The beauty of small engineering

[jbrewer]

So after swearing that all I was going to do was swap an engine, I've got my cub 123 completely stripped down. Out came the engine, rear end , driveline, Hydro, steering column, wiring harness, etc. I've got a lot of parts on order. Normal people would hire a lawn service or buy a big box mower, but... I digress

I was taking out the key switch (wishing this cub had come with the optional cigarette lighter!) and then proceeded to the headlight switch. Hmmm... it's got a knob on it that will have to come off. Wonder how that's going to work. Then I looked closely.

This 55 year old part, designed by some long forgotten mechanical engineer was really finely wrought . The knob is a zinc/zamak casting with flats for a small wrench, as it's threaded on. But...the shaft spins so ...how can I hold the shaft without destroying it's smooth travel (it still electrically works!) . Ah! There's a small hole in the shaft, where I can insert the business end of a pick ! What a good idea.

Off the knob came. Then I could remove the cap screw that held the switch to the frame. It too is a zinc/zamak casting, still in good shape. When I removed the cap and looked inside there's a rubber waterpoofing gasket in the top surface that's still supple and doing it's job. For *fifty five* years of NC weather .

So...just a hat tip to what used to be just good basic engineering (granted, these Cubs cost 1/2-2/3 the cost of a new car when sold) of the type we as a society have determined we don't want to pay for any more. Someone long ago sweated the details of each and every feature, and they did their job well, in their white short sleeve shirt and skinny tie.

There's a beauty to good engineering. It's a shame we have walked away from it. I'll clean this up and get it back to work, maybe for another few decades.