iding lawn mover that he wanted to get rid of, mower deck rotten and engine smoke. I gave him $50 for it and gave it to my son (age 12) to play with. We had a nice time, cleaned the carb, and got it running nicely. And the n we removed the governor and wired in directly to the throttle. (He made a throttle pedal from a bicycle hand brake.) I warned him about keeping to engine revs up for extended periods of time.. but not enough I guess. Any way he had a great time bombing around the place on it. Then last week he had it stopped. It had lost power and was making clanking noises. (Motor is 17 HP Briggs and Stratton twin, two pistons) He pulled of the head on t he noisy side and the piston has ~1/4-1/2 inch of "play". I assume he tras hed one (or both) of the bearings in the piston rod. I'm inclined to work with him and take it apart. But I'm wondering if it's a lost cause? Any t houghts, ideas or opinions are welcome. Oh, I also wonder if I need to tak e the engine off the frame to repair it?
George If that is the opposed twin, I think I have the same motor, apart. Mine has a bad cylinder wall, but it's other wise perfect. I have since bought a Vanguard v-twin to replace it, so will be parting out the older opposed twn.
Rex B