1957 Lo-Boy followed me home

[CharlieK]

looking good

[Don McCombs]

No laughing here. When doing a one-man job of dismantling and installing my Fast Hitch, I use a ratchet strap to lift the heavier pieces and hold them in place.

[Cubfriend]

If there’s a will, there’s a way! Looks like you have a later Loboy with the over and under tierods from S.N. 4802 up.

[radioguy41]

Here she is in place. Now on to getting the front axle extended.

Click on image for a larger view.

[radioguy41]

I needed to get it sitting on 4 wheels so I gave up on extending the axle for now. It's back together so onward and upward with installing the new radiator. Next up cleaning and painting the fan, shroud, and radiator supports.

Click on image for a larger view.

[tst]

do not know if its the pic but your center steering arm looks twisted to me ??

[CharlieK]

AGREE^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[radioguy41]

Yep, it is but it doesn't affect the steering so I'm letting it alone. It's not as bad as it looks, there is some distortion from the camera.

[radioguy41]

Making progress. Waiting for a new radiator cap and overflow hose then the hood finally goes back on.

Click on image for a larger view.

[Don McCombs]

How did you work out the issues with the radiator?

[radioguy41]

Here's how. First, the overflow tube is not only too high on the neck but it's bigger than original. It's 5/16" dia. The first thing I did was to shorten it by half (see first photo). I then ordered a piece of EPDM rubber hose, 5/16" ID, 7/17" OD (thin wall) with a bending radius of 3/4". Between the shortened tube and the thinwall hose the hood now clears.

Click on image for a larger view.

Next was the cap. The problem is the repro cap sold by most vendors is made wrong. The skirt is way to long which is why it hits the overflow. There is one vendor on Ebay that sells a no pressure cap with the correct length skirt (see photo comparison) so I ordered one of those and it fits fine, except, nothing is ever perfect. While it fits great and clears the overflow just fine it appears the tangs aren't centered correctly so as you can see in the bottom photo the wings don't center front to back. I'll live with it.

[JimCub48]

If you want the radiator cap to be straight, you can trim the tabs back a little on the cap , or trim back the radiator neck rim edge. I just bent the cap tabs back a little and friction holds the cap in place. Looks right and straight and does not fall off or come loose.

[Slim140]

Making progress. Waiting for a new radiator cap and overflow hose then the hood finally goes back on.

Click on image for a larger view.
1957 Farmall Loboy-237s.jpg

Looking good, you may need to trim the corner of the new radiator on both sides to clear your grill. I circled it in yellow. Mine was the same way.

[radioguy41]

Thanks, I'd already done it after the photo was taken. I also cut the tangs on the radiator cap down in order to get the wings in a straight front to back line. What's left of the tangs is not much, maybe 1/8"? None of the 3 or 4 caps I tried fit the neck right so I suspect that too is made wrong. If I get a chance I'll go outside and check the old radiator out on the scrap metal pile and see if there's a difference. This shouldn't be this difficult. You get your hands on an original radiator and you duplicate it. It's got to be at least as easy as winging it and trying for "close enough" wouldn't you think?

OK, as I suspected the neck on the new rad is rotated about 1/2" to the left compared to an original.

Compare this photo to the one a couple posts above.
Click on image for a larger view.

[radioguy41]

OK, everybody cross your fingers, it's back together. Now, hopefully, I can get on with some of the other things on my to-do list.

Click on image for a larger view.