Massey Ferguson 1200

As many of you know we (particularly Marcus) is somewhat of MF1200 fanatic, but sadly due to his own workload the chance to restore his own tractor was not an opportunity that time would ever allow. Marcus sold his tractor to another avid fan to prevent   further deterioration in its long wait for attention.

You can imagine the excitement when the chance to restore a MF1200 for a client.

 

SO HERE IS OUR STORY BOARD

         

 Here she is upon arrival, usual faded pink paint work, corrosion apparant but not too aggressive. The interior well worn through normal wear and tear.

                          The cab interior........ well....... in need of a makeover.   This 1970's icon now assessed is taken to theatre by 'Suttons Surgeons'

         

         

Whilst the mechanics were under way the cosmetic surgeons were working hard.

The panels were treated for their corrosion and prepared for the primer. The primer that we your has an anti corrossion additive within it to ensure a long levity of your new paintwork.

Once the primer had been applied and any imperfections were dealt with the panels were ready for their top coat and lacquer.

The interior of the the cab was stripped and the metal worked treated in the same way as the other panel work. 

  

    The chassis was prepared for paint ensuring the surfaces were free from corrosion and dents and pits were filled where required. It was then primed with the usual primer.        The top coat was then applied. On large projects such as this, a perfect top coat can be tricky due to the large  and multi-sided surface areas. It is so important that the timing is perfect between the top coat and the laquer application. Any delays result in dry looking patches that are flat and lack the lustre.     The newly painted chassis and cab were carefully reunited using a telescopic handler and plenty of manpower to guide it on to the bushing.   <   The labourious job was now to re-connect all the pipe work that was removed when disassembled. The electrics were renewed from front to back and the whole dashboard and cab controls re-installed.   The cab glass was refitted to the cab        The project is now progressing fast with attention to last details both mechanical, electrical and cosmetic put into place. The transfers were applied. These had been made to pattern by an outside company actually a local farmer that has diversified A Rothen & Sons from Mancetter, Atherstone.                 From left to right Eric Derry, Ben Gibbs, Matthew Haddon and Martin Liggins        F. Sutton & Son proudly present the finished project      Our team have been truly captivated by this tractor from start to finish and it shows.    We have worked hard to produce a restoration to a very high standard without making the tractor look 'overdone'and artificial.     We spoke at length with our client about the type of finish required and we all were in favour of making the tractor look like genuine new tractor rather than a museum piece.    The client still wants to lightly use the tractor so did not consider that a concors standard was practical.  The cost of getting every inch of this whopper to clinical perfection of concors would have halted the vision.     Keeping it REAL seems to work better for this MF1200.        Marcus and his team have now restored a MF1200, and as he loaded it onto the low loader I am sure there was an inclination to abscond with it into the sunset, but with many more exciting projects in the pipeline it was transported home.