Dave's 1650 Project

[CC1650Dave]

That's cool Ken, I'm happy to see some guys finding value in this.

Hope you'll be starting a thread of your own on the 1450!

[CC1650Dave]

Thanks Bill. I'm ready to do that soon. Actually drained the hytran today to reduce spillage and get a glance in that cover...only 3 qts came out so I'm guessing it was low.

[CC1650Dave]

I got a good bit more done today, will post some pics later...just wanted to post a few developments / revelations:

I called the sandblaster today to find out what was up with the mower deck. He had me leave it outside the shop door one afternoon. Now he doesn't know where it is. He thinks it was stolen.

So I guess he's trying to find me a new one. Great.

The motor is torn down and at the machinist (pics forthcoming) but I wanted to note that the balancing gears were not present - so the engine's definitely been broken down before.

[CC1650Dave]

I feel this is a good time to say this:

There's over 3,000 views of this thread at the time, and 125 posts - 99% of which are mine.

I know how I work when someone's asking a lot of questions - I feel like I need to answer all of them, or know exactly what I'm talking about.

Please don't get caught up in this. If you know anything about what I'm doing, chip in! If you did the same thing to a different model, or whatever, offer your advice. If you only know a part answer, offer your two cents.

Remember, I'm a noob. A guy who has never done this stuff. A bunch of questions have gone unanswered, and forced me to read more and take some guesses (aghast!) but it's coming along.

You're not only helping me, but many others who will read this thread to learn about what they're doing.

Thanks!
Dave

[young enthusiest]

Dave, I think your doing a fantastic job on your 1650. I can't wait to see the finished product! If you want a deck... I got a few 44 and 50 inchers that I'm not using.... One thing you need to know, cleanliness, patience, and organization help a LOT. I have lost my share of parts, broke a few due to frustration... And misplaced things because I don't clean up often. Have a place for everything and everything in it's place. Plastic bags, masking tape and marker go a long way to keeping track of parts. Also, don't cheap out on anything and just Micky mouse it. Do it right once and it won't bother you later. I don't have enough time to be able to answer as Many of your questions as I'd like, but I know the rest of the people on the forum will do the best to help you.

Have a good one!

[young enthusiest]

I looked back and saw an unanswered question that I can answer. You asked if the two trunnion parts ( the ones that were stuck together) were supposed to move freely. They are supposed to be very loose, simply tilting the reared without any linkages connected should cause the pieces to flop from one side to the other. Hope that all made sense :/

[CC1650Dave]

OK, so here I am breaking down the engine:

You'll remember that I've already taken off the carb, removed the cylinder head, and removed the valve breather cover and the valves. Initially I thought I'd just do carb, valves, and head, but decided that since I was here, I'd break the whole thing down and rebuild it.

I didn't exactly follow the Kohler service manual's step-by-step in breaking this down, so mix and match your own procedure.

I removed the front PTO:
Drum:
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Center bolt (these washers / spacers don't look stock compared to the parts diagram)
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Rotor & Armature:

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Then this shimming piece came out next. Looking at the parts diagrams, I don't see this one:

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More of the rotor / armature package:

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Field Assembly;

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Key:

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Pulled the coil:

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Flex plate from the drive shaft:

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Mounting bracket for that:

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Off with the grass screen:

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And the blower housing:

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And here's where we're at:

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Now the flywheel nut. My electric impact wrench pulled this effortlessly.

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I think this is called the "cup assembly" - I put a small gear puller on it and then realized it was pulling it sideways. I backed off and then used a screwdriver to pry it straight then off. It looked kind of fragile:

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We've reached our 15 image limit, so continued in the next post...








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[CC1650Dave]

Cont'd

Now on to that flywheel. I used a harmonic balancer puller and a few sections of 3/8" threaded rod (didn't have long enough bolts) and then once I tightened it with the electric impact wrench, I had to give it a few firm whacks with a 16 oz hammer. I've read that you're not supposed to hit it for the chance of damaging the crank or connecting rod, but everyone here seems to agree that a few whacks is OK.

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And it's off:

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Then I removed the starter:

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and the stator, which it turns out would have been unnecessary at this point:



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Now the outer governor controls - noted the position of the spring:

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Pulling the bearing plate was a bit tricky given the tools I had. I put two of the screws back in and used a different puller I had in my toolbox. I didn't get pictures of it, but if you want to know what it looks like let me know:

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Pump cover, cam cover, points & points cover out:

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Oil pan off:

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Removal of the connecting rod clamp:

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And with a little tapping, the crank comes out:

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The manual said to pull the piston assembly from the topside, and if there was any carbon build-up around the top of the bore to remove it with a "ridge reamer tool." I don't have one. I tried to clean it up with oven cleaner, but it was too heavy. There was room, so I pulled it out from the bottom:

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On to the next post...

[CC1650Dave]

cont'd

Now I tapped the camshaft pin out with a 3/8" bolt:

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Noted that there were two shims on the end of that shaft. I haven't measured them, but I see from the parts diagram that there are supposed to be a .005 and a .010 there:

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Pulled the tappets and marked the intake in a separate bag, per the manual:

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Now the governor assembly. Unscrew this pin:

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Governor gear fell free at this point:

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Remove the rest of the assembly. The shaft comes out from the inside after it's all disassembled:

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Removed this seal from the side opposite of the bearing plate:

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And I was able to remove the bearings by using the 2" round plug of wood that I had left over from building my steering wheel puller. I put it in place and tapped the bearings out:

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I haven't gotten the one on the bearing plate side out yet. My piece of wood can't get in there. So maybe I'll need a bearing puller, unless I can figure something else out.

Here's a shot of the crank shaft. You can see there's been some grinding done. I dunno what that means yet:

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And that's it! We're down to a big cast iron block and a bunch of parts. I took it in to be machined today. I'll be interested to see where that bore is, since I know this thing's been broken down before but there's no marking on the piston.

Also, to repeat that the balancing gears were not there. Someone took them out.

(Edit 7/30/11 - I was mistaken all along, as Matt pointed out in several posts where I thought the engine had been pulled out before. The machinist said the bore was off about a thousandth or so. Not all of the Kolhers had balance gears, so it's likely this 341 never had them)

Once I get some info from the machinist, I'll buy a rebuild kit.

LOOOOOONNNNG post! It took me a long time to put this together, so I hope it helps someone!

[CC1650Dave]

Originally Posted by young enthusiest

I looked back and saw an unanswered question that I can answer. You asked if the two trunnion parts ( the ones that were stuck together) were supposed to move freely. They are supposed to be very loose, simply tilting the reared without any linkages connected should cause the pieces to flop from one side to the other. Hope that all made sense :/

Tyler, you've been a great help and it's much appreciated!

I did get those parts cleaned up and back together with your advice, and they move nicely. I used 600 grit sandpaper on the shaft, and put an inside wire brush on the drill to clean out the hole, then greased them and put them together. They work great.

Per your other post, one thing I really try to focus on is doing it right the first time, and staying organized. I have all the parts in ziploc bags labeled by assembly, and I really try to do everything I need to get done while I'm "in there." That's why, as a noob, I see some things as daunting. I wonder how much I need to fix while I'm at it.

You'll notice from the pictures that I've cleaned up in and around the chassis a dozen times, at least, since I've broken things down. I hate to work in a mess.

On that note, while sweeping I found this part in the crack of my garage floor. As much as I try to keep it all organized and bagged, I fear something slipped through - maybe it's not even a cub part, but I think it is:



Anyone that can identify it wins a beer on me. Or I'll figure it out later