55 Fargo

Sorry I meant Advanced TDC, wrong wording, ATDC implies After TDC, now I know.

Hi all, what position should the counterweight on the heatriser be in when the engine is cold............Thanx Fred

Hi all, currently my engine is running fine, timing is now set at 2 degrees ATDC, as per spec, too cool lately to see if that is the overheat culprit, engine runs at 165 right now. My engine cold starts well intermittently , but if you don't get her to fire the first crack, she floods, you have to press peddle to floor she immediately fires up, and clears. My idle, sometimes idles as she wants, and sometimes is running fast, especially after a highway run. I did recently set my float down a bit, but it's the same symptom as before, the linkage is not binding or catching, is on tight with no slop. But when the idle is a little high, after being warmed up, I can push on the idle screw and she settles down, till I let go, and I have no slack in the linkage. Any ideas, I have done a carb flood search, the carb was rebuilt 2 YO, does something need to be done on it again..........Fred

Normspeed, I want top do something like this on my bumpers, how did you do the initial prep,does all the chrome have to come off..............Fred

Under certain circumstances I would agree with you and buy a new one. This tiller frame and it's drive assembly are heavy duty and in good condition. A new Briggs and stratton engine are $200.00 for a 5 hp, a used one might be $50 to $100 bucks, a cheap new tiller, is about $500 to $600, here in Canada. Guess which option I am going with, plus the old tillers are super simple, just start engine, pull drive cable handle and away you go, a lot of new ones have reverse and forwrd a real pain, I know cuz my old one was like that, I prefer the simple type.............Fred

Hi all, does anyone know what type/brand of rototiller this is, and how old it may be. I am going to either rebuild the engine, or get another for it, the engine is a Briggs and Stratton 2 3/4 hp Model 8B, 1957, but this is not the OEM engine, as it does not mount as original did. I plan to re-paint all nice and purdy too, this tiller will be used though........Thanx Fred

Hi all, want to drop the oil pan and clean out, and replace gaskets. This engine leaks a lot of oil from the pan and rear main seal area. Can the rear mainseal be replaced on a 1951 engine without pulling the flywheel? If I just replace the pan gasket, will that make a big difference? Some day this engine will either be replaced by my other 251, or be rebuilt, I have a 1955 Fargo 251 with full flow oil filtration, might use that one in here. Thanx Fred

Hi all, just came back from about a 1 hour drive, some highway, some around town. All went well, ambient temp outside , was 74 when I started out and about 68 on my return. Going against the wind the engine temp was stable at 165, going with the wind it was a round 170 or so, nothing to com,plain about. The car ran great, no leaks from the manifold bolt either...........Fred ps on the big highway, I was doing about 50 to 55 mph, cars were passing me like I was standing still, they were all doing 65 to 70 mph.

I have all the products in my home shop, avaition sealant, Permatex 2, black silicone,pipe dope with teflon, never seize, and teflon tape. Today there is no evidence of any leaking, so good for now, not sure why it suddenly stopped, it only leaked a very tiny amount anyway...........Fred

Hi all, adjusted the heatriser weight, it works great now, also adjusted the choke it is working not bad too! I had a slight antifreeze leak coming from the 7/16 bolt, I used pipe dope with teflon on it before installation, I gave this a bolt a little more torque, it is still leaking a bit intermittently. I am going to drain the antifreeze, and either use high temp red silicone on the bolt, or rap it with heavy duty pink teflon tape, that should take care of that, I hope, when I brought it inot the garage a little while ago, there was no sign of leakage, but I am sure it is still there. I never get off easy.............Fred

Here are a few pics of the job, rerouted the fule lines a bit, placed the filter down below the exhaust manifolds, if there was a ever a leak, it would be below the manifold and away from the engine...........Fred

Hi all, have the engine running again, all is back together. So far all is well except the scisson choke lloks like I will have to adjust it or fix something, it is only closing a bit, when it should close fully when the engine is cranking, will adjust later. The carb is leaking a bit, this carb has been troublesome:confused: , it also took a while to get gas pumped back up from the tank, will need to have a good look at this carb another day. The intake/exhaust manifolds seem to be fine, all is okay, "touch wood". The heatriser is not working, the spring is not winding it tight as the engine warms up, and the counter weight does not seem to blow open when you rev the engine, the heatrsier feels free, and is not sticking, not sure what is wrong, I would have thought the exhaust would blow this flapper closed when the engine is revved, might have to tie it open for the summer, if I cannot get it to work. The engine seems to idle better when warm now, is this possible? Thanx all for helping me go through this, not sure if all is licked yet:rolleyes: , but it's a good start....................Fred;)

Hi all, does anyone know how to sue this 4 wire timing light, can it be used on a 6 volt flathead?...............Thanx Fred

Oh I know about the split nuts, man were they tough top get off the 2 studs that backed out of the block...............fred

Thanx, the threads have all been cleaned, chased, the 2 bad studs were replaced. Why is there 2 bolts used out of the 13 that hold on the manifolds, wonder why they didn't use 13 studs, propbably for side clearance. Now when a bolt is used, does the part of the bolt that has no thread, need to be tight against the block, or does the thread sealer take care of any coolant leaking around the threads and out issue...........Fred

Tim, I have the 41 to 48 Chrysler shop manual, I looked but could only find the torque specs. I kinda figured it was as you have specified, should I use flat washer on the 2 bolts that are used, and what torque should the 4 bolts that hold the 2 manifolds together, 15 to 20 ft lbs too?? Once again thanks for all of the help guys on this one, hope to have it back together on Friday and running, then we can talk about overheating again, hehehehehe. I have a timing light and a tach and dwell, so I can check my timing now and see how things are going.................Fred

Hi all:) , can someone either tell me or direct me to another thread, which states how to re-install the manifolds, for correct sequence, torquing, and tightening the 2 manifolds together, which is doen last i think. Thanx all for listening to my banter on the bolt hole, etc, I am glad that part was solved, hopefully, the rest will be okay........... Fred

Today, this bolt hole was successfully tapped to 7/16 nc. I still have to drill the manifold hole a smidge bigger. It can all go back together after that. Thank God it was fixable...............Fred

I have done some testing, drilled a 3/8 hole through wood, that is 3/4 of an inch thick, I even drilled it eggshaped. I then filled the hole with jb weld, inserted a 3/8 bolt, the jb weld gets squeezed right out, leaving very little in the hole, and it did not fill the void very well, plus the jb was squeezed right out, and if done on the engine would fall into the water jacket. So this plan is out, I would have to fill the hole right full and drill and tap later. The casting thickness is around a 1/2 inch, could this not be welded inside a bit then tapped to 3/8 again, or is that not possible. Looks like I am in deep trouble here, not sure if this can be repaired, not much luck for me on this one................................Fred

Hi Norm, I may have a diesal mechanic, a brother of friend come and give it a shot, but as you say time is what it will only cost, I know it will work at first,, it may be a problem down the road, but on the immediate it would seal up just fine. Time is becoming a premium these days, I am hearing it from the Wife too, after this job is curred, I am taking a break for at least a month and doing work on the house and yard, which has been a long time coming, plus my folks aren't getting any younger, want to hang with them a bit, while there still healthy...........Fred

Hi all, okay nothing has been done yet, I have done some investigation work, my JB Weld test with a soaped up bolt inserted into the JB went very well. The bolt unscrewed after the JB cured hard as a rock. I also have estimated my outer clearance aorund the bolt, when it is in the out of round hole to be less than a 1/32 of an inch, more like the thickness of a paper clip, the outer edge is the worse, it isn't quite as bad down in the hole. I am contemplating a couple of fixes, one would be to use a manifold stud, long engough for the purpose, I would fill the hole with some JB Weld screw in the stud, and let cure, and hope for the best. Even the way it is now I can srew in the bolt, and it does not move aorund or back and forth, so with the remaining threads and the JB Weld it should form a tight bond inside and seal up the gap as well, this is theory right now. Or I can tap the current hole to 7/16, drill the manifold to accomodate, I may need to make the hole in the manifold a little oblong for the fit being off a bit, not sure yet though. So that is where I am at right now, am I crazy or what, I am broke, so I need to possibly go shade tree. The JB Weld is amazingly tough nad hardens very nicely, different than fibreglass or bondo, its good to 500 degrees f, hope that should be adequate in a bolt hole on the bolc, the water jacket is behind, don't think this area would be over 500 f................Fred

Hi all, not that I am willing to do this as a repair, I tested the following. I mixed a batch of JB WEld, filled and old lug nut with it, placed the lug nut on a 1 inch by 1 inch peice of tin, then soaped up a 1/4 inch bolt with sunlight soap, inserted it into the center of the lug nut with the JB in it. I let this sit for 6 hours, unscrewed the 1/4 inch bolt, it left nice threads inside of the JB, it still has to fully harden and cure, will screw the bolt back in tomorrow for a final test. Okay I can try this method, using the jb and a long 3/8 stud, if it sets up and seals great, I am back in business. Or I can tap out this hole with a 7/16 tap, then use a 7/16 bolt, I will need to drill out the manifold hole a bit. Or I can use a stud with 7/16 course on one end, and 3/8 fine on the other end, then file or dremel out the manifold hole a bit to compensate for the slight misalignmant. Do any of these solutions seem okay, as I don't think I can hire anyone to fix this, nobody want to anyway................Fred

Hi, do you mean tap to oversize, such as to 7/16 or 1/2 inch or ??. This could be done, as this hole requires a bolt, and the manifold can be drilled to a larger size. Let me know if I am thinking as you are........Fred

Here is a pic of the out of round hole, and one with the bolt screwed into it, there is a gap on the bottom left side.

Hi all, did not intend to bring this problem to yet another thread but here goes. I have drilled out my seized and broken off manifold bolt, but the problem is I drilled off center, my hole is now out of round, 1/3 of the threads are gone, and the bolt does not seal the hole, it will leak coolant as it is now. I want to repair this, but how? I have heard of filling the bolt hole with JB Weld then inserting the bolt abck into the hole, which squeezes the excesss JB weld out, and hopefully fills in the void in the bolt hole. You need to allow the JB Weld to set, and then it would be sealed all around, would this work? Man I always get my self to some fine messes................Thanx Fred