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Under the Head on my 1949 Cub

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stevenforehand
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Under the Head on my 1949 Cub

Postby stevenforehand » Wed Apr 20, 2016 11:29 am

I'm in the process of diving into my newly acquired 1949 cub. I wanted to get an idea of what I was dealing with since while she idles well, she smokes like crazy from the stack under load and blows quite a bit of smoke out of the crankcase.

So, I took the cover off the valve area and the head off. The valve area was completely black and full of gunk. I've since cleaned most of that out and am going to adjust the valves.... maybe replace valves and springs.

Under the head, things actually didnt look that bad. There was some carbon on top of a couple pistons but not much that a short scrape couldnt get off. The valves had quite a bit of carbon around them and a little on top so I will need to clean up that area a bit.

The cylinders 'looked' OK without any obvious issues. A couple cylinders had a very slight lip around the top which I guess indicates a worn cylinder. I dumped a bit of marvel mystery oil in the cylinder and it took a little over a day for it to disappear into the crankcase. Before I removed the head, each cylinder was producing about 90lbs (+-5lbs) of compression.

Unfortunately, I dont have the funds for a rebuild at the moment but wanted some input on what you guys thought about what I found in there. My observation was it's not 'too' bad considering nearly 70 years of service... but then again, I dont know much about this stuff :-)

Thanks for the input!

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gitractorman
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Re: Under the Head on my 1949 Cub

Postby gitractorman » Wed Apr 20, 2016 11:44 am

Doesn't sound too bad at all. With 90-pounds of compression, you're a bit on the lower side, so you probably do have worn rings, but really it's not too bad. I thin if you don't have the money for a rebuild, I'd clean everything up as good as you can, and put her back together. I'm not sure that you're going to fix the oil blow-by without rebuilding the engine, but it should run better. As an option, if the cylinder walls all look ok, you may consider pulling the oil pan, removing the pistons, and installing new rings, and just honing the cylinders while you have the pistons out. Guess it depends on your level of skill and if you want to jump into this or not, as you could end up needing to do a whole rebuild if you get into it that far.
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stevenforehand
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Zip Code: 27921

Re: Under the Head on my 1949 Cub

Postby stevenforehand » Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:10 pm

Thanks. I had thought about just a quick re-ring of the pistons. I fear once that process starts I would also need to replace bearings, etc.

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Re: Under the Head on my 1949 Cub

Postby Eugene » Wed Apr 20, 2016 6:16 pm

You have to remove the pistons to replace the rings. The rod bearing inserts are right there, easily replaced.

My thought, if you are going to replace the piston rings, might as well do an in tractor overhaul.
I have an excuse. CRS.

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ricky racer
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Re: Under the Head on my 1949 Cub

Postby ricky racer » Wed Apr 20, 2016 6:29 pm

I agree with the rebuild. Why spend about one third of the cost of an engine rebuild only to have a still worn out engine once you've done? Rebuild it once and it will last you a lifetime. You'll never regret rebuilding it but you likely will regret not rebuilding it. That's my two cents. :coffee:
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