2055 White resto modding “White Lightning”

Well I’m not dead. Had some time to putter so I made these trim panels for the dash.



I also decided to pull the motor. Thoroughly expecting the driveshaft to be a bear to remove, I gently tapped the U-joint with a hammer and liberally applied wd-40 to the set screw holes. To my surprise once I yanked the motor mount bolts it just slid right off. (WINNING!)




Now I can repace the crank seal, and I should probably put new bearings in the drive shaft. They don’t sound good at all, and do not turn freely.

Next step is to rebuild the motor, and to get started on the front axle. My hubs and spindles arrived recently also. I decided on the 5 on 4.5 pattern because it’s more common and it just looks cooler.

Looking good dude! Keep at er!

Got the heads off yesterday. I lapped the valves in, cleaned most of the carbon off (still some in the ports but I don't think I can reach them and they aren't too bad). Funny thing is though that I forgot to label the valves when I lapped them in so yeah. DOH! They should seal fine though.

I do believe I will need new rings though. Some slight smear marks were present on the bore. The pistons have about 12 thou clearance on all sides. Not sure if they're worn or if that's just to compensate for heat expansion. Pistons seem fine otherwise, I'll wire wheel the last of the carbon off tomorrow. Cylinders look good too, glazed and some very minor scratching on # 2 (just a hair on # 1), nothing that a hone can't take off though.

Here's my Motor to-do list:

-Fit oil cooler
-Fit new gaskets and seals
-Rebuild short block, fit new rings
-Hone cylinders
-New oil filter adapter

Gasket set and seals have been ordered. Currently sanding the heads down. # 2 is quite bad as I recall. If I had a mill I’d just machine them .010 under and call it a day but I don’t so I’m just using a glass table top to get as close as I can! Lol. I figure I can’t make it any worse anyways.

Take your time, alternate your pattern, turn the head often and you'll do fine!

Heads are now flush. I went at em with some 220 and that helped a bit. Gaskets and seals are now in stock, and valves are installed. That tool works great for that. I have an engagement next week but I should be able to start the bottom end/short block sometime the week after and from there I’ll tackle the front end next. I need to pick up a ring compressor and a hone anyway before I begin.

We are now down to block on the ol Vanny. Everything’s looking good. Crank is excellent. Cam is perfect, pistons are healthy.  A couple very small scratches were in the bore, so a good hone is obviously in order. Rings looked okay at first, but when measuring the lower compression ring I got over the .30 thou reject.  Bored still have the old honing marks barely visible, which is nice. Crank’s critical dimensions are all 3+ thou over reject so no issues there. I might replace the rods as there are some wear marks visible. I’m not calling them scratches cause I can’t feel them at all. When torqued down, one was nice and tight but the other spun pretty freely (cyl. # 2). So some wear is there I think. I also blued the end of the crank to keep it from rusting hopefully but we’ll see. Now to order some parts and go forward. Let me know if you have any suggestions, first timer at work here! lol.

I also polished the block up a bit just for the heck of it. (Heads are on as a mock up.)

Here’s a better look at the rods. For 84 bucks I’m on the fence about replacing them. I looked on w bay and all the used rods had the same marks, so I’m wondering if it’s really worth changing these out.
# 2:
# 1.


Now if you see the sideways marks, that’s my fingernail scuffing across. So definitely not major scoring, even though the spots look a little dark. I felt no play when I torqued them down. Thoughts?

Looks like pretty normal wear and tear to me and based on what you've said I'd probably reuse them but if your budget allows then $84 for a new pair doesn't sound bad at all. Guess I'm on the fence too, pass me a beer would ya!

I'd probably clean them and continue. Probably assembled without lube.

you might want to get some plastigauge and check the clearance on those rods that could be a decision maker. keep up the good work.

An oil cooler and new filter adapter are mounted. Nice to be able to prefill now. Crankcase cover is now fully lubed and ready to go! Once my rings show up I’ll get her honed and back together.

Bought a gearset and seals too, so transaxle is next in line. Once the motor is done that’s next in line.

I got some more parts in today. Unfortunately, the throttle seal I ordered came completely destroyed. It’s a little spongy ring.
(What it should look like)
What I got was a fine black powder in a sealed bag. Grumble grumble grumble. I’m going to call the seller on monday and ask if I can get a refund. Sucks but that’s life I guess. Still waiting on rings and the axle seals.

Ugh! That sux.  Hope he works with you.  That's kind of unacceptable to sell something that is basically destroyed or rotted.

Could you not use a lubricated oring?

Budget_gokart wrote:

Could you not use a lubricated oring?

Well I spent 8 bucks on a new seal so I’m really gonna try and get my moneys worth here. If it doesn’t work out I cut a seal out of a foam air filter and it’s working, but again I want to really try and get OEM for the money I spent.

Rings are here now. Just gotta hone and build er up now, and we’re on to the axles next.

Hey that looks like a motor. Unfortunately I forgot to mark the valves when I lapped them so now they hiss when I turn the motor over by hand. Aaarrrggghhhhh!!! Not sure what to do. Don’t really want to pull both heads again and lap the valves.

Edit: I’m an idiot. This is normal. Still should have labeled everything though lmao

Test run should be within the week

Progress!

This is just for looks and a test platform, I need to paint the frame under the motor at some point.

I’m a hoser and I didn’t document the rebuild but I’ll outline what all I did:

-rebuilt carburetor
-polished engine block
-resurfaced heads
-lapped valves
-replaced piston rings
-all new gaskets and seals
-New plug terminals and boots
-new plugs
-new valve covers (old ones were cracked)
-all panels repainted
-honed cylinders


I know it’s been a while but I’m going to remove the battery and gas tank from the tractor (no manifold yet, need to modify for new muffler, safety reasons here) and try and see if she’ll crank! If I remember to I’ll get it on video.

So, I tried to start the motor today. *click* starter didn’t turn the motor over. It’s getting power, and I just rebuilt the starter with new brushes. Strange. I’ll have to get a 13mm flex socket and remove it. I can turn the motor over by hand, sorta at least. Without the plugs in it still can’t get enough power. I tried boosting it with the battery, no dice.

I tried a couple drills with sockets, and they couldn’t either. I think there is too much assembly lube on the bearings and the tight fit of the rings/crosshatching isn’t helping either. I may have screwed this up pretty good. The rod caps should be okay, they are the same ones reused in the same spots so there shouldn’t be a problem.

When I rebuilt the motor, I didn’t use plastiguage on the big ends, I couldn’t find any and short on time. The rods were torqued on, marked, and spun freely, no binding IIRC. I suspect this is the rings and crosshatching.

There’s a chance I may wind up retiring this project until further notice if I can’t figure this out. I simply don’t have the money to keep throwing at this thing and I don’t know if it’s even worth it anymore. Not saying selling it but definitely putting it off for a few years. You tell me. Straw that broke the camel’s back I guess.

sorry to hear you're having these issues. hope you can figure it out and move on. i'd like to give you some suggestions but hard to do not being there to look at it.

That's no fun man... look what happened to me with my old 11hp flathead, I put alot of hours into it but something is up. I've shelved it for now and will figure it out this winter.

Did you check/adjust ring(s) end gap? Even with brand new rings and a hone you should still be able to turn the engine over by hand with relative ease, it really shouldn't be much more resistance than it was before teardown.

Unfortunately you'll need to remove the pistons and rings to check this next thing as well if the motor is tough to spin over... double check the radial thickness (width) of the rings themselves as compared to the old ones, they should be essentially the same, rings don't tend to lose much. When I replaced the rings in my car the oil rings were the wrong ones in the right package causing binding... by the time I had the second piston back in I had to basically stand on a breaker bar to turn the motor over and knew something was wrong so it's something to look into BUT hopefully you can spot and correct the issue before having to dive that deep.

The assembly lube also shouldn't be a factor.

I'd be sad to see you push the tractor aside man all you've done is talk about how much you love it, well there was that one time you were frustrated with her because of the snowblower but hey it happens!  Lol.

Hopefully it's something small and easy, hang in there!

Did it turn freely before or after you put the two block halves together?  If before, could it be too thin a gasket?  I'm guessing after.

Good point @MightyRaze, crankshaft end play is dictated by gasket thickness and very important!