Here is a 1938 John Deere G that was originaly sold in MN. I bought it a few months back and finally got it home December 18, 2004. It is missing the head, 1 push rod, oil bath bowl, and the piece that hold the oil filter in place. I started dissasembly as soon as I got it pushed inside. The first thing I wanted to do was have it so I could move it around since 3 out of 4 tires were flat. I am planning on keeping the tractor mostly original. I am not restoring it at this time but I want to rebuild the engine and use it some and get a feel for anything else that might be wrong. Here are a few pictures of my progress. I will post more as they come in.

Here it is the day it arrived.



Here it is in the shop, hood, fuel tanks, and radiator removed


These next two pictures show the govenor, flywheel, clutch, reduction gear cover, oil pump, oil lines, and camshaft removed.



In these two pictures are parts that have been disassembled and waiting there turn to be cleaned.



The next couple weeks I will be sending the block out to be checked and possibly bored out. I will be searching for some of the missing parts and mostly just cleaning and rebuilding the carb, mag, and other parts.

Aaron

looks like it's coming along nicely. 18-DEC is when i hauled my 1929 D home. i don't have room to pull it in the garage just yet.

andy b.

Andy, sounds like that was a good day for both of us and two old John Deeres that are waiting to run and work again.

Good luck with your project,
Aaron

Aron ~

Thnx for the post and pix on your '38 G. I also have a '38 G, which I purchased a little over a year ago. It seems to be in pretty good shape, except that I decided to pull the governor due to some concerns that the governor was not working properly. Do you have experience with dismantling the governor in your G yet? I would appreiate communicating with someone who has been thru a successful rebuild on one. My 1st challenge is that I cannot extract the gear assembly from the governor case. It seems that the bearing closest to the magneto flange is tight up against the case, and won't come free. A few folks have told me this gear assembly should just "come right out", but that isn't happening, and I am skeptical to start forcing things. Right behind the magneto flange is a ring clip situated in the case, and behind that is a metal plate. The local JD repair shop is telling me that that "plate" is part of the the bearing housing, and that it should come out. I plan to put a more detailed post out asking for experienced direction, but thought I would let you know I have the same model / year, email me if you have any advice, or questions from your end.

Craig Holden Bucks County, PA

Aron you and miller49 G are teasing us ustyled G lovers we cant wait to see the progress.Been looking for one of my own.A frend has one in a shed its sat for two years now and wont sell.welderdude

Welderdude, there has been some progress recently. It is sitting on 4 round tires. Just got pistons and the block bored to fit them. Also the head and crank are almost finished. I will be posting some pictures in the future of my progress. If you are looking to buy a us G try to find one complete at the very least. I bought this one reasonable enough but I can say I will have way more in it than I could have bought a nice running/ looking us G for. But it has been a fun experience. After I get it running and before I paint it, I will probobly try to sell it. If you are stilll looking keep it in mind. Aaron

I'll keep an eye on it here and whee are you from in Mn.thanks

I'm actually in PA. The tractor was originaly sold in MN. I had it brought in. Aaron

Well, I just rebuild the governor in my 39 A. I dont know how close it is to the governor in a G, but my guess is that it is similiar. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer them.

Well its been a long time coming but I believe there will be some great progress in the next few weeks for my G. If anyone was following I bought this G as a winter project back in 2004. Fast forward to winter 2008 and it is still my winter project . Where does the time and money go???? Well to update and let you know of my hold ups. First off, I had to the crankshaft out to be checked. It was found that the rods journals had previously been turned down .010 and were still in specs as were the rod bearings. The Main bearings journals had considerable wear. The Bearing were ok so it was decided to have my crank mains built up and resized. The machine shop that I normally use could not handle this but recommended a shop that they used regularly. I made an appointement, and dropped the crank of some 3 years ago. Knowing the shop was busy I waited a year and never had a response. After many calls with no answers or return calls I thought the crank was a goner. I didn't really have the spare money or time to put in to it anyway so I didn't push the issue to hard until recently. After many more calls and a surprise visit I was promised it would be done. Well this past weekend the promise came true and I now have the complete engine waiting to be assembled. Another hold up I had but resolved was with the head. I have an early 38 G with the small water passages. While shopping at the NY expo a few years ago I found a G flathead with the part number F486R. I was reassured that this Head would bolt right on to my block with no problems. Without haveing the block in front of me to compare I took his word and purchased the head and sent it off to the machine shop. After putting all brand new valve$ and guides in the head I realized it would not work. I found it is quite hard to find the a F49R without a crack but I did manage to locate one. I also had new Valves and guides installed in this as needed. In the mean time I gathered most of the new or used parts I would need. I just completed installing a new radiator core. I am waiting for the correct harware to bolt the Fan shroud on. The shutter are pretty much useless but I installed them to protect the radiator. Some day I will purchase a working unit. I will add pics and comments as I get them. Aaron

Oiling system, Cam, and Crank are all in. Also put the first reduction gear cover on this past evening. Will be working on the clutch next, then on to the rest of the engine. I will post more pics soon. Aaron

Just wanted to add a picture with the Flywheel and clutch installed. I was going to put the block on this past weekend but when I opened the Cylinder gasket kit I was surprised to find that there was no block to crankcase gasket. A quick call to deere and they looked it up and you have to order that gasket on top of the kit. Also the head gasket that comes in the kit part number AF1075R for serial numbers 1000-7099 does not include the correct gasket and Deere no longer offers the F55R head gasket. My dealer was able to locate one on inventory at another dealer and it should be in tommorrow. After 4 years I can wait a few more days. Thanks for looking, Aaron

Just wanted everyone to know that might be following that I have made some more progress. The block is installed along with the pistons. I also went ahead and reassembled the govener and fan shaft and put it on the tractor while I was waiting for the head gasket. I didn't make much progress this week as we were hit with some severe ice in spots and I work for the electric company clearing right of ways and restoring power. Tommorrow should be another good day to work in the garage and I hope to button the engine up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I believe if all goes right and the lights stay on I might possibly hear it run for the first time tommorrow. Here is a pic although it is not up to date with the govener and fan on.

I have owned this 4 days short of 4 years and today we finally made smoke. What a great feeling. I didnt run it to long but it was sure a nice way to end the evening. There is still alot of work to do. I have to install the hood and tanks plus put new brakes on it before it goes for a ride. Aaron

Well after some major set backs I am back in forward motion. Took the G out yesterday for its first ride. I have been waiting for that for a long time. The transmission is a little noisier in one gear than I would really like but nothing threatening. Here are a few pics. Still needs the fuel lines and a sediment bowl. also needs the right petcocks but other than that its about ready for paint. Thanks for looking and for anyone who has followed along. Aaron

ooh man i can hear that thing a popping
them us G's have there owen sound to them.

Welderdude, It sounds good and is a lot of fun to drive around. Its amazing out easy it will start too. Thanks or looking, Aaron