1959 D17 diesel before and after

Loaded up and on the way back home, and the days progress way into the night. I just couldn’t walk away from it.

The generator and power steering pump was one of the first things I put on, Steves nice work really stands out. Had to order another matching belt, although they were labeled the same, one was a half inch longer. The tension spring for the tank strap was missing. A call to Brenda at SLI and she said yeah I got a new one. She continues to amaze me with her inventory. Hard to believe a $2.18 part made me so happy.

I really took my time on reassembly. I brought it home August 23rd and although I’ve worked on it practically every day since then, I promised myself that I would not rush. After all, this has been a ton of hard work and now is when the fun begins. Watching your hard work come together each day. Shortly before disassembly, on the last run from the farm, a mud dobbers nest hiding under the radiator shroud broke loose, hit the fan, and punctured 3 holes in the radiator. Parts of the nest hit me in the face. I tried to find another radiator just in case this one couldn’t be repaired. Impossible to find one for a diesel in our area. Couldn’t find a new one either. Luckily the gentleman I had repair it had 30 plus years of experience and was able to save it.

The new wiring harness going in. Steve really did a nice job on the harness and I like the black asphalt heat protectant covering the wiring. It looks great against the orange paint. Unfortunately, I could not locate factory clips along the rear of the tractor. NLA. Still waiting for a salvage yard to call me back, so they can be added later if they can be found. I have the extra wiring under the fender just in case. For now it’s loosely coming around the rear end and to the lights.

wish mine was that far along  looks real good

Are the wires on the ammeter reversed?

Nice work Rob... Lots of HARD WORK... Photos are very detailed... One thing i might mention is when posting to shrink the photos to 800 x 600 or similar.. They take up about 25% as much DATA when you do that.. larger photos are going to take up a lot of your FUTURE storage space !!  ...........VERY NICE WORK !! 

PPG alkyd enamel. Spray with a HVLP $30 gun from Harbor Freight, set at about 20 psi. I’m not a painter but it sprayed nicely.

Edited by AC720Man - 15 Sep 2023 at 11:51am

Thanks for that bit of info. I just pulled out my old laptop and went on the site and guys I’m sorry, had no idea pictures were blown up so much. I won’t post any more until I get it figured out.

I went through and deleted a bunch of my pictures before I started the post. I realize that effects previous post but I tried to just do the older pics or least relevant pics. Funny how everything shows up fine on my tablet when I look at them. I can see where’ that would drive you guys nuts.

Thanks Tim, haven’t got to the WD power steering yet. Winter time project most likely.

Edited by AC720Man - 15 Sep 2023 at 7:49pm

I failed to mention this is not the original engine. Previous owner whom is a friend of mine came across another D17 with somewhere around 3k hours on it. Original engine was in need of a complete rebuild. So he swapped them out. That’s when he replaced the clutch, throw out bearing, new head gasket. I can’t remember but I think new bearings while he replaced the pan gasket. I need to verify that. Engine runs very well and has good power. I pulled it last year in a 6,000 lb antique pull and it only pulled down a few hundred rpm before spinning out. Loaded tires, so I was at 5,300 lbs off the bat. Tractor is not a gear jumper either. It will get fire rings when it needs a rebuild but I’m hoping it will be a long time before it needs that. I also replaced the valve cover gasket due to a leak 6 months ago but that’s it as far as the engine goes. I’ve put approximately 50 hours on it since I purchased it, ran it awhile before having the tach rebuilt. They are an expensive engine to overhaul from what I have been told.

I retired last year and bought this 2 days later as a gift to myself lol. I had been looking for a black bar for a few years so I jumped on it after some negotiating of the asking price. After finishing up hay last year I began to do some minor repairs when time allowed. We are in a drought here so we only made 1st cutting on all fields and second cutting on 2 orchard grass fields. So, other than feeding cows, mowing some weeds, mowing the yard once a month, I’ve had the time to work on it in between chores. Some late nights in the beginning just because I couldn’t walk away from it. It’s been a fun and rewarding project but a costly one. It has a lot of new parts, rebuilt parts, parts from salvage yards to get it to where it is today. But I really like this ole girl so I have no regrets.

Edited by AC720Man - 16 Sep 2023 at 8:34pm

You did a great job, it looks beautiful.