Chevy Engine Boosts Ford 8N Speed
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Terry Kreutzer does wheelies with his Ford 8N just accelerating when driving down the street. The 1965 265-hp. Chevy engine pumps out 3,000 rpm’s at half throttle, which Kreutzer says can make a Bush Hog gearbox smoke. Using radar, he once clocked it doing zero to 60 in 100 ft.
“The rear wheels were still spinning when I hit 100 ft.,” says Kreutzer, who used to do repowers but now specializes in restorations. “It's even faster now. It'll do 30 mph in reverse. I use it to blade snow in the winter and do finish-up dirt work. It gets jobs done fast.”
The repower had been necessary. Kreutzer, with the help of friend Donny Martindale, had slammed it into a tree in the late 1970s. Kreutzer was laid up, but the 8N was worse with its crushed engine, front end, and other crushed components.
“Donny came to see me in the hospital, and I suggested we put a Chevy engine in the busted up 8N,” recalls Kreutzer.
At the time, the two were running a speed shop, dropping Chevy V-8s in farm trucks to soup them up. “Everyone wanted to get to the elevator ahead of their neighbors, so we were keeping busy,” recalls Kreutzer.
A few days later, Martindale showed up at the hospital to tell Kreutzer the engine was bolted in place. He was ready to start making the hood and put a new front axle under the 8N.
“He had the axle all figured out, but he died in a car accident before we could finish it.”
Martindale made an adapter plate out of 1/2-in. steel to go between the tractor bell housing and the Chevy bell housing. Later Kreutzer had to replace the Chevy bell housing with a Lakewood Scatter Shield bell housing.
“The tractor would pull wheelies so high that when the front end came down, the Chevy cast iron bell housing would crack,” explains Kreutzer. “Made from steel billet, the Lakewood is practically explosion-proof.”
Martindale also took the tractor clutch disk center to a machine shop and had them weld it to a Chevy clutch disk with bigger splines. He also used the Chevy flywheel and starter. He made a new hood to mold around a gas tank from an old Baldwin combine.
The front of the engine needed to mount to the new front axle that had been repurposed from a 1941 Ford pickup and turned upside down. Kreutzer made mounting brackets so the axle could pivot.
“I had to do some heating and bending of the arms that came off the spindles to get them to line up,” he says. “I kept the original steering box.”
Kreutzer mounted 305 heads on the engine. “I made dually exhausts with glasspacks so it sounds really nice,” says Kreutzer. “It makes heads turn.”
He later added Baldwin wheels to the 9N rear axle for the Ford/Chevy hybrid. Kreutzer welded 8N centers on the Baldwin wheels.
“That gave us huge rear tires,” he explains.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terry Kreutzer, P.O. Box 48, 1848 East E. North, Keystone, Neb. 69144 (ph 308-726-5644).
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Chevy Engine Boosts Ford 8N Speed ENGINES Terry Kreutzer does wheelies with his Ford 8N just accelerating when driving down the street The 1965 265 hp Chevy engine pumps out 3 000 rpm’s at half throttle which Kreutzer says can make a Bush Hog gearbox smoke Using radar he once clocked it doing zero to 60 in 100 ft “The rear wheels were still spinning when I hit 100 ft ” says Kreutzer who used to do repowers but now specializes in restorations “It is even faster now It will do 30 mph in reverse I use it to blade snow in the winter and do finish-up dirt work It gets jobs done fast ” The repower had been necessary Kreutzer with the help of friend Donny Martindale had slammed it into a tree in the late 1970’s Kreutzer was laid up but the 8N was worse with its crushed engine front end and other crushed components “Donny came to see me in the hospital and I suggested we put a Chevy engine in the busted up 8N ” recalls Kreutzer At the time the two were running a speed shop dropping Chevy V-8’s in farm trucks to soup them up “Everyone wanted to get to the elevator ahead of their neighbors so we were keeping busy ” recalls Kreutzer A few days later Martindale showed up at the hospital to tell Kreutzer the engine was bolted in place He was ready to start making the hood and put a new front axle under the 8N “He had the axle all figured out but he died in a car accident before we could finish it ” Martindale made an adapter plate out of 1/2-in steel to go between the tractor bell housing and the Chevy bell housing Later Kreutzer had to replace the Chevy bell housing with a Lakewood Scatter Shield bell housing “The tractor would pull wheelies so high that when the front end came down the Chevy cast iron bell housing would crack ” explains Kreutzer “Made from steel billet the Lakewood is practically explosion proof ” Martindale also took the tractor clutch disk center to a machine shop and had them weld it to a Chevy clutch disk with its bigger splines He also used the Chevy flywheel and Chevy starter He made a new hood to mold around a gas tank from an old Baldwin combine The front of the engine needed to mount to the new front axle that had been repurposed from a 1941 Ford pickup and turned upside down Kreutzer made mounting brackets so the axle could pivot “I had to do some heating and bending of the arms that came off the spindles to get them to line up ” he says “I kept the original steering box ” Kreutzer mounted 305 heads on the engine “I made dually exhausts with glasspacks so it sounds really nice ” says Kreutzer “It really makes heads turn ” He later added Baldwin wheels to the 9N rear axle for the Ford/Chevy hybrid Kreutzer welded 8N centers on the Baldwin wheels “That gave us huge rear tires ” he explains Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Terry Kreutzer P O Box 48 1848 East E North Keystone Neb 69144 ph 308 726-5644
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