C-120 Automatic restoration

[wheeledhorseman 574]

I took the tractor for a couple of laps of the field and the engine sounds really sweet. I still need to finalise carb and governor spring settings but it will have to wait for a few days till I finish some maintenance work on the cutting deck. I'll be able to check the governor operation better when the deck is back on again.

Stack looks good... did you use BSP or NPT fittings?.

Hmm, I'm probably guilty of mixing and matching threads here Richard but I can't say for sure. Perhaps someone in the US can say if the original exhaust nipple which was threaded at each end and had a pepper pot muffler attached would be BSP or NPT. According to Wiki, BSP is the universal world standard that was retained as the metric standard thread even though it isn't metric. Why does the USA have to be different?

Anyway, heres how it came together. I had to destroy the pepper pot as even with taking the joint to red heat it refused to budge. There were only perhaps three threads on the muffler so I'm guessing one or other is certainly tapered. The elbows were recycled from an industrial aeration 'blower' and I'm pretty sure they were BSP. After cleaning up the rusty threads on the nipple the first elbow went on to the tune of about four turns before the taper locked. The next issue was that of course it didn't stop in the correct position so a locking ring salvaged from another exhaust system was used. The second elbow also required a locking ring to prevent the stack drooping and finally, a BSP female/female connector was used to connect the muffler to the elbow. I'd run out of recycled lock rings at this point but the muffler doesn't really need one.

In all cases the fittings engaged by several turns rather than hanging together on a couple of threads but I've probably mixed threads somewhere along the line. As we're not dealing with high pressures or flamable gasses I think it will be fit for purpose, particularly once it's all given the final tighten up with a bit of sealant on the threads. Time will tell.

Hopefully I'll get the deck back on during the next week and finish this little excursion. Once I know all is ok I'll touch in the paint on bolt heads etc and she'll be back ready to work again.

I'll probably add an extension pipe with rain cap above the muffler but that will be in mild steel and it can wait for the moment.

[wheeledhorseman 574]

Time for an update.

I'd actually been waiting for a spell of warmer weather to get outside to make final adjustments, particularly to the governor spring, for a trial run of the new engine complete with the additional load of the deck. So it might seem strange that it was the arrival of some snow that inspired me to battle the cold and do the 'Wheel Horse in the snow' bit for the first time albeit without a plow to play with.

There had only been an inch or so and it had already started to melt but it was enough to inspire and spur me into action. Seemed to take ages to get the governor spring in the best position but where it is set at the moment it kicks into action when the deck is engaged even at tickover. (Not sure if this is how it should be but seemed ok to me) Took the horse for a drive round the field and was just so tempted to try a bit of mowing in the snow but having just put many hours into de-rusting the underside of the deck and repainting it I decided against.

The engine sounded good to me but see / hear for yourself. (opinions welcome) I didn't have a tripod with me and was freezing cold by now so please excuse the camera shake but I couldn't stop shivering. It's my first time at attempting to include a video clip so hope it works.

The carb jets are at the initial settings from the Kohler manual but these seemed ok. It was too cold to hang about tweaking them. So apart from that and touching in the paint work on bolt heads, oh and tidying up the wiring, I'm hoping that's about it for the engine transplant. The dipstick from Ian is installed and although checking the level and topping up (hopefully not so often now) isn't quite as sophisticated as the old filler tube, it's way better than the position at the front. I'll probably remove the stumpy dipstick and replace it with the hex key blanking plug removed where the long dipstick is now fitted.

Andy

[meadowfield 2,570]

Looking and sounding good Andy !

there's an easy way to stop those shakes.... more alcohol !!!!

mark

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Looks good, and sounds great Andy. Nice job on your resto.

[Stigian 1,234]

The new engine sounds good Andy, glad the dipstick was the right one.

What I can't work out is...... Why the camera shaking was in time with the engine??

Maybe as Marks suggests you (and the engine) need some alcohol :ychain:

[meadowfield 2,570]

Ahh. Ethanol in an engine sounds sweet! Wonder what it would rev to.... :)

[russellmc301 600]

where did you get the muffler at?

i really like it and it looks like it really quiets it down.