Hey, how many hours on that mower?
“Only about 25 hours before the incident with the curb. :-(” I did some rough measurements of clearances using the new rod+cap on my beat up old crankshaft. The crank pin clearance is marginal (large) but no way I am going to hunt down a new crankshaft. It will have to do. In order to assure that no metal chips are hanging around anywhere, I completely strip my engine, wipe down the inside of the crankcase, and blow out the oil passages, etc. Everything goes smoothly until I realize that I didn’t make note of which way the piston goes (there is a right way and a wrong way) but the Chilten small engine manual comes to the rescue. (Pistons are not symmetric – the piston pin is slightly off-center to account for the direction of crankshaft rotation and the direction and center of force. If it is installed the wrong way, at the very least, there will be excessive piston slap; at worst, parts will just bind outright. Tightening the rod bolts – the most critical as far as proper torque is co
