B-80 to C-160 to B-80

[Racinbob 11,048]

Most of you guys know the story and history of the 1976 B-80 I purchased new and converted to a C-160. In a nutshell the new K-341 that I installed around 1980 had at least a zillion on it and was very tired. A short time ago I purchased a fresh 341 rebuild and installed it. All was right with the world. Until my wife was mowing a few weeks ago. Something happened and it sounded like it was running out of fuel. She limped it back to the garage and I found the engine was seriously overheating. I shut it down and drained the oil. I checked for anything externally for anything that would cause the overheating and there was nothing. Cooled down I fired it up again. It sounded great.......until it started warming up. It started knocking pretty bad. To me it sounded like a valve issue not the rod. I parked it in the barn and pondered what I wanted to do. BTW, I drove it to the barn with the fuel shut off. As I sat there waiting for the fuel to run out the noise came back. Now I needed to ponder. We definitely need two mowing machines and the same for snow removal. The 854 doesn't count because the sickle bar stays on that. I browsed Craigslist looking for an engine or ????? That's when I came across the 96 314H with only 121 hours. I did a thread on it. It had only been used to push snow and there had never been a belt on the PTO. I paid top dollar for it but it looked and ran like a brand new machine and I knew what it was worth. # of seats solved.

 

So....now what will happen to my beloved 76? Way too much history to get rid of it. Same for just letting it sit in the barn. Then it came to me. It was the tractor that I mounted the blower on in the winter. Now it's not needed for that.  Why not come full circle and make it a B-80 again? Why not make it the year around blade machine and put the blower on the 2005 Classic in the winter? I'm liking that idea. 

 

So I posted a wanted ad for an 8hp engine. I'm not rushed to get a second tractor like I was earlier and I think the idea is kinda cool. 

 

Stay tuned for further installments. All plans subject to change on a moments notice. 

 

[ebinmaine 67,401]

Awesome. I'm in.  

[ri702bill 8,311]

The predecessor to the C81......

[Racinbob 11,048]

6 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

The predecessor to the C81......

Yup, without that blasted wobble mount. 

Edited June 14 by Racinbob

[clueless 2,986]

Bob, I have an OEM M8 that has never run or had oil in it, it has the right size shaft and the 15amp regulator. I plan on listing it for sale here in the next few days, the price may be more than you want to spend plus shipping but it won't be much more than the guy here from Virginia who sell a rebuilt one for. PM me if interested.

 

Chris. 

[Racinbob 11,048]

47 minutes ago, clueless said:

Bob, I have an OEM M8 that has never run or had oil in it, it has the right size shaft and the 15amp regulator. I plan on listing it for sale here in the next few days, the price may be more than you want to spend plus shipping but it won't be much more than the guy here from Virginia who sell a rebuilt one for. PM me if interested.

 

Chris. 

Sent Chris. I won't know until I find out. 

[Pullstart 62,834]

Bob, I’ve got a K-181 with a starter, regulator, all the works.  No shaker plate mount, solid mount oil pan.  I’ll send you pictures later 

[Racinbob 11,048]

5 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Bob, I’ve got a K-181 with a starter, regulator, all the works.  No shaker plate mount, solid mount oil pan.  I’ll send you pictures later 

 Please do Kevin. You're close enough. 

[squonk 41,054]

Tare down of the Thumper is warranted! We could start a pool on the failure. I'm leaning broken piston. 

[Racinbob 11,048]

10 minutes ago, squonk said:

Tare down of the Thumper is warranted! We could start a pool on the failure. I'm leaning broken piston. 

Never even gave that a thought considering it will run fine until it starts warming up. I will open it up and take a look. 

[squonk 41,054]

My C-160 was running fine with a little rattle for a long time. It finally got a little worse so I put a spare bullet in I had on the shelf. Opened it up and found this:

 

 

You say you bought it as a "fresh rebuild." Was it bored? Lots of guys skip boring because the cylinder "looks good"  A worn out of round cylinder will rear it's ugly head as the engine gets hotter.

 

 

 

 

[Racinbob 11,048]

That's pretty wild Mike. I would have thought the piston would have totally come apart with that much damage. Gotta wonder about parts floating around. I doubt that I will pull the pan but I look at the cylinder wall. It did immediately start blowing smoke. Not a lot though. 

[Retired Wrencher 5,450]

18 hours ago, Racinbob said:

Yup, without that blasted wobble mount. 

I just did did conversion to solids on a C81 took about a day but it was worth it.

[953 nut 55,168]

19 hours ago, Racinbob said:

. Something happened and it sounded like it was running out of fuel. She limped it back to the garage and I found the engine was seriously overheating.

A lean fuel/air mixture can cause an engine to run hotter because it burns more slowly than a normal or rich mixture, which exposes the engine to combustion temperatures for longer, also has decreased power. Worth taking a look at.

[Racinbob 11,048]

I can't say that didn't happen Richard but something is definitely broke inside now. Cold the engine sounds great but in 3-4 minutes it sounds like it's going to explode. 

[ebinmaine 67,401]

16 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

I can't say that didn't happen Richard but something is definitely broke inside now. Cold the engine sounds great but in 3-4 minutes it sounds like it's going to explode. 

 

 

Will you be doing a forensic dissection? 

[Racinbob 11,048]

26 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Will you be doing a forensic dissection? 

 

I'll at least take the top off. From there 

 

It's really a shame. I put an hour meter on it to track the hours on the 'new' engine. It played Tecky on me with a whopping 57 hours. 

Edited June 15 by Racinbob

[Racinbob 11,048]

It doesn't surprise me that a plan is coming together real quick after starting this thread. I'll head up to see Kevin Tuesday to get the engine. Mike is relaying a couple parts back to Indiana via Lane This is gonna be fun. But now I have a decision to make. As you can see from the picture the tractor looks good. But sometime during the 17 year hiatus it was repainted. The decals were left on but they did a nice job masking them off. But it looks like it was sanded with 100 grit before the final coat. You can see two 1/4" holes in the top of the hood (don't ask ) that could stand to be properly repaired. Since this tractor won't be critical to get back in service there will be no rush. In one ear something is screaming to tear it down and repaint. Not a full blown resto but a nice refurbish. In the other ear something else (wife) would be screaming that I don't have the time right now. Hmmmmm..........

[ebinmaine 67,401]

I can't hear your wife from here Bob. 

 

I'd say fix and repaint. 

 

 

[Racinbob 11,048]

I'm strongly leaning in that direction. Besides, I like to try using a hvlp spray gun with some Rusty Regal and hardener. I've had the gun for years and have never tried it. 

[squonk 41,054]

My . If I was going to go hog wild and redo a tractor with Regal Red, First buy an extra HVLP Gun. Spray the red without hardener and immediately after the last color coat when it's still wet with the other gun spray on a coat of Rustoleum Chrystal Clear. Then a 2nd coat of clear in like 15 minutes. I bet it will dry faster than the red with hardener and you'll like the results better. That's how I paint everything now only with spray cans.

 

[Pullhosen’s Pony Express 19]

I really like the way it looks right now.  It’s not mine, but I vote leave it be and get it going again 

[oliver2-44 9,726]

9 hours ago, Racinbob said:

I'm strongly leaning in that direction. Besides, I like to try using a hvlp spray gun with some Rusty Regal and hardener. I've had the gun for years and have never tried it. 

I’m sold on using regal red with hardener.  
Soon I’m going to spray some parts with regal red and hardener, them immediately follow up with crystal clear with hardener. 
 

I have a HF hplv set that has a regular size and small size gun.  I wish the cup were a little bigger on the small gun. But it really is a good size for 80% of a tractor.  It’s perfect for 2” (frame)  and under and good for 4” wide parts. That just leaves the hood, rear fender and belt guard. I feel the small gun helps me from getting runs on parts that have a lot of different shapes whereas a big gun would have multiple overlaps to cover such a part. 

[Racinbob 11,048]

7 hours ago, Pullhosen’s Pony Express said:

I really like the way it looks right now.  It’s not mine, but I vote leave it be and get it going again 

 

I'm pulled in that direction too. For years when we visited our kids in Walkerton I would often see the neighbor mowing but I didn't know it was my tractor. He was too far away. They had 5 acres and he mowed all of it 1-2 times a week. Shortly before moving back up here in 2017 we were planning a trip up to visit and my daughter said Larry asked if I'd look at his tractor when I was up there. Ya gotta ask?? I had restored a Commando 800 for our grandson and he loved it. I went over there and was shocked to see that it was my old tractor. I drove the Commando over there and knew the second I pulled in the driveway. That was the first time I had met him and we really hit it off. He really took care of his stuff and we had so many similarities like tractors, firearms, woodworking, OCD and more.. A year or so after we moved back he was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and only lasted a couple months. I helped his wife, Louan, with a few things and when she told me that it was Larry's favorite tractor and he'd only want one person to have it. It was a happy, sad moment. It had the 48" deck that I had purchased new in about 1980 and, in spite of the tremendous amount of mowing it was 100% rust free. After every mowing I always scraped the clumped grass off allowing it to air dry. I figured he must have too. I asked Louan and she said 'I don't know but he was always under there doing something after he mowed'. We were two peas in a pod. I pondered doing a refurb at that time but I hesitated because that tractor and deck would not have still been in that condition had it not been for him and his finicky ways. It was my little tribute to guy who would have been a great friend. That's still on my mind. 

[Racinbob 11,048]

16 hours ago, squonk said:

My . If I was going to go hog wild and redo a tractor with Regal Red, First buy an extra HVLP Gun. Spray the red without hardener and immediately after the last color coat when it's still wet with the other gun spray on a coat of Rustoleum Chrystal Clear. Then a 2nd coat of clear in like 15 minutes. I bet it will dry faster than the red with hardener and you'll like the results better. That's how I paint everything now only with spray cans.

 

I've always used Rusty in cans too and get great results like this Suburban hood. 

 

 

But it's just not very durable. That's why I was thinking hardener. Every time I've tried clear over I have issues. Either orange peel or cloudy. I'm doing something wrong. Does the clear add to the durability?