This is a best 30 dad picked up a couple weeks ago sn.330x . We are just starting the tear down on it and its going to need lots of parts like cylinders ,head ,carb,mag but it could be worse . The rest of it is in good shape and it has a PTO on the back that the seat bolts to that I have never sean before .How rare is this attachment ?It is a late model 1925 I think and a three speed .also will a cat cylinder head and jugs and water pump fit and look correct ? Any additional info on this and any late model best 30s will be greatly appreciated .
Aloha look into bore job sleeves & turn down pistons.Also custom rings .Just my 2 cents.The sylinders are small enough to do with a automotive boring bar.Aloha Spike
The best had 0.040 over pitons and jugs ,we had 3 jugs from a cat 30 w/std bore and need one more STD bore jug to have all four bored to our pistons . The biggest problem is the head , is had a valve seat pressed in at one point and the seat has separated from the head and some of the other seats are in bad shape and all valves are extremely pitted . With all this heads issues I think it will be cheeper to use another head if I can find one.all the original jugs are freeze cracked and in poor shape .
Hello, Nice best 30 you got there! All cat 30 parts will work on your engine. Your head is Best, because it has the raised surface where it meets the cylinders, Cat 30 heads have an all flat surface. It sounds like it is repairable, if it were me I would try to use all the original Best parts. The cylinders can be welded or brazed, and bored and sleeved. Nice to see another Best is getting fixed! I hope to find a Best 30 someday to go with my Best 60. Caterpillarman
thanks caterpillarman ,maybe the head can be repaired aftrer all . Do you know of a good sorce for valves and seats as the local machine shop will have a hard time finding them .also in need of a good sorce for 0.040 over piston rings ,thanks !
HI!! Caterpillarman Please explain the raised portion on the head where it meets the jugs.
I have some extra valves if you want to come down and look at them and see if any will work. I also talked to a valve supplier and if you want to buy the in lots of 200 I can get them at a real good price.
Ken
HI ken ,I don't think any of the valves that are with the head are good . Do you have a set of 8 that will work ? At this point we just better get the head to the machine shop and see if it is reparable as the seats are in bad shape .I don't think I can justify 200 valves but I need to get over to your place to look at your collection . thanks ,you are allways a big help .
Ok, i'll try to explain the best 30 head. If you look at picture #4 above you will see the surface where the cylinders meet with the head, the deck i think is what its called. On a Best head the shape of the top of the cylinder is raised portion off of the head surface, its not a flat surface all the way across like a Cat 30 head. You can see in the picture #4 above that the shiny/oily surface is in the shape of the top of the cylinder, and the rest looks dry/rusty. I think its raised off the surface about an eighth or three sixteenth's of an inch. A Best head also has no holes for the oil pressure gauge bracket to mount on, although they could have been modified later for the bracket. Best 30's just had the gauge piped with a 90 off the head stud. I belive the rocker assembly's are differant as well. I have a Best 30 head, and was confused why it looked differant than my cat 30, untill I did a little research. Hope this helps. As far as valves and seats go, I think a good machine shop can help with this. If yours cannot find anything, I know there are guys on this site that can help. There are a few places that make custom piston rings. One such place is called Otto Engine Works. I know there are a few others, I'll have to research that a little more. There is another post on 30 valves, see what guys are posting on that thread, that may help with your valve problem. Cylinders can be brazed/welded too, if you do not have a source I have a excellent cast iron repair guy in Riverside, Ca that does all my crack repairs. Caterpillarman
The reason that I ask about the raised area of the head where it meets the jug is from the outside the head looks all Cat as it has been drilled for the gauge bracket. I would like to see which valve retainers were currently being used on this tractor. I have known this tractor for a few years and it has had a few Cat parts put on it over it's life. The tracks are Cat and it had a late Cat manifold on it. It is sad that water got into it as it still turned last I knew. To Randy's son, I am sorry I do not remember your name yet, I am not good with names so please help me out.
Thanks
Ken
The head has been repaired and is ready to install just waiting for the rods to be re bushed at the wrist pin end and the engine will start to go back together . Got the rings from otto engine works and the piston jugs have been replaced and bored . I have a question ,I read in the book (making tracks) that the paint color of all best tractors changed to battleship gray in late 1924 or 1925 and this best 30 is a 1925 sn-3306 so is the correct color for the tractor gray or black ? If gray, is it the same gray as holt and early cat ?
mouldings best 30
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