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I am new on here. Been lurking a while and need to start of my first post. I have a 1980 484 that I bought partly because I got it very cheap and also because I have wanted a tractor project for some time. I grew up through my teen years adjacent to my grandfathers farm and had always visited and spent summers there on a century farm in Oregon. Our neighbors had mostly green tractors..including one "the right green" Oliver 1650 that I spent many hours on and developed a sentimental attachment to the brand. My parents raised christmas trees which didn't require much of a tractor. My grandparents/uncles farm mostly had Massey equipment geared toward orchard work though we did raise wheat, oats, hay, clover and some other field crops for a while before it all became hazelnuts and walnuts. I don't currently have land worthy of a tractor but I own one and hopefully the land business is soon to change. Last year I bought a 484 out of Texas from a co-worker at the time for about $800. He said it would probably run and when it did run it ran fairly well. I got a few pictures and for the price I didn't see how I could really go wrong. It was intact and mostly complete and "would run" with a little work. The last owner had it a few years and did hay with it and then upgraded to a newer tractor. Goats not included. So after a few months I was able to arrange shipping of it which cost quite a bit more then the tractor did but still had me under the going price for just about any tractor about this size and diesel powered in NW Washington where I live. Got it home and without really all that much tinkering I was able to get it started. Figured out the new to me and somewhat hokey shifting system. First thing was the power steering was really noisy. After some more tinkering I decided to check the hydraulic fluid. Didn't show on the stick at all. I added a couple gallons and then it showed some really nasty milky fluid. Still had lots of noise. Decided to dig into the filter system. That was the problem, it was full of gunk and the white milky fluid. New filter, topped off the fluid and ran it a while and got it fully up to temp. Fluid looked a lot better, everything now worked like it should. I have another filter and all new fluid for when we get settled from our impending move. Wiring was and is.. somewhat dorked up yet. I rewired almost all of the wiring to do with the starting system and made new battery cables. Fresh ignition switch. The battery is charging and occasionally some of the warning lights in the panel work. None of the guages work at the moment but I did have the tach going for a while but have had problems with the tach drive system. I took panels off and cleaned as much of the leafy grassy trash, grease, gunk and filth I could get off it without a toothbrush and for the moment a huge improvement. It wasn't long after that I discovered when running that oil was coming up out the dipstick while idling... I feared the worst. I was glad I wasn't seeing chocolate milk shake coming out of it but it was close. I had fuel getting into the oil in a pretty big way. It was possibly an injector issue or more likely a pump issue. When I saw a pump was close to what I paid for the tractor if I was lucky and more then likely more then I paid for it.. it didn't look good. I am on one of the Facebook IH pages and asked there for advice. They led me to a guy who sold the injection pump seals. I pulled the pump and changed out the seal and that fixed it. I was out about $20 if I recall. Local Case/IH dealer didn't seem to think you could get just the seal and would send the pump to a shop for rebuild - needing it or not. Along the way I picked up my first implement. A Rears Mfg flail mower. Growing up around orchards, the flail is what people use, not rotaries. They are definitely more expensive but I scored one off Craigslist up here for a bargain and it came with about $700 in new knives in a box. It is a 72" unit and while a little beat up and needing some work, it works like it is supposed to and isn't out of balance. The gearbox might need a seal or 2 soon but all the shafts seem good. Probably could change some more knives. After I got through my initial fixing up of the mechanicals and dealing with the early glaring issues, I mowed several acres of briar patch, brush and grass for a friend. Once it got hot and working it hardly smokes and seems to have about the power I would expect from it but I don't really have another machine around to compare it with. It will shred through 4 feet of blackberry briars pretty well and through fairly tall wet green grass without really bogging down if you don't go too fast. Engine seems reasonably healthy. My goals are for a full cosmetic restoration and also to rebuild things as I go along. Would like to add hyraulic remote or 2 to it if I can find the parts inexpensively enough. The tach drive cap either falls off or the whole thing backs out and falls out. I have a pipe plug in there at the moment to keep the oil in. Lots of slop in moving parts. Both of the tie rod end links are shot, the 3 point I have replaced a few things but the arms themselves need replacing or at least the joints need it. Needs tires and new front wheels. Rears need blasting and painting. I did replace all the cooling hoses and flushed and put in fresh coolant. Boy did it need it. I think the hoses were original. This tractor appears that it might have been a county rig or something and was used for mowing. I think it spent its entire life outdoors. I intend to change that when I get it to it's next home. Hopefully I can keep coming back to this thread to update progress on things. It seems the enthusiasts are a bit harder to find here in the Pacific Northwest, at least those selling stuff. The midwesterners seem to get all the good deals.

First, let me thank everyone in advance because I would have never decided to tackle this project without previous help in this forum on another tractor. That being said, let me pose my questions with some background. I have a 1940 B, serial # F.A.B. 40150 that arrived on our farm close to 20 years ago after a neighbor traded it to my dad for some work. Long story short, it's been sitting for nearly 18 years and is now in my barn in pieces. I have the engine apart and crank and block both sitting in electrolysis tubs, and will hot tank them probably in the next week or so, including the governor, carburetor, and everything else engine-related that I can get into the tank to clean up. Suffice to say that this will be a pretty thorough refurbishment since I plan to put this tractor back into light duty cultivating our garden and small jobs around the place. So, here's the fun part: 1) I don't see a problem with buying a complete overhaul kit that includes valves, gaskets, etc. Or should I not? I've never done this before so I'm asking the experts, here; this will be my first engine overhaul, but I've grown up working on equipment, have toolboxes for of tools, and a nice barn/shop to do this in, so why not. If you had to buy a rebuild kit, whose would you buy and your thoughts on the product(s). 2) I've also read that step-head pistons are better if a tractor is going to be working. It may wind up in our local parade, but that's once a year- the rest of the time it'll be wearing double-row cultivators or pulling a planter. What are the pros and cons of step-head pistons? 3) The radiator: while taking it off, one bolt on the left side (while sitting on the tractor) was rusted smooth off and pretty much disintigrated when I took the radiator off. The other broke the whole piece of cast-iron off from the block that it was bolted to when it came off. I'm thinking it had already stress-fractured at some point, but nevertheless, it's off. Can a good radiator shop replace those bolts in the bottom, or am I looking at a new radiator because of that issue? When I drained the radiator, it was still green and was not leaking anywhere, so at least I know the core is still in good shape. I'd like to get some answers before I start buying parts this week, and I wanted to bring my concerns here because I trust the folks in this forum and value your opinions.