Best of H. L. Chauvin's Messages

(Cleaned from the message boards)

Thanks H. L.!

Starter/Generator Rebuild

With vintage starters & generators, usually the softer metal bushings and softer metal brushes wear first, thus causing starters to "drag", & generators to stop charging. This is many times normal wear & can be expected after a few years.

If the armature is good, many starters & generators can be rebuilt in one's garage with simple tools. Rebuild shops have more elaborate "growler" testing equipment, lathes, etc.; but this equipment gets expensive.

Some of the very early cars had a one unit starter/generator, whereby the single armature would be turned by the starter commutator & starter brushes on one end, & after the engine started, the separate generator brushes & separate generator commutator on the other end would generate electricity -- a good generator will run like an electric motor if connected to a battery.

Principles & methods for rebuilding starters & generators are very similar, so even though we'll address the starter, this rebuilding procedure will in general apply to both starters & generators.

First disconnect the battery, disconnect the battery cable at the starter & starter switch rod, & remove the starter.

Take an ice pick or a scratch awl & mark the cylindrical starter case & the front & rear covers before disassembly so it can be assembled like it came apart.

Remove the 2 long starter bolts and gently slide the front cover off a little & look inside to see how the brushes rest on the commutator, & how it is wired, & then remove the covers & remove the armature observing everything.

Prior to removing bushings, check to see if they are available at IH or your local automotive store or hardware store. On vintage starters, bushings can wear enough for the armature to come too close to the coils on the side of the starter causing malfunctioning. This can be normal long time wear. Replace front and rear bushings.

Next, the stationary brushes wear, become shorter & need to be replaced to have good contact with the smaller diameter non-ferrous commutator on the steel armature.

Remove old brushes and install new ones. If new brushes are not available, similar brushes can sometimes be carefully cut with a hacksaw & be cut to fit.

Next, when the brushes wear, particles of brush metal gets into the grooves in between the commutator segments & allow electricity to be conducted between the individual insulated segments of the commutator, thus grounding out the entire armature. This is normal wear & needs maintenance just like other moving parts.

Usually if the commutator is badly worn, one can see where the brushes were wearing the commutator. If badly worn, new brushes will not rest solidly on the deformed commutator. In a starter repair shop, the deformed commutator is turned and made smooth on a lathe to true up the comutator so brushes will seat properly.

If one does not have a lathe, one can cut 2 1x6's equal length, about 6" long, & cut 2 equal "vee's" centered in top's of both 1x6's, about 7/8" deep and 7/8" wide, (clamp 1x6's together & cut simultaneously). Secure both 1x6's vertically to the ends of a horizontal 2x6 so starter shaft can rest horizontally in & on top of both "vee's" cut in both vertical 1x6's.

Screw a horizontal 1x4, (on edge), to both sides of the vertical 1x6's such that the top of the horizontal 1x4's are about 1/16" lower than the top of the horizontal armature. Make sure the starter shaft is level in "vee's" & 1x4's are level & in the same level plane as the armature & commutator.

With uniformly cut thin wood shims, place wood shims on both 1x4's such that the tops of the shims are level with the highest part of the commutator.

Place a good clean, flat wide file on top of the shims & turn the armature with one's hand & after removing a shim or two, gently allow the file to remove metal from the commutator. The commutator is soft metal and will be removed easily. If bushings were worn, the commutator may not be concentric, but will become concentric in this jig -- important to bear down on armature when turning to keep starter shaft true.

After commutator is cut true with the wide file, remove armature, and gently polish commutator with fine water sandpaper -- have your wife hold the armature on the end of work bench & shine the commutator like one would shine shoes with a shoeshine rag -- but, do it on all sides.

At this time the insulating mica in between the segments of the worn commutator is almost flush with the surface of the commutator. If left as is, starter brush metal particles will span over the mica & ground out the armature.

Next take a good, fine tooth hacksaw blade & remove most of the "road" out of the blade by running the sides of the hacksaw blade on an emery wheel. Wrap part of the hacksaw blade with electrical or duct tape to form a handle on one end.

Set the armature in the wood jig, have someone hold it firmly, & very carefully saw the mica out of & between the segments of the commutator to a depth of about 0.018" to 0.020".

Again get the fine sand paper & gently shine the rough edges of the hacksaw marks so the brushes don't wear on a rough commutator.

As an internal, final test, use a test lamp or multimetr to check for continuity between each segment of the non-ferrous commutator & the corresponding adjacent segment of the larger diameter steel armature segments. Also check to insure that segments of the commutator & armature are radially insulated from each other.

Clean the inside of the starter of any debris etc.

Do not try to remove the large exterior screws on the cylindrical part of the starter casing unless absolutely necessary to replace the starter coils.

If the large screws have to be removed, get a screw driver head type socket which fits in a socket wrench, provide wood blocks, & apply force in a large vice or large drill press to the socket wrench, (a torque socket wrench works fine), while turning the wrench. These screw slots will get ruined with just a normal screw driver.

Apply grease to both shafts & bushings prior to final assembly and re-assemble.

What ruins starters is poor spark plugs, stopped up fuel systems, & corroded ignition points -- then one cranks & cranks the starter thus heating up the bushings, starter brushes & commutator to almost the melting point causing abnormal wear.

Keep a Cub in tune & starter will last a long time between above described maintenance operations.

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Intro to Won't Start

Usually in a "won't start" situation, a master mechanic would chokes the engine & try to almost flood it, & next remove a few spark plugs -- if plugs are wet with gas, usually a sign of engine getting fuel & is usually not a fuel problem.

Next, remove plugs and crank engine. If no fire at plugs, (when they are grounded such as laying on their sides in contact with the top of the engine), it is usually an electrical problem.

Verify setting gap on plugs @ .023". Clean plugs if fouled. Make sure you have metal plug wires & metal coil wire -- carbon core plug and coil wires will get ruined with a magneto & eventually won't conduct electricity.

Get Q-tips and gasoline to clean distributor cap inside & out, & in all spark plug and coil holes.

Replace plug wires in proper order, i.e., wire at 12 o'clock in the distributor cap, (No. 1), leads to the No. 1 spark plug next to the radiator -- (look for the "1" on the distributor cap); 3 o'clock wire in dist. cap leads to 3rd, No. 3 plug from radiator; 6 o'clock wire in cap to 4th, (farthest) No. 4 plug, from radiator; & 9 o'clock wire to 2nd, No. 2 plug from radiator. 

Remove wires from coil, clean connections, and re-install wires. Thousands of people throw away good coils each year when all they had to do was to clean these electrical connections. New coils mean clean connections -- coils last 40 years & even more. 

If still no fire, or non-regular, intermittent fire in plugs, report back. 

Usually points are dirty, not set with proper gap, or the connection for the condenser wire and blue steel spring for points connection is corroded and not making contact. This connection in the magneto is the most important. 

Thousands of people would change points & condensers thinking the points and condensers went bad -- if they only knew that if they would have cleaned this connection, the points & condensers could have been re-installed, cleaned and used for another 30 years. 

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Won't Start, Electrical Phase I & II

Hope this may help someone in a cub "won't start" electrical scenario. 

If the battery is dead, get a new battery. Make sure plug wires are in proper firing order or engine will backfire, sputter, and will never run properly. 

Excuse being so parochial & excuse the length, but if one inspects the points and does not time the rotor & engine correctly, the cub will never start. 

If one chokes the engine, removes spark plugs & they are wet w/gasoline, usually one has an electrical problem & the engine is lacking fire or lacking fire at the proper time. Engine needs both "proper fuel" & "timed fire" to start. 

Phase I: 

Remove plugs, lay on engine head for a good ground, and if no fire, or intermittent fire, one usually has electrical problems. 

Whether one has a magneto, magneto & coil, or distributor & coil, first disconnect battery & try removing all electrical wire connections, one at a time, at the switch, amp meter, coil, coil transistor, & all connections, etc., clean, & grease connections with regular wheel grease or better yet, marine grease, & reconnect these wires, one at a time. (Grease keeps moisture off of wire connections, battery connections, etc.; w/no moisture, no corrosion; hence, no oxidation & no metal oxide to prevent conducting electrical current in humid climates. 

Next clean & gap plugs. Insure no carbon core wires -- use only metal core plug wires and coil wire -- magnetos eat up carbon core wires -- so do distributors after some time! 

Remove & clean distributor/magneto cap with cleanser such as rubbing alcohol or paint thinner, or a very small amount of your 100 proof whiskey -- keep some whiskey for later. 

Connect battery & try plug fire again -- if no fire at plugs or intermittent fire, have patience & proceed to Phase II. 

Phase II. (This article will cover magnetos w/coils) 

Again disconnect battery. Remove distributor cap. Remove plastic cap at rotor. Remove rotor & small metal gear from magneto. Remove wire connected to side of magneto & to avoid losing your cool & religion or both, loosen bolts & remove the magneto in lieu of trying to correct this with the magneto installed. Remove points, wire from condenser, etc. Clean both faces of points, if pitted, on a knife sharpening oil stone -- if lightly pitted, shine with a piece of double folded fine water sandpaper, on a Popsicle stick, similar to your girl friend's fingernail emery board. 

Clean insulated stud inside of magneto and all connections. Provide a small amount of grease on the bushing on the points, and install a small amount of grease on the lobes of the magneto cam. Adjust points to 0.020" when arm is on high point of lobe, e.g., points should close tightly and open no more than 0.020" when magneto is rotated. 

Go to the carburetor side of the engine and apply a small amount of white paint to the very tip of the "timing" metal pointer pointing to the flywheel pulley. Rotate engine with crank and apply a small amount of white paint to the "vee" notch in the flywheel pulley -- if flywheel pulley has two (2) notches, apply paint to 2nd notch only. Wipe pulley with finger so white paint is only in bottom of "vee". 

Remove all 4 spark plugs, rotate engine with crank "clockwise", while holding finger over no. 1 cylinder spark plug hole, (spark plug nearest radiator), until one feels air pressure on one's finger from the piston rising to top dead center, TDC, on the compression stroke -- stop & again slowing turn engine "clockwise", (when facing rear of tractor), & carefully align painted metal pointer with painted "vee" notch in crankshaft pulley. When metal pointer is aligned w/"vee" notch in crankshaft pulley, cylinder no. 1 is at TDC. 

This is most important to time the rotor: 

Insert the small metal gear on the magneto shaft -- this metal gear will only fit one way on the flat part of the magneto shaft. There is an embossed mark on this metal gear which should be temporarily positioned at 12 o'clock. Apply grease to this metal gear and to the plastic rotor gears. Point the protruding metal part of the rotor, (part that almost makes contact with the metal parts inside the distributor cap), to 12 o'clock also, such that the plastic casting mark on the rotor, (between the gears), is at 6 o'clock and aligned with the metal gear below, which is pointing to 12 o'clock. (The single embossed marked metal gear tooth at 12 o'clock should fit between the two (2) 6 o'clock plastic gear teeth of the rotor). Replace rotor cap and make sure rotor turns freely without binding. 

Now, with no. 1 piston at TDC, (painted metal timing pointer on painted "vee" crankshaft pulley mark), the rotor should point to about 10 o'clock when the magneto is re-installed -- if it points to about 5 o'clock, it is 180 degrees off and one can wear out 1,000 starters and 500 hand cranks and the cub will never start. 

Lightly tighten magneto bolts so one can still rotate the magneto for timing. 

After internal cleaned connections for wires
in the magneto are assembled, points are clean, and magneto is in place, re-connect battery. Connect coil/magneto wire to coil or magneto & allow other end of coil/magneto wire to come within 3/4" of an engine ground. 

With a plastic or wood handle screwdriver, open and close the points. Each time the points open, there will be a very slight spark at the points, but the spark from the end of the magneto/coil wire to ground should jump 3/4" easily with a strong spark accompanied by a good "clicking" sound. (Don't hold or touch this coil wire or points when opening points unless you want to get the shock of your life). 

If no jumping of fire of 3/4" or even more occurs -- possibly a dead battery, dirty points, or bad electrical connections. Contrary to parts supplier opinions & other salesmen's opinions, the condensers, coils, & magnetos hardly ever get weak -- when they go, they go out like a light bulb all at once; & very, very seldom. 

If good fire off of coil/magneto wire, rotate magneto towards engine block until it touches the engine block. Rotate engine again with crank until white marks align at TDC on compression stroke, (w/pressure on finger), then rotate magneto away from engine until click is heard & mark magneto & engine with pencil at this point & slightly tighten magneto. 

Rotate engine again until white marks align on compression stroke, (w/pressure on finger), & magneto should click when white marks align -- if not, adjust magneto and repeat until magneto clicks when white marks align at TDC of compression stroke. 

Cub should purr like a kitten. 

If no clicking magneto sound when magneto is rotated at TDC, idler gear and governor gear is not synchronized, and need synchronization using white paint on marked gears.

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Phase III Won't Start, Electrical

 A few board members kindly requested Phase III by e-mail, so I'll try composing this today, just in case its urgent. This is for timing a governor/magneto set up with or without a separate attached automobile or tractor coil. 

If your magneto doesn't click when you rotate it away from the engine, (as mentioned in the above August 18, 2001 Phase II), the governor is not timed with the engine idler gear, & even though it may run, the cub will run better when timed properly. 

Most important, is that with a properly timed magneto & timed engine, this means a much better chance of no broken arms when a cub is started manually with a crank.

This may concern some to try this governor/magneto setting, but it can be done with patience & a bit of a positive attitude! 

Phase III: 

Disconnect the battery.

Remove the magneto/distributor cap & remove the magneto.

After removing the magneto, on the front governor side of the magneto, remove the center bolt & remove this steel spring cover to clean & oil the interior parts & the internal magneto coil spring. Usually this area is rusty, so clean the insides & spring with steel wool, oil well, & re-assemble to insure better magneto clicking operation.

Good tools to have for Phase III, (if you want to avoid losing patience & self confidence), is an inexpensive mechanic's adjustable mirror, (about 2" diameter), on about a 12" long metal swivel stick handle, a flashlight, & any kind of white paint or better yet, a quick drying secretary's white correction typing fluid. (Small "make-up mirror" can also work -- don't use one from your wife -- it will be too difficult to clean afterwards).

Next, pick up a regular newspaper and look for a period at the end of a sentence. This is a very "small" dot, but this is what you'll be looking for on the rear, flat side of the perimeter of the governor gear, & the rear, flat side of the perimeter of idler gear, (e.g, the magneto side of both gears).

Go to the carburetor side of the tractor & align your former white metal painted timing pointer with the former white painted mark on the crankshaft pulley.

While on this carburetor side, loosen the 2 governor rod arm bolts on the front of the timing cover, (directly in front of the carburetor), & carefully remove the vertical governor rod arm that supports the horizontal governor rod that goes through this arm to the carburetor side of the governor, near the fan. Carefully slide & back out this horizontal rod from the governor -- gently lay this rod down in place, in front of the engine, while trying to keep the half-moon key in place, on the top of this shaft. 

Go to the magneto side and remove the 2 bolts securing the governor.

Good time to pet the dog, have coffee & read this. (The next step won't work unless no. 1 piston is at TDC -- i.e., crank manually w/hand crank, to feel pressure in no. 1 spark plug hole before the white timing marks are aligned).

(See note at end of this article if one has no hand crank & rotates engine w/fan -- not recommended -- fan blades may get bent this way).

With your mirror & flashlight handy on the magneto side of the governor opening, carefully "jiggle" the governor forward towards the radiator until you can look through the magneto side of the governor opening with the mirror & see the dot on the rear of governor-ignition gear, and the 2 dots on the rear idler gear -- its a bit of a tight squeeze to "jiggle" the governor by the fan & shroud; but, have patience & take your time.

Both gears may be covered with oil so its sometimes hard to see the small dots. Dots should be at about 10 to 11 o'clock when viewed from the magneto side, (rear to forward); but use a "Q-tip" to wipe all oil off of both gear dots, & also wipe all oil off of tops and rear side of all three (3) gear teeth on both gears -- 2 gear teeth on idler gear, & 1 gear tooth on governor gear.

Carefully paint top & rear of all three (3) gear teeth with a "Q-tip" or small brush & white paint. Carefully remove paint from un-wanted tops & rears of gear teeth if paint got on incorrect ones. Let paint dry abut 10 minutes.

The governor gear has a spiral shape so when one aligns it to mesh with the idler gear, it will rotate slightly when one pushes the governor back into place.

It may take 2 or 3 tries to verify alignment of the white painted gears, (single white governor gear tooth fitting between the 2 white idler gear teeth); but use the mirror, move cautiously with patience, & just do it even though the circular seal is hiding the marks.

Slide governor into place one last time & use mirror & flashlight to verify the white meshing gear teeth marks.

After gears are aligned, tighten governor in place with the 2 bolts.

The worst is over.

Carefully insert horizontal governor rod with half moon key on top, & install & tighten vertical arm on the timing cover in front of carburetor.

Because engine is at TDC, set magneto rotor at approximately 10 o'clock, & loosely secure magneto so it can be rotated for timing.

Again rotate magneto until top touches the engine.

Again rotate engine until pressure is felt on finger in no. 1 spark plug hole, and carefully align formerly painted metal timing pointer with formerly painted mark in flywheel pulley -- slowly rotate magneto away from engine & when the magneto's "oiled spring" click is heard, tighten magneto a bit more to secure same but not all the way, yet!

Repeat rotating engine w/hand crank to TDC. Magneto click should be heard when timing marks align at TDC -- if not, rotate magneto such that when timing marks align, clicking noise is heard. 

Tighten magneto, & reinstall plug wires:

No. 1 @ 12 o'clock on distributor cap to the spark plug nearest the radiator; No. 3 @ 3 o/clock on dist. cap to 3rd plug away from radiator; No. 4 @ 6 o'clock on dist. cap to farthest plug, (no. 4) from radiator; & No. 2 @ 9 o'clock on dist. cap. to 2nd plug from radiator.

Connect battery & start.

(Note: When sitting on the tractor seat looking forward, the engine crankshaft, the governor, & the small metal gear in the magneto turns counter-clockwise; & the front engine idler gear & the rotor turns clockwise. Spark & timing is advanced when the magneto is rotated counter-clockwise & timing is retarded when the magneto is rotated clockwise -- why add this? Just to help visualize what's going on & also if after some corrections are completed in the above Phase III, & the engine fails to start, just think about what could happen to the engine timing if someone does not have a hand crank, & someone would mistakably rotate the engine by turning the engine fan; but, they would rotate the engine fan & engine in the opposite direction! ).

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Carburetor Leak

When one has a used tractor, no telling what was done to the carburetor & float in the past by amateurs, and also with the cheap parts sold for carburetor rebuild kits -- your question can have difficult answers.

I'm a firm believer that if Napoleon Bonaparte would have bought a Cub when he was a Corporal in the army in the 1700's, (and if he would still be here today with the same Cub), and he would have only gently cleaned his carburetor every 20 years, all of the original parts would still be fine shape except for new gaskets and for new seals on both the throttle and choke shafts.

Could be you have several problems:

1. Leaking float -- place float boiling water to see if bubbles come out -- if so, it leaks gasoline & sinks & does not close the float valve -- dry float in sun all day & solder float leak hole or replace float.

2. Leaking float valve -- with carburetor apart, push up on float valve with float "in place", fill gas line with gas and see if float valve leaks when gas line is full -- check metal tang on float to see if it makes good firm contact with float valve -- make sure float is not binding on sides of carburetor or elsewhere -- could be a replacement valve that does not fit original float valve cage or vise versa -- or someone in the past trying to lap a float valve in a cage with valve grinding compound & messing it up -- lots of times its dirt by-passing a faulty filter & entering the carburetor float valve, causing the float valve not to seat -- if float valve leaks, get new float valve & cage -- if float tang needs adjustment, adjust same.

3. Float adjustment -- hook up transparent tube, (shaped like horseshoe, maybe 6" long), to a screw-in plug on carburetor bottom, fill carburetor with gas to see gas level inside tube -- should be at same level as gas inside carburetor when float valve is closed & repaired -- gas level in carburetor should be 9/16" - 5/8" below joint between carburetor top & bottom -- carefully adjust float to keep gas at level specified above.

Hope this helps a little Chad. At least you see that both the float and float valve have to function properly to maintain gas at the proper level.

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HL Chauvin Sayings

Profound respect for others is something one can never give away -- it always bounces back!

Saw Thomas Edison on TV years ago -- silent movies -- someone asked how can one invent so many things with no formal education? -- his answer was I listen to myself.

Not too long after, about 1957, as a lad, saw my uncle talking to himself -- Uncle I asked, why do you talk to yourself all of the time? (My humble uncle was quicker than all of the lawyers in Philadelphia, & New York too) -- well he answered, I talk to myself for two (2) reasons:

First, is that I like to talk to a smart man!

Second, I just love to hear a smart man talk!

And that's an original!

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Clean Gas Tank

Can one imagine after 50 years how much dirt can accumulate in a 1951 gas tank?

According to your description of what is happening, I think Clark hit the nail on the head -- dirt or rust in the gas tank causing the problem.

According to your message, cleaning gas filter bowl did no good but cleaning carburetor did good for a short time -- no doubt you have "gas filter" problems. (Don't try any other type of gasoline filter -- they don't work well on the Cub's gravity flow system).

First check to see if the top of your bowl has a well fitted filter screen made by Case/IH --if not, get one -- dirt should not be getting to your carburetor through this screen.

Drain gasoline to about 1 gallon left in tank -- attach a rubber hose from glass filter bowl, about 24" long & drain 1 gallon of dirty gasoline at a time until tank is completely empty & put it back in the tank clean, & filtered through a coffee percolator paper filter.

(If the bottom of the tank is dirty when drained, tie a wash cloth securely around a stick, or get a "Bar-B-Cue" mop lightly oiled to clean out residue).

Check with flash light to see what's going on during this cleansing & keep passing this filtered 1 gallon of gas through the tank until the tank appears clean.

If the tank is rusty & has continuous flaking rust, let us know -- that's another problem.

Some gas tanks had old gas cover gasket falling apart & rubber crumbs were clogging the outlet -- get new gas cover gasket & clean tank.

Have no doubt you can check this out -- doesn't take a space ship scientist to do this -- just please keep in touch & only best of luck! 

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Rusty Cylinders

Gunsmiths know that full choke in a shotgun bore tapers so very slightly that one cannot detect the increased tapered constriction by eye -- choke has to be measured with a very accurate micrometer.

Also gunsmiths know that if one rubs the front end of the interior of a shotgun barrel with four-ought, (0000) steel wool wrapped & rigged on a burred wood dowel, and turned with an electric drill, they can turn the electric drill with (0000) steel wool until the Egyptians return to the pyramids before they can wear out a full choke barrel to be sized to a larger diameter of Modified choke.

Suggest you get kerosene and 3-in-one oil on four ought (0000) steel wool to remove rust & "burnish" rust off of cylinders rather than use honing stones, sand paper, files, bricks, rasps, sand blasting, acid, dynamite & H-bombs.

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Pittman - Sickle Bar Mower

Humble opinion on: Why Wood?

A wood pittman arm offers the weakest link in the chain. Not if it breaks, but when it breaks, it is easy to replace. When an immovable object is hit, its like the old time shear pin on an outboard motor propeller, or modern rubber clutch on new propellers, or the belt drive on a mower deck that can slip, like a clutch on an engine, or its like the wood handle on a hammer that gives slightly, (try nailing all day with a hammer with a steel pipe handle -- ruin all of the tendons in one's arm.)

Used to mow with a time-tested turn of the century John Deere horse drawn sickle mower as a kid -- wood pittman arm always broke when we went too fast.

Rub your pittman arm with linseed oil or tung oil every year to lubricate the outer wood fibers -- it will strengthen the wood just like neadsfoot oil strengthens leather or water strengthens a string or a rope. (Try this: Find a piece of string you can break with your hands. Now wet it. Watch out for your fingers -- its twice as strong -- if a rope breaks, wet it & try it again).

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Prime Oil Pump

This type of oil pump used to be called a positive displacement pump by the old time mechanical engineers.

This same type of oil pump was used in the 1920's and later at the bottom of the oil pans in cars far older than the cub.

In the cub, this pump is sitting up high as opposed to being sitting in oil in the bottom of an oil pan, and oil has to be drawn up to it from a screen strainer in the bottom of the oil pan, up through a metal tube leading to the oil pump.

If the pump was put together dry with no oil, and no oil in the oil pum housing and metal tube, it may & most probably will not create enough displacement to create a suction on the tube to pump oil; hence, it is recommended that the pump gears be well oiled before assembly & also primed with oil through the 1/8" pipe plug hole to fill oil pump housing.

After starting engine, oil pressure gage should show pressure after about 10 seconds, & if not, stop engine to see what is the problem.

After oil & filter change, oil pump has plenty enough oil in its housing and on the gears to create enough suction to draw oil up the tube.

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Alternator

When I went to buy my Cub recently, the battery was dead, so the seller sold me the Cub with another, new 12 V battery with what he said was an old 12V Chevrolet alternator. Two (2) days later, my new battery was dead. The alternator has 3-4 wires connected to it, and the original ampmeter never registers anything.

When I turned the lights on with the weak battery, the lights got brighter when I greatly increaed engine RPM's; hence the alternator is charging at fast RPM's, but it appears the alternator was draining the battery when the engine was not running.

I bought a plastic, automobile battery cut-off switch and installed it on the negative ground cable. Now my battery remains charged all week because it can't get drained by the alternator, and it gets charged when I cut grass in 2nd gear at full throttle. Working fine like this.

Thanks for all of the information & bracket drawings on installing a low RPM alternator which can fit under the Cub hood. When I get time, (whenever that will be), I'll try to install a new one (1) wire, 37 amp alternator which charges at low RPM's and I'll try to repair the make shift buldge in my hood so I can install original decals.

Wish the former owners would have left the 6V generator and 6V system as original.

We had a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker with an enormous V-8 engine almost as large as a Cub rear wheel and the 6V battery worked fine with no problem.

In my opinion installing a 12V battery in a Cub is a sign of a person who wants to brag on how he has modernized the Cub -- so they cut the hood, create a bulge in the hood, and now my Cub looks as intelligent as a gorilla mechanic bragging that he is running his wife's foot pedal sewing machine with his attached outboard motor --but he did "modernized" the foot pedal sewing machine.

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Locked Engine

You may get many, many varying opinions on this one, been there before, but I'll try:

First try to avoid additional possible causes of cylinder rust by making sure rain can't get into the exhaust at the top of the muffler and enter the combustion chambers; also, drain the radiator just in case head gasket has minor water leak getting into cylinders.

(Two years may or may not be a long time depending on what happened.)

Second is to pour about 2 cups of kerosene into each spark plug hole initially on first day, and repeat this with about 1/2 cup of kerosene every day for about 5 days, always replacing spark plugs so water cannot enter and kerosene cannot evaporate.) Not gasoline -- "kerosene". Patience.

Third, after about 5 days of Kerosene soaking, try pulling tractor with a truck or another tractor in 2nd gear about 4 mph, (pull tractor forward from rear draw bar, not on front axle or front part of Cub), and with clutch pedal depressed; then let up on clutch pedal to see if engine turns over, or if rear tires just skid.

Fourth, if engine did not move & tires only skidded after several trys, try to find an experienced mechanic to very carefully use an old time crow bar to move the flywheel ring gear, after removal of the starter -- place crow bar in opening where starter was removed & pry with a piece of oak wood as a fulcrum, being careful not to damage ring gear and cast iron housing.

When this does not work, time to investigate removal of head and report back what is found.

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Stripped Carburetor

Some "J-B Weld" non-believers are going to frown on this fix, but I would never hesitate to try this before buying another carburetor.

First, inspect threads in carburetor for "cleanliness" -- if dirty and full of Teflon tape or stick, pipe dope; buy a new shotgun barrel brass bore brush at Wal-Mart or similar Store, in size of .410 for a 410 shotgun.

Clean stripped carburetor threads thoroughly with brush dipped in lacquer thinner or gasoline, using circular motion, and then clean threads again with lacquer thinner or gasoline on a Q-Tip until Q-Tip becomes white, and wipe dry with Q-tip -- do not touch the stripped threads with your fingers after they are cleaned -- oil from fingers are detrimental to this repair.

(The above cleaning is the part of the work never done well by non-users and non-believers in epoxy repairs -- if epoxies wouldn't work, we wouldn't have any elderly movie stars with nice front teeth -- structural stress on teeth are far more intense than stress on a Cub carburetor gas line).

Next get some J-B Weld & mix thoroughly, two (2)equal lengths of J-B Weld, (about 1" long each), mixed with a round tooth pick on a paper plate or similar items.

Step (1): Carefully and neatly apply J-B Weld to the carburetor stripped threads with a round tooth pick, and carefully and neatly apply J-B Weld to the brass male gas line fitting such that you see two (2) smooth J-B Weld surfaces, one (1) on all of the male threads and one (1) on all of the female stripped threads. (Don't get any in the carburetor screen inside the carburetor).

Step 2: Here's first the hardest part -- "Patience" -- allow the J-B Weld to set for about one (1) hour on both threads, depending on temperature & humidity.

Step 3: Next carefully align male, brass gas line fitting in hole and screw into carburetor -- then carefully unscrew male brass fitting -- then remove all J-B Weld from male brass fitting only.

Here's the second hardest part -- "Patience" -- wait about 24 hours before trying the clean male brass fitting in the new J-B Weld carburetor threads.

When trying the next day, if fitting feels too loose, clean J-B Weld carburetor threads again with Q-tip & repeat Steps 1, 2, & 3 above.

What happen if this fails? Relax!

Second try: Clean & fill the J-B Weld carburetor threads with J-B Weld, allow to dry 24 hours and make new threads in the J-B Weld carburetor threads with a machinist's tap.

Not to be facetious, but J-B Weld fails at above 500 degrees F, so if your carburetor begin to approach 500 degrees don't panic & jump off of the tractor -- your brass carburetor fitting and jets will begin to collapse which will cause the engine to stop before the J-B Weld fails.

I find the old time stick, plumbers pipe dope from hardware stores, (about 1/2" diameter x 4-1/2" long), applied to threads is hard to beat for non-leaking gas line fittings.

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Carburetor Problem Continued

As you have already recognized, the float is not closing the fuel float needle valve when the carburetor is assembled because the gas level is rising in the bowl above the top of the discharge nozzle; but, when you close the needle valve with your thumb it does its job & stops the fuel flow. Great observation.

Because some may have already bent the tang on the float, using manufacturer's measurements may not help all of the time.

Also, on rare occasions, floats leak gas and they sink -- place float in a small pot of boiling water -- if bubbles come out of the float, it leaks and the hole or seam needs to be soldered after th float has all of the gas removed by setting it in the sun for a day or so.

Next, check to see if float can move up and down "freely" without rubbing on sides or front, or binding on its axis.

If float moves freely, and doesn't sink, buy a 1/8" NPT brass plug with a brass tube nozzle to connect a 1/4" clear plastic tube about 8" long, remove 1/8" plug on bottom of bowl, and install brass plug with tube,

Put the tube on the nozzle and curve tube upward like a horseshoe so you can now see just how high the fuel is rising in the bowl -- the fuel level should be about 5/8" below the gasket between the top and lower half of the bowl with the carburetor installed on the engine -- but, first turn carburetor upside down to insure that the metal float tang is dead level with the joint between the upper and lower half when it touches and seats the needle valve -- then adjust float up or down to get the 5/8" gas level reading in the bowl.

If this is done, there is no way the fuel can climb up and out of the discharge nozzle.

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Fuel Problem

My first guess is that the "in-line-fuel-filter" is holding air & not allowing enough fuel to siphon through it because of the gravity flow of the fuel as opposed to a fuel pumping system.

Just tried a large "see through", in-line-fuel-filter on my cub this morning & the gravity flow system would not replace enough of the air in the filter; hence, the engine was stalling with the belly mower running, or running in 3rd gear. Removed it & it worked fine with the glass bowl & filter screen.

I would try an IH glass bulb, definitely with a fine IH manufactured screen -- these work fine on gravity flow.

Another former problem was that the old 1948 red rubber gas tank gasket was crumbling & partially clogging up the hole in the bottom of the tank -- cut out new gasket out of new gasket material, cleaned out tank cover, completely drained tank, poured gas back through a coffee filter & it works fine.

When trying to clean inside of old carburetor jets, carburetor cleaner would not cut the old gray residue in the 1948 brass orifices. Took a round tooth pick, cut several notches in it at 45 degrees, wrapped fine steel wool around same, and passed it though jet -- shines inside like a new nickel.

If you get a carburetor rebuild kit get an IH one -- the non-IH rebuild kits at non-IH dealers & on eBay have fewer essential parts for about the same price.

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Making a carburetor wrench

Made a Cub carburetor wrench for Nozzle Discharge Jet by soldering a 5/16" socket to a 1/2" diameter copper pipe, about 3" long with a copper elbow & a 1-1/2" long copper tube handle. (Wrench also works for a 1928-1931 Model A Ford carburetor).

After assembling carburetor, if needed, un-solder socket from tube & place with socket set.

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Carburetor Saved

Proceeded drilling out broken brass Idle Tube in top half of carburetor with 1/16" reverse drill bit 1st, 5/64" bit 2nd, and 3/32" drill bit last -- Idle Tube did not un-screw on any of the above while turning bits counter-clockwise -- really stuck -- can see threads where brass was removed -- used hand turned drill tool very cautiously so as not to ruin carburetor -- a real root canal operation!

Float needle valve brass Cage, (screw), IH part no. 251 300 R21, sheared off when trying to unscrew -- really stuck also -- first removed all brass threads with "Dremel" tool grinder & then picked out threads with awl. (Could have used sharpened ice pick). Re-threaded with 5/16" x 24 teeth per inch (tpi) tap & restored damaged threads with J-B Weld & new brass Cage to form threads.

Re-threaded butchered up threads at bottom of carburetor bowl with standard 1/8-27 NPT pipe tap, re-worked threads with J-B Weld, and installed new 1/8" plug.

Cut & trimmed in-side diameter of new carburetor to intake manifold gasket, (supplied with carburetor re-build kit), where it protruded about 1/32" all around -- this means 1/16" smaller orifice causing turbulence & restriction in fuel mixture entering engine. (For example, a 1" diameter intake is .785 square inches, & a 7/8" diameter intake is .653 square inches, which is only 83% the size of the above 7/8" intake -- quite a reduction in intake & fuel entering the engine -- similar to running engine with throttle partially closed.)

Cut new washer shaped felts to place on sides of throttle shaft to prevent raw air from entering the carburetor after fuel is mixed at the venturi.

Filed parts of top half of carburetor where it meets gasket between top & bottom, (where screws occur), so adjoining halfs fit nearly flush at the gasket. (Place 3 corner file over 2 screw holes at a time and apply pressure on file equidistant between screw holes to maintain a level surface.)

The gorilla mechanic who removed the carburetor once or twice hit the carburetor on the side with a big file, leaving file marks on the side of the soft metal carburetor -- took a file and removed file marks and polished entire carburetor on a wire wheel.

Filed burrs off of all interior & exterior screws where improper sized screw drivers were used with great force for 50+ years.

Carburetor looks shiny and new as if out of a new box.

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Broken Idle tube removal

Almost used part of a new brass 1930 Model A Ford "Zenith" carburetor jet, with larger orifice soldered shut and drilled out to match size of the Cub IH orifice. They sell for $3.00 or so from any of the many Model A Ford Parts Companies throughout the USA. Beats having to shell out $180.00 or so for a rebuilt IH carburetor.

Suspected the IH carburetor Idle Tube had threads after receiving the carburetor isometric diagram sent by IH dealer.

Very carefully tried pocket knife, Radio Shack screw drivers, & eyeglasses screw driver, but nothing moves easily -- Idle Tube probably been in there since 1948 -- 53 years or so of growing together with oxidation.

As you mentioned, someone may have Idle tube removal suggestion! Patience.

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From Whence we came!

Posted By: H. L. Chauvin <chipper@eatel.net >
Date: Sunday, 25 March 2001, at 11:18 a.m.

Hi, 

Just bought a 1948 cub.

Former owner made 2 four(4)inch long vertical cuts in lower edge of hood, 8" apart from front to back on generator side, with 2 vertical sheet metal fins protruding outward 2", with welded corners, so he could fit a 12V Chevrolet alternator. (Does not look great!)

Would like to cut off the protruding fins so the hood could be bent back & welded back to its original shape & provide cub decals.

Because the cub now has a 12V starter & 12V system, what smaller diameter make/model alternator w/voltage regulator would neatly fit where the generator was formerly positioned?

TIA,
H. L. Chauvin

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