Hey guys, I suppose I can call MWSC, but what should I be torque ing the head to when using a copper gasket?

I was doing a search for homemade connecting rods the other day and ended up on a go cart forum where a couple of fellas were talking about homemade rods their grandfathers had (successfully) made back in the 50's and 60's. Just curious if anyone has ever ventured down this road before with success (without a CNC shop in their backyard....I'm talking about using an old mill and/or a TIG welder)? Anyone ever cut a stock rod and then welded/reinforced to gain enough stroke to turn stock dished pistons into flat tops - that sorta thing? I have played with enough motors to know what can happen when you loose a rod, but lets say we're racing in a class where we're running $75 motors, it'd be interesting to attempt something just for kicks. Even if you just hacked a rod out of a piece of billet aluminum and kept the weight close. Go easy on me, just looking for stories...it's the coffee shop right?

Does a CV20 crankshaft fit a CH20? Looking to get a PTO output shaft on a Walker-spec Kohler as they drive from a stub shaft on the flywheel side only. Thanks?

I am running this old Walbro LUA carb from an Onan on my 35 ci Vanguard, a direct bolt on for horz application, simple mixture adjustment and I am half tempted to fab an intake a just try it on the Kohler.

I wasn't planning to do anything to the bottom end at all, just running stock internals with fresh rings. I realize I am going to have to watch how high I rev it, and I'll play it safe. We run the Honda too, really nice torque, so we don't have to get too concerned about making them scream.

Here's what I have. CV492S

MWSC: new style aluminum flywheel, springs, retainers, racing hyd lifters, copper gasket.

Going to run stock internals, fresh rings, valve job, clean up the head a bit, for a season and go from there.

I am wondering if I am better of running a small block head to increase compression or just shaving the existing head? If shaved, how much? If I do go with a long rod and piston combo next year, I don't want to find myself in a situation where the head has been shaved too much to handle the new displacement.

Also, I've been told not to exceed 6000 rpm on stock internals, what compression number should I be aiming for?

Finally, am I going to get away with running the stock carb, reworking fuelling, or am I better of switching to something else? Gotta stay on a budget though.

Thanks for your help. Just trying something different than B&S for the heck of it!

I have a stock horizontal engine, running it fairly hard, but not extreme. Budget engine, was stripped, cleaned, honed and back together with the old rings. Not burning any oil and compression is balanced at 110 PSI. I am pretty sure it has the smaller heads, but would have thought compression would have been higher with the smaller chambers and metal gaskets.  I removed all the factory venting, baffle, plugged holes and vented out the governor hole with a hose barb. It puked a lot of oil, so I put the baffle plate back in and started venting from the stock location. However, it's still losing a LOT of oil. It is even losing oil through the vent on the fuel pump (planning to feed from intake side). I've read that if my rings are going, that can increase crankcase pressure, but the motor is really snappy and not burning any oil, is this much loss normal? I run the correct oil level and it will get down to the add line after a couple races. I am going to need a pretty good size puke can....also where should my oil pressure be roughly? Thanks you.

I am running stock springs and there looks to be sufficient gap between the coils. Is there some kind of minimum distance I should be adhering to? I've run 4 races over the weekend and checked the lash last night and it stayed pretty close to spec. I did notice though, that one rod (stock by the way) was making a bit of a clicking noise when seating into the rocker. I wonder if the ball end is a little worn and maybe that is a source of it not staying set. Learning as I go...