Dexta Tractor - nose cone........

[Welderpaul]

Clutching at straws a bit now...restoration has stalled until i get one!....i know there are repro nose cones around but the quality and fit will ruin the job. The original is rusted beyong recognition and like hens teeth on ebay.

Anyone got one lying around?

 

[MattF]

Is this one of those things where people will have to clear the rocking horse poo out of their unicorns stall before they can get in to have a look for one? Is it not something you could make up yourself?

 

[the snooper]

one on ebay

 

[brewdexta]

one on ebay

That's a repo, its from Dunlop's in NI, I bought some stuff of them while I was over there, nice people.

I bought some repo wings for my Dexta and found they fitted but were a different shape, not obvious until next to another Dexta then its very plain to see. I ended up dropping on some old ones that had been welded up not too badly and not too far away but took about 18 months of looking.

Here's one from somebodies tractor restoration page, evidently he thinks its in a horrible state! I think Paul would love to have this one, part from being upside down I think its pretty good nick, the trouble is finding one not rusted.

 

[the snooper]

That's a repo,

arghh cant win em all

 

[didsthewelder]

hi paul. id really try n steer away from reproduction.. you can get rear wings to fit good after hours of fettling,i spent a full working week restoring my bonnet without any filler . i restored two dexta wings for a guy n kept the emblems in to keep it right. only advice i have is sit n wait for a good genuine

 

[brewdexta]

not easy to spot, especially if its a second hand repo, at least the guy was honest

Here's a Super Dexta repo nose cone fit problem. Mine is just about salvagable but I will have to take it apart completely by drilling out all the spot welds.

 

[didsthewelder]

not really a ford man but i know mf parts are just as bad for fit n finish.. ironicly an old friend has around 40 fords from two does to county n roadless etc ,he has 4wd dextas n majors n knows everything that needs to be known . just dont try getting any parts from him

 

[brewdexta]

You could try Malcolm Hipperson, he seems to be the go to scrappers for Fordson bits

 

[brightspark]

not really a ford man but i know mf parts are just as bad for fit n finish.. ironicly an old friend has around 40 fords from two does to county n roadless etc ,he has 4wd dextas n majors n knows everything that needs to be known . just dont try getting any parts from him

thats a real help then getting one

 

[brewdexta]

not really a ford man but i know mf parts are just as bad for fit n finish.. ironicly an old friend has around 40 fords from two does to county n roadless etc ,he has 4wd dextas n majors n knows everything that needs to be known . just dont try getting any parts from him

Normal Dexta - about 2 to 4K depending on condition, if its a genuine 4WD Dexta and not a kit then its 20K plus!

 

[didsthewelder]

its genuine . ive known it being there for thirty years plus. every building theres some thing else in it . theres a doe a super 6 n 4 ,tracked ones etc etc

 

[brewdexta]

very jealous!

 

[didsthewelder]

you would be if you were allowed a wander round the place . there scattered every were ... its the land that time forgot ..

 

[Welderpaul]

I'd love one like that Andy! - That's near perfect!

Problem is, being on the front of a tractor they are very vulnerable to damage plus their design means they hold water and rust away. Mine is hardly recognisable and way beyond patching.

A bit of fiddly tinwork and welding on the insides of the wings but mine are original ENFO's and are now pretty perfect. The originals had been welded to the roll bar, welded to the castings, bolted to something else so not much left after i had cut the welds. The ones i restored were doners.

 

[Robotstar5]

What would it cost for a decent tin basher to make one?.

 

[Welderpaul]

What would it cost for a decent tin basher to make one?.

Not sure, quite a bit i would guess, and i don't think it would be accurate. Mr Ford liked to press things; they obviously had tooling which bashed them out by the thousand - there would be some very tricky details to replicate. Nose cones are actually made up from 2 parts which is one of the reasons why they rut so badly - a big fat overlap each side.

It is nice working on old stuff seeing how its been made...opening up parts that havn't seen the light since the 50's.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

There are a few tractor breakers round here, Streaky Bacon's is just down the road:
http://www.bacontractors.co.uk/aboutus.aspx
and I pass Ron Greets regularly:
http://www.rongreet.co.uk/
plus there is a 3rd one that I can't remember the name off near Sparkford that I pass occasionally, I can call in and have a root around if you like, just have to keep it quiet from my missus as I have promised not to add anything to my menagerie and the temptation might prove too great!

 

[brewdexta]

Ron Greets and Malcolm Hipperson are the two scrappers that seem come up most often on the Fordson forum for those hard to find bits

 

[Welderpaul]

There are a few tractor breakers round here, Streaky Bacon's is just down the road:
http://www.bacontractors.co.uk/aboutus.aspx
and I pass Ron Greets regularly:
http://www.rongreet.co.uk/
plus there is a 3rd one that I can't remember the name off near Sparkford that I pass occasionally, I can call in and have a root around if you like, just have to keep it quiet from my missus as I have promised not to add anything to my menagerie and the temptation might prove too great!

What a kind offer - if you are ever passing and facncy a root round that would be great!