6hp Craftsman Power Unit Restoration

1967Craftsman's

1967Craftsman's

Tractorologist
Senior Member
Member
Well I put yet another craftsman in my shed in December of 2021 thanks to a member of MyTractorForum, along with a spare engine too! I bought this from him and now I got both the 6 and 10 horsepower version! It needs A LOT, mostly everything BUT i will get it there.

It all started with me seeing this tractor somewhere on the forum but I forgot where and remembering the fella having it, then meeting the fella at a local tractor show and expressing interest in it saying "if you ever wanna sell it let me know". Then it turns out my first craftsman or the one in the 3rd picture on the left is having problems and asking the fella for some pictures of now my tractor on the right in the 1st and 2nd picture. He then sent me a message saying he was thinking of selling the tractor and asking if I was still interested in it, needless to say I asked if I can come look at it and then went to his house to look at it and then struck a deal.

When I bought the tractor the fella I bought it from said he bought it from a kid to restore it, but was never gonna get around to it so he offered it to me before he put it for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The kid was gonna scrap it when the fella bought it! I am now the 3rd owner as far as I know, unfortunately no manuals or paperwork came with the tractor when I bought it though.

My personal plan is to document the restoration here when I can and have time, and ask as many questions as possible if I or my stepdad don't know the answer to them. I am going to take as many pictures as possible when the resto gets started and throughout the resto and upload them here as well if my phone allows me to. I also am going to "bag and tag" and label every nut and bolt possible when I take it apart, (because I made that BIG mistake on my other tractor).

Look for more on this tractor coming back from the dead in the hopeful near future....


Below are the pictures the fella sent me when he started talking about selling it.....
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It is now in my shed with my other Craftsman, now I have both the 6 and 10hp versions!
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Since I brought the tractor home, I since taken the gas tank off and cleaned it.......
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and found a nice nest.....
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I cleaned all the rust out of it, I completely cleaned it out twice with rocks CLR and PB blaster.....
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Results after cleaning one.....
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Results after cleaning two and letting the CLR sit for 36 hours.....
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I also put some PB blaster in the spark plug hole to try and free up the engine since it won't turn over by hand, I put the PB in everyday for 2 weeks but at the end of the 2nd week of the engine still not turning and the PB evaporating I put some ATF and kerosene in the spark plug hole. That too evaporated and didn't work either by the next morning so I am gonna have to most likely rebuild the engine. I took the engine head bolts out when I put the ATF in the hole just for this reason of having to take the engine apart so I can try and save some time.

Before with the ATF in the spark plug hole......
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After with the ATF not in the spark plug hole.....
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I took the shroud and starter generator cover off and the flywheel screen off too and found a nice big nest, I vacuumed out the nest since the pictures.....
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I also took the air filter off, and it looks like it's the original one! I right now plan on blowing it out with the air compressor gun and seeing how it looks. It will most likely have to be replaced, so I bought an NOS one for the engine today.....
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I took the head off the engine, and here is what it looked like when I first took it off along with what the oil looks like when I pulled the dipstick after I noticed there was no more transmission fluid in the spark plug hole .Since I took these pictures I cleaned up the head, piston, and the top of the valves. As you can see there is carbon on the head.....
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As mentioned in my previous post I cleaned up the head, the top of the piston, and the valves the best I could with a brass brush. Here are some pictures, the first picture is when I was cleaning the head. I sprayed some PB blaster on it and used the brush on it.....
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All cleaned up now the best I can get it, although I do have some other suggestions to try to get it cleaner.....
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Here is a picture of the rest of the engine, this is the best I can get it clean unless someone has a tip to make it cleaner than this any help is appreciated. I am thinking of maybe replacing the piston head right now anyway, but there again why fix somethin' that ain't broke and replace something when it doesn't need it so i'm not sure yet. The piston wall is pretty smooth with minor small scratches......
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I took a couple parts off the engine and a part off the shroud to put them in the parts washer and to sandblast them.....
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Into the parts washer.....
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All washed and sandblasted, now they are ready for primer and paint.....
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I went to my local tractor supply about a month ago before I went to work one day to start thinking about paint and see if there was some yellow paint I could use for cheaper, instead of that special $40 a can paint that I used on my other tractor that would be a VERY close match to the original color. I also went in for a new belt to put on the shroud and starter generator. I took the top of my battery box off my other Craftsman to compare paint, and I ended up buying 1 spray can of Majic Cub Cadet yellow because when I looked and compared it with my battery box it looked nearly identical. I also asked the cashier when I bought it what he thought and he said it is the closest I will get to my battery box, well I got it home sprayed it on a little piece of paper and this is how it came out.....
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These pictures above and below are from tractor supply, notice how it looks VERY similar in the below picture but maybe its the lighting in the camera. It looked the exact same in the light in the store too so I took a gamble and unfortunately lost.......
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On another note, we have a couple other cans of yellow paint at home so I figured I would try one of those too on a piece of paper. When I sprayed it unfortunately it came out too light so It looks like I'm gonna have to go with my special $40.00 a can again.....
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Going back a bit here but I took the belt off the engine shroud and starter generator, see the first picture in post #4. It looks like it is the original belt too, it is worn a bit on the edges so I decided to get a new one so it doesn't break on me while i'm driving the tractor. So technically as a safety precaution, see 4th picture below.....
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Since taking the old belt off, I went to my local tractor supply and bought a new one and the closest one I could match up. It is a little longer than the original but I think it will work. I am planning on mocking up the shroud and putting the belt on to see if it fits, if it doesn't it will get returned to tractor supply.....
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All the engine bolts are now out of the engine, the belts are off and out of the way, and the engine is now ready to be taken off the frame. The engine will be taken off in the spring and after I get my other 10 horsepower Craftsman running though, I don't want too much apart at once from 2 different tractors and I don't want too many projects apart at one time.....
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Well I again got some good but bad news. The bad news is I found another small hole in my gas tank after it was sandblasted, but the good news is I got a brand new Autolite spark plug for the engine and I bought an NOS air filter.....

The bad below......
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The good below, the new spark plug.....
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The new NOS filter below, I only got it for around $13.00 on Ebay.....
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The old spark plug below.....
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