Barn Find: My Huskee Hill Climber

[kd0asx]

I decided to join just now because over the winter I'll be fixing up the Huskee Hill Climber that was in my father-in-law's barn. He passed away almost two years ago and after fixing a half dozen mowers and other devices I'm now going to try my hand at this. It's not a flat-out restoration, but rather just cleaning it and fixing it up enough to run.

My wife tells me that she rode it as a kid about 40 years ago... it's developed some issues and probably hasn't been ridden it at least 35 years.

It has a Tecumseh H35-45280H 3 HP motor in it that currently doesn't produce a spark. The throttle was so gummed up it wouldn't move. I disassembled the carburetor and in the bowl was 40-year-old varnicized gas that resembled caramel but didn't exactly smell like it. Photos of the float bowl are attached.

It didn't come with a spark plug but it was super easy to take the head off and get crap out if needed.

Lots of cleaning to do on it, and hopefully in a few weeks I can get it running. I'll post more when I get a chance.

Wish me luck...

 

[OND]

Nice Find,:thumbsup: and welcome aboard !

 

[Lucky7]

The bowl looks real dirty. Looking forward to your build.

 

[KustomKartKid]

Nice old bike...keep it original.

 

[Outlaw Ace]

Nice to hear you will be bringing it back to original and not "restoring" a perfectly preserved and patina'd machine. Nice find, do your Wife's Dad proud and get er going.:thumbsup:

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

Welcome to the madness! You'll find a lot folks willing to help here. Good luck with the resto. The H35 is a nice little motor.

 

[manchester1]

The bike looks in very nice shape. Give it a great cleaning and keep it original.:thumbsup: Welcome aboard.

 

[kd0asx]

Hello everyone, and sorry for the lack of posting recently. I've made really good headway since then. I've torn the bike completely down, and I got the motor running again. I decided to go with an aftermarket carburetor once I discovered what I think is a hairline crack in it. I may try to refurb that in the spring but I needed to know if it was going to run or not. It does.

I also found a guy on ebay who builds basically custom mufflers for Tecumseh's and though it's not going to be a perfect match it's close enough. He may be able to build them more like the original but I lost touch with him. It interferes with the carburetor linkage a bit but I worked with it and it runs clear of it now.

I also had to buy a new air filter housing since the old one is long gone, and apparently they come in black now. Guess I'll just have to live with that too.



It needs a carburetor adjustment because when I hit the throttle all the way it bogs down. But I'll worry about that in the spring. Kinda funny that in the above pic I had the air filter cover assembly upside down, and I didn't find that out until I put it on the frame temporarily. Below is a pic of it sitting on the frame temporarily. I had to adjust the choke lever to get it to fit but it'll be fine.



I then got it all the way down to the frame so I could clean it up and check it out and here's some pics of that. I'll have to replace several parts, including wheel bearings. The tires and tubes seem to be salvageable, amazingly enough.



The one thing that was really bugging me was it was missing the clutch chain guard, and I thought for sure that I had to have it custom made. I had an idea what it looked like and so on the day before Christmas, my wife and I headed back to the farm and she let me spend all the time I needed in the barn to see if I could find the part.

Now, this is not a light undertaking... the barn... a shop, really... is an absolute mess. Her dad was a hoarder in later life and I'd have to dig through piles and piles of useless garbage and still never find it. I figured it would take me either 15 minutes or 8 hours, but I was bound and determined.

About a half hour into my search I was having no luck and I decided to look up on the walls and on one of the cross beams was a coffee can, labeled "mini bike parts" and lo and behold there was the cover! Merry Christmas to me! What a stroke of very good fortune... it was still sitting on the beam probably right where he left it 40 years ago and that's more than likely why he labeled it, back when he was more organized. I dodged a bullet on that one. Also inside the coffee can was a clutch I might try out sometime.



So now I've got most of it cleaned up... I still have to spend a few hours on the jackshaft and where all the bearings go together. I also need to put the tires back together, but then I'll start reassembling. I still have to find a seat for it but so far OldMiniBikes Warehouse seems to have most of the parts I need so I'll try one of their seats maybe. I'm hoping to have it running by April and I'm well on my way.

It'll be mostly original, except for the stuff I had to do to get the motor running. I'm really happy with it so far, it's been a lot of fun.

 

[Brooklyn Bob]

Welcome to the minibike madness. Cool bike!

 

[kd0asx]

I decided to upload a video to my YouTube site of the engine starting for the first time in a few decades. I had it firing the day before but realized that the carburetor was installed wrong. Once I remedied that, it took off...

[video=youtube_share;AcxtBkLLCVQ]https://youtu.be/AcxtBkLLCVQ[/video]

 

[cruhr1]

I decided to upload a video to my YouTube site of the engine starting for the first time in a few decades. I had it firing the day before but realized that the carburetor was installed wrong. Once I remedied that, it took off...

[video=youtube_share;AcxtBkLLCVQ]https://youtu.be/AcxtBkLLCVQ[/video]

Nice job getting it running again. The bike looks real good in the back ground and it's good to see another Minnesota guy on here.

 

[owend]

Really nice job so far, and that's great you located the original chain guard!

 

[delray]

sounds like a runner........:thumbsup:

 

[kd0asx]

Tecumseh H35 hemorrhaging oil

Here's the latest update... I got the bike all back together, minus the drive chain that I kept off so I could "test and tune" the engine.

This morning was test and tune. It started right off the bat and ran for a few minutes, then when I was beginning to make adjustments it stalled... no big deal. But had a very tough time starting after that. It acted like it was either running too lean or too rich. Not even starting fluid would get it to fire. So I decided to take out the spark plug and it seemed dry enough, tightened up the ignition to the spark plug... it did seem to help the engine fire but was still took along time to keep it running.

It finally got running and I let it idle for maybe 5 minutes before I started making adjustments to the carb. Before serious adjusting I noticed that when I completely gun the throttle it would start to die. The video above actually shows it. In the video those were the initial adjustments just to get it to idle and with the engine on the bike I started to make more serious adjustments.

It took a very long time to get it adjusted to where it wouldn't die out as I was giving it gas.... just as I was getting somewhere, the head of the exhaust actually fell off. I think it got so hot it melted the welds... I don't think it was built durable enough to withstand the heat so you may want to stay away from this type of exhaust from where I got it (ebay).

So I decided to keep it running, effectively a straight pipe, because I was getting it to rev without killing a little bit.... I let it rev for about 30 seconds when I noticed that there was oil spilling on the floor. The photos below will show the result. So I hurried up and shut off the engine.

From the pics and my investigation I'm not exactly sure where the leak is coming from. Sitting still the engine leaks a little oil but I chalked it up to loose plug or something. This is more than that.

Doing a search on google, I saw a post that the Tecumseh 3.5 Power Sport has the governor shaft running through the block and oil would leak from it. This actually makes sense because I was also having a governor problem in that I would hit the throttle and really have to crank it before the governor would kick in and then just peg the throttle, and then start to kill the engine.

So I'm starting to think that the governor (and it's bad design according to one guy on ebay) is leading to the oil leak and issues with the throttle.

My brother-in-law eluded to his dad putting away after finding out there was no oil in it and hence a problem... til the day I recovered it from the barn. Maybe this is why it was put away in the first place.

So here's my dilemma... I already know I'm going to have to put a new exhaust on it that will cost at least $50, and the oil leak may be governor but it also might be a cracked block or something. Maybe it's just better if I buy a new replacement engine for $200, because maybe that's what it would cost to fix the engine as it is... and that way I have an engine that's newer, that I can get parts for, and probably has more power too.

But what engine is there available to replace the Tecumseh H35? Any thoughts?

Here are the pics...

 

[Docdc]

First off, It's always nice to see another ham. W8ISX here.

So, check to see if it's the governor or the breather that is spilling oil. If it's the governor, I know it can be drilled open and a bronze bushing pressed in place to seal it up. You'll have to look for a shop to do it OR, you can find a bushing and do it yourself. I've never done it and haven't researched it completely yet but I have an engine needing a new bushing myself. Don't get rid of the engine, that can be repaired.

Hopefully someone who actually knows something about these motors will chime in. Maybe even PM MB165. He's a Master Tecumseh Mechanic.

Good luck and very nice bike I see too! :laugh:

Doc

 

[MikeBear]

If you just want to ride it for now, replace the engine with a clone, and put that original one away for working on later.

6.5 HP (212cc) OHV Horizontal Shaft Gas Engine EPA Dig up a Harbor freight coupon, and get the price down even more.

 

[kd0asx]

I think that's what I'm gonna do. I was looking at that exact engine earlier. Can't go wrong for the price. Beat the crap out of the engine and then put the vintage one back in when it is all done or want to sell it.

Do you know if it will bolt to the frame with the same holes or would it come with some sort of plate or something?

 

[MikeBear]

You might have to re-drill holes, or buy/make a special mounting plate. It's up to you to decide if you want to drill holes or not. Personally, I'd drill holes and not bother with a special plate. A new plate can always be added over the top if needed in the future.

 

[Havasu Dave]

What a shame to have a bike that was in the family for all of those years, one your wife rode as a kid even, only to slap on a replacement motor of inferior origin. I suppose this might be an example of the rescue Hent refers to, where the availability of Cheap Chinese Replacement engines has "helped" rise an old mini bike from the ashes. It'd be better in the barn, and get a doodle whatever that comes with Chinese engines.

The governor leak is common. I am not master Tecumseh mechanic, (never heard that term, must have been an in house training program) but I have rebuilt ten or 15. You were running it way too lean to melt off an exhaust. And fifty dollars for an exhaust? You can get the correct one for just a bit more. (unless you get ripped off by our own in house mini bike parts flippers)

Please don't drill out the engine plate, or anything else on this original bike. If you cant get the engine running right, please send it to someone who can. There are several folks on here with the ability. (I cant believe anyone is suggesting it's okay to put a replacement engine on this bike)

 

[markus]

Looks like the oil drippings on the engine are from the breather or possibly higher (head gasket, no clear shots of that area in the pics though). So start from the tip and work your way down (forget the govenor shaft)

One thing I do notice is the breather is not white, so its been replaced, taken off there and "cleaned", or something. Was that your doing, are the bolts tight, did the gasket get replaced (thats a tricky gasket) does the breather function correctly, etc...

The other thing to keep in mind is this, if you were running it like you explained in your post, you were over revving it for extended periods of time with little to no load on it....not in tune and with a short open exhaust. Take that brand new clone should you go that route, fiddle with the adjustments on the carb and do the same thing, It'll start pushing oil out the breather as well.



Oh yea, take that exhaust and resolder that muffler back on it and use it as a shower head in your guest bath, Grab your original exhaust and reuse that on the bike :thumbsup: