Never know what you'll find at your local lawn mower repair

#1
Chatting up an old guy at his repair shop buying fuel line yesterday. He's closing down He says. Told him im restoring approximately 53 minis n karts and he said i could look around. On the top shelf of a parts bin tucked away i found this Chrysler Power Bee 580. He's like oh yeah i used to be into karting and thats NOS. I bought it for $100. Its absolutely pristine inside. Never run.



Chat up those old men! Haha.

Going back tomorrow. . .
 

capguncowboy

Well-Known Member
#4
Nice find. I called up my local junk mower guy (he's like 85) and he seemed incoherent on the phone. I'll just have to drive out there one day when he's open.
 
#10
Cool, i put one, or one just like it on a trike when i was a kid, put pegs were the pedals were. i remounted the carb and ran it horizontal. it had some kinda flat belt clutch that i ran against the right rear tire. Motor would rev to the moon, gum boots for brakes, insanely dangerous, rode it twice, smoke poured off the tire, crashed hard and lived to tell about. my first 2 stroke. what a blast!
 
#11
Cool, i put one, or one just like it on a trike when i was a kid, put pegs were the pedals were. i remounted the carb and ran it horizontal. it had some kinda flat belt clutch that i ran against the right rear tire. Motor would rev to the moon, gum boots for brakes, insanely dangerous, rode it twice, smoke poured off the tire, crashed hard and lived to tell about. my first 2 stroke. what a blast!
That's awesome. Did you keep the motor???
 
#13
Thanks to CarplayLB It's now got a friggin awesome mount. It even had the two bolts that fit into the two hld on the side that goes under the recoil for support already sticking out of it. Fits crazy good! Thanks man!!




Anyone vote for putting it on a mini? Didn't the early Stellas have a Clinton two stoke on them? I'm thinking this thing would be incredible on the small Yellow Stellar I'm finishing. The PTO is on the other side but I can just turn the wheel around. Or add a jack shaft. Actually its advisable I do use a jack shaft with the 2 strokes no? Hmmmm. I just may do it. Other than that I was gonna put it on my fun kart. The Rupp Lancer has the McCulloch 45 so that's non negotiable. My oldest son who "owns" the fun kart is adimant about having the giant Robin Subaru EX21 on his vehicle though. Don't blame him. That engine is a deep throated brute of a machine. Dependable too. Anyhoo, CarplayLB also sent me a full gasket set for this motor so I'll have to swap them out before I do anything. Does anyone have the torque specs for this motor?
 
#14
Anyone vote for putting it on a mini? Didn't the early Stellas have a Clinton two stoke on them?

The PTO is on the other side but I can just turn the wheel around. Or add a jack shaft. Actually its advisable I do use a jack shaft with the 2 strokes no?
Brian, several of these were, and are used on mini bikes with the mount you have pictured. The early Stellars that were sold as a "Scoot Along" had Clinton A400's on them, or were available like that. (I am doing one of those right now, in a regular Stellar Compact Frame)

You don't need a jack shaft just because it's a two stroke, unless you cant obtain clutch and axle sprocket to get you at around 9 to 10 teeth in the front, and around 60t in the back with that engine. (You can get a clutch) The torque is where it lacks, so you cant over gear these. But the payoff comes in the higher RPM band. I wont insult you by quoting gear ratios, since you can find them everywhere.

I used this engine on a fun kart and it powered it pretty well, given my weight. The decision you have to make is if you're going to run a JS, or turn the rear hub around. I noticed on my two-piece Stellar frame that it will have no clearance issues either way, as far as the rear wheel. However, a jack shaft completely changes the look of a bike as you know, and is pretty invasive as far as modifications to vintage bikes go. (A personal decision)

One other word of caution- that exhaust sits in the way and prevents several applications of exhaust pipe to work with mini bike frames. With my engine, I will have to run a jackshaft just to change the angle of the drive chain, so I can clear that high dollar and very cool vintage exhaust pipe.

Run it at 20:1 and do not set it to run max lean at high RPM. The extra power is not worth destroying that engine. I hope this helps.
 
#15
Brian, several of these were, and are used on mini bikes with the mount you have pictured. The early Stellars that were sold as a "Scoot Along" had Clinton A400's on them, or were available like that. (I am doing one of those right now, in a regular Stellar Compact Frame)

You don't need a jack shaft just because it's a two stroke, unless you cant obtain clutch and axle sprocket to get you at around 9 to 10 teeth in the front, and around 60t in the back with that engine. (You can get a clutch) The torque is where it lacks, so you cant over gear these. But the payoff comes in the higher RPM band. I wont insult you by quoting gear ratios, since you can find them everywhere.

I used this engine on a fun kart and it powered it pretty well, given my weight. The decision you have to make is if you're going to run a JS, or turn the rear hub around. I noticed on my two-piece Stellar frame that it will have no clearance issues either way, as far as the rear wheel. However, a jack shaft completely changes the look of a bike as you know, and is pretty invasive as far as modifications to vintage bikes go. (A personal decision)

One other word of caution- that exhaust sits in the way and prevents several applications of exhaust pipe to work with mini bike frames. With my engine, I will have to run a jackshaft just to change the angle of the drive chain, so I can clear that high dollar and very cool vintage exhaust pipe.

Run it at 20:1 and do not set it to run max lean at high RPM. The extra power is not worth destroying that engine. I hope this helps.
I thought the lack of torque in these engines was the reason u needed a jack shaft. All that revving with little ability to get up a hill. No matter because your pointbabt modifying the frame is totally against what I like these minis for so yeah im not gonna go that route. Ill see what one it'll look best on and give it a shot.
 
#16
I thought the lack of torque in these engines was the reason u needed a jack shaft. All that revving with little ability to get up a hill. No matter because your pointbabt modifying the frame is totally against what I like these minis for so yeah im not gonna go that route. Ill see what one it'll look best on and give it a shot.
No, not at all. They don't "lack" torque, their power band is at a higher RPM. The only reason you need a jack shaft is because you have a right side engine. I'd put that 580 against any similarly weighted 4 cycle engine, or any 4 cycle with the same displacement, and I'd leave them in the dust.
 
#17
No, not at all. They don't "lack" torque, their power band is at a higher RPM. The only reason you need a jack shaft is because you have a right side engine. I'd put that 580 against any similarly weighted 4 cycle engine, or any 4 cycle with the same displacement, and I'd leave them in the dust.
He's got another small Chrysler 2 stroke. Model 500. Cant find anything on it yet but it looks like a tiny power house. Also nos. I may get it and throw it on the failed Minion Cycle build off bike. Then i can free up that sweet jacobsen. I love the small engines!
 
#18
I went back today to see what else I could find and came home with this:


NOS Power Bee 820. He let it go for $120. From what I was told this one has been used on a few minis and is much stronger than the other one. Holy crap these are nice to look at thats for sure.
 
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