Briggs back to life. Restore ?s

#1
Is there a step by step on restoring briggs engines. What to take off before paint. What to paint. I wanna do a couple 4hps and some 3s but not really sure. Do you have to strip the old paint off. Can I leave the tank and carb on while painting. The carb has moving parts, does it get sprayed as well.
Do I tear it down and paint.
Any help would be great.
 
#2
First off....when you read about these people "restoring" motors....it isn't really nothing but painting them. A real restore is actually re-building the motor and then re-painting them. It is like just painting a car and not bothering with the body work or rust holes. That being said..if you are just re-painting it...best results are to pull it apart. Remove carb, tank and all tins. Then sandblast everything.....clean....then assemble with at least new gaskets. Motors were painted generally while they were all assembled. That is a key thing most people mess up when they paint each individual part then assemble.
 
#4
Plan is to take apart make sure everything looks good and put back together and paint. If it Dosent look good then replace it and put together and paint. I don't want to paint something then just have to mess with it a bunch afterwards bc it isn't running right. Kinda defeats the purpose.

Cheezy when you say take everything off then sandblast everything. Do you mean what I took off or the block too? Do I just plug intake and exhaust before blasting. And what kind of sand do I use on the block and parts.

Thanks guys.
 
#7
Sorry....when i said sandblasting.....i should have been more specific. Glass bead blasting is what i meant. And yes.....plug all holes and tape over them also.
 
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CarPlayLB

Well-Known Member
#10
when done right it looks like fresh cast from the mould:thumbsup:
There's that Australian Tecumseh motor we've been looking for!

clean, clean, and then clean some more! I don't have access to a blast cabinet, so I use a scotcbrite to clean it. One thing that has worked very well is using an "etching" primer. Especially over bare metal it makes the final product look nice!
 
#11
When Redoing my engines, I usually strip all tins back to bare metal. I sand them a bit after that, and etch prime them. I then use regular primer from there and paint them after that. I find that you don't need to prime the engine block when using VHT (engine enamel) because it is pretty thick. I wash my engine blocks with degreaser and hose them out on the driveway. But I am keen to know how to get rid of all the dirt buildup that degreaser doesn't remove.
 
#12
First off....when you read about these people "restoring" motors....it isn't really nothing but painting them. A real restore is actually re-building the motor and then re-painting them. It is like just painting a car and not bothering with the body work or rust holes. That being said..if you are just re-painting it...best results are to pull it apart. Remove carb, tank and all tins. Then sandblast everything.....clean....then assemble with at least new gaskets. Motors were painted generally while they were all assembled. That is a key thing most people mess up when they paint each individual part then assemble.
I agree:thumbsup:. There is a repaint and a rebuild...
 

Harquebus

Well-Known Member
#14
Every early Briggs (pre 90s?) I've seen has a (relatively) smooth, non-pebble-grain casting finish so I'm leery of inducing one by bead/sand blasting. I have a later model 1996 flathead that is pebble grain and unpainted. By that time painting the block was an unnecessary waste of money...

My "refurbish" procedure on an unknown (craigslist) motor is a total tear-down, cleaning and inspection of parts. The bare block is scrubbed with detergent in a bucket of hot water. If the crank/cam/piston looks kosher, I clean and reassemble.

1. I de-carbon the cylinder head and usually polish it (for kicks). This is actually a periodic maintenance step from the manual
2. If the valve faces are pitted, I have a local shop grind new faces on them. Last time it was free!
3. I lap the valves by hand with valve grinding compound & the suction cup tool thingamajig
4. I inspect the valve clearance and adjust if needed
5. I mask off the assembled block (side cover on, valve cover on, minus the head) and paint as a unit
6. I paint everything else, the tins, gas tank and such separately and carefully reassemble the entire engine when dry
* I don't paint carburetors. They are stripped and left "in the white".

Like I said, I tend to paint most everything separately. I know Briggs & Stratton painted engines after they were completely assembled, and that's fine, but the paint doesn't reach the flywheel side of the block and other nooks and crannies.

Let me know if you require more info. I have detailed files.


Restoring my old boonie bike.....My problem is it will start for a moment, then dies. I need troubleshooting ideas. Please and thank you!
I think you had better start your own thread. This one is misleading, it's really just about painting. :D
 
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