeves and replace O rings. Seems as many of mine leaked water into oil after many years.

 

[JimEvans]

Yep, if you are that far, pull the sleeves, clean the block and replace the o-rings. Once you see the condition, you will be glad you did.