Rebuilding my 100
 

Hey everyone! Its fun to see everyone else's pictures of them restoring or rebuilding their Cubs, so I figured I'd follow suit. Being the cold is here to stay, I figured now was a good time to do it. I also needed a guinea pig to learn how to do bodywork & paint before I moved onto my hot rod so I didn't make that any worse. The Cub seemed like a good choice. Its due for a good go-thru anyways. Besides the rebuilding aspect, I'm not sure what I really want to do with it. Would like to split the clutch & brakes so they have individual pedals & maybe a hyd. system like Adam (IHinIN) has on his 100. Also thought about MFWD as well. Here's what I started with:

Nice 100! That muffler needs to be braced to one of the head bolts so it doesn't break off the exhaust port on the engine.

Nice 100, I don't think you can split the brakes because it has the internal type. Keep us posted with lotsa pics on the rebuild.:beerchug:

i believe he means seperate the braking action from the clutch.

great looking 100! i agree with Matt, the stack needs to be braced. otherwise it will be a costly repair!

Sharp 100, you got there! :ThumbsUp:

Sorry Oak. Nick is correct... Would like to separate the clutch & brake so each are individual.

Here's the thread I started about separating the pedals. If you have any questions feel free to ask. http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=1746

IHinIN, that is a great link and nice work. This may be a dumb question but, what is the purpose of spliting the pedals?

Thanks Oak. I split the pedals just so it's more like a real tractor.

No worries Oak. My primary reason is that it be used as a parking brake while the engine is running. Splitting the clutch & brake functions would allow the brake to be engaged without putting pressure on any of the clutch parts.

i think i almost bought that tractor? did you buy it from matt in kimball. hope your projects go well :beerchug:

Yes, I did buy the tractor from Matt.

Here are a couple of pictures of the latest progress. The hood, grill, battery & motor are off or out the tractor at this point. I knew going in that my clutch was shot because it was slipping and the driveshaft wouldn't stop spinning when the clutch pedal was depressed. Turns out about 1/2 of the parts are worn out or broken. As for the motor, it had started to somke a little bit the last couple of times that I used the tractor. After I got it out & onto the table did I find that the rotating assembly turns pretty easily... too easily it seems. Using about the same force as opening a spagetti sauce can, I can turn the crank thru the compression stroke in about 2 seconds time. I didn't do a compression test on the motor yet so I'll wait & see what that yields me. The tag for the motor is in bad shape, so I'm not sure what motor is here. I'm curious what you guys think or what your opinions for what to do with the motor are.

If you're going though the tractor, I would disassemble the engine and inspect/measure everything as per the service manual and then take the appropriate action. The compression release will keep you from getting accurate results from a compression test.

never tried it but cant you spin the motor over backwards and its the full compression?

Yes, you can if you rig something up to spin it backwards fast enough.

That begs the question, is it even worth it to try to do a compression test? by that I mean this: on vehicle engines you can do what we would think of a normal compression test, but you also usually check the gaps in the rings when put in the cylinder alone to make sure they are correctly sized. Could I get away taking the rings off the piston and putting them in the cylinder (straight & square of course) and measuring the gaps to determine wear? This would just be for the wear of the rings to see if they are sealing properly (and if I'm getting blow-by). I know I still have to measure the cylinder for ID, taper & roundness. The rest of the motor, I.E. crank journals, bearing ID/OD, etc. seems fairly straight forward.

I was able to get the 100 torn down a little more in the past few days. Down to the frame, axle, column & rear end. Left it together this much so I could easily move it around the garage. Biggest issue now seems to be missing or incorrect fasteners in various places on the tractor. Planning on cleanign up all the sheetmetal & frame of the grase & dirt that has accumulated and start on some modifications for the tractor. Thinking of doing the clutch/brake split first. Here are some new pictures for everyone.

Thanks for the progress pics, Mike! :beerchug:

Pulled the 100 apart a bit more today. Got the frame stripped down to just the clutch/brake pedal & pedal rockshaft. Had to cut the front axle out with the sawzall since the pin is frozen in the axle. This seems to be the culprit to my sloppy steering - I could watch the axle go back & forth when I turned the wheels. Stripped down the tower and started pulling the tin off of the motor. I have no idea why it is, but most of my tin, motor, framerails and some of the small pieces are red. It does apprear to be close to IH red, but still, I don't know why there is red paint. There is a fair amount of grass & dirt in the fins on the head & side of the motor so I hope it didn't get too hot to hurt the guts of the motor. My camera is not working at the moment, so I'll post pictures is a day or so when I get that sorted out.

Something that came to mind when I was cutting the axle out - Has anyone drilled a hole in the bottom of the axle to the pivot pin bore and put a grease zerk in the axle? This way you could grease the pivot pin when you do your PM. Seems odd that it isn't there from the factory given the design of axle & pivot.

Some new pictures of my machine. I found some cracks in the frame where the front axle mount is too, so I posted some pics of those as well. Looks like someone had tried to fix the crack before, but it split again where it did before.

That's a common area to see cracks on a NF. Stop drill the crack, and then weld it back up.

You need to grind out the crack as well as drilling holes at either end of the cracks. Small drill holes at either end of the cracks will prevent the crack from spreading. When you re-weld the area you will need to grind it back flush so the motor sits back in the frame level. Otherwise the oil pan could possibly break and you will also have alignment issues with the drive shaft. Bottom side of the frame does not need to be ground smooth. Just did that repair on my garage sale 122 this past summer.

Was able to weld up the cracks in the frame (thanks for the stop-drill idea guys!) and ground those smooth again. Also got most of the way thru the axle pivot pin before I ran out of batteries in my drill, which is when I shifted over to the motor. Pulled the head off (it smoked a bit when I parked the tractor in the fall) to see what kind of shape the insides were in... only to find grooves in the cylinder wall on the exhaust valve side. They aren't too bad (I think), maybe .010" if I had to guess, and everything else on top looks good. Lots of carbon though that seems par for the course given the age. The cylinder bore measured between 3.245 & 3.248" dia. which answers my question if its a K241 or not (my tag is in awful, unreadable shape) and that it must be a "virgin" block meaning it hasn't been cut yet. The motor does roll over really nice, I mean REALLY nice, and smooth with almost no endplay in the crank & block. Think I'll focus on the motor next since I can do other work while its out getting repaired.

Any idea on what it might cost to do the machine work? I have the tools to do the teardown/rebuild, which I'd like to do, and only have someone else bore the cylinder & cleanup the rod & crank if needed. Does anyone know of someone around the Minneapolis area (or outside within a few hours drive) that I can trust to do the machine work? I'm a bit skiddish about someone doing machine work and it ruin the poor motor in the process.

But most importantly, new pictures to share.

If it's been bored out it would have a stamped .010, .020 or .030 right on the top of the piston. You could see it once you pulled the head off. Without that stamp it still has the factory piston in it.

you said you saw a lot of red pain on your engine. seems as how it does not appear to be the stock engine, I am going to assume it is out of a Wheel horse. they had a red that looked like that, and as far as I know, used the same type of engine. I'm guessing that the PO just spray painted the engine black without stripping it apart, leaving some red in hidden places that you are finding. just my guess. anyone else think the same? nice work BTW, cant wait to see it done!

That red sure looks like somebody went nuts with a rattle can to me. The flywheel would have been unpainted from the factory.

To answer the cost of some block work. I rebuilt my 14hp last year and had machine work done.

To do the cylinder 10 over was $46
Valve job $36
Turn Crank pin under 10 $45
Head resurfaced $20

The shop gave me the measurements before and after the work. It all fit together nicely. She has 63 hours on it now and runs like a top!

Mike - Thanks for the figures from your machine work. Puts me at ease that maybe it won't be terribly expensive to get the work done to the motor.

As for the red paint... it's easiest to see on the motor. The red isn't everywhere on the block, but it covers at least 85% of the motor. The rest of the tractor has the same red paint hiding under the yellow coat that you see. This is the order of colors found thus far:

Bare metal -> Stock IH Cub Yellow -> "THE" Red -> Lighter shade of Yellow

It isn't a primer as far as I can tell, so who knows what the deal is here. I was more concerned with the color for what young enthusiest said, that it may be a motor off a Wheel Horse. I want to put the correct parts in/on the motor so it works correctly for my Cub. I don't know if there is a difference between a Wheel horse motor & an IH motor.

As far a picking a shop to do the machine work, as newbie as it sounds, is there anything in particular I should look for? Any specific questions I should ask?

Thanks everyone for the help so far. :Thanks:

Wheel Horse blocks probably use the wide oil pan, so that's not possible. From the order of the paint you posted, it sounds like some PO with a spray can did some 'customizing' at some point. I'd quit worrying about it.

When I was looking for a machine shop I started by asking a few of the small engine repair centers and my local Cub Cadet dealer. From there I got a few names and made the call to each shop asking general pricing. I also asked a simple question did they ever do a K series engine? I was a little shock when a few of them said no, which I then ruled out. Two of them said yes.

I stopped by their shops to look around, the first one appeared to be disorganized and not to clean. The second on was clean and very organized and I also found out that they use to be a Kohler engine repair center. The shop foreman had very good knowledge of the K321 I had and offered many tips on rebuilding it. They also had a good amount of kohler parts on hand since they can do a complete engine rebuild on site. He offered to buy the Kohler rod, piston and rings at his cost which saved me $45 buck. This was also good for him since he can measure the new parts and machine for a good fit.

When I picked up the block it looked like a new block, very clean all the surfaces spot less. He also gave me a sheet with measurement before and after the work. When I was putting it all back together I had a few questions and the foreman spent the time giving me the answers. Over all I was very happy with the work and support.

I think the very simple question of did you ever do a Kohler? paid off for me. All the shops said they can do it but I felt the one I picked could do it and do it right.

Time to kick this thread back up. I came across a complete 14HP Cub Kohler motor (which would make it a K321 I assume... I'm not the best with the model #'s) that may be in better shape than my 10HP K241. First, will it physically fit in my 100? If so, what would I need to change to make the 14HP work in place of the 10HP?

You would have to cut the frame. A 12hp K301 is the largest motor you can put in there without cutting the frame. As sweet of a 100 as that I wouldn't cut the frame. The one thing I've learned about this addiction er hobby is you've got to be able to wait it out you'll find the right motor. It's your 100 and your free to do what you want to it.

Couldn't agree more Duke. Cutting the frame is out of the question, so I'm fine with rebuilding the current motor and running with that or a 12HP if that comes along.

Made a bit more progress in the last couple of days. Finally got the pivot pin out of the axle & got the hyd. lift pulled apart. The lift doeesn't look too bad even though there is evidence that a little water got inside. Some light rust but nothing some Scotch Brite can't get rid of. The oil/fluid came out looking like milk chocolate which points to the water idea. The front axle is in good shape too. My issue at the moment is the collars that hold the pivot pin on the frame. The pin froze in the axle, sheared the spiral pin and pivoted in the collars, wearing them out. After looking, I can't find replacement collars and am curious what you guys would recommend as a repair. Some new pictures too. Thanks everyone!:beerchug:

Find someone with a lathe and have them make new bushings for you to weld into the axle c-channel.

A bit more progress...
 

Things are going slow, but they are still going. I was able to get a new pivot pin & bushings (thanks Patton Acres!) along with grease zerks in the front axle and get that remounted. Put the tins back on the frame to help clean up my mess. Had the wheels sandblasted and finished repainting them and my seat last night. Used PPG Omni (Shop Line) Acrylic Enamel #8665 put in a spraycan and the color came out awesome!! Sprayed some on the hood and it matched enough to fool my eyes. Waiting for my new shoes from Miller Tire and then the 100 will be back on its feet. Onto the motor & both clutches next. The motor seems to be fighting me at the moment... can't get the starter pulley off of the crankshaft.

That's looking great and that seat is to die for.:beerchug:

Looks awesome! Thanks for the update! :beerchug:

Damn flywheel...
 

Was able to get the starter pulley off of the motor tonight. Tried to get the flywheel to come off but it won't budge. Soaked it with JB-80, used some heat, smacked it with a wood block & hammer and used my harmonic balancer puller too, but no go. Bent the bolts on my puller... :Duh: It's on the crankshaft good enough I can't see a part line where the two pieces meet as its only rust & discoloration. So I'm assuming they're seized together pretty good. Any suggestions?? :bigthink: