I had a Dodge 318 V8 that overheated and burned a piston. Money was tight at the time, so I went to a "pull your own" junkyard, got a rod & piston, used the original bearings and rings from my engine, put it all together with new gaskets, got another 30,000 miles out of it. Desperation and ingenuity sometimes work well as a team.
I had a 318 also, which stripped out the plastic timing gear and bent all of the valves. The "mechanic" that replaced it put it in one tooth off, and messed up the math on his bill. I took it from there, putting on another set of heads that my brother came up with that had one bent valve thanks to his friend's engine throwing a rod, so I fixed that, cleaned the thing up, and that engine is now in my truck, still running good.
Great video. Probably one of my favorites just because you took parts you had to fix it. Almost everyone who came across a motor with that kind of damage would have scrapped it . Saving a new motor for $34, priceless. No doubt it will pull its weight and drive a generator. Breathing life into one that was also headed for the scrap yard. When I was real young my uncle went to school for small engine repair. While he was there my grandfather went to a auction at a local business that had just gone out of business. He got a truck load of new and new/old stock still in original packages. (Briggs and tecumseh parts). There was also boxes of old parts from motors taken apart and saved for the same purpose you just showed. I was bored one rainy day and dug thru the many boxes of old parts and actually found enough to assemble a complete motor. It was about a 4 horse maybe or smaller. Flat head briggs. I actually assembled it with no gaskets. It ran like a new motor. I was about 11 years old. Didn't know gaskets was needed. Lol. My uncle came home on weekends. I showed him what I did. We dug thru the parts and found gaskets. That motor ran great. I actually put it on a mini bike frame we got from another suction. It ran great for a long time til my younger brother blew it up pulling on the governor arm to make it go faster. Lol. This video reminded me of that. I don't know how I got it to work. I basically knew nothing about small engines. No skill used. Pure luck.
I was a young lad mucking about with engines, my dad bought home a Briggs rotary hoe that he got from his brother. The thing didn't run so I took a look at it not knowing much about engines back then. I spent an afternoon tinkering with it, pulling it over checking for spark etc. After a bunch of pulling on it, it fired up and run. My dad come over and said to me didn't think it would run again, he used it to dig his garden for many years after that.
Hi James I’m not sure if you will see this post but I recently discovered your RU-vid channel and as I was on vacation this week (and dealing with a nasty cold) I binged on your videos and was inspired to take another crack at fixing my deceased father in laws old 1988 John Deere SX75 riding mower (sentimental to my wife). Following your diagnostic thinking( spark, fuel, timing etc.) I got it running again and will give it another life mowing the lawn at our camp. Please keep producing (only if you’re enjoying doing so) these videos as your thought process and attention to detail is inspiring… Michael O.
This was the worst damage I've seen in your videos. If you didn't have the spare parts, that machine would've been for parts only. Now it lives to fight another day. Good job.
Bugs me that you did such a great job fixing and cleaning the motor, only to put that rusty flywheel on without so much as wiping off the rust.... 😄 Once again, thanx for a great and informative video.
You know I like how you have turned lemons into lemonade! I like your videos, and your attention to detail also. Looking forward to watching you for many years. 👍🏻✌️
Nice,no internal plastic parts. I like watching RU-vid videos where people are repairing internal combustion engines. I’ve a Generac 6,500 continuous watts,industrial commercial generator. I purchased it in 1995. It has performed perfectly. The only thing I don’t like about this generator. The exhaust muffler is quite small and extremely loud. My Generac brushless continuous 6,500 watt 7,800 watt short term usage generator has a 13 horsepower Honda Clone internal combustion engine. I instantly converted the generator over to propane. Never having to worry about the gasoline going bad. I purchased a a 500 gallon propane tank. I installed it myself. I also built a shed and a permanent spot for the generator. I ran 0 stranded copper wire from an electric panel in my shed to my main panel in my home’s garage. My brother in law was an electrician and gave me the wire,sub panel and breakers. I didn’t use a disconnect switch. My wife and children knew to turn off the main breaker and turn on the 30 amp breaker for the generator. I also put an electric starter on the generator. The Honda Clone already had a flywheel with the gear teeth on it. Many manufacturers of generators that has the option to put an electric starter on it. Don’t have the gear teeth on the flywheel. The Honda Clone has an oil pump and filter. When I was living in the mountains of Pennsylvania. My neighborhood power grid was not on a loop. During our regular winter snowstorms . We would many times lose power for up to 5 days. The Generac Generator did its job exceptionally well. It would run our Well Pump and oil fired home heater. That had a copper coil inside for hot water. I also had a ventless fireplace heater. I purchased another 500 gallon propane tank for that. I would use a battery from my Ford F-350 with a DC to AC converter for the televisions and computers. The Generac Generator also has a 12 volt DC port for charging vehicle batteries and charge the Truck Battery daily. My truck has 2 batteries and I would swap them out daily. Anyway I really like your videos. Over time I will most likely watch all of your videos. The only thing that sucked was I had an electric stove. We would use a Coleman camp stove and a propane grill for cooking. Many of my neighbors didn’t have generators and the ones that did. Didn’t drain the gasoline out and their generators would not run. Or they would have a bunch of cheap extension cords. Many would burn up. Our homes in my neighborhood were at least 100 yards apart. I would allow my one neighbor to plug in a high end 30 amp extension cord. So his baseboard heat wouldn’t freeze. He had the same problem. Gasoline over a year old, no stabilizer in the gasoline. (The carburetor from my Generac was identical to my neighbors generator carburetor. After it dawned on me that I had a brand new carburetor. I installed it on his generator. ) His generator of course would not start. He and his wife had 4 small children. He would help me without question any time I asked. I would always return the favor. I ended up converting his generator over to propane and installed a disconnect switch,sub panel and breakers in his shed. This is what you do for neighbors that are decent hardworking people. After 20 years of moving. We still keep in communication regularly. He was so thankful when I converted his generator over to propane. My brother in law gave me all the 0 stranded copper wire. Sub Panel,disconnect switch and breakers. Another neighbor on the other side was a complete a-hole. He also had baseboard heat. Didn’t drain the gasoline out of his generator. One snow storm we had lost power for 5 days. All his pipes froze and split. The neighbor I was glad to help. I had him purchase antifreeze and filled his baseboard heating system with it. Just in case,He never had to worry about his pipes freezing and splitting. I had him purchase. Ford diesel antifreeze that never goes bad. His baseboard heating system still has the same antifreeze in it. No corrosion at all.
Hi I'm a D I Y person and right now I am building a gx 390 clone based on your teachings, I learned alot about generators and small engines. Great video keep up the good work
One thing I have found is it's very important to thoroughly remove all the microscopic residue remaining in the bores after final honing. 409 seems to work very well at floating the nasty bits out using a lint free cloth to apply the cleaner. After using a little elbow grease you will have the cleanest surface in town.lol
Well James, I’m impressed we do the hemi non-hemi head swap on predator 212s using a thin shim head gasket and the hemi piston which is a non-dish piston. It’s a flat top. It works very well but I can’t wait to see what happens when you put it on a machine to put it to work, I’ll keep an eye out for that video
@@KensSmallEngineRepair That works with bushings and bearings, but a thin wall alignment sleeve doesn't have enough surface in the removal direction to generate much force. I would have tried a brief application of heat. It might have had retaining compound or sealant, and the aluminum casing will expand more than the steel sleeve.
I really appreciate that you approach each of your videos from a novice’s perspective even though you are an expert at your craft. Your camera positioning and editing are best in class. Thanks for all the effort!
Catching up on this video, Jim. On those dowel pins, I recently learned a little trick. Put the proper size drill bit shank into the dowel so it is supported, and then you can grab them as tight as you like with vice grips without crushing them. Then with a little twist even really stuck ones will come right out. Thanks for saying you can adjust the valves in many different positions of the engine. I do that and constantly get comments that I'm wrong, it has to be at TDC, etc. Nice work on the rebuild! 👍🏻
Great idea, thanks Jon. That one caught me off guard. Never had so much trouble with dowel pins. The engine was left outside for a while with the head off and the pins rust jacked in place. I hear the same about valves. So many people adjust their valves on TDC of the wrong stroke not realizing the piston is at the top twice. This way it’s a no brainer and it has never caused an issue.
Nice job! Informative, to the point, no annoying music, and never lost interest. I now have confidence to dig deeper into small engine repairs because of your video. Thanks!
great job saving this engine. love to see that. you could have saved the alignment pins by the judicious application of a little heat. a propane torch to about 300 degrees and it would have come right out. Aluminum expands at 3 times the rate of steel. I used this to get out the drain plug on my F-250 Differential.
James, I really appreciate you! For several things, including: (most importantly) failure analysis and theory of operation - actually explaining what the valve stem rotator cups do. I have no idea how many dozens of engine rebuilds/valve jobs, etc. I've seen on YT and you're the first to explain that! I have determined in the past 3 years of my small engine learning that I'm probably more of a diagnostician than anything else and having access to failure analysis and theory of operation information is what I look for more than anything else. I learned a lot this time around, so thanks for that! Also, thanks for following up the previous video with this one - having these in immediate sequence in your upload schedule really helps with continuity, at least from my perspective. Since we already had the previous video clear in our memories, seeing this followup really helped to solidify what we'd absorbed from the previous one. I appreciate that you took the time to do this one immediately instead of moving on to who knows how many others you have waiting in the wings. :) We all assume you torqued those exhaust bolts down. LOL! ;-)
Hey James really enjoying your videos . Thanks for all the extra work you're doing to make them . One thing my Blacksmithing Great Grandfather taught my Dad is . When you need to strike the end of a bolt or shaft like you sometimes do to extract a rotor . Place a ballpeen hammer's ball end on the bolt head then strike the hammer with your heavier hammer . I don't know why but it works much better and lessens the chances on damage to the shaft . Thanks again
Great save James, for those of us that still DYI our equipment, looking for used parts is getting tougher as many small engine shop don't keep or want to sell used part. Our options are those who have a resale on a social media site or local swap meets. Used parts are just as good as new as you have shown. Keep posting as each time your posts show something new that DYIers use. Tks. Michael
I'm impressed with the engine rebuild. Using mismatched parts can be problematic. Glad this project worked as planned. I would want to run the loaded generator for at least 48 to 72 hours and then change the oil. Look for any metal. Then it can be sold knowing it's going to be ok.
I watched this hr and and a half long video not learning a thing about motors but found a channel that cares about detail and I can get down with that. This was a very good video. Small engines dont have to be hard there was some foolery but everything was laid out for you. Polite and to the point. Your doing a great job 👏
a most excellent job as always! Thank you for going over all the differences between the hemi and non-hemi engines as this could be very helpful when one of us has a similar situation with other parts onhand. A TIP: when removing the locator dowels, just use a chisel to collapse/split them and they'll come right out.
Excellent repair, really enjoyed the journey! That’s why I always keep extra good used parts and engines on hand, they can turn a totaled piece of equipment into a small bump in the road. Very satisfying to save something like that!
Excellent job James. I just sold a Hemi engine to someone a month ago. They usually run really well. Hope to see that one on a machine soon. Thanks for the video.
The tools you have bought are making things much easier for you. That ring installer is so worth it, as is the piston installer. Plus it just cuts down on the time monkeying with that stuff.
When changing from a stock head on an car engine to a high performance head, it's important to check things like the push rod length. You did a great job. I had faith it would run just fine. 😊
What an interesting video. Excellent news being able to convert from Hemi to parallel valve. Wonder if power output will be affected? Can't wait to see this engine coupled with a 7500 watt power head and see how it does under load. As always, thank you James for your awesome videos.
The first though that occurred to me about that holed piston is; "can it be repaired?" Perhaps a few words on why you wouldn't clean up the hole, bevel it then pour some molten aluminium from below? I don't know why, but your videos engross me. So much so that I have kept an old OHV motor mower engine that I dream of rebuilding (although I have no use for it).
To get to dows out easily you put a drill bit in the middle that fits nicely and some vice grips on the out outside of the dow and should come out with a twist and a pull!!😁
Great problem solving on those stubborn pins. In my comfy chair thinking - since I have no slide hammer - I'd have tried cutting a shallow slot in the pin with a hack saw - or maybe two opposing - and then levering on it/them with a screwdriver. But your solution was a lot more elegant 🙂.
I never did understand why the old indexing pins needed to be removed --- and then later replaced after the old ones were mangled with the bright, shiny ball peen hammer. Must-a been a reason but I sure missed it. The engine came out perfectly and I certainly hope we all see it powering another Genny.
Old school tip for those pesky dowels. Find a bolt that just barely fits inside the dowel. Then you can use vise-grips to squeeze the dowel against the bolt tightly. Now you have something to pull on. You can turn the vise-grips and the bolt at the same time to twist it out as well.
Yep, I'd swap parts like you did in a heartbeat. The piston/head are very different, of course. There may be a minor change in horsepower/volume/rotating mass, but who cares? Long as it runs. Cool job.
It's nice to know that even a semi-professional can have trouble with bits which just "won't go" when you try to remove them. The latest news in my engine fix-up saga is that I attempted to remove the main jet from the old carb but it simply refused to budge no matter what I tried. I've decided to try to find out what size it is and then, if it's larger than the jet on the new carb, I'll drill out the new jet. But I only have drill sizes 0.5mm and 1.0mm so I have to wait for delivery of a selection of drills I've ordered which are in 0.1mm increments between 0.5 and 1.0mm. I managed to drill through the gunk in the old jet with the 0.5mm bit, but the new jet is larger than that yet smaller than the 1.0mm bit. So far as I can tell, the 1.0mm bit isn't attempting to drill through the gunk in the old jet but is being stopped by the metal, so I know that jet is smaller than 1.0mm as well. Now I just have to wait for the new bits and I can attempt to drill out the gunk in the old jet until I get a bit large enough that it hits metal, then go back to the next smaller bit and drill out the new jet to that size. I have no backup plan at this stage if I discover that the old and new jets are actually the same size already.
This was really one of your top videos, in my opinion. I was a bit worried that the cam might be different with a hemi-head engine, but the way it runs that seems not to be an issue. Having a stash is certainly an advantage in this kind of work. Thanks for this very valuable video.
One of your best videos! Grats on the swap. The diagnosis and tear-down including the detailed rebuild is excellent - I learned a few tips along the way. interested in the grey drill burnishing tool. However, couldn't figure out if it was rubber or abrasive, realizing you provide affiliate links for the parts and tools in the description - glad you included the blind bearing tool, used for the removal of the alignment pins. Thank You!
I am so pleased to watch this video. I have watched the earlier, related video as well where you did the engine swap. I feel like I could rebuild a similar engine after investing in the needed tools and with plenty of trial and error.
The thin head gasket is used on all the newer honda motors now days and some clones It. It gives a higher compression ratio as it lowers the distance between the piston and head. This will work out good as it will give a bit more hp back after swapping from the hemi head.
HISTORICAL NOTE A long time ago....Dr. John Hufnagle was one of the pioneers of artificial valve heart surgery at Georgetown University. I spent some time on his cardiovascular service and "assisted" in some of his surgeries. Cutting edge stuff at the time. Anyway, this repair/reconstruction reminded me of those heady days. Imagine being able to take out an infection ravaged mitral heart valve and replace it with a "new" mechanical device. Heady stuff. Watching James assess the piston damage and then calmly and cooly insert a "new" device reminded of yesteryear. Each step carefully assessed, followed by a precise mechanical effort. The first mechanical valves all had very audible CLICKS with each closure and you could sometimes hear that sound from across the room!! Of course, THAT sound would have been a negative for James but a sure sign of success for a patient who would have otherwise died from valvular heart failure. Great work, my friend!!
My dad had an old Kawasaki five horsepowers four stroke single cyl side valve engine sitting in his garage with no head, I asked him if he had the head for it and I found it but there was no head gasket. I asked him if he had some thin aluminium sheet which he did so I cut a head gasket out of it using tin snips, fitted it and bolted the head down and there was compression and no leaks so I made sure there was spark and I put some fuel in the tank and pulled it over, she fired up and ran beautifully. Dad was most impressed.
A bonafide JC custom build! That thing sounds smooth as butta, man! Nice save on the cheap with salvage parts. Busy with mowers and pollen thick enough to pass for ash down here in NC. Keep em coming Jim!
mr. James I did see the first video. But I’m in the middle of servicing swimming pools at the moment but tonight I will sit down in my rocking chair and I will watch your amazing transformation of a broken engine to a running viable generating unit.😊
What an amazing mechanic and content creator JC. Would love to know how you got into this, both the Mr. Fix-It and video creation and whether you had prior training or just "following your nose" as my dad used to say. Never thought I'd be investing an hour watching something like this.... but you're a master. All the best.
About the dowel pins in the cylinder: Stick a well fitting drill bit into, an you can grab them with the pliers without them colapsing. Better: With the the 3-jaw chuck of your lathe or drill press..
About 7 or 8 years ago I had a guy bring me a chinese generator that he couldn't get to start. The valve stem broke right where the valve locks sit, and it hit the piston once, but the valve was still in the guide. I put a new head on it since the head was damaged but noticed the head gasket was put on 180 degrees from how it should have been at the factory. It was a GX390 clone. Ran great when I got done with it.
My next course of action on these dowels would have been to run a tap into them, then thread a bolt into the hole and put the slide hammer on that bolt. Works like a charm for me.
These Generac generators are a frequent feature on this channel. This makes me wonder if I would want one. I know it is the engine, but it appears Generac uses these engine on most of their units. Between Generac and your buddy that sends these units to you, you have job security lol. Love the channel, very detailed and explanatory.
@@jcondon1 Yeah, any brand with succumb to both of those reasons. With hurricane season approaching here in Florida, there are going to be a lot of folks running into issues from neglecting their machines.
1:20:00, something you can do if you’re worried about losing the governor shaft down in the engine, put a pair of vise grips on the top of it. How Hemi swap is a common upgrade for these engines, when trying to get more power out of them.
