Antique Tractor Restoration Tips
“Farmall Cub Radiator Removal”
One of the first problems we encountered in the disassembly part of our Farmall Cub restoration project was removing the radiator. The bolt heads were corroded to the point that a socket would not even grip most of them. To compound matters, the bolts were rusted to the lock washers that were rusted to the mounting plates. With the radiator obviously in the way, getting a good grip on the bolts with any other tools was impossible. A little bit of thought was required here. We did realize that the radiator had a leak and would at least need repair so we did not want to cause anymore damage to it. With a few measurements it was figured that by grinding the bolt heads off with a hand grinder we could then chisel off the lock washers and remove the mounting plates.
This would still leave enough of the old bolt to get a grip on it with one of my favorite tools for removing stubborn bolts. To gain access we removed the fan, fan shroud to make enough room to get the hand grinder in there. Once all the bolt heads were ground off, the lock washers were removed with hammer and chisel. The same was repeated with the mounting plates. They were firmly rusted in place, so it took a little bit of finesse to get them removed. Once that was completed the radiator side mounts were removed along with the radiator.
Now we had 18 bolts with plenty of corrosion around them but nothing in our way anymore. A wire brush cleaned up all the extra corrosion and a heavy dose of penetrating lubricant was applied and let stand for about an hour. Then we used the pliers (pictured left) to remove the bolts. I can really not say enough good things about these pliers. They work better than a pipe wrench or vise grips. The harder you pull the tighter they lock. If they don't break it loose, it's not gonna happen.
With the radiator removed, we took it into the local radiator repair shop to get a price on repair. The radiator was beyond repair and the price to install a new core was more than buying an actual replacement radiator. So, a new radiator was ordered. We still had two small problems to address with the radiator. The mounting plates were badly rusted as were the radiator supports. For the mounting plates we took some pieces of steel plate that measured .25" thick, .75" wide and 7.25" in length. They were clamped to the old pieces we had and the new holes drilled. $10 saved over buying the new replacements. It was decided that the radiator supports were to badly rusted to repair so a used pair were purchased online at TM Tractor Parts. I highly recommend this company if you are looking for new or used Farmall Cub tractor parts. Shipping costs were nominal and you know the exact quality of any used parts you purchase for your Farmall Cub restoration project.