My Clone.....

#1
My Clone saved my butt this weekend.

Heres the story read it if you want.

I have a Sears Brand Bird that I Got back earlier this month and swapped my Tecumseh 6.5 ohv onto it that I bought and used for 4 hours a while back.

My Tecumseh has been sitting for a year with the correct amount of stable added to the fuel. It ran fine about 4 months ago when I it fired it up.

So....This week I swapped it onto my sears frame for use at Monster Mopar weekend. Mainly because face it....Tecumseh ohv's look way better in a vintage frame than a Honda style ohv engine.

Anyhow, with the crazy last few weeks, I had only 1 night to swap in into the bike after I got off work. I Came home ate dinner and yanked the junk 3hp Briggs that was on it and buttoned up the 4hr old Tecumseh. Pulled it through and it attempted to start.

I noticed the tires were rotted so I yanked those and replaced them and then it was 10:30pm...

I finished the tires and went to try and start the Tecumseh and.......... nothing.. I Got fire and the fuel just poured from the carb. I yanked it and noticed the inside had started to rott. The Metal had completely started to deteriorate on the inside of the carb body.

I Had to be at the track at 7:30 and I Didn't have any of my 5hp Briggs ready to go and the nice 3 hp I have is already on another bike I am trading..

So as a last resort I went to the shed and grabbed the Lifan Clone that's been in there for 2 years on a older crappy atlas frame with the same crappy gas as the Tecumseh but with no Stable in the fuel.. It fired on the 2nd pull and ran like it was put away last week. The gas was damn near varnish and My God! The Spiders crawling out of this thing gave me the HEEBEE JEEBEES!!!!

So Unfortunately if I Wanted to ride all this weekend I had to use it. It ran all day today with the bad gas and never had a issue other than it looks pretty stupid in the frame and the tank pushes into my Right calf. :thumbdown:

I got my Lifan clone when My Neighbor bought 2 of these engines from harbor freight when they started selling them a few years back And I traded a gift card to HF for it.

Im glad I Did.

I wont totally give up on the Tecumseh but now Im wondering if I Can use a Clone carb on the Tecumseh? LOL!

Read into this what you want. I Have always been a big proponent in using Flatheads in my vintage bikes and will remain to. But this Lifan saved my butt this weekend so it is going to stick around.

O yeah and KBall. My Red Metallic seat looks Bitchin on my old sears! And my Butt thanks you..
 
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#2
what would eat your aluminum carb? is it a float bowl carb? :eek:ut:

Never seen that in any of my tec carbs with old gas sitting in them and I've got some motors cheap that have been sitting for years and years with gas in them.
 
#3
I'm glad to hear that the clone saved the day.:thumbsup:
You should send your story to Lifan...maybe they'll send you a 20' sea container full of engines...

A possibility for the carb deterioration is alcohol.
Could you have used an alcohol/gas blend in your Tec carb?
It's a stretch that alcohol would have done that though considering the small amount of ethanol present in today's gas.

I used methanol in a racing engine for a short period before I switched to nitro, and I always "flushed" the carb with straight gas after a race. Alcohol is corrosive to aluminum. I have an H50 with the diaphram pump on it and the alcohol in the gasoline attacked the rubber diaphram.
I collect old Briggs and the pot metal carbs are know to fall apart
simply due to aging.


I also have a 1932 Nelson brothers engine that I restored and the alcohol attacked the rubber in a cork base gasket. I couldn't get the engine to idle correctly and finally found that the base was leaking, causing the engine to lose vaccum and the fuel pump would fail.
 
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#4
Yeah its a float bowl carb. And it was just Premium unleaded with stabil. The engine is 3 or so years old.

The clone did great all weekend. So Much so I just let my Buddy ride it and I Just took my little yamaha and buzzed around on it.
We had a blast!

Now I need to figure what to do with the tecumseh....
 
#7
I hear you on the $75.00 carb. The diaphram rebuild kit for the carb on an H40 lists at $50.00. I have a buddy who owns a Toro (Wheel Horse) dealership and he gave me an old kit he had laying around. At those prices, it's either find another used carb or go with what will work in a different mfg's carb.
 
#9
Why on earth would one bother putting a non adjustable clone carb on a Tecumseh? :doah:

$75!!!!!! oh come on. :eek:ut:
Your right...... Why would I waste a good carb on such a piece of trash.

I could use the OHV Tec as a boat anchor but it would probably Float with all the plastic in it...

And yes $75 shipped for a new ohv tec carb shipped.

No thanks..
 
#11
I recommend draining the float bowl after every use because of the 10% ethanol blend in all fuels. I've noticed alcohol damage in several carbs where that precaution was'nt taken.
The alcohol seems to corode aluminum. I just bought a string trimmer and the manual recommends the same procedure for the same reason.:scooter:
 
#12
With the stabil in the system I Wouldnt think I Would have to have worried about that. My old 8 tec has the same gas from the same can and the same stabil in it . When I Pulled its float bowl it was fine and it still starts just fine..

Go figure.... This was just a Junky carb with a piss poor casting.
 
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