[Farmall] O-12 chronicle, part 3

John Hall jthall at worldnet.att.net
Sun Nov 23 04:48:05 PST 2008


 I've run into the same problems with reproduction parts that don't fit or 
aren't made exactly like the originals. Evidently the general public 
tolerates it therefore the reproducton shops get away with poor quality. 
It's quite obvious these places don't manufacture for OEM's with an 
inspection dept.

Keep us posted as to how this saga unfolds. Who knows, you just may become a 
supplier of old tractors to Hollywood!

John Hall

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <olmstead at ridgenet.net>
To: "Farmall/IHC mailing list" <farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 9:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Farmall] O-12 chronicle, part 3


>I bit the bullet on the leaky radiator.  The new core that I had ordered
> from Rice Equipment arrived after I had the radiator partly assembled
> using a 'good looking' core from another tractor.  It may have looked
> good, but it had one very leaky tube.  So I pulled the radiator back off
> the tractor and dismantled it.  Only took one evening to accomplish that;
> no rusty bolts to cope with.
>
> I have mixed feelings about the new radiator core.  It came in a box
> labeled Detroit Radiator.  Hopefully it was made in USA.  It will probably
> cool a lot better than the original IHC radiator; it has three layers of
> tubes vs the two layers in the original core.  The top and bottom plates
> (what the tubes are soldered to) is heavy brass; considerably thicker than
> the original.  One thing I didn't like about it was the square corners.  I
> had to grind them off to match the contour of the radiator top and bottom
> castings.  And the fins are brass foil, maybe half as thick as the
> originals.  I bent some of them just by brushing my shirt against them
> while lifting the radiator back onto the tractor.  The core came
> unpainted, so I'll probably wind up painting it black later.  And four of
> the bolt holes were punched about half a hole off; I had to drill them out
> in order to get the radiator tank bolts in.
>
> Got the radiator completed last night and bolted it back on the tractor.
> Today I filled it (first with water), and verified that there were no
> leaks by driving around for a while to get the coolant nice and hot.  Then
> I let the engine cool and I dumped the water and refilled the cooling
> system with 50/50 antifreeze and water.
>
> There's really not much more to do.  The engine was only running on two or
> three cylinders this morning, so I cleaned and regapped the sparkplugs.
> The plugs showed a very rich mixture, so I leaned out the carburetor main
> jet a bit.  I still need to check valve rocker arm clearances.  The engine
> sounds a bit clattery; I don't know yet whether it is valve noise or
> piston slap.  Probably slap.  Not a big deal.  I already knew that the
> bores were probably a bit loose, and the rings are leaky.  But there's no
> noticeable smoke, so they're good enough.
>
> The tractor runs fine.  I was going to drive it to the nearest gas station
> (about two miles away), but the idea of spending an hour cooped up in that
> tiny cockpit didn't appeal to me.  What are you supposed to do with your
> legs and feet?
>
> I have one more modification to make to get the tractor ready for its
> movie career.  There's a removable cover plate on the transaxle housing
> right above the PTO shaft.  I'm going to take a spare plate and mount a
> pintle hook on it.  Most aircraft towbars have a loop intended to be
> dropped onto a pintle hook.  I wouldn't recommend this modification to
> anyone who intends to pull serious weight behind their tractor; mounting
> the hook on that plate puts it up too high, pretty much on the rear axle
> centerline.  Drawbars and tow hooks need to be mounted well below the axle
> centerline in order to prevent the tractor from doing a 'wheelie' when the
> load gets too heavy.
>
> But for the documentary, one night of pulling a relatively light aircraft
> on level ground, the high hitch mount is tolerable.  I'll take it off
> afterward so that I am not tempted to use it for real work.
>
> I'd like to have a real pintle hitch for an I-12; I've seen a picture but
> never touched a real one.
>
> I'll try and get some pictures of this and a couple of other O-12s up on
> PhotoBucket before too long so you can see what I've been up to.
>
> -Karl
>
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