I did manage to find some time to repair one of the bolt holes on the centre housing; there are a few more that needs to be repaired. Where the running boards were attached the bolts had loosen and over time; mounting and dismounting the tractor and grit from ploughing, etc, the threads were worn down. When it is cold I don't like working in the shed and I have several web projects going at the moment; one of them is on a rushed deadline. I haven't tapped a lot of holes and I am not the best at starting a tap straight. The tap that came with the repair kit wasn't a tapered tap; it was a standard tap. I attempted to start the tap but knew I was going to end up messing up the threads; getting them crooked. I looked around the shed to see if I had a block of aluminium that I could use to make a tap guide but I didn't see anything suitable. I never seem to have on hand what I need; plenty of junk that I should throw away but never what I need. Then I spied a piece of decking board left from where I rebuilt the front steps. I thought why not? It should work. So I used my little bench top drill press and drilled a hole the size of the tap. It worked; I got the tap started straight and cut the threads I needed for the insert. I will take the grinder and remove the excess on the thread insert. If I keep picking away at it, I think I can have the tractor back together by the end of February. The lift cover is mostly completed; I just need to install the lift cylinder. Once the centre housing bolt holes are repaired, I can reinstall the hydraulic pump, install the PTO shaft, get the lift cover completed and installed and fill her with hydraulic oil and she should be good to go. Yes, I am nervous about the front bearing on the pinon gear but I will find out; she may run fine until I leave this world.
Excellent, I end up making a lot of "tools" and "tool enhancements" to make fixing stuff easier / better instead of buying stuff. Good old ingenuity. Glad to see you're making forward progress. It's always a great feeling making progress towards a goal.
