2013 Is Upon Us!

It doesn't seem right that a new year is already here! I was just getting used to the OLD one, when THIS happens! Oh well, I'll get over it.....sooner or later.

One good thing about it being a new year - we are just that much closer to Spring getting here - I know the cows are ready for some REAL grass, instead of that old dried hay they are forced to eat.

I don't know if I will get any of my PLANNED winter projects done this winter, but I am sure going to try to work on a few. Nothing major will be done, but some little things can be taken care of in between the other stuff we need do from moving (and other things).

One thing I have been tinkering with is one of the McCormick-Deering 10-20 tractors I have. The one sitting in my barn is the most complete, and the motor is in fairly good shape. I HOPE to try to get it to - at least - run in the near future. I have taken apart the clutch, rocker box cover, and a few other things, in order to work toward that goal.

I THINK I have it narrowed down to a magneto, plugs and wires, and some carburettor work.

Now these carburettors are a little different than today's  - or even ones from 60-70 years ago - in addition to operating a bit different, they are also made of Brass. Over the years, that Brass corrodes, and will turn green.

A lot of folks say that when things get this way, they have a "patina", and are "worth more" with it on there.

Maybe an antique vase, but not so much an antique carburettor......They work better when they are cleaned up, and not corroded. Besides, they LOOK better! I'm not going for a POLISHED look, just CLEAN, non-green, Brass. Here is what I was dealing with:



I started out by brushing parts of it, but that didn't go so well. It removed the "crud" but not the "green". There were also places a brush just could not get to, and still "scrub". I started to look around on line and in the house to figure out what I could use that was a liquid to soak things in.

A friend suggested White Vinegar, so I tried some. It worked fairly well, but a bit slow. I decided to try some house-hold Ammonia. THIS worked WELL, but I did not want to leave the part in it very long, in case it went TOO far. I settled on putting the parts in a plastic dish, covering them with White Vinegar, then adding a TEASPOON of Ammonia.

This sped up the process, but wasn't as "harsh" as straight Ammonia. It was also easier to breathe around, too!

I probably didn't need too, but I let the parts soak in this solution overnight. Then, I was able to take a small brush (similar to a tooth brush) and lightly scrub the residue around, and then rinse with warm water. Once dry, they didn't "shine", but I got the desired results:



I hope to have all of the parts done this afternoon, and put (mostly) back together.

This Vinegar stuff is a pretty nice cleaner!