I have a friend who bought a Manco Dingo with a 5hp Briggs new back in 86 - 88 maybe? He kept it garage kept, took care of it, and had fun on it up till about 2000. He then tore the motor down, installed a Dana Cam, header, air filter, and so on. They rode it up until about 2002 when he decided to do a total rebuild on it. He had it bored, bought new lifters, springs, piston, rings, gasket sets, and just about everything he could buy for it to make it back better than like new again. He started putting it back together until he got to the valve springs. He was told he needed a special $300 tool to compress them or it would totally mess them up. The motor and parts got put aside till he could look into it and as we got older I guess the interest I guess went away. About 3 years ago I offered him a brand new 100 dollar bill for it all. He told me he spent more than that just in parts and I was crazy. About 2 years ago, he called me and asked me was I still interested. I took it all off his hands and put it all in my garage until about 2 weeks ago when my son asked about fixing it. Back when I was younger, I put together maybe 30 small engines so I know a little but that was a long time ago. I have been slowly trying to finish where he left off but I am getting hung up here and there. A person can search the net and find 99.9% of all of their questions now days but the .01% is where I need help. So far everything seems to be coming along just fine but where I am hung up now is the carburetor. The motor came with no linkage what so ever and it took me 5 days to figure that out but I think I have it now. I am starting to take apart the carburetor to see what all parts I need to order and I noticed a hole in the bottom of it that lets dust and trash suck it. So here is my question finally……….
The carburetor has the aftermarket air filter adapter on it so one of the big filters can go on it. It slides over the rim and is held in place with 3 set screws. All looks to work fine and like it’s suppose to but… how the factory/original air filter use to be mounted to it, (held in place with the one screw through the center of the hole) the screw went through the choke butterfly, into the base of the carburetor body, and out the bottom. There is even a factory dip/ dimple in the tank to clear the screw.
Do I / should I put a screw from the bottom side to close the hole? This still leaves a big hole in the choke butterfly when closed. With the factory screw coming down from the top side, it would have filled this hole and close the opening fully when the choke was on. Will leaving this hole open make it run better, worse, or no different? Will it just let dust in? If I put a longer screw from the top side, it will plug the bottom hole and seal the choke butterfly when closed but there will be a screw sticking up right in the center of the air flow. Will this make much difference? I just don’t know enough about this kind of stuff to make the right decision so I need an answer from someone who has more experience. Thanks in advance for any help on this. I am going to try and post some pictures below to help explain what I am asking about.
The carburetor has the aftermarket air filter adapter on it so one of the big filters can go on it. It slides over the rim and is held in place with 3 set screws. All looks to work fine and like it’s suppose to but… how the factory/original air filter use to be mounted to it, (held in place with the one screw through the center of the hole) the screw went through the choke butterfly, into the base of the carburetor body, and out the bottom. There is even a factory dip/ dimple in the tank to clear the screw.
Do I / should I put a screw from the bottom side to close the hole? This still leaves a big hole in the choke butterfly when closed. With the factory screw coming down from the top side, it would have filled this hole and close the opening fully when the choke was on. Will leaving this hole open make it run better, worse, or no different? Will it just let dust in? If I put a longer screw from the top side, it will plug the bottom hole and seal the choke butterfly when closed but there will be a screw sticking up right in the center of the air flow. Will this make much difference? I just don’t know enough about this kind of stuff to make the right decision so I need an answer from someone who has more experience. Thanks in advance for any help on this. I am going to try and post some pictures below to help explain what I am asking about.
