"The WarHorse"

Well unfortunately my "mini teardown" of the engine for a quick inspection hasn't gone as planned...


When I opened it up I was greeted with this... nice chunks of metallic crap smothered in filthy oil and a scored cylinder!
 



Can definitely catch a nail on them suckers but the funny thing is that the motor still feels like it has tons of compression and will bounce back off it so maybe I'll just giver a quick hone and new set of rings, pending the piston isn't TOO bad. It did run perfectly good and strong last time I ran it so I guess it's lucky it's sat since then! It's trying to eat itself so now I need to get right into it to find out where those chunks of metal are coming from and if this motor will be salvageable or not,  I'll find out soon enough.


This is where I've left off for now.  
 


I'm REALLY hoping it's going to be okay,  it's original to the tractor and I want to keep it that way!  Say little prayer to the flathead gods for 'er boys she needs our help! Lol

Score!   

I think you are OK. Just be sure to get a good crosshatch in the hone. Is there a ridge at the top of the cylinder? If so (and if you don’t have a ridge reamer) be careful putting the piston back in. Of course the new rings will hit the ridge if it is there and is significant. If it is, it would be worthwhile to borrow a ridge reamer.

Lol. I hope so but I'm concerned about where those fragments are coming from...

Not sure about the ridge I ran my finger across it and didn't really feel anything so it's probably fine, the bore itself looks square and there's no play (rocking) in the piston surpringly.

Tomorrow is another day...

I always hate it when that happens...

i hope that motor will be okay those engines are stupid stout motors and will last you as long as its got oil

Budget_gokart wrote:

i hope that motor will be okay those engines are stupid stout motors and will last you as long as its got oil

Thanks,  I'm hoping so too!

I'm getting into it shortly and will report back later, wish me luck!

Well boys, she's torn down, inspected and will be worked over while I'm waiting for the gasket kit to come in.



I was able to fish a bunch more metal out of the oil in the crankcase (this is just a small sample)  


The gears are perfect with almost no visible wear, also no chips or scores...


The piston rings are in great condition and have plenty of tension on them so they'll get reused. There's a bunch of gunk including metallic grit all throughout them but the piston is still really decent as is the connecting rod and crankshaft main journal  





With the good news out of the way it's time to get to the bad news.... for the life of me I cannot find any contact points or an explanation of where all the metal came from! The Synchro plates, the bearings, the gears, the valves, the governor just everything looks really great, even more so for a 37 year old motor and everything still feels tight so I'm stumped! Lol. I should be celebrating but now I'm more concerned then when I started because I couldn't find any witness or contact marks yet there's a good amount of chunks of metal.... maybe bits of flashing that's broke off from the edges of castings? *sigh*.

I'll be looking even harder as I clean/polish everything and reassemble, I hope something shows itself or I'll lose it! Lol

Interesting. I’m curious to see what your verdict is. I don’t know what it is about these flat head briggs, but out of all the small engines out there these seem to have the most interesting and bizarre issues when they happen. I saw this one english guy rebuild one where the connecting rod had absolutely destroyed the valves when it snapped. Wrist pin had jammed into the liner when the c clip broke, now I wonder if maybe that could be a factor? Tough engines and they’ll last for forever though.

Might have found the problem! Date Code 84011310, probably one of the last ones made on Friday, January the 13th 1984! Lol

Did you pick the cuttings with a magnet or are they aluminum?

I used a magnet, even the chunks I first picked out of the cylinder I checked with the magnet and most of them were magnetic.

Just for the record I've been inside and worked on plenty of engines, it's not the first time I've come across metal but it's usually in flake form which is fairly normal wear and tear. I've only seen (small) chunks in gearboxes, can find evidence of where it's come from and not been overly concerned but this is just bizarre! I'm really suspecting it's flashing from edges of the castings but I'm not coming to any conclusions yet.

Please do let us know if you find the source. Interesting. Metal in sludge I can see, but chunks... hmmm

Well guys I don't really have much in the way of an update but I can say I've been slowly cleaning/polishing engine parts getting them ready for reassembly and I still for the life of me can't get to the bottom of where the chunks of metal have come from! I'm just going to let it go and move on, it's obvious to me that it's not been caused by any interference so now that it's cleaned out it will no longer be a concern!

I'll probably start a thread in the engine section for it and set up a link here, theres lots of work to do to it before I start reassembly,  I'm working on the carb right now and giving it some personal touches so the airflow is improved and as smooth as possible without killing velocity.

[adm]This project still meets criteria for next year's Build-off if you wanted to enter.[/adm]

That's super thank you! May I copy my build progress here also for completeness of my build thread I've worked so hard on!? Lol. I do understand I need an official Build Off thread.

On another note, I've started a seperate thread in the engine section for the motor from this old girl. It can be found HERE for all who are interested.

There will be an official build-off thread.  Historically, we lock this thread while the build-off is running.  Then if it continues afterwards, I think if I remember right, I can link them together and unlock.

Copy that! Thanks for the help!

Well guys I don't have anything in the ways of a progress update as the last time I worked on the tractor itself was Dec 31st when I cleaned up and painted the front of the chassis in preparation of reassembly, it was a little chilly out that day so I used a small electric heater and made an enclosure out of work mats so it would dry. I forgot to post these that day but better late than never right?!




The ol' girl is still sitting there in the exact same spot, in the exact same state, for 3 reasons...
1) I've been working on the motor and want to have it assembled so I can get a pic of it with the tractor for..  
2) The Build Off which...
3) I'm still contemplating whether I'm going to enter it into or not... I've been leaning towards it and thought it would be best to leave it in it's current state for the entry photos just in case.

I also (selfishly) wanted to bump the thread so those following don't think I've abandoned it and new/old members coming out of hiding see it pop up on their radar and hopefully check out what I've been up to! Lol.


I hope everyone has had a strong start to 2022 and that it ends the same way for you! Until next time fellas!

Sign up for the build-off! The worst that can happen is that you finish it next December.

Oh she'll be "complete" to build off requirements (not like they're ever "complete") WAY before then! I plan on doing alot of serious test&tune and break, repair, repeat this summer! I'll probably be breaking, tweaking and tuning stuff before the snow is even gone here! Lol.

Man that looks brand new! Nice job with the paint

Well I got the beast back on it's wheels today, it was in the way of being able to work on the 16hp B&S I've mentioned in another thread and I've been stalling making it mobile for far too long now!

I greased up and installed the steering gear and greased the front of the chassis




Greased up the inside of the front plate and installed the axle. I didn't realize how much articulation it had until now, it was seized solid before I took it apart! Lol. Only time will tell if it's enough...




Then I popped the wheels back on and I set it down. Nice to see it on it's feet again and wow the steering is smooth as butter now I'm loving it!




Now that it's mobile again I'll actually be able to work on it again! That's all for now, hopefully I'll get more done on it next week.

Goodness!  Not much space in that axle and wheel!  (I think you mentioned that before) Looks sweet though!  Like those front tires.

You're right there's not and you're right I did! Lol. It still turns pretty sharp before the rim contacts the axle but it's all good because I have a secret weapon that will take care of it and giver a nice upgrade! I love the tires too, it's a set of 4 that came off a offshore atv, wish the rear were a little bigger but then the machine would go back to being lower in the front!

I got the motor mounting plate painted today!



The next hurdle will be the motor "isolators" as mine were crumbling upon disassembly! They're made out of stiff rubber or polyurethane or something similar and they're ridiculously expensive to replace for what they are! I don't even remember the exact number(s) as I was so flabbergasted I instantly deleted the info my memory bank! Lol. I'm pretty sure I was looking around $50-60 for 8 of them and there's no way I'm paying that for them! I also don't want to go solid mount or just use flat, thick rubber because they're also the locators for the mounting plate and prevent it from shifting around. For several weeks I've been looking for 1/4" polyurethane or even Teflon (it's strong and has a little give to it) to make new ones myself and have come up empty handed... the only thing I've found is a fiberglass materiel/resin that's heated and pressed into a super duper strong material that's commonly used to make knife handles! They call it "G10" and it was cheap, like $10 for a small sheet of it.

The plan is to make 4 that will go into the chassis from underneath and be flush with the top of it then use the 3 and half remaining decent original ones in the motor plate, from underneath and I will retain the vibration isolation properties of the original parts while reducing the overall amount of flex/twist of the motor!

Here's a picture of what's left of them stinkin' isolators and the hardware.



I look forward to getting back to work on this old girl soon but getting The Mud Duck moving under it's own power has taken priority for the time being!

Don’t forget plastic cutting boards for making parts. They come in a lot of different thicknesses and are cheap and strong.