Got my 318 up and running again with a rebuild long block from Kustom L&G / Clark Racing out of Minerva, OH. You have probably seen their eBay auctions. They rebuild small engines professionally. Apparently he is also involved with pulling engine.
Here is a summary of my experiences.
Their phone number is listed in the auction so I called them directly to place the order, and saved a few bucks bypassing eBay.
They do not have a stock of engines so it takes about 3 weeks for the engine to arrive in a big box.
The engine comes without the oil pan, nicely painted in gun metal grey
I had most of the stuff cleaned up so it was a matter of a few hours to put it all back on.
The area where the ignition housing mounted had been taped off before painting so for a moment I thought he gave me the wrong engine.
Some delays occurred because of unfamiliarity with the assembly process, like putting on the flywheel first and then failing at getting the cover in place.
A new positive battery cable made up was installed on the engine before I put it back in the tractor.
Startup:
First turned the engine over without the spark plugs to prelubricate.
Once the plugs were in it started right up.
Immediately noticed that the engine sounded much different than the B43E (1200 hrs) I have in my 316.
Now way to described except that it sound like the 18 HP OHV Honda engine I have on my generator.
It idles nicely at low rpm.
At higher rpm the difference between the old and the new engine is even more pronounced.
Cutting grass was also quite revealing as now I can do it at much lower rpm with out the engine bogging down. I can hear it is doing more work but it is just like there is more reserve power to tap from.
Together with the deck that it is a year old, mowing is a much quieter experience.
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My green shade tree mechanic engine 'hoist':
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Here is a summary of my experiences.
Their phone number is listed in the auction so I called them directly to place the order, and saved a few bucks bypassing eBay.
They do not have a stock of engines so it takes about 3 weeks for the engine to arrive in a big box.
The engine comes without the oil pan, nicely painted in gun metal grey
I had most of the stuff cleaned up so it was a matter of a few hours to put it all back on.
The area where the ignition housing mounted had been taped off before painting so for a moment I thought he gave me the wrong engine.
Some delays occurred because of unfamiliarity with the assembly process, like putting on the flywheel first and then failing at getting the cover in place.
A new positive battery cable made up was installed on the engine before I put it back in the tractor.
Startup:
First turned the engine over without the spark plugs to prelubricate.
Once the plugs were in it started right up.
Immediately noticed that the engine sounded much different than the B43E (1200 hrs) I have in my 316.
Now way to described except that it sound like the 18 HP OHV Honda engine I have on my generator.
It idles nicely at low rpm.
At higher rpm the difference between the old and the new engine is even more pronounced.
Cutting grass was also quite revealing as now I can do it at much lower rpm with out the engine bogging down. I can hear it is doing more work but it is just like there is more reserve power to tap from.
Together with the deck that it is a year old, mowing is a much quieter experience.
My green shade tree mechanic engine 'hoist':
