First ever JCB returns home after 30 years! How should we restore her?

[GCS Machinery]

First ever JCB returns home after 30 years! How should we restore her?

 

[flywheel]

She looks really good for her age tbh.

 

[Wrighty.]

First ever JCB returns home after 30 years! How should we restore her?

How she was when you owned and worked her

 

[Jsmith2211]

I reckon you restore her to a nice show condition. Not going silly with polishing it so well you'd never use it, but get it very nice as you have the facilities to. Replace any rust on the cab, sandblast and repaint etc. Then use it at working days and shows and the like! They were built to be used not to sit about and be looked at. Also dont neglect to replace hydralic pipes and fix anything mechanically that isnt perfect. Often restos just get it looking nice and leave the mechanics untouched...

 

[Farmer Roy]

Personally, I hate immaculate, polished, showroom condition restorations - be it motorbikes, cars, trucks or tractors . . .

they look like they’ve never done a days work in their lives

I want to see the history & the story of a machine used as it was meant to be, I love to see worn clutch or brake pedals, the steering wheel smooth & shiny from countless hours of hands on it, the odd bump & bruise all tell a story and add to the soul, character & petina. The “wear and tear” is also an honest representation of that machines life & to cover that up I feel is to do a disservice to all the hours of work it has done . . .
As I said - I hate immaculate polished showroom restorations. I will go & look at a rusty machine that looks like it has worked hard instead of a shiny restoration any day

Personally ( again ), I would concentrate on the mechanicals & get them first rate, rather than just the “cosmetic” side of it

 

[GCS Machinery]

Here she was, back in the day

 

[bravheart]

JCB had a restored one on their stand at the Highland this year, looked older than that and a local number plate

 

[Skintagain]

I would take the cab off and repair, blast and paint. Do rubbers.

sort seat out

repair bucket and paint and then leave the rest maybe oily rag over the rest

 

[essexpete]

I think you will struggle to find a cab; there were a few manufactured replacements on the market (probably 20 years ago) but they did not look original. I think if you have the wherewithal, the inclination and time, then the best resto possible but use it afterwards so it it look authentic.

 

[wdah/him]

Im not a fan of the show room condition, simply because none of them left the factory in showroom condition. A nice good restoration to mechanical health and good tinwork

 

[Skintagain]

Im not a fan of the show room condition, simply because none of them left the factory in showroom condition. A nice good restoration to mechanical health and good tinwork

A chap was once going on about his David brown how it hadn’t got a runner anywhere and the paintwork was this and that. He d didn’t use it as a tractor because it was too good, it was basically better than the factory by a long way

 

[GCS Machinery]

Im not a fan of the show room condition, simply because none of them left the factory in showroom condition. A nice good restoration to mechanical health and good tinwork

Machines were made to work after all

 

[ThatsSomeSheep]

View attachment 1079701

Here she was, back in the day

Early 80’s, when I was a lad in primary school a local building contractor was brought in to do some work in the school playground. They had a 3c just like that.

The digger sat in the playground, up in the air on its bucket and stabilisers, digging away (something to do with a new boiler and pipes I think) with us children playing around it!!! Can you imagine the H&S nowadays!?!

Funny how I always have clear memories of what machine did what way back then, but couldn’t tell you what I did here on the farm just last week!

TSS