K301 Motor rebuild shortcut thoughts
 

Hello cub members, I have been rebuilding a K301 from my cub cadet 122 that I have been using for various work in the mountains of Madison County NC. I started a thread with this motor with the title "Balance gear pin hole plugs". I have learned so much about every thing I did wrong..when it was running and during the rebuild.the problems with this motor were, out of spec timing, poor oil maintenance, incorrect valve lift, clogged fins no cooling,abusive owner! I will explain what i learned to possibly provide others insight. I found upon disassembly the aluminum push rod and worn breaker points assembly were not able to properly adjust the timing to 20 degrees BTDC. second the valve tappets were so worn on the top of the adjuster from the valve stem end that they were impossible to check wit a feeler guage, one was aproximately .020" deep the other one .005". third the cooling fins were so clogged up with dust clay and mud dobbers thad there was no air flow between the exhaust and intake fins.and lastly the owner ME was not checking the oil and using this piece of equipment for jobs other than what it was intended for trying to clear some overgrown bottom land.Now on to the rebuild mistakes I made, before I provide the pics. long time lurker dont post much but have gained much valuable information on this site.I tried to put this motor back together affordably against other members better advice the shortcuts i took were not worth it. J-Mech. I left the main bearings in, I bought a gasket set from save tractors, good quality.I bought a new governer gear, i resurfaced the valve tappets wit a slight crown at the advice of a forum member.I painted every part i thought i shoud with rattle-can Marigold I am happy with the color. against some forum members advice I did not do any machine work on this old motor.....BIG MISTAKE... I checked the clearance in the bore which was at the outside of the specs.. bought a cheap cylinder hone and did a acceptable job on crosshatching the bore. bought Kohler rings for my standard piston looks pretty good. cleaned up the crank pin and rod looks pretty good too.got it all back together with an hour meter to make people thing i do my maintenance. I have one hour on the motor and it runs good looks great and sounds like ther is a blacksmith in the crankcase trying to get out. I pulled it apart yesterday and it looks like the rod and crank journal have some visible play
I called a machine shop in greenville tenn. Meyers. and am taking the parts there tomorrow.thanks for reading my rant. I will provide some pictures.I recommend everyone who is able to rebuild your motor you will learn alot.Thank yo for all the helpful people on this forum.

here are some pics .[ATTACH][ATTACH]Attachment 115775[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

It got kinda hot before it blew up.Attachment 115776

Sad to say, but no surprises here.

Unfortunately we all make mistakes with our tractors ,especially starting out.When we learn about this site and start understanding our equipment it gets a bit easier.Our members have a tremendous amount of knowledge and are eager to help.Our sponsors and suppliers will get you the correct parts.
You have made a valuable contribution to others,starting out.Your pictures and descriptions will benefit the site.Keep it up, and good luck.

Thank you to all the members for your advice and help. I have the block,head and crankshaft at the machine shop. Gary Meyers in Greenville Tenn. I have purchased at the machinists advice a piston +.010" and a rod at -.020" and am waiting on the new rod and piston to take to the machinist. he told me that the crank journal was an egg.he told me he will cut the head flat.any thing else I should do?... or have the machine shop do other than that?

Check the valve guides, recut the valve seats and reface or replace the valves. Resurface the lifters that you ground. Hot tank the block too.

If you are doing the assembly, and not the machine shop, Do wash the block thoroughly with HOT SOAPY WATER. before you do any assembly,taking special care to scrub the bore with a bottle brush.
Why? because the finish honing operation in the bore leaves min-ute metal particles that need scrubbed out or they will be carried throughout the engine by the engine oil and causing premature wear.
There is a fellow on the forum that in the past had to redo his engine because he didn't clean it thoroughly before he assembled.:bigeyes: