D17 Before Pictures

 

Yes it was in a fire, the previous owner, some friends of ours, were filling up the tank about 20 years ago, when some static or something hot touched off the fire, with the lid of the tank still off, and what you see is the result, we bought it for the ins. salavge price, not long after.  It's been sitting outside all this time, with covers over everything except we forgot about the melted gearshift boot.  This allowed water into the tranny, the cover was only pulled a few days back to get an idea of what damage was caused.  The head was pulled for the same reason.  When I pulled the head I found ~2" of ice in each hole, I can only guess condensation, the exhaust was covered, and the carb was off.  But someone must have tried to pull it in gear or something, because you may notice a few bent push rods???  Anyway, I am really looking forward to a full teardown, and complete rebuild.  It will take some time, but will be worth it, I have a 7 year old son that loves to spend time with me, and has wrenched a little with me before, I am hoping he will stick with me on this, and when he is older he will not only have fond memories, but will have some idea of what farming is all about, since now I am stuck in the city.  Not long after we bought this, my dad found two 17s sitting at a salvage yard, and bought a truckload of parts, so I should have most everything in straight good condition, except enternals.  The engine is a piece of cake, the tranny, yes I am worried about rust as well.  We will see, I have worked with worse, and it has come out ok, so who knows.