Many, many Model B questions

I'm in the process of gathering information to help my Dad and uncle restore my Dad's 39 Model B.  Currently my uncle has the B partially disassembled and is trying to figure out the correct colors for the rims.  I've seen some 39s with silver rims on the rear and white rims on the front and I've seen others with orange all around.  We're not sure of the colors because my grandfather painted the B yellow and the rims an Oliver green after he put it back together in the earyl 50's.  And when I say put back together I mean put back together.  He got the B as payment for some work he had done in his machine shop, the only problem was a tree had fallen on it and broke it in half.  From what I can tell the tree landed right where the hood meets the gas tank (which it put a big dent in), broke the steering tube (which was replaced by a piece of drain pipe), and then snapped the bell housing/frame in half (which grandpa welded back together with some bar stock welded top and bottom and both sides for reinforcement).  It then ran for the next 50 years patched back together.  Its been sitting for almost 10 years and my uncle, a retired farmer (though I don't know how you become a retired farmer), has decided to take it on as his next restoration project.  The engine is free but the magneto is frozen up.  Also trying to figure out which muffler is correct because it hasn't had one in some time.  Thanks for any help.

The back rims weren't painted originally. They were galvanized. The rest of the tractor including the front rims would have been painted PO1 from the factory.
 Probably didn't have a muffler originally. The "flattened" pipe does seem to cut the noise level down some.

A Dealer Parts Manual available online will answer most of your questions, unless you are going to be obsessed with the details of originality. If that is the case, you will need to search out early versions of those publications and purchase them when you find them. There are a few on here who have older copies that come in handy for specific references, and it is good to get to know them, as the books themselves are quite scarce. It is a great way to waste time on winter evenings, obsessing over minute details and emailing back and forth with your friends about it, as well as hunting for new clues or documentation that confirms your hunches, etc. I confess to being ever so slightly obsessed with the B tractor and implements, and have been known to have rather lengthy phone calls with friends about some pretty arcane stuff.

Edited by GlenninPA - 01 May 2012 at 9:55am

I was going to post some pictures yesterday but the file sizes are too big so I'll have to try again later. The pictures I took were from the front, rear, and side and showed where it was welded back together. One also shows that it doesn't have a pto and that where the staff should be sticking out there is just a plate.