Junkyard $15 Tecumseh LH195 on a Speedway

[cfh]

Was at the junkyard (i like to check it out as snowblowers show up there a lot.) And there was a "loose" Tecumsh LH195 engine from 2005 sitting in a pile of junk. They put it on the scale for me, and it was all of $15, so i bought it. The blower housing was pretty dented, but i don't use those cyclone blower housings anyway. Figured there wasn't a lot of risk here, so gave them the $15.

Took the engine home, removed the blower housing (threw it away.) pulled the head and checked the bore. Damn i doubt this thing ran an hour! the bore was unreal with cross hatching. there was barely any carbon on the head. It was for sure a snowblower engine, but i don't know why someone removed it from the machine.

The only problem was a 7/8" PTO. didn't know this at the time, it had a pully on the PTO which hid the shaft. But after removing that, knew i had to take the whole motor apart to get to a 3/4" pto.

Pulled the flywheel and removed the electric start ring gear (it's just added weight.) Removed the side cover and found the inside pretty clean too. Removed the piston and found the ring gap to be .015". Now even light wear engines usually have .020" to .025" ring gap. So i knew this engine was pretty fresh. Regardless of what you read in the Tecumseh manuals, if you buy a brand new long block or new motor, the ring gap is never less than .010". Even though their specs are lower than .010" ring gap, it's just never is less than .010". So a .015" ring gap meant i wasn't going to waste a new set of rings on this motor.

I put the crankshaft in the lathe and turned it down to 3/4". Then to the mill and re-cut the 3/16" keyway. These 7/8" pto crankshafts are nice, because you end up with a full 3" long pto when you're done with all this.

Installed the crank and piston. And then welded and cut the original cam to a new high lift cam (basically a dyno255 cam clone.) Removed the governor and plugged the hole with a 10-32 allen bolt. Buttoned the motor up, and lapped the valves and checked the valve lash. (Usually when i weld/cut a cam, the valve lash needs some adjusting.) Amazingly it was pretty spot on at .006". Also did some light porting to remove sharp edges on the passages to the valves.

Also I did media blast the block. Did this because i wanted to paint this motor black...

Installed a old school blower housing with a 4 leg pull start. Powder coated the blower housing and cylinder shield black. Installed the motor in a freshly re-done Speedway Scarab frame. with the engine installed, made a custom exhaust and intake manifold for the new pz22 slide carb.

Lit the motor up and man it's a rocket! late model motors can really go and go good! Don't over look these motors. Yes they have the smaller exhaust valve. yes the bore is a little smaller than pre-1990s HS50 engines. But it's no big thing!

Here's the bike all done with the Tecumseh LH195 (looking like an older HS50):
http://www.pinrepair.com/minibikes/p/speedway1972scarb_mine3.jpg
http://www.pinrepair.com/minibikes/p/speedway1972scarb_mine4.jpg

 

[delray]

you really can't tell the difference between a big bore and a newer motors when you do couple hot rod tricks to them.
did you try the hot coil on it. also what size jet are you running in the 22mm.

 

[cfh]

on the 22mm pz22 carb, i talked about this in another thread. about a year ago, when i bought a left side choke pz22, i needed a 90 to 95 main jet (engine dependent.) But with this latest batch of pz22 carbs, right out of the box, they are jetted perfectly! hence i bought a about 15 of them. At $12 each (i used AliExpress) i don't mind the small investment to have them around.

Can't explain what is going on here with these carbs. 6 months ago, i couldn't get a pz22 carb to work worth a damn, no matter what the main jet was. these china carbs are so weird. they make a batch and it's either great or junk. right now the batch is great, so i stocked up! The casting marks are different on the carbs from batch to batch too. it makes no sense to me, you would think once you had the casting made, you would continue to use it. maybe they wear out, and when they make a new batch of carbs, the new casting is hit or miss.

i have yet to use your hot coil. i'm still thinking on making a coil bracket that will allow me to change the position of the coil so i can make it have different advance.

 

[cfh]

Since apparently i really like Speedways, i did an HSSK50 motor in the same style, but in another frame. All the same stuff and work, except it already had a 3/4" PTO. Also i put in new rings... .010 over rings, and ground the end gap so it was .010 in the bore. This motor was also really new too, with original cross hatches. It also had a small exhaust valve. Carb, exhaust, cam, all the same. I may have forgotten to port this motor though. But i don't go nuts doing that, just take off the sharp edges in the ports.

so does it run different? i would say yes, it's a bit different. Everything on the frame is the same (gearing, torque converter, etc.) This was a 1973 model Speedway, where the blue one i think is 1971. Same model though (Scarab.) For some reason the 1973 handles a bit better. But the motor isn't quite as hot. It doesn't want to rev quite as high. I have no idea why this happens...

This green Scarab was also my first total powder coat, in total. I do all the smaller parts in my shop, been doing that for a while. But i expanded my powder coat oven and now can do frames.

http://www.pinrepair.com/minibikes/p/speedway1973scarab_mine1.jpg

 

[Addicted 2 Minis]

I try not to allow myself to go to the scrapyard, I usually come back with more than what I left with. The last time I was at a scrapyard, I saw one of those Razor electric scooters, I thought to myself "Who would pitch $50 for .10¢ in scrap?". Our town used to have this spring cleanup days event where if you were a township resident you could take just about anything there and dispose of it for free. It always amazes me to see what people throw out. I've seen Jet-Ski's, snow mobiles, lawn mowers, you name it, it was there. Cars and trucks would be lined up for a mile waiting for their turn. I would walk up and down the line looking to score those old engines people would throw out. Once I scored an antique walk behind sickle mower with an old Briggs on it, took it over to my buddies, oiled the crap out of everything and had it going in a couple of hours, I think he still has it. Since the creation of Craigslist, Marketplace and shows like "American Pickers" the good 'ole cleanup days have ceased and what was once "Junk" is now someones "Treasure". It's nice that your scrapyard will sell back some of their junk at a decent rate, The guy at ours usually picks all the good stuff out, he will sell it to you but he's usually wanting retail for it, guess it's one of the few perks working at a scrapyard. Anyhow, those are some awesome bikes you've built, keep up the great work!.

 

[cfh]

It's hard to get anything really "good" at the junk yard. you're right, workers cherry pick. i go and there's a pile of "good stuff" and i ask about it, and i'm told, "nope that OUR pile."

But I just got a rupp hustler from a guy that knew the guy working at the yard. it was pretty complete, just no engine or seat. unfortunately i didn't get it for scrap price though. but cheap vintage U.S. mini bikes are pretty much done. i used to find stuff all the time. now it seems like the only thing up for sale are 20 year old china bikes.

 

[delray]

on the 22mm pz22 carb, i talked about this in another thread. about a year ago, when i bought a left side choke pz22, i needed a 90 to 95 main jet (engine dependent.) But with this latest batch of pz22 carbs, right out of the box, they are jetted perfectly! hence i bought a about 15 of them. At $12 each (i used AliExpress) i don't mind the small investment to have them around.

Can't explain what is going on here with these carbs. 6 months ago, i couldn't get a pz22 carb to work worth a damn, no matter what the main jet was. these china carbs are so weird. they make a batch and it's either great or junk. right now the batch is great, so i stocked up! The casting marks are different on the carbs from batch to batch too. it makes no sense to me, you would think once you had the casting made, you would continue to use it. maybe they wear out, and when they make a new batch of carbs, the new casting is hit or miss.

i have yet to use your hot coil. i'm still thinking on making a coil bracket that will allow me to change the position of the coil so i can make it have different advance.

i'm surprise clay you only have that size jet. if the jet sizes are the same as my 22mm? i'm running a 125 main in a hot rod hs-40 with 245 dyno cam,but that too is spinning 7200 rpm's......

 

[cfh]

i think you're using a different style carb. on the left hand choke china 22mm carb i use, i'm finding 90 to 95 size main jet works well. my experience with these is all the carbs are a bit different in configuration.

 

[delray]

i think you're using a different style carb. on the left hand choke china 22mm carb i use, i'm finding 90 to 95 size main jet works well. my experience with these is all the carbs are a bit different in configuration.

yes that could be, i know my 26mm PWK carb the jets are totally different then let say a 24 or 28mm flatside mikuni carb. for example my pwk has a 120 jet, that would be close to a 160 jet in a flatside mikuni.

 

[Addicted 2 Minis]

i think you're using a different style carb. on the left hand choke china 22mm carb i use, i'm finding 90 to 95 size main jet works well. my experience with these is all the carbs are a bit different in configuration.

These Chinese carbs confuse the crap out of me. With all the knock-off Mikuni and Keihin carburetors advertising to be a VM22 or a PZ22, some are 22mm, some are actually 26mm. I'm pretty good with most carbs but the hit and miss rate and misinformation of these Chinese carbs makes me just want to get the real deal. It seems like once you find one that works, you end up selling off the engine and the next carb you get isn't the same. Even stating "left choke" doesn't help a lot, most of these have the lever on the left but some have the actual choke mechanism on the right. Here's an eBay listing for a Chikuni VM22 listed as 26mm, notice that the lever and mechanism are both on the left side. Then here's a shot of a real Mikuni VM22-133, the lever is on the left but the mechanism is on the right. Want to ad to the confusion even more?, how about the PZ22 with the butterfly choke ( last picture ) with lever on the left. The real Mikuni carbs are 22mm as depicted in the model number, with the Chikuni carbs, you never know what you're gonna get.

 

[cfh]

that's why i buy one or two and try them. and if i like em, then i buy 12 ! ha!
they are terribly inconsistent. here's the style i use. It's what i call left side choke.

 

[Skipp]

The easiest way to tell a genuine mikuni without dissemble is that both adjustment screws are on the same side and the fuel intake tube is bigger….and most generally have vm22-133 stamped on the flange…I personally have found that the knock off carbs pretty much suck….like cfh says buy 2-3 at a time at 20-30 each or just pay 75 for a genuine? I still run two knock offs….getting ready to replace at least one….

 

[Addicted 2 Minis]

that's why i buy one or two and try them. and if i like em, then i buy 12 ! ha!
they are terribly inconsistent. here's the style i use. It's what i call left side choke.

View attachment 279001

Ahhhhhh, I know this one as the PZ20, I told you they confuse the crap out of me!.

 

[Mark Brooks]

Talk bout confused...

 

[cfh]

and to make matters worse, often they sell a 22mm pz22 and when you get it, not 22mm (yes i measure them.) I've returned a bunch a while a go that were 16mm but sold as a 22mm.

 

[Skipp]

And I’ve bought China vm22 that were 26mm

 

[delray]

not a real big fan with the pzz carbs with the all plastic choke handle. the one that i have on my briggs works only as a choke and nothing else. i have not use the pzz carb with the steel round rod choke handle to see if that works the same also? carb i like is the vm 22mm/26mm with the steel choke plate handle with the black rubber thumb handle on it. when you set the carb up correct you can set the choke and with one pull engine will take off and run with a high idle until it warms up and then take the choke off and go.... pretty slick. and it uses all mikuni parts....main jets and pilots.

on a crazy note i just finish up a clone build for one of my flattrack bikes and i'm running a 28mm flatside mikuni with a 360 main jet. bike has no problem lifting the front while rolling at 15-20 mph....really need a helmet for this bike....lol

 

[Skipp]

See I’m not a big fan of that 3847…there’s one in the cat….seems the needle sticks even after over night….that’s one I’m considering replacing….but there again just an opinion..

 

[Skipp]

Now that flat slide you show on that bike is pretty awesome…26mm?

 

[delray]

Now that flat slide you show on that bike is pretty awesome…26mm?

28mm flatside mikuni....