IH Cub 682 Engine Replacement

[Maveric]

The pure inspiration to refurbish it came from my 3 year old nephew who went ga-ga over the thing when he saw it at the house last summer. He just called it red tractor-tractor /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif It sort of reminded me of myself and grandpa's Jacobsen, and my nephew will for sure inherit the 682! Grandma (my mom) already has him driving her little Craftsman while sitting in her lap /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

-Fordlords-

A select few of us are born with the tractor gene and it is apparent at a very early age. I can remember my grandfather bought a new Simplicity when I was 6. It had the belly mounted grader blade, a belt driven blower on the rear and a canvas covered trailer to collect grass and leaves. I ended up with it when he passed on, I plan to restore it but have yet to get started. Glad you revived yours.
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[Fordlords]

That is exactly what it is: The tractor gene. It has to be very rare as short of my grandpa nobody else in my own family excpept me has it, yet thankfully it was recently discovered in my nephew. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif The rest of, "them," don't understand it at all, which makes it difficult to explain, so I just don't bother. That way I keep all the fun to myself! But as the ones I might attempt to explain it to have no hobbies at all and just sit in front of the TV watching American Idol, I feel no guilt /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That Simplicity sounds like a neat project to dig in to. It will be challenging no doubt, as sourcing good parts for old Cubs and Deere's is getting difficult, nonetheless the other names of the older eras, which were great machines too but did not sell in as large of numbers and have nearly no new factory parts available which means locating good used parts or a lot of fabricating or compromising. For instance the deck housing I put on my 682 was one of only about a dozen brand new 44" deck housings left that would fit the tractor, and for many of the older Deere's new deck housings are simply no longer available. The sooner you start, the better chance for success restoring a classic L/G tractor as collectors are soaking up the good stuff at a record pace these days.

-Fordlords-

 

[flyhal]

Well, it was 65 degrees in Buffalo yesterday when I thought I completed my work on the GX. One quirk I noticed yesterday was when I turned the key to start, the engine would not start until I actually released the key to the run position, then it fired right up.

Today it was about 20 degrees out LOL! I went out, and the engine would not start at all, not to save my life. It would crank, but not so much as a pop. I pulled one of the plugs, and it was wet with gas, so I knew the fuel pump, choke, etc were OK. I then looked for a spark on the plug. There was none when cranking, but it then sparked right when the key was released to run with the engine still spinning from the starter for about a second. That was enough to fire me up when warm yesterday, but definitely not right for an engine installed on Friday the 13th. I determined that the ignition was being de-energized with the key in the start position. One thing stated in the kit instructions was that no starter solenoid was required with this engine. This made NO logical sense, as there is no solenoid switch on the new starter, and the original ignition switch itself is not rated to handle the current of a starter motor, nonetheless the amount of heavy gauge wire that would be required for an ignition switch that is. I looked at the schematic included from Honda, and determined that the ignition end needs to remain hot in both run and start modes. On the old Kohler apparently that was not the case as the simple two wire connector to the alternator/ignition remained the same on the conversion
I found on the firewall that the positive lead to the hour meter remains hot in both run and start modes. A wire spliced up on this connected to the hot end of the alternator output/ignition feed got me the spark I needed when cranking, and the engine fired immediately once this was put in place. The tractor headlights need to be in the circuit to absorb the residual power from the alternator during shutoff to keep it from trying to re-energize the starter solenoid when the key is clicked to off. Viola, I think I知 finished LOL!

I cut the old choke cable shorter and bent a new end on it, and drilled some neat new holes for the control cables through the firewall. After 1 hour of gentile break-in, the Honda GX is sounding better and better- and might I add it looks awesome in the tractor, definitely a professional fit!

-Fordlords-

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I installed a 16hp vanguard v-twin. I used the existing starter solenoid of the 682. There were major problems with the mule drive and the 4" extension I made for the drive shaft. Should have made it about a good 1/2" longer. It runs fine except needs more rpm to start mower. Kohler had more torque. Other than that, the engine works great. I did not buy a kit but just an engine for $200. But for some reason, full throttle real makes the tractor go too fast. Rpm is right but acts like maybe a governor problem in the hydro. Still sorting that out. Tractor steers like it has power steering now with the much lighter engine. I have two kt17's that I need to junk, part out or sell. One is a series 2. It has a thrown rod. The older one has a bad sleeve bearing on the crankshaft flywheel end so needs to be split open to fix.

flyhal@yahoo.com