The 8011 rebuild

Mondo1

Well-Known Member
Started rebuilding this '77 8011 early January, it's been on the long finger the last 2 years. It'll probably be a long enough term project as such which will end with her getting new mudguards and the cab tidied up and maybe a lick of paint (probably next winter)

Long story short I think we're the second owners bought in very early 80's and was the main tractor until about 2010 or so and relegated to no.2. It had a loader on it for most of it's life so I can often remember a few times when a front wheel bearing would let go over the years.

Main problem with her is getting her started, before now I've changed the batteries and fitted a high speed starter to try improve it but still takes a lot of turning over to fire so I suspect broken rings. Once up and and running she can carry out most jobs just fine and still a capable second tractor to have around the yard.

The main plan is start at the front and work backwards fixing the mechanical issues I find as I go. What ever happens she will have to back working for this summer to go and do a bit of work.
 

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Started rebuilding this '77 8011 early January, it's beenon the long finger the last 2 years. It'll probably be a long enough term project as such which will end with her getting new mudguards and the cab tidied up and maybe a lick of paint (probably next winter)

Long story short I think we're the second owners bought in very early 80's and was the main tractor until about 2010 or so and relegated to no.2. It had a loader on it for most of it's life so I can often remember a few times when a front wheel bearing would let go over the years.

Main problem with her is getting her started, before now I've changed the batteries and fitted a high speed starter to try improve it but still takes a lot of turning over to fire so I suspect broken rings. Once up and and running she can carry out most jobs just fine and still a capable second tractor to have around the yard.

The main plan is start at the front and work backwards fixing the mechanical issues I find as I go. What ever happens she will have to back working for this summer to go and do a bit of work.
Others will know for a fact but aren’t they a piston and sleeve, so a set should make a great job of it.
 
Started rebuilding this '77 8011 early January, it's beenon the long finger the last 2 years. It'll probably be a long enough term project as such which will end with her getting new mudguards and the cab tidied up and maybe a lick of paint (probably next winter)

Long story short I think we're the second owners bought in very early 80's and was the main tractor until about 2010 or so and relegated to no.2. It had a loader on it for most of it's life so I can often remember a few times when a front wheel bearing would let go over the years.

Main problem with her is getting her started, before now I've changed the batteries and fitted a high speed starter to try improve it but still takes a lot of turning over to fire so I suspect broken rings. Once up and and running she can carry out most jobs just fine and still a capable second tractor to have around the yard.

The main plan is start at the front and work backwards fixing the mechanical issues I find as I go. What ever happens she will have to back working for this summer to go and do a bit of work.
I have an Ursus C385 here (well, we actually have a pair of them but only 1 is currently in one piece). We stuck a full set of pistons and liners in the one that is currently in bits. Cost about €450 for the full set of 4 if memory serves me correct from Brogans in Tuam. That could’ve been 2 years ago. My own tractor developed a starting problem around October 2019. It would stay swinging over for the day and fill the place with smoke but wouldn’t fire. Would go perfect on a tow though and run sound. Turned out to be broken rings. Top ring in all 4 cylinders. I just honed them out and changed the rings. I can’t remember how dear the rings were but I think it was less than €60. If it was mine and had a lot of work done I’d be sticking a new set of pistons and liners in her. They’re not hard changed.
If you have any questions or run into any problems along the way don’t be afraid to ask. I’ve been most of the way through them at this stage. There’s a few other members on here that had and still have crystals also
 
Started rebuilding this '77 8011 early January, it's beenon the long finger the last 2 years. It'll probably be a long enough term project as such which will end with her getting new mudguards and the cab tidied up and maybe a lick of paint (probably next winter)

Long story short I think we're the second owners bought in very early 80's and was the main tractor until about 2010 or so and relegated to no.2. It had a loader on it for most of it's life so I can often remember a few times when a front wheel bearing would let go over the years.

Main problem with her is getting her started, before now I've changed the batteries and fitted a high speed starter to try improve it but still takes a lot of turning over to fire so I suspect broken rings. Once up and and running she can carry out most jobs just fine and still a capable second tractor to have around the yard.

The main plan is start at the front and work backwards fixing the mechanical issues I find as I go. What ever happens she will have to back working for this summer to go and do a bit of work.

Welcome to the forum .
You seem keen , and enthusiastic.
Keep the pictures coming as you progress .
Others will know for a fact but aren’t they a piston and sleeve, so a set should make a great job of it.

Wet liners and pistons . Take off the sump and the cylinder head . A bottle jack and a bar against the bottom of the liner . Jack until it pops up . Clean where the seal seat , and put in the liner . Tap down the liner home with a piece of timber and a lump hammer . Get the cylinder head overhauled while you are at it . Simple enough to work on . I even managed it .

I have an Ursus C385 here (well, we actually have a pair of them but only 1 is currently in one piece). We stuck a full set of pistons and liners in the one that is currently in bits. Cost about €450 for the full set of 4 if memory serves me correct from Brogans in Tuam. That could’ve been 2 years ago. My own tractor developed a starting problem around October 2019. It would stay swinging over for the day and fill the place with smoke but wouldn’t fire. Would go perfect on a tow though and run sound. Turned out to be broken rings. Top ring in all 4 cylinders. I just honed them out and changed the rings. I can’t remember how dear the rings were but I think it was less than €60. If it was mine and had a lot of work done I’d be sticking a new set of pistons and liners in her. They’re not hard changed.
If you have any questions or run into any problems along the way don’t be afraid to ask. I’ve been most of the way through them at this stage. There’s a few other members on here that had and still have crystals also

I sold one of the Ursus 385 to @ZetorMan98 5 years ago . I had put pistons and liners and got the head overhauled sometime in the early 00s . At that time , I think I bought the parts and got new valves guides etc in the head for under €700 . No labour charge .
Very well worth doing .
 
I knew before starting that I'd need to either buy or make a rail, I had priced online and would have spent in around 600 or 700 euros which wasnt really on the cards as I had that sort of figure in my head put aside for a piston/liners.

So que the A team music! I went about making my own, I had a 300mm square base plate left over after a shed job we had done, ordered 25mm dinner diameter bearings online from tullamore and had some 25mm solid bar which I drilled and the tapped the four ends on the lathe at work.
Welded on my bars underneath and added some 3 inch pipe as a sleeve. Capped it with a scrap piece of 10mm flat that I holesawed a 40mm hole in the centre. I had an ole screw jack from a scaffold pole that I just turned upside down. I got a 40mm thrust online as well to help make it easier to raise it up when the weight is on.

The rail itself is only a few bits of 2 inch angle tacked together. Had to edit the post, forgot to add the photos
 

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Wet liners and pistons . Take off the sump and the cylinder head . A bottle jack and a bar against the bottom of the liner . Jack until it pops up . Clean where the seal seat , and put in the liner . Tap down the liner home with a piece of timber and a lump hammer . Get the cylinder head overhauled while you are at it . Simple enough to work on . I even managed it .

I decided against an inframe job as the main crankshaft seal was leaking quite a bit of oil so would need to be split anyways.
 
Wet liners and pistons . Take off the sump and the cylinder head . A bottle jack and a bar against the bottom of the liner . Jack until it pops up . Clean where the seal seat , and put in the liner . Tap down the liner home with a piece of timber and a lump hammer . Get the cylinder head overhauled while you are at it . Simple enough to work on . I even managed it .

I decided against an inframe job as the main crankshaft seal was leaking quite a bit of oil so would need to be split anyways.

@ZetorMan98 had extensive knowledge of crankshaft seal leaking on the Ursus 385 .
You are probably doing it the correct way , by removing the engine .
The other method is quick and simple .
 
Used a few feet of garden hose to help empty the diesel tank into a few drums. Once I got the tank off it revealed a missing rocker nut, which showed up later as a broken head bolt.

Pulled the alternator and starter and brought them to my local auto electrician to get checked over and all okay.

Proped the cab using two axle stands I had, a 6t bottle jack under the back half and then my rail under/roller stand under the front half. Opened off my bolts with a power bar and socket, I was very surprised how lose the bolts on the crankcase were. Anybody know how tight they should be? Or is a case of tight is tight?

Project came to a stop at this point for a week or two because the engine crane I had bought, arrived but was missing one of the parcels and it couldn't be found for a few days. Got sorted in the end though.
 

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@ZetorMan98 had extensive knowledge of crankshaft seal leaking on the Ursus 385 .
You are probably doing it the correct way , by removing the engine .
The other method is quick and simple .
It’s a touchy subject @jf 850. I still get nightmares over it. We replaced the engine in the other Ursus and I didn’t realise until we went fitting it it was the older 7501 engine we were fitting (it was the later 8001 that came out of it). I haven’t had the nerve to start it since, for fear we may have a repeat incident. If it’s the original engine in the OPs tractor it’ll be the 8001 engine so it should be just a matter of replacing an oil seal.

@Mondo1 I’m assuming when you say crankcase bolts you mean the bolts connecting the sump to the bell housing? I’ve always tightened them up well. I don’t know what torque they should be set to. I’d give them a good squeeze but I wouldn’t be swinging off the end of a breaker bar either to tighten them
 
It’s a touchy subject @jf 850. I still get nightmares over it. We replaced the engine in the other Ursus and I didn’t realise until we went fitting it it was the older 7501 engine we were fitting (it was the later 8001 that came out of it). I haven’t had the nerve to start it since, for fear we may have a repeat incident. If it’s the original engine in the OPs tractor it’ll be the 8001 engine so it should be just a matter of replacing an oil seal.

@Mondo1 I’m assuming when you say crankcase bolts you mean the bolts connecting the sump to the bell housing? I’ve always tightened them up well. I don’t know what torque they should be set to. I’d give them a good squeeze but I wouldn’t be swinging off the end of a breaker bar either to tighten them

Ya original engine in her, ya the 12 bolts in the bell housing got my terms mixed up there. I can always squeeze them and check them quite easily.
 
Crane finally arrived the end of Jan and I was able to drop out the block from the front end. Again the bolts seemed very loose and I was actually missing one completely so only five holding on the front end onto the front axle housing.

So I'll pick up a replacement somewhere along the way.

I struggled a bit disconecting the linkage on the injector pump and it took me a few minutes to figure out why. The clevis pin (I think it's called) was showing a little bit of wear!! So another part I'll swap out.

It was at this point that I bottled it! And decided not to strip and rebuild the engine myself and get a bit of experience to do it. So I loaded her up and dropped to my local man who has an excellent knowledge of them.
 

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On stripping the engine the mechanic found broken piston rings on each piston which was a little bit of a relief. I sent the head away to be be refurbished, I said while it was off I may as well spent the extra few quid. Did the same with the pump and injectors as I knew the pump was leaking a load of diesel and also had a broken spring inside under the second pipe in the pump (don't know the correct term for it).

Ring gear looked really chewed so got added to the parts to the list along with a fine cluster of other parts! While I could have gone bargain basement job on the rebuild and re-used the likes of the oil pump and clutch, I decided against it and I got gasket kits also.
Thinking behind this is anything on the inside of the engine I won't be able to change myself afterwards. Downside to this is that it's putting fair pressure on my initial starting budget!

That brings the project up to date, I called into the mechanic today just have a quick look and they were fitting the liners at the time all seems to be going okay.
 

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Thanks @gone sure it's a distraction in itself that'll help pass the time and herself is sick of hearing the bits I'd be at anyways 😅 and I'm sure there's plenty folk here with the ''same disease''!

On a side note should I hit the quote or reply button when trying to respond to a person's post?
 
Thanks @gone sure it's a distraction in itself that'll help pass the time and herself is sick of hearing the bits I'd be at anyways 😅 and I'm sure there's plenty folk here with the ''same disease''!

On a side note should I hit the quote or reply button when trying to respond to a person's post?
The reply button is handy if it is not obvious which post you are replying to, but not always needed.
 
Thanks @gone sure it's a distraction in itself that'll help pass the time and herself is sick of hearing the bits I'd be at anyways 😅 and I'm sure there's plenty folk here with the ''same disease''!

On a side note should I hit the quote or reply button when trying to respond to a person's post?
If you want to reply to one post hit the reply button, if you want to reply to two posts at the same time, click on the quote button on the posts you want to reply to and then scroll to the bottom and hit insert quotes
 
If this is the engine first build I would check the timing gears and especially the idler gear. Are you changing the crank bearings? if so include the trust washers and the penny caps on the crank....................................................................
What are the plans for the backend.................................................
 
If this is the engine first build I would check the timing gears and especially the idler gear. Are you changing the crank bearings? if so include the trust washers and the penny caps on the crank....................................................................
What are the plans for the backend.................................................
No definitely not the first rebuild, the numbers on the main bearings show that it had been ground before (neigbhour mentioned it was opened in the very early 00's but I don't remember it)

Ya I got thrust washers when grabbing parts, what are the penny caps?

On the backend, brakes are working fine. The handbrake needs sorting out, there is a weep from one of the half axles. I don't want to go in just yet more as a budget will be stretched fully to sort the front end. When I do go in there I'll go through the brakes and replace all the seals because it'll be Murphys law if I was only to do one side.
I went through the hitch a few years ago and rebuilt it and replaced the hook after realising there was only two tight bolts holding it on.

Is there much else after that?
 
No definitely not the first rebuild, the numbers on the main bearings show that it had been ground before (neigbhour mentioned it was opened in the very early 00's but I don't remember it)

Ya I got thrust washers when grabbing parts, what are the penny caps?

On the backend, brakes are working fine. The handbrake needs sorting out, there is a weep from one of the half axles. I don't want to go in just yet more as a budget will be stretched fully to sort the front end. When I do go in there I'll go through the brakes and replace all the seals because it'll be Murphys law if I was only to do one side.
I went through the hitch a few years ago and rebuilt it and replaced the hook after realising there was only two tight bolts holding it on.

Is there much else after that?

Torque pump and torque band , but possibly wait until one let's go ?
You have to split the tractor at the bell housing , and then split again in front of the gearbox . Fair labour bill , if you have to pay for it .
Agree on brakes/half shaft seals
Can be done later . Do the engine properly , when you are in there.
 
what are the penny caps?

Is there much else after that?
They are the big aluminum plugs on the journals of the crankshaft, if they loosen the oil pressure drops immediately fecking the shaft ...................................
yea there a lot after that....................................................................
 
They are the big aluminum plugs on the journals of the crankshaft, if they loosen the oil pressure drops immediately fecking the shaft ...................................
yea there a lot after that....................................................................
Good advice, on the one we had here, one of them big aluminium caps came out altogether.
 
Torque pump and torque band , but possibly wait until one let's go ?
You have to split the tractor at the bell housing , and then split again in front of the gearbox . Fair labour bill , if you have to pay for it .
Agree on brakes/half shaft seals
Can be done later . Do the engine properly , when you are in there.

Ah ya I'd forgotten about the torque all right, when splitting it I noticed there's a nice bit of wear on the input shaft so I'm going to have to go in and go through the gearbox at some point. I really like the idea of taking off the cab to do a proper job on it so it could be a job to start say next October and take her apart and do all those jobs but again it'll be all budget dependant.

I want to get the back rims sandblasted (front ones are already done) and re-painted as well and then new tyres but we're talking big money with all this wish list!
 

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After scraping and cleaning out the bottom of the bell housing I dried it with paper to see if I had any leaks. I found it was weeping at two points, one at the inlet to the hydraulic pump and the other down around the pto speed selector fork I think it's called.
I've put the two new seals on the hydraulic pump but haven't fitted the pump yet, it might be hard to see where the damage is but I'm thinking it might have been pinched when it was fitted a few years ago.
Haven't the second one done yet as I ordered a pair of circling pliers along with a box of split pins and thrust washer for the leveling box on the arms which i'll come back to again.

I assume there is a seal or two on the input shaft? I don't have any leaks at the minute but I will change it if it's not too difficult. Any guidance/information on this would be appreciated.
 

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