The Little Powerhouse

[400brian]

Latest project.

Easiest clutch I've ever removed.

[HoosierDeereMan]

Back to the basics huh? Single Walbro carburetor, points and condensers! Do you remember how to work on these? It's been dual Mikunis and Prestolite ignitions for the last couple of projects hasn't it?

Troy

[400brian]

Yup, this is out of the sled I rode as a kid. Pop bought the sled new.
Hasn't run since the mid 80's. It will be interesting to see how the engine has fared.

[400brian]

Here's a couple of shots of the internals. This is the first time this engine has been apart since some little Japanese gal put it together 40 years ago.

This engine has not run since the mid-80s, I had oiled it maybe 5 years ago. Nothing obviously wrong here, the pistons have very little visible wear, as do the cylinders. It appears that the engine had been running rich, judging by the carbon on the piston tops and domes of the heads, and the wash on the mag side. I believe the speedo says around 2500 miles on the sled.

I'll compare the ring gaps between the jugs on the engine, and an NOS one I have. That will give me a more precise measure of the wear.

Crank looks good so far, turns very smooth. We'll see what it looks like out of the case.

[400brian]

I have NOS pistons, a PTO side jug, and NOS gaskets, all bought from DK off ebay several years ago.
All I needed was a NOS mag side to complete a top end rebuild back to new specs.

I'd advertised here and there, I had a bunch of leads and the help of several list members here, but nothing had worked out. I had found one through an obsolete parts finder that one dealer wanted $175 for, and another $235.
I just couldn't pull the trigger on that, being as a PTO side jug had sold on ebay a few weeks ago for $20.

Then a list member found me one at a JD dealership. The box looks like it has been sitting on a shelf for 40 years...Oh wait, it may very well have done just that!

But the jug is well coated in cosmoline, and it appears to be in perfect condition!

The price was right, and this once again proves my contention that : ALL THE GOOD STUFF IS IN MICHIGAN!

[ICCSF 108]

Damn Brian someone must like you..

Kenny

[JDT]

A diamond in the rough there Brian. Congrats.

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Damn Brian someone must like you..

Kenny

Kenny, Kenny, Kenny everyone loves Brian!!!!!

DA

[Cabindweller]

Seeing a motor tore down never gets old for me thanks for posting the pictures.
Jerry

[400brian]

The case cleaned up pretty good. The top half soaked in parts cleaner over night, the bottom half I sprayed with solvent. The bottom has epoxy plugs that I don't want to disturb. This really didn't take the crud off, but it took the oil out of it, as it turned chalky after drying. Then I hit it with the soda blast, which really cleaned it up.
My soda blaster is a really cheap spot blaster. It is just a hand held suction sand blaster that I am running feed grade sodium bicarb through.

The crank is going to Jerome as soon as I can get it to the Post Office, as I decided that: "in for a penny...in for a pound."

I still have to get the base gaskets cleaned off the top half, they are really stuck on well, and the solvent and the blasting have not bothered them much. Looks like hand work.

[ICCSF 108]

Brian, They make a little high speed angle grinder & screw in sanding disks that are made to remove gaskets, they work great..

Such as

Ebay Item number: 280675110708, 2" 24 GRIT SANDING DISK FITS 3M ROLOC MATCO SNAP ON

Item number: 270703241732, 1 1/2" CONDITIONING DISK DREMEL ROLOC MANDREL SANDING

Item number: 160519383450, Ingersoll-Rand 301 Angle Air Die Grinder IR301

Kenny

[400brian]

The crankshaft is back from Jerome, and the case has been re-assembled.
The pistons have been installed, and the jugs dropped on. Progress is slow...but it is progress.

Below: a genuine JD piston pin tool in use.

[400brian]

Still going together.

[JDT]

Nice and tiddy Brian. Looking fine.

[400brian]

One of the unsolved issues I've been sitting on was how to get the inside bearing off the engine fan shaft.
The book says slide it off...well it wasn't coming!


In my opinion, the later outboard mounted fan design is much easier to work on, the shaft can be tapped or pressed out of the fan tower without issue. Here, the shaft is pressed onto the fan, and the inboard bearing sits down in a recess, so there is no easy way to pull it off.

I felt that my bearing separator tool was my best bet, but I had to give it something to bite on.
I ran a short bead of weld on opposite sides of the bearing, tightened the separator on the bearing, then installed my harmonic balancer puller. As I turned the bolt of the puller I heard a crack, then the puller went loose.
Thought I had won, but inspection revealed that the outer race had broke a chunk out of it, no movement of the bearing. The broken area was big enough that it allowed me to cut the ball cage with a small chisel, then pop the balls out one by one. Once the balls were out, the outer race lifted off, leaving the stubborn little inner race.
The bearing separator was now clamped into the groove in the inner race, and it then finally gave in to the persuasion of the puller!

I love it when a plan comes together!

Had a similar situation the night before while pulling apart the rear idler shaft on the 400. The bearings had to be pulled the same way, then the plastic wheels had to be pressed off. After all that, I realized that the good looking shaft had a 1/4" bend in the middle!