Kohler engine help and reccomendations
 

Hey Guys,
Im Gonna go through two 7 horse and a 12 horse engines this winter and want some advice from you all.

NOTE!! I have downloaded and printed half a kohler manual but will be printing the rest soon!!! Im having trouble when printing everything comes out very dark and you cant see the pictures!! I can buy one from kohler right???

Here is what im looking for.............
What all do you check for wear?
Im very new to checking out these engines so ill take all and any reccomendations.
I will read the manual and am very confident ill be able to acomplish this!!

Is it expensive to "hot rod" the kohlers and what reason would you do it besides its cool and tork/power gains?

I live in a VERY hot climate is there any tricks to keeping the engine running cooler,for some reason,maybe unwaranted, I wory about working my cub hard in 112 degree heat and hold off till evening or morning!! Any carb adjustments??

Im gonna start digging into my manuals and realy studying but I covet all your help and reccomendations.
I got the 7 horse mounted to the bench stripped down,basically and am wondering if I should pull it all apart before paint.

Thanks alot Jason

Here are a couple of sites you might find of interest.

http://www.kirkengines.com/ Nice reading. Look for the three part "Killer Kohler". Also some very nice "toys".

http://gardentractorpullingtips.com/index.htm Brian Miller's tractor pulling site. LOTS of good reading before doing any engine work.

All in all have fun. I know you will.

Horsepower cost $$$$$. How much depends on how crazy you go.
Balance crank-$125
Hotter coil-$40
Hotter Cam-$135 and up
Heavier spring in the clutch-$25

Horsepower makes more heat.....the hotter the air tempature is the harder to get a motor to run right.

Keep in mind if you modify the motor you will ned to modify the clutch and trans/rear end.

My Son has a hot-rodded 86. I don't know how much money he has in the motor......and glad I don't know. Tractor is fun to drive.....clutch is hard to push in. Only my Son and I can run it because no one else can push the clutch pedal in. Tractor will go through 2 gallons of gas in 45 minutes time when plowing. We had to add a fuel pump to it to keep carb full of gas. There is a bunch of carb work done to Son's 86 to get it to run right.

It sounds like you never rebuilt a Kohler motor. Do a few stock rebuilds first to see what's involved.

Thanks Merk,
Never have...point well taken!!
I need to at least check the bore on the motors i have and see where I stand on need to rebuild!!
I, maybe mistakenly,think the one 7 horse is in really good shape just because there seems to be no ridge at the top of the bore but thats by touch!!!

Jason