Archive through July 06, 2013

[messary]

Been stuck at work through the holiday, but I did have time to park the 782 out front before leaving for work on the 4th. Hope everybody had a good holiday. Breaks over, back to work

 

[danderson]

The engine in the 122 is a replacement. It had the low boss head on it. It is correct that tank mounting was a problem for me. It would have needed spacers. I swapped the high boss head and tin onto it. I will get some pics this evening. Have to help my SIL move today. I have the low boss head if you need it.

 

[jchamberlin]

Nice picture, Mike. I had to work the 4th too.

Mike, Wayne: Thanks for the advice on the Heli-coil and gasket issues. I've already mowed my 1/2 acre yard with the new head, so I guess I'll have to cough up the $14 or so for a new gasket. It also means that I will get some work out of the new head before I reinstall the old one. I still have several issues to work out with this tractor; the leaking head gasket was just a prelude to the tuning that remains.

Wayne, thanks for the tip on tightening up the cylinder head bolts.

Reference, K321 Cylinder Head Bolt Tightening Sequence:

Mike, although it probably isn't a requirement, I will probably take Wayne's advice and use some kind of thread sealer when I install the Heli-coil, if only because I would be joining dissimilar metals; but I'll check the documentation. Or maybe I'll just think about it some more.

Harry, Doug, Mike: It looks like the existing tin WILL fit if trimmed properly.

Existing Tin (right side as seen from seat of tractor):

The "High Boss" head as installed on tractor:

Trial Fit from right side with spark plug removed:

Trial Fit from left side:

As can be seen from the picture, allowance must be made for the cylinder head bolt that is tightened 3rd in the sequence so that the tin will fit flush to the head and be secured by screw from the side. I shall have to either drill a hole in the tin, or enlarge the cut-out for the spark plug.

Finally, there is the issue of the tin that extends the airflow out over the muffler. Harry pointed out last year that the tin that came on this tractor was actually designed for an earlier series, I'm assuming the 122/23/47 tractors.

There is already cut-out for a spark plug over the exhaust valve, so cutting out the first tin to fit a centrally located spark plug will leave fairly large "escape route" for air just where it is most needed --over the exhaust valve.

I noticed upon disassembly that the worst gasket leaking occurred near the #1 bolt and #4 stud; but the bolt that took the most re-torquing was #8. So I'll probably fashion a third piece of tin to close off as much air as possible around the spark plug before putting this tractor in service temporarily until I get the old head in good enough shape to reinstall with all the tin work proper to the 128/29/49 tractors.

Now I've got to get out to the shed. I've got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.

Edit: Doug, it looks like I will soon have a High Boss head if YOU need it.

 

[danderson]

Jeremiah-
Mine's not new but I'll swap ya.

 

[jchamberlin]

Doug: As of right now, my head is no longer new.

Seriously, though, are the heads for the 10 HP K241, 12 HP K301, and the 14 HP K321 all the same?

Someday I hope to acquire a 122 in order to add a NF gear drive to the fleet, so if the High Boss heads interchange between the 10-14 HP ranges, then it would fit and I might hang on to it for future use. If they don't interchange, a 14 HP head isn't going to help you out on a 12 HP engine.

Note: It is awfully hard for me to let go of stuff generally, and Cub Cadet stuff in particular.

 

[hydroharry]

Doug and Jeremiah - if Doug gets a pic we can see where the spark plug is located. Also, Jeremiah, if you can find a pic of the correct "heat shield" then you can determine if you have an issue with air flow over the exhaust valve.

 

[pbell]

The heads and gasket will interchange on the 10 -14hp "K" series engines.

 

[digger]

Jeremiah C.
I prefer high boss heads for 2 reasons.
1. NO SPACERS

2. More meat in the head, which IMO leads to a lesser chance of it warping.

 

[thoffman]

Don "T",
There must be several thousand "holes" in that textured dash pannel. Would you have a photo of one you've done??

 

[digger]

Tom H.

I have an idea, ask Hydro Harry to count'um for ya!
He might even already know.

 

[jharvey]

Tom I've done a couple but sorry no pics. What's aggravating about them is after you've carefully applied it and are happy with it you have to put the screws back in. They will wrinkle under the head of the screw when you tighten it. Maybe someone can chime in if they have a solution.

 

[mgwin]

Daniel G.,

Here are some pics of what is on my Original. This is a clear/white IH light with the red jewel light inside the bottom. You can turn the knob on the top of the light to change it from clear to red.
One of the pics is turned sideways. It won't upload if it's turned upright.

 

[mgwin]

Jerry H.,

Concerning painted surfaces:
Washers make a big difference, since the screw head turns against it instead of the paint. Another help is to let the paint cure as long as possible to let it harden more.
Washers would help decals to not wrinkle as bad too. If you don't want to use washers, you could take an X-acto knife to cut out the decal under the screw head before you tighten it up.

 

[danderson]

The high boss head has the centered plug hole.

The low boss head has the plug hole over the exhaust valve. It is off a 1974 replacement K301.
If you look in the parts look up for heads for the older K301's they list a part number and a note stating you also need to order a new tin. I assume all you can get now new is a low boss head.

 

[danderson]

Forgot the low boss pic.

 

[abriar]

Tom H.
The best way I found to restore a dash tin is to polish the bare aluminum outline with fine steel wool, then mask it off and paint the black. Remove the masking and spray on some clear to keep the polished outline from corroding. Cut out the lettered sections of the decal and place them on the tin. That is how I did my 129's dash.

 

[hydroharry]

Charlie - sorry I never counted those little dimples.

Tom H - are you putting the decal onto the tin dash plate? I think the intention is to put the dash decal directly onto the fiberglass dash. And you need to "roll out" any air bubbles, with one of those roller tools like they you on formica surfaces - or similar roller tool.
I agree with Marty's suggestion of using a teenny washer, the exact size of the screwhead, and so thin you can't see it.

Doug - thanks for posting the pics of your low and high boss heads and tin work. I think Jeremiah is best to get the correct tin piece. His heat shield should work as is.

 

[jchamberlin]

Harry: Are you suggesting retrofitting both tin pieces to match the 122/23 series of tractors in order to accommodate the current (and incorrect) High Boss Head that is installed on my 149?

Doug: Thank you very much for taking the trouble to remove your gas tank in order to take the photo.

Paul: Thanks for the authoritative information. I didn't realize that both the head and the gasket accommodated three different bore sizes.

Charlie: From a purely technical standpoint, I prefer the High Boss heads too, for the same reasons you mention.

All: From Doug's picture, I notice that the tin piece for the High Boss Head extends out underneath the heat shield. The heat shield itself, as I noted earlier appears to include a cut-out for a spark plug over the exhaust valve. I wonder now if the IH engineers knew something the Kohler folks didn't; or if Kohler needed to unload a few more heads before making the switch.

Either way, as Harry hinted (I think), if I use a narrow frame piece of tin designed for a centrally located spark plug that extends from the blower housing to the heat shield, then I don't have to cobble something together to keep air flowing over the head.

The follow-up question, for me, is whether there are differences in the tin across the narrow frame series, that is, the 100 tractor, the 102/122/123 tractors, the 104/105/124/125 tractors, and the 106/126/127/147 tractors. (I keep forgetting that there were more iterations of Narrow Frames than there were Wide Frames.) I can't believe they used the same tin across all four series!

I guess I need to go spend some time on Parts Lookup, because I'm only interested in tin for a High Boss Head, and it appears that it was used only for those models with the "gas tank-over-head" configuration.

Thanks again to all those who responded. I'll let you know how I make out.

 

[wshytle]

Jeremiah-

Did you ever resurface the new head or check for "flat"? I think that's one of the most important steps for a proper torqueing of the head and gasket life. I don't recall anyone mentioning it is why I ask.

 

[danderson]

Jeremiah- As I mentioned the parts lookup lists a replacement part number for the head and requires a change in the tin. I have a printed parts book for the 122 and these part numbers are listed for the tin: KH-235049 (Serial number 315299 & below) and KH-237677 (serial number 315300 & above). Looking at the head listing in the book it shows part number KH-237670, same as in the parts lookup. It also shows that you need to replace 2 pieces of tin and need a package (KH-237479). Later in the book it shows this package as including screws, studs, washers, nuts, and spacers. I conclude from that after serial number 315299 they went to a low boss head on this series tractor. I found my tin on flea-bay.