TO30 Leaking Oil and Coolant (New Owner)

Hello! I just bought my very first tractor! A 1954 TO30 Z129 Massey Ferguson. I grew up driving my grandpa's Farmall during baling season ,but havnt touched a tractor in 15 years. The tractor is blowing thick white smoke and is leaking oil and coolant along the manifold. My dad says its the head gasket and when I get the head off I need to give it an acid bath and check for cracks before putting the new gasket on. I have never done an acid bath and my dad is 14 hours away. Has anyone here replaced a head gasket on this tractor to give me some advice? I found the parts on yesterday's tractors website so plan on ordering the gasket from them. Should I also replace the manifold and manifold gasket? I did find a youtube video of someone taking most of the parts off but he didnt show how to clean the head before putting the new gasket on. Thank you in advance for any help!
 
Are there any machine shops close to you? Prob best to take it in and have it looked over- may need to be resurfaced in addition to checking for cracks.
 

Yes there are a couple near me. I just moved to the area so im not as familiar but google says they are machine and welding shops. Should I just bring them the top portion or the whole tractor? If there are no cracks how much should I have them take off?
 
just take in the head and ask to have it looked over. it would only need to be resurfaced if it is warped at all, and the machine shop could determine how much(if any) they would have to take off to make it completely flat. There are probably specs for that head
somewhere for the max that it can be shaved down.
 

Just got the manifold and head gasket. that shipping is really fast. Im going to start taking it apart. Though this sounds like a dumb question but to take the gas tank off should I drain it of gas first? Im not quite sure what gas a TO30 takes. Im going to guess 91 no ethanol?
 

So got the gas tank off without having to drain it. Turned off the gas with the valve above the sediment bowl. Removed the sediment bowl and holder. Gasket looks good. Disconnected the Fuel line. My fuel line was cut in 2 so I was able to just remove it at the connection rather than at the carb. After removing the battery I was able to remove all 4 bolts and the gas tank just lifted off. There is rubber where the gas tank connects to the tractor and I have left those as they seem kinda stuck to the mounts. Before I remove anything else I think I need to drain the coolant. Gonna ask my dad first on what needs drained.
 
(quoted from post at 12:05:14 07/20/22)
So got the gas tank off without having to drain it. Turned off the gas with the valve above the sediment bowl. Removed the sediment bowl and holder. Gasket looks good. Disconnected the Fuel line. My fuel line was cut in 2 so I was able to just remove it at the connection rather than at the carb. After removing the battery I was able to remove all 4 bolts and the gas tank just lifted off. There is rubber where the gas tank connects to the tractor and I have left those as they seem kinda stuck to the mounts. Before I remove anything else I think I need to drain the coolant. Gonna ask my dad first on what needs drained.


You are doing good so far, yes you do need to drain the coolant before you remove the head. Also would be a good time to replace the radiator hoses, fan belt, and the thermostat while it's apart.
 
(quoted from post at 18:16:05 07/20/22)
You are doing good so far, yes you do need to drain the coolant before you remove the head. Also would be a good time to replace the radiator hoses, fan belt, and the thermostat while it's apart.

Thanks! My radiator is also looking like an old penny and completely turned that green rusty color copper gets. Should I think about replacing that as well? I was able to drain the coolant only from the side drain. the bottom drain is completely rusted up and once my wrench slipped once I didnt dare keep going for fear of stripping it. Drained so much coolant my drip pan wasnt big enough and had to get a second. Was a nice green color though. no oil or shiny bits to it. Oil on the other hand the drain plug is striped completely. Its as if someone sanded it down into a circle. I opened up the oil filter and drained some oil but I know that isnt good enough. I was able to get the Rocker arm cover, manifold, and carbonator off as well and surprisingly pretty easy. the manifold bolts didnt even feel like they had to "break" they just started coming loose. I put the rocker arm and manifold back on temporarily for the night until I figure out what to do with the oil. Any suggestions? It is in such a god aweful position that I cant get a drill into it and Id be afraid of welding a bare onto it. Angle grinder wont fit. I hope I dont have to take the whole oil pan off.
 

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