VortecZ

The new pivot bearing sure made it nice to side dress this year. Once I got it back together, I hooked it up and went straight to the fields. Was able to get across all of my corn pretty quickly. While it was in the shop, I also installed a air ride seat suspension. That made a huge difference for the long days. I've got a few other projects to finish up first but hope to get to the pivot bearings in my other 3588 soon.

When I put it all back together, I also 3D printed some rings to help keep the dirt and water out. They aren't a perfect seal and will still get greased daily, just wanted something to help protect it. Seemed like a good idea since I don't have the factory curtains and no one is making replacements for those either. Here it is getting the center hood back in place. Not required to be removed for this project but it is really easy to do and totally worth it if you have a hoist. And a final pic after it was done and some extra buffing and waxing. It is now hooked to my side dress applicator, waiting to dry up enough to hit the fields again. Best side dress tractor EVER! It turns on the ends so much nicer and runs over less corn than any other tractor I've used.

I picked up a transfer case from a salvage yard that the bottom hole had already been bored out and had a bushing pressed in. I made my recent bearing replacement quick and easy. It was very nicely done but have no history on it. I need to bore another transfer case that is in bad shape for another 3588 I can't seem to find any drawings, pictures, and certainly no readily available off-the-shelf parts for this repair. I have found several threads that talk about "back in the day" renting a boring tool from the dealership that was made by OTC but I have never seen a picture of what that tool looked like. There was a post that mentions service bulletin S-4554 5-11-83 and a Hy-Capacity part number 830407 but still no detail on what this is. Can't find the bulletin info and Hy-Capacity's website does not recognize the number. Most of the newer threads on this topic just discuss taking the transfer case to a machine shop and having them bore out and custom make the bushing. This works but it sure would be nice if there was a kit available. I have put together my own design for my next 2+2 repair but thought I would check if anyone knows of anything that I'm not finding before I do it myself. If there isn't, I may even make several sets and sell some to help out the few of us 2+2 lovers that are still around. here it is with no t-case this is the new bearing in the bottom bushing: the bottom retainer plate: and the completed assembly: Do these look familiar to anyone as if they could have been part of a kit from "back in the day" or is it most likely a custom job?

It takes a lot of time to make one look that nice, even when starting with a nice one. I love the attention to detail. Good job!

Here's a shot of it installed

Has anyone on here ever polished out a headlight mounting panel or maybe had one chrome plated? I took one to a local chrome shop and got a ballpark quote of $600-$700. I decided to give polishing a try first. I honestly wasn't even sure if it was aluminum or just a pot-metal. Either way, I knew it was die cast and that can cause some discoloration and other imperfections so I wasn't sure if it would work. I think I got lucky and got a good one. It went fairly well and I thought I would share by results. I will say it is far from perfect and it is a lot of work. There are definitely some places that just won't shine very well but overall, I think it is good enough to work. The whole idea of this is not for restoration, but for a custom touch on a pulling tractor. The owner of the tractor really likes his aftermarket chrome grille. This has always bothered me because the upper grille doesn't match and my OCD can't handle it! On top of that, we have been using the cheap aftermarket plastic headlight mounting panels and they cannot handle the heat from the turbos. The horizontal bars that the emblem attaches too keep melting and changing shape. I put a new one in it last year and it melted on the very first run down the track at the Louisville farm show. After that, I decided we are going back to the factory "aluminum" one, so here it is. By the way, as I alluded to, it is not my tractor but I've been the painter from the start. Kent and Sandy Payne are great friends and awesome tractor pullers. They have done very well and I do my best to keep it looking good. The pics of the tractor below are from a fresh paint job this time last year. I am currently finishing up a few parts that got trashed during last season and getting ready for Louisville again in a few weeks.

I just got the loadstar. It just needs a carb rebuild and a brake master and should be ready to use around the farm. I have had the Travelette for over ten years. It runs and drives but I don't use it much and have always wanted to restore it. Right after buying it, I bought a DT360 to put in it. I recently bought an F450 chassis that I plan to drop the DT in and set the Travelette body on with a flatbed. I'm sure this wouldn't be the choice for everyone but it fits my needs and allows me to get a lot more use out of it. It will be a fun project.

Here are my 4x4 projects. 78 Loadstar 1700 and 73 Travelette 1210

On my 1466, I used a cheap turbo blanket I found online plus some header wrap material to wrap the exhaust elbow. I still work this tractor pretty hard from time to time and the pump is turned up pretty far. I painted it in 2018 and this set-up has worked out really well for me. If I remember correctly, the size of turbo blanket I chose was just labeled "T3".

The owner just got a really awesome trade for the 3288. Unfortunately he got a New Holland out of the deal but its a really nice, late model, low hour, MFWD, etc.. So, I guess we won't be taking it to the Red Power Round Up this year like I was hoping. Maybe the new owner will take it. Also, the new owner was so happy with the paint, he wants me to paint his 7130 Magnum too. I'll post pics of it on here when I get it done.

Yeah that looks really good! Can't wait to see it back together.

The owner just posted it on FB Marketplace for $33k. What do you guys think?

That's an interesting observation. I've been meaning to do a thread on that myself. Unfortunately most boxcar Magnums look like yours with red paint missing. If there is still paint left, it really does work. I bought a MX240 an an auction looking horrible and several hours later it looked like new.

The owner of this tractor is now ready to sell it. With the market the way it is and seeing crazy auction prices, I have no idea what it is worth. Any ideas out there what the asking price should be?

I may look into getting new guage lenses for the 3288 too. I have a really small buffer for detail work that I used on the original lenses. They cleaned up well enough that you can read the gauges now but they are still very brown looking.