Das Volks Vintage Volkswagen Gruppe

Had a nice project to do over the weekend.

Got this thatcher from a friend a few years go. It served well for a few years, but I lent it out last season, and of course... it came back with a bad motor. A quick trip to HF was in order.

The worse part was pulling off the rusted on puller. I love to re purposing ACVW tools! The crank gear puller fit perfect.











The resemblance is uncanny....
Air-cooled, 4 bolts of the engine removal, same Camber

The before and after pics of the engine are amazing.

Looks like an old Tecumseh engine. Good call swapping it rather than a rebuild.

Big_kid wrote:Looks like an old Tecumseh engine. Good call swapping it rather than a rebuild.

Any use for it? It does run, just needs a pull cord assemble and someone to address the issue that it cuts out. Was smokey too.

If not, it will be a kia in its near future.

Raj wrote:

Big_kid wrote:Looks like an old Tecumseh engine. Good call swapping it rather than a rebuild.

Any use for it? It does run, just needs a pull cord assemble and someone to address the issue that it cuts out. Was smokey too.

If not, it will be a kia in its near future.

It's too cool to part with!!

AoT wrote:
It's too cool to part with!!

SOLD! Its going to baldwin! lol

Pull cord replacement is only 3 bolts so long as the spring isn't broken/mangled. Blowing smoke? Thicker oil! Put a little bit of 140 worm gear lube in there with it, the smoke will slow down. Briggs says an ounce per hour oil consumption is acceptable.

Big_kid wrote:Pull cord replacement is only 3 bolts so long as the spring isn't broken/mangled. Blowing smoke? Thicker oil! Put a little bit of 140 worm gear lube in there with it, the smoke will slow down. Briggs says an ounce per hour oil consumption is acceptable.

This thing never even came with the assembly for the pull cord. Looks like someone tried to repair it once, and the unit came to me with the part missing. Hence, I opted for a $100 new engine option.


I actually had a pull cord issue on my snowblower at the tail end ( thank god) of winter. Thats a temchesh ( spelling) motor. Should I pull it apart and 'rewind' it, or just order a replacement assembly prewound? I remember as a kid I tried fixing a lawn motor with similiat issue... turned into a cluster as the spring popped out.

If the spring and pulley are still good, clean/lube and rewind it, depending on what type of starter it is. Ideally you want to keep an eye on the pull cords, they'll fray right at the very end. On some if you catch it before it breaks, you can pull it all the way out, clamp the pulley with a welding clamp, cut the old one out, then feed the new rope in without taking anything apart. Others you'd have to dismount the assembly to do this. Trick is to catch it before it breaks though.

This style I'd replace the rope, bad spring or dogs is a deal breaker:
http://www.mowpart.com/31-117-oregon-st ... fgodzH4MFw

This is what was on the snow blower I trash picked in the summer of 1980. I never had any trouble with it:
http://s.ecrater.com/stores/154806/4bfd ... 54806n.jpg

Thanks Charlie.... wasnt a bad fix after all. I did drill a small access hole to aid in fishing the rope back in.

I guess that will work, never saw anyone drill one before. Usually it's just dress the end of the rope with a lighter, pull it through a rag while hot, then feed it through.