Westie1

Cleaned up and some tie rods made, I went for m10 so had to drill out slightly on the steering rack end.

Oh I'm sure I will, put it this way if this blows again I'm buying a NOS one lol

Great news thanks

It's this very edge that's sloping, hard to get a picture of. The rest of the head other than the edge where it was blowing is perfect. I'm going to see if I can improve it a bit tomorrow.

Ah thanks I didn't think about it being cast, that makes life easier at least. I had kept the bolts in order then in a rush I mixed them up, thanks for the tip on the length and manual page saved me making a massive mistake there. I have had a straight edge on it and it slopes off where it was blowing to the inside edge. To get it totally level i would need to remove a lot of metal. Ill try and get a picture.

Nothing would touch the carbon other than the rotary tool with a steel wheel and wd40 after a screwdriver scrape (I was very careful with both). Lots of dings in the head so figured I can't make it any worse. The piston going to look like the surface of the moon I bet. Think I'm done on this now after 1 more sheet for good measure tomorrow

Thanks Anglo Looking at it I think I'm going to be going at it quite a lot to get rid of the last bit completely, it seems to slope towards the very edge. I might just try 1 more sheet and then leave it there if no better then if your saying it should be fine. I'm going to get the rest cleaned up and find the sequence in the manual I downloaded. I've got some copper rtv silicone I'm going to use too. Would you reuse the head bolts and if not can I use any that match the original dimensions? How should I clean up the cylinder(that's on the engine and on the tractor)? I could use glass with wet and dry but the slurry would do the cylinder ECT no good.

After burning through 3 more sheets of 180 grit I have flatted all but the depression from the previous gasket. It was much better quality paper I'll buy more Monday.

Ah so the 6 is the heat range, embarrassed to say I hadn't made the connection but seems obvious now thanks. It did look very short, I've been reading up on how they changed plug placement to above the exhaust valve and it seemed silly the plug was so receded. Thanks guys back to my sanding

Apparently the rings are good as I've had no oil washing the carbon from the face of the piston, so I have read anyway. I haven't looked at the valves/seats, to be honest I was surprised that the valves were alongside the piston as I've never seen a flat head before. Only messed with my Honda ohv pushrod pc50 up to now (and that hasn't ended too well lol)

So after some googling I bought a new plug for my k341 yesterday. I went for the NGK B6L as the B4L is on all the lists but is apparently a little too hot. I've looked at what came on it just now and it's a NGK B6S which is rated at best for 8hp. What effect will this have had on my engine and could this be the reasoning for the head warp or the carbon build up? Just curious really but glad I ordered a new one yesterday now. I thought the plug sat a little far back in the head I will compare them. Thanks

I've got the tins off ECT and an old battery charger on the way to try electrolysis. Then I'm going to paint it all in vht but leave the fins. I would like to remove the pto and flywheel to paint but don't want to cause myself issues.

Thanks Anglo, I think deep down I knew the answer as you have rightly pointed out. I've just bought a frozen pizza, 4 bottles of cider and 3 sheet of 180 grit. The wife's off out tonight and when the little ones in bed the effort resumes lol. I believe I have downloaded the manual along with the specific wheel horse manual and transmission manual from various places. I need to print them off so there a little more usable. To help prevent it in future I have a working carb and won't be painting the cooling fins then fingers crossed.

After about 5 hours with 240 grit I'm still left with this, does it have to be perfectly flat or will the head gasket make up for some? Loosing the will to live and been through lots of paper. Wish I could get bigger sheets than A4

Smashing I thought best check cheers mate. I best finish this high comp head now lol

After many hours with course grit wet and dry (still not completely done, it was like a banana!) I'm still not quite done. My head gasket turned up and isn't a perfect fit with the combustion chamber. Is this a problem or not? Thanks

Very true, mine this year lol Only got 5 though must try harder

I've just been shown these pictures on Facebook. I know it will irritate both camps but I'm very tempted to do this!

Fantastic help the knowledge on this group in amazing, thank you. I will clean as you have described and will be sure to update on the results when done. It came with no air filter or housing sadly so I can't comment on that (now obtained) and it had some other bits broken or missing but was 99% complete. I dont know it's history but seems to be a sad one, new lease of life with me now.

Good grief that's some transformation! What did you use to remove the carbon from chamber piston and valves? From what I have read this is a result of the throttle shaft play running it lean and warping the head so with head sorted and it's new carb I should be sorted....hopefully. Any tips on cleaning up the outside ready for engine paint? You seem well versed in these things. Much appreciated

I think I have some safety glass lying around somewhere I'll give it a go, been reading up on red square and it seems quite a common diy job.

Thanks that's some really great info! The carb is specific for the 16hp single Koehler and is exactly the same as the original other than the choke being different so I have swapped it over. The original carb I will keep as I believe it can have the throttle shaft bushed (that was the issue with it) but I don't plan on this being a purist show horse right now if I'm honest. I will give meetens a bell tomorrow and ask the genuine gasket cost as they were great to deal with before. As for the carb settings I believe 2 turns will get it running and then I will just tune as normal. There really was a lot of air escaping the head so I'm not in the least bit shocked now that the a/r screw did nothing. At least I've found the problem, I'm a little wary of skimming my own head what would a machine shop charge? May make me a bit braver if a lot lol I'll check 1st with my feelers thanks for the tip on that

Head gasket my issue? Genuine the best or is there a better option? How do I know if it's warped/needs skimming? Been sold a pup here lol Cheers

It seems that the air/fuel idle screw has no bearing on the mixture. Wonder it I have an air leak. Seems I have a problem, i can feel air coming from the head above the pot. Is my air leak a head gasket? 😔

Fired it up and it will run with the idle screw all the way in, give it choke and it dies, it sound a bit lumpy run with choke off and throttle shut. I took air filter off and no change. Is screw in rich or lean? Thanks When I shut it down I get this odd noise, never had it from a carb before 20181021_104046.mp4