Continental Motor Parts

Ah, a new word in my vocabulary, Continental F 163 ...............

Are these parts available at suppliers like Caterpillar and other manufacturers that used these engines? I am going to go on the prowl this week and check on the availability of parts locally.

Hence ..........

Is it necessary to buy "CONTINENTAL" parts for the price they want, or are there generic substitutes? I know the substitutes at cheapo auto stores aren't very good in a lot of cases, but sometimes they just want too much for some things that have a popular brand name on them.

I have a rule. I only buy liquids, and a few other unimportant items at the discount auto stores. If I really need a hard item (hard as in being other than a liquid) I go to stores like NAPA, or stores that sell brand names cheaper like good spark plugs at Pep Boys. I am expecting that on a few items, Continental may be the ONLY manufacturing source.

The hoses are shot, but look like I could substitute flex hoses without going for the factory Continental hoses. Unless these hoses are available at not much more, then it would be senseless to put the cheaper hoses on there.

As I get into this, I'm sure there are going to be Lincoln and Continental ONLY parts, but just how much generic is available without paying high premium spendy rates for the brand name? Hilti and Onan come to mind. Is Continental a name that is recognized at the cheap stores for such things as points, condenser, distributor cap, plugs, etc.?

I can see that there's going to be a lot of tuning up and hose changing just to see if this is going to spin and fire. I don't mind spending bucks on good parts, but not when they're many times parts that are just as good and a lot less.

I have Googled and found all sorts of parts up to a total engine rebuild kit. Just wondering if I should spend more for brand name, or if generic is good. Or even available.

It's going to be a fun week.

Steve

I have not tried to buy any parts directly from Continental and in fact I am not sure whether they still support these old motors with parts. You can generally get Federal Mogul, Hastings, FelPro, and other good name brand parts from NAPA or AutoZone, Advance, etc..

Belts, hoses, radiators, ignition parts, etc., will not be Continental parts and anything of a recognized brand that fits should work fine. There were a lot of different water pumps depending on the application so if you need a new one compare it carefully with the old one.

You may encounter a problem at some auto parts stores because their computer systems are only set up for modern automobiles and they do not stock parts for older or industrial applications. It will take a while but you will learn whether your local sources can help you. If you have one, make friends with a local fork-lift repairman as he is fairly likely to either have parts or know good places to get them.

Don Young

'Bob' already said this, but I'm going to reiterate.

Napa auto caters to farm and industrial users, so they'll have parts for the motor. Some of the parts you mention will be common to any similar Continental motor, some (like radiator hoses) will be quite specific to your application, and some (like distributors & wires) may have been chosen from a Chinese menu by the equipment manufacturer when they designed in the motor.

If you're in luck the part store will have your welder in the books, and will be able to pull parts just for it. If you're _really_ in luck you'll get one of those good counter-men who seem to know everything about everything, and can not only pull the parts you ask for without referencing the computer, but can go on to tell you what other parts you'll need.

Whenever I'm doing a big job on a piece of equipment and I'm getting a pile of parts, I always ask the counter guy "OK, look at this pile and tell me what _other_ parts are probably shot that I haven't noticed yet*". About 1 in 4 (or 5) will be able to recommend other parts that I've taken off in my tear down and should just replace on general principals -- I give those guys my return business.

• In your case the guy may pull out an exploded view of your whole welder, but it's a risk you'll have to take.

Thanks. I pulled into an industrial parts supplier today in the big city that looked like they would know. There were about four guys behind the counter and about four customers, and the guy said, "Oh, go to American such and such over by the ATV place." All the others chimed in, "Yeah, they got everything for those engines." I have a starting place. But tomorrow, I'll probably just go to my local town (small farming place) NAPA and start there and see what I can do there without driving twenty miles.

Parts stores are a funny place. Usually in fifteen seconds both sides of the counter has sized up the other, and go from there.

Steve

My experience with Continental, Wisconsin, and even Kohler engines AND older equipment is - don't worry about it, unless NAPA doesn't have it.

You can usually get a better deal on mainstream auto parts elsewhere, but NAPA has a much better handle on industrial, construction and farm equipment (especially the older stuff) than anyone else. Even though they are a bit higher on most items, it seems it's always worth shopping there first on this kind of stuff.

I agree. I often need Kohler parts, the Kohler distributor is not particularly convenient. But the NAPA regional distribution warehouse about 4 miles from me, has most of the common items I need. The parts are all in books, nothing on-line. So the old guy always has to show the new clerk where to look for stuff.

I went to NAPA and played Stump The Counter Guy, and he didn't fall for it. He knew exactly what I wanted, and parts numbers, and lots of stuff. I took it apart today. Lots of varnished gas in there. Needs a tune up. So, I'm just going to go the whole route of plugs, points, condenser, rotor, cap, wires, and a list of other stuff. If the hoses are not that expensive, and they have them, I'll just go ahead and replace the hoses, too.

Steve

I suspect that you may have trouble finding the correct molded lower rad hose. The upper hose is fairly straight and you should be able to find a similar hose and cut it to length (I suggest you try to salvage as much of the old one as you can as a sample) or if you must you can use a universal hose. However the lower hose is much more of a custom piece and IMHO it is worth the effort to source the correct part. IIRC, I have only been able to find them from welder dealers $$$ and from continental shops that do a lot of welder work. I think the Gates part number is 20465, try to see if you can get NAPA to order if possible.

Good luck, YMMV

Your note has been noted and stored in my welding file. I got some parts today, and some had to be ordered. The starter checked out ok, but the battery was DOA. With a new battery, and the cables all cleaned up, it spun the motor no problemo. Oil shot out the side outlet where the line goes to the remote filter. I got some of the new goodies in, but have to wait until tomorrow for points, rotor, cap, and some hosing. Tomorrow I should be able to fire it up.

I asked about the hoses today. The ones on there actually look fine, so I'm going to run it and see what happens. The guy said if I wanted hoses to just bring in the old ones, and they'd match them to the picture. The NAPA in my little town does a lot of business with the local farmers and ranchers, and were amazingly knowledgeable on getting me parts. They had some of the parts, others come tomorrow. I am confident in them that they can get everything I need.

When I went to add water, it took only about a quart, then green water shot out, meaning it had plenty of water and antifreeze in it. I'm still going to drain the water and oil tomorrow and flush some through as (and IF) it runs and start with new fluids. I have an idea on cleaning the gas tank, and the clean tank and a cleaned out glass sediment bowl filter assembly will go back on.

Hope I get lucky and I drop the distributor into the right orientation (it can only go right or 180 out) and that the updraft carb will work without disassembly and rebuild. After that, clean it up and get some paint on it and do some trailer mods and painting.

Steve