Massey Ferguson 240

   The Massey Ferguson was in excellent mechanical condition when we began taking it apart; however, many of the important parts that we wanted to keep for originality such as the fanders/wings and cab were badly rusted and needed extensive reconstruction before they could be painted and re-fitted.

The 240 pre restoration:
   The tractor was stripped down to all its main parts, engine, gearbox and rear differential were kept together as no mechanical work was required and they were easy to paint this way.

All stripped down:
   The unit then received careful paint stripping and hand sanding all over (a very tiring job!). Once the tractor was back to bare metal, the paonting could begin, we began by brush painting high build red oxide protection primer on the chassis followed by high build grey primer and finally on this section we spray painted over the primer with grey.

All painted up: 
   New rear tyres had been added just before the restoration so we painted the rims with silver mist, which is the correct colour scheme. The body panels were also professionally sprayed as we were not entirely confident with the painting process at that point, the finished result was fantastic, finally the most rewarding part is the re-assembly, all the clean painted parts going back together.

During re-assembly:
   Unfortunately the radiator had sustained damge during the restoration and leaked a huge amount of water on the first start up, however we managed to purchase a good second hand radiator from a local radiator speacialist, they even painted it for us. Luckily we managed to find a set of the correct decals/stickers on ebay, otherwise we would have had to have a set made up.

First show:
   The tractor was all cleaned up and then we took it to one of the local tractor shows; however, the cab, despite being in awful condition was still to be re-instated. This was taken down to the local engineering shop where they cut out significant sections of the rusty metal and grafted in new skinning, the result was a very clean and professional job that once paint was applied could not even be seen.

Cab in primer:
   Fitting the windows into the newly painted cab seemed an impossible task at the beginning with fresh tight rubber seals but once we aquired the correct tool and method, the window fitting was a relatively quick and satisfying process.

All finished!:
   The cab was fitted and just as well as the next tractor road run the tractor went on was rather wet and windy! We think the tractor has turned out very well and hope it will last another 35 years!

Notes For Next Time

• Spray the base coats as the brush marks show through into the top coat
• Fit tyres after painting the rims, less masking up and a better finish in the bead

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There has always been play in the steering box on this tractor, more on one wheel than the other. I have put off doing any work for ages an finally it broke, there is now a huge amount of play in one wheel only which was interesting when in happened at full speed on the road! I have stripped the tractor down to replace the steering box and the new parts are on order, as the tractor is well stripped down i have taken the opportunity to order a few more parts needing work such as the fanbelt. A few pictures of the tractor stripped down..... again.

 Also an interesting picture down into the gearbox showing it to be in excellent condition and ready for many more years service!

I will add some more pictures of the new parts and re-assembly soon.