1811's turn in the shop

[john hall]

Well, 2 1/2 months later, we are back to working on just the Cadet. Took a side journey into the wonderful world of Kohler Magnums:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=47254

So after quite the and , the rough running Magnum appears good to go. To sum it up, it got a valve job, new pistons and rings, faced heads, new coil, new fuel pump, crank seals, air filter, plugs, and the carb off of a KT-17 series 2 (adjustable jet). Oh yeah, $4.98 worth of paint.

Today we put the hood/grill/side shields on. Dug through my stash and found some self tapping hex head (3/8, not 7/16) self tapping screws to used in the place of the giant self tapping sheet metal screws someone had put the tunnel cover on with. Took the Cadet riding for about a 1/2 mile. Wow, that easy steering and those loaded ags make for some "interesting" handling. I will say with those tires, you can get into trouble--gonna have to learn to respect them. We've never had a mower with anything other than factory turfs--no weights, chains or fluid.

Next up is the mule drive. Thought it was going to be easy, but the pulleys are pretty well pitted--may eat belts. So I pulled the mule drive off my burnt 1810 (it survived the fire well, other than being wrapped up in remnants of molten fuel tank). Plan is to take the 2 and build the best unit possible. I think I have enough paint in the can to attempt to change the color to something that matches the deck.

Got to finish repairing the trash screen that goes underneath the machine. I don't want to jinx anything, but I will say we are quickly running out of parts to bolt back on--and I am somehow gaining floor space in the shop.

[john hall]

No pics tonight but I got the mule drive painted. Hope to reassemble it tomorrow or Sat. I'm ready to cut some grass with this thing. I used 3 different mule drives and built the best one I could.

[zippy1]

Originally Posted by john hall

No pics tonight but I got the mule drive painted. Hope to reassemble it tomorrow or Sat. I'm ready to cut some grass with this thing. I used 3 different mule drives and built the best one I could.

All that "extra" work you done, it'll be a nice feeling to get on and mow some grass. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

[john hall]

Ready to get this one DONE. Paint could have waited another day, but this ain't no trailer queen. Painted the mule drive Thurs or Fri (don't remember) and put it together Sat. Had my welder friend repair the screen that goes on the underside of the chassis--this is the 3rd one he has done for me.

[john hall]

I got the deck on and leveled then took it for a test. I mowed maybe 2 minutes then brought it back in the shop to change gauge wheel height. Before I could put the wrenches back down, dad was climbing aboard. He ran it for about 45 minutes--that ought to have the rings seated.

I officially kicked it out of the shop after that--or so I thought. Parked it under a shed then realized I needed to move it. Cranked it up and the oil light won't go out Cranked it several times, light stayed on--obviously didn't rev it up much or run it long. I guess next step is to pull the sending unit where it sits, too far to drive to shop with light on. Yep, this one is a fight to the end.

I will say that 50C mows very nice and those 18 ponies play with it.

[Oak]

Sounds like she's a fighter John but I bet your dad had a big smile on his face driving it. Sometimes I think these little things are possessed. All I can say is

Never_Give_Up.gif

[john hall]

Dad cranked it up today, oil light stayed off for 30 seconds then came on. I pulled the sending unit this afternoon and flushed it with brake cleaner. Couldn't find any trash in it or the engine block. Maybe we have junk floating in the oil from the rebuild and a piece got in the sending unit? If it acts up again I'll just order a new sending unit. Its ran about 2 hours since we put it together so I would have figured any trash would have found its way in by now. Just have to drive with one eye on the warning light I guess!

[DieselDoctor]

Screw a manual gauge and hose into the block where the sender goes and crank it up. Check to see that oil pressure is there and stable. Otherwise you got big problems.

Edit - Just a thought, is the dipstick correct and showing the right amount of oil for that engine?

[john hall]

Originally Posted by DieselDoctor

Screw a manual gauge and hose into the block where the sender goes and crank it up. Check to see that oil pressure is there and stable. Otherwise you got big problems.

Edit - Just a thought, is the dipstick correct and showing the right amount of oil for that engine?

Dipstick should be correct, I haven't ran part #'s to check. I put in around 2 qts +/- (filled to mark on dipstick) so there should be enough oil in it, no leaks and its not smoking.

Thought about a gauge, need to read the book to see how much pressure it runs. Don't really have any spare known good gauges that we saved off of anything. Given the total time we have ran it both before and after the rebuild, I don't think we have pump trouble--would be awful coincidental to have it with only 2 ours on a rebuilt engine. Got a couple other things in the shop right now, will see if I can scavenge a gauge later this week.

[ACecil]

Originally Posted by john hall

I got the deck on and leveled then took it for a test. I mowed maybe 2 minutes then brought it back in the shop to change gauge wheel height. Before I could put the wrenches back down, dad was climbing aboard. He ran it for about 45 minutes--that ought to have the rings seated.

I officially kicked it out of the shop after that--or so I thought. Parked it under a shed then realized I needed to move it. Cranked it up and the oil light won't go out Cranked it several times, light stayed on--obviously didn't rev it up much or run it long. I guess next step is to pull the sending unit where it sits, too far to drive to shop with light on. Yep, this one is a fight to the end.

I will say that 50C mows very nice and those 18 ponies play with it.

Looks like the 1811 is doing a good job, John!