The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
It's BIG, Yellow and digs holes! JCB 3CX Project 8 is joining the Tractor Shed
hermetic:
Well you would think with a purchase of that magnitude they would have given it a bit of a pressure wash and valet!! Never mind Andrew, it will be easily done and very rewarding. I am jealous! Looking forward to see some digging videos!
Phil
awemawson:
Private sale Phil. Actually I'm happy it's not been 'prepared for sale' as you see it warts and all - there seems to have been no attempt to cover anything up.
So I ventured out armed with a big workshop vac, a dustbin, and a dust pan and brush and made all sorts of discoveries having fully filled one dustbin:
A/ Various missing retainers and covers.
B/ The 'optional' cab fan that fixes on an arm
C/ A very worn and tired copy of the operators manual
D/ And biggest surprise of all - THERE IS a FLOOR :clap:
All seems to be in pretty good order - the only dodgy thing I've found so far is that the bracket that holds the door opening limit strap on has been torn off at some time and rather badly welded back. At first I thought that it was tin worm, but no just grotty welding. Close to the (bonded in) glass so not ever so easy to fix.
One discovery is that there is a fold out / fold down anti vandal cover that locks in place over the instrument console - oh and shards of glass from the original glass showing that it was 1.75 mm thick but I think I'll probably put poly-carbonate back.
awemawson:
This mornings task was to drive the 3CX into the farm yard, open all the windows and doors, and give it a good blow out with an air line in all the nooks and crannies. Still amazing amounts came out despite yesterdays intensive hoovering and sweeping.
After another sweep out and hoovering, I followed up with a 'wet cloth swabbing down' which at least now lets me read all the various legends on controls. A good clean up like this i find is the best way to find the true state of new toys as you are forced to look at every detail.
Fortunately no horrors revealed and in fact it's confirmed that ALL the rubber gaiters for the controls are intact and in good condition. Quite surprising for a 25 year old machine.
Reversing blind back into the Tractor Shed I took extremely carefully, as both rear view wing mirrors are broken, neither were originals by the look of it, and no doubt are a pretty expendable item when working on site! Two genuine one ordered.
It looks like my hope that I could get a few days in this year ditching has been dashed. Last night the River Brede over topped it's banks and we are flooded, so the ground will stay too soft for quite a time.
ozzie46:
Re; the title , what is Big Bird doing in the tractor shed? :D :D :D
Ron
awemawson:
Things are beginning to happen, and bits arrive. I've decided to give the 3CX a full service, including changing all the antifreeze. No idea what is in it, the coolant level is low so the lot is coming out, a quick flush, and new at 50% dilution going in.
So today the new coolant arrived - 25 litres of concentrate as I need 20 litres (at least) of diluted. Also the replacement rear view mirrors arrived, so backing into the Tractor Shed should be less hazardous!
First thing this morning I unloaded the four digging buckets from the front shovel and palletised them for easier movement and storage - pleased to find that they are genuine JCB ones. This will allow me to more safely prop the front arms 'up high' to allow access to the engine.
We had a heavy frost the other morning and it resulted in the death of the battery - it soon recovers after a few minutes charging but time for a new one as these things have to be reliable - replacement due to be delivered tomorrow.
I've ordered a full set of engine oil, transmission oil, hydraulic oil, fuel, and air filters along with a new sight glass for the hydraulic tank, new glass for the instrument panel, and breather filter for the hydraulic tank - this lot should arrive towards the end of this week.
Meanwhile I've been tracking down a minor hydraulic leak from the back end - only slight but needs attending to. It's a bonded washer joint to a hydraulic fitting - it's as tight as I can get it so at some time I'll have to remove and replace it - fairly sure I've the correct size in stock.
To more easily get at it I fully removed the remains of the PVC 'stone guard' that protects the hoses from muck chucked up by the rear wheels - it's badly broken - there's a left and right side version - can't see the rhs one as it's behind the carriage which is currently slid to the right, but it's probably in much the same state. £150 each from JCB or £17 each (in black) as a pattern part !
Still can't find why the interior cab light and radio aren't powering up - fuses are OK so a bit of tracing called for.
On the subject of fuses I find these modern car fuses with the two flat blades confoundedly hard to pull out and re-insert - can't see what your doing and fingers are in the way anyway. Particularly troublesome as the Project 8 fuse board is to the right hand side of the drivers seat and only about 6" away so no room anyway. I think I'm going to bend up some sort of clip to grip the fuses for removal and insertion !
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