312-8 repower

[ineedanother 1,369]

I picked a 312-8 up from @Farmer Bill last year along with a c165 and there's a lot there in both of them to work with. The c165 has already earned it's keep. The k301 on the 312 was non-running and had some issues. The exhaust valve was stuck and in bad shape but I got it running. It smoked a bit so I'm using a spare M10 but as it turns out, That needs rings and it knocks so who knows what else. In short, it's a no-go without a rebuild.

 

My best donor is a k241 (301 block) from a parts tractor, I think it was a B100 but no tags so I'm not sure. I drug that out yesterday and cleaned it up. De-carboned the head (STD piston), cleaned and adjusted the valves, put a new carb on it, re-installed the main seal on the flywheel side (it was poorly installed), new points and plug, fired it up on the bench and it runs well. No smoke. Interestingly, the stator has been rewound (obviously by hand) but I didn't hook up a regulator so hopefully it will charge but I have a spare stator if needed. It's a seemingly good prospect for the job.

 My issue is this...I want to keep the stock exhaust from the 312 and can thread pipe as needed, but how about this funky elbow? Is that like unobtainium or does it actually exist somewhere on the market?

 

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by ineedanother

[ineedanother 1,369]

Should have probably put this in the engines category, please move if appropriate...thanks

[pfrederi 17,959]

It is a Magnum big bock elbow.  Part # is 47 054 01  When you find them the seem to be made out of a precious metal +/- $40

 

[ineedanother 1,369]

2 hours ago, pfrederi said:

It is a Magnum big bock elbow.  Part # is 47 054 01  When you find them the seem to be made out of a precious metal +/- $40

 

Apparently precious metal 

[Wheel-N-It 2,969]

May be time for a stack on that one ??? 

Will it work?

[RED-Z06 2,266]

Why do you feel like the stator has been hand wound?

[ineedanother 1,369]

22 hours ago, Wheel-N-It said:

May be time for a stack on that one ??? 

Will it work?

A stack would work but I'm just not big on them. Personal preference I guess... I much prefer as a rule for things to be understated and outperform expectations and stacks run contrary to that IMO...just my opinion though and considering that this is a 300 series, I would rather speak softly and...

[ineedanother 1,369]

21 hours ago, RED-Z06 said:

Why do you feel like the stator has been hand wound?

This pic might not be clear enough but if you can zoom in, you will see. My first clue, and a reason for wanting to pull the flywheel was that both wires were white. It looks like decent work but something I've not done so I'm optimistic but a bit skeptical.

[RED-Z06 2,266]

38 minutes ago, ineedanother said:

This pic might not be clear enough but if you can zoom in, you will see. My first clue, and a reason for wanting to pull the flywheel was that both wires were white. It looks like decent work but something I've not done so I'm optimistic but a bit skeptical.

I mean its possible.  Stator just looks typical kohler 

Edited May 31, 2023 by RED-Z06

[ineedanother 1,369]

I swapped out the choke lever and found a bracket for the cable to run from underneath which should work fine with the dash on the 310. I'll likely pull the manual fuel pump on this motor since there's an electric one on that chassis so I think I'm in working order at least.  I'll figure the exhaust out at some point and run without a hood for a while if I need to.

 

[Wheel-N-It 2,969]

2 hours ago, ineedanother said:

A stack would work but I'm just not big on them. Personal preference I guess... I much prefer as a rule for things to be understated and outperform expectations and stacks run contrary to that IMO...just my opinion though and considering that this is a 300 series, I would rather speak softly and...

 

I understand. I did like them but just not on my Wheel Horse. Then one day a 314 Hydro was abandoned at my house, and it had no muffler on the M14 Kohler, soooooooo......  Now I have one with a stack (and a flippy cap) and I actually like it much more than I thought I would. LOL   

[ineedanother 1,369]

Well, time for a transplant. I really wish the M10 was up to the task because this means changing the wiring harness out to the original too but it's the right thing to do. A lot of work for a wagon-toter but it gets used quite a bit and the magnum is worth a rebuild and something down the road IMO.

[Wheel-N-It 2,969]

Thats going to be a nice tractor !!! 

[ineedanother 1,369]

I had a little time today so I managed to swap the M10 out for the 241. It took a bit because well, I just don't seem to do anything quickly  I decided early on to just make a new wiring harness and I use heat shrink and tend to make that a tedious task because I don't want it to look like some of the crap I've acquired. It's done and I'm good with it.

 

 

I ran into a bit of an issue too with the electric fuel pump. I couldn't get the float to seat so I switched back to a manual pump and it works just fine. I swapped the throttle cable and still need to cut it and figure something out the exhaust but it runs well and will be a great worker  Here is the pump that just seems to have too much pressure for a carb from isavetractors:

[RED-Z06 2,266]

10 minutes ago, ineedanother said:

I had a little time today so I managed to swap the M10 out for the 241. It took a bit because well, I just don't seem to do anything quickly  I decided early on to just make a new wiring harness and I use heat shrink and tend to make that a tedious task because I don't want it to look like some of the crap I've acquired. It's done and I'm good with it.

 

 

I ran into a bit of an issue too with the electric fuel pump. I couldn't get the float to seat so I switched back to a manual pump and it works just fine. I swapped the throttle cable and still need to cut it and figure something out the exhaust but it runs well and will be a great worker  Here is the pump that just seems to have too much pressure for a carb from isavetractors:

Every time ive tried to use a 2-4 psi pump on a kohler i ended up going back to mechanical, my M12 can sit a month and kick off on 2 or 3 revolutions so thats fine

[ineedanother 1,369]

4 hours ago, RED-Z06 said:

Every time ive tried to use a 2-4 psi pump on a kohler i ended up going back to mechanical, my M12 can sit a month and kick off on 2 or 3 revolutions so thats fine

Well, the M10 I transplanted earlier from a non-running parts tractor that according to the PO "just needed a fuel pump" had a fuel pump that had clearly been molested and I suspect that it likely dumped fuel into the crank case at some point. Not catastrophic but serious enough to require a rebuild so I thought going electric would eliminate that risk with this and others I have. I might be making more out of this than is warranted though. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by ineedanother

[ineedanother 1,369]

The exhaust isn't resolved yet but I cut a throttle cable (something I generally never want to do given their cost) and got that working well

 

The muffler works for the time being but will need to have a permanent solution so the hood can go back on. Other than that it runs well and will get to work.

[bds1984 1,451]

If you are using an electric pump, I'd bypass the mechanical pump all together.  You wont have to worry about fuel dumping into the crankcase again.

[Wheel-N-It 2,969]

On 6/3/2023 at 9:10 PM, ineedanother said:

Well, the M10 I transplanted earlier from a non-running parts tractor that according to the PO "just needed a fuel pump" had a fuel pump that had clearly been molested and I suspect that it likely dumped fuel into the crank case at some point. Not catastrophic but serious enough to require a rebuild so I thought going electric would eliminate that risk with this and others I have. I might be making more out of this than is warranted though. 

 

I think you did the right thing by going back to a mechanical pump. Those old Kohler's were designed to run a mechanical pump, so that's what you should stick with if at all possible ( especially the old style metal rebuildable pump like you have here)

[davem1111 2,039]

23 hours ago, bds1984 said:

If you are using an electric pump, I'd bypass the mechanical pump all together.  You wont have to worry about fuel dumping into the crankcase again.

 

That's what I did on both my 312-A and the 416-8 I sold recently.  I've been pretty happy with the 12v pumps.

[ineedanother 1,369]

On 6/6/2023 at 9:39 PM, bds1984 said:

If you are using an electric pump, I'd bypass the mechanical pump all together.  You wont have to worry about fuel dumping into the crankcase again.

That's really why I would prefer to go with electric but the one I have must generate just a bit too much pressure. I'll probably try another type. When I was using the electric pump I removed the mechanical pump altogether and covered the hole in the block with a metal plate and gasket. 

[squonk 41,604]

I have a Napa 619-1051 pump on 2 Kohler's with no issues. 

 

 

 

And the stator looks factory and both wires are white on many of them.

Edited June 8, 2023 by squonk

[bds1984 1,451]

3 hours ago, ineedanother said:

That's really why I would prefer to go with electric but the one I have must generate just a bit too much pressure. I'll probably try another type. When I was using the electric pump I removed the mechanical pump altogether and covered the hole in the block with a metal plate and gasket. 

I did a very similar set-up on a C175 a couple years ago.  I didn't like how the electric pump was making my volt gauge flutter so I put a vacuum nipple on the mechanical pump block off plate and used a Briggs style vacuum pump.  Two years late it is still working fine.
 

 

[Bill D 1,991]

On 6/8/2023 at 10:11 AM, bds1984 said:

I did a very similar set-up on a C175 a couple years ago.  I didn't like how the electric pump was making my volt gauge flutter so I put a vacuum nipple on the mechanical pump block off plate and used a Briggs style vacuum pump.  Two years late it is still working fine.
 

 

I did the same thing ony KT 17.  So far it's working great.

[ineedanother 1,369]

The mechanical pump is working fine and I have a rebuild kit on the shelf for it if I ever need one so it's staying for now. I had this beat up Nelson stuck in a corner and I think it's going to work. It needs a bit of work but the hood goes on and I think I can get the cancer sealed up well enough to suit my ears.