Willis's 74' Bolens (rolling thunder)

Down here in da south we call it a red wrench

CornShuck4CE wrote:

Down here in da south we call it a red wrench

I australia we call them GAS/AXE same as red wrench   thing works well

well, Bolens is also in time out.. due to severe carbon buildup, i have a stuck intake valve. guess i'll be tearing that up next week. my boss needs to pony up and pay me now.. I GOT PROJECTS TO WORK ON BRO!

Not a stuck valve. Sheared flywheel key. The cylinder and head were actually really clean. naturally i dont have a socket big enough for the flywheel nut, so its getting trailer'd down to my buddies place. with any luck, it'll be back within a week

Got it running again! wasnt a sheared key either! took it all apart, cleaned some stuff up, built a puller! we tried cranking it up on carb spray, and it just spat back, so we took the carb apart, cleaned it all up. there was some water in the bowl, so we dumped it out, and drained the system a few times. slapped it all back together, and it fired right up. then we made up an air filter for it, so its not sucking in crud anymore. now, onto the craftsman

++So since this isnt going to be done, im not sure how the whole '2 topic' thing is going to work, because i have bits of info in both, so if an admin could, when the build off ends, if one of you guys could merge this with my other topic found HERE , that would be much appreciated. thanks ++

wanting to pull this thread off the 2nd page. on the build off thread, yall can see that it gave me a rash of trouble 2 weeks ago. kept coming up blank. first i thunk it was a stuck intake valve- nope. sheared flywheel key?- nope. turned out it was a really dirty carb and poor fuel. we got it running, got a new length of chain for my hood, and got an air filter made up!

i was thinking about pullyswapping, and i still might end up doing it. going to order another belt, so i have a spare, as this one is not long for the world. i'll have some pics up tomorrow of my new mods.

cheers guys

went on a quick romp, almost no mud...

i call this one, "Bolens on da' prowl"

/blows off inches of dust/

well guys, sad to say... bolens is dead. i havent touched it since september, accept to steal tires off it... honestly, i think its time for an engine. im thinking older kohler flathead, maybe a briggs if i can find one. the tecumseh just wont. getting great spark, key not sheared, valves actuating properly, just low compression- and i think that finally got the better of it. could i rebuild it? sure, i might actually, if i actually restore it like i was originally going to do. but for now, new engine time. most of yall are going to suggest a pig iron chinese clone, but i wont have any. its an old, american heavy duty GT, and it will stay that way. THAT is why i want an older kohler or briggs, quality, american heavy duty engine.. so, once i get a shed (soon hopefully, as soon as the town quits jerking us around with a building permit) it will be taking a trip inside and get her power plant torn out.

just a little update, still waiting for my thread merge... ahem.. doug...

put some oil down the spark plug hole and it may start then.

got the ol' gank running again. thought it was blown up, apparently not the case. put some 91 ethanol free in, new fuel filter, new lines, cleaned carb, reset jets to factory, and it ran like garbo. it was running extremely hot, so hot that the galvanization on my pipe started to smoke. richened it up a bit and it ran BETTER but still not right. held the governer open to one of those "if this thing is going to grenade, its going to be now" kind of revs, and bang, it ran just like it used to! even idled perfect. idk what the issue was. went out yesterday after sitting overnight and it fired 2nd pull! it was running like the previous day after i screwed with the carb, not right again. im almost thinking something is up with my coil, loose wire or something. so its back, kinda. we'll see....

I have not seen the kenda bearclaws but i love my kenda executioners