The first engine swap.

Everyone has a first and we all have to start somewhere.

I picked up a stupid cheap mower yesterday. So cheap it didn't even run. Basically scrap price. My 13yo son and I pushed it home and tinkered with it for a hour and got it running, but it was in bad shape. It was blowing gas out of the carb like it had some major issues in the valve train. It also had a pretty good rattle in the bottom end. So it was engine time.

Pulling the old one.

It was a 11hp Briggs.

As with all engine swaps, bigger is better. Not to mention I couldn't find a 11hp and this one was on sale for less than the 12hp.

New engine going in.

Pretty much all I had to do is give advice, help with the heavy lifting and figure out the wiring. I'm a proud Papa.

Even more important, he's a proud boy.

What a great day.

Oh, and even better. He will get to learn body work when we fit the hood over the new engine, and engine rebuilding when we go into the old engine to figure out what's wrong with it.

Should have put an LSx in there

More seriously: Good job. I would have loved for my dad to do projects like that with me... He's one lucky kid.

Fathering: You're doing it right.

probably hauls ass pretty good now that you added like, 40% more power.

accordionfolder wrote: Fathering: You're doing it right.

This.

It's nice to know there are good ones out there.

Nice, I can't wait to do this kind of stuff with my son (he's not even 2 yet). Looks like you might need some serious bodywork to get a hood over that beast motor! Good work!

Looks fun. I'm pretty sure my dad would have ran it with gas spewing everywhere then bought another 50 dollar mower.

My step dad would have done the LS swap. Haha

Good work and glad to see your son is working on being a gear head.

More power means you can put a bigger pulley on the engine and go faster, right?

Well, that's too bad.

The hood actually fits.

I was looking forward to having the engine bulge out of cutouts in the sides and front.

I guess it will have to be a sleeper instead.

It looks like the only thing we will need to do is route the exhaust down and out the front. I guess I'll have to teach him how to weld instead.

".....hood actually fits." Sleeper. Nice job swapping out the small block for a big block.

needs moar boom-hole in side of hood!

Too bad the engine fit. I was gonna suggest one of these:

I think it needs leg burners or stacks....

On the other hand I can't stand loud lawnmowers. I've been wanting to put a dirt bike baffle on mine.

EvanR wrote: Too bad the engine fit. I was gonna suggest one of these:

or do like i did with my trusty old Murray:

oldopelguy wrote: More power means you can put a bigger pulley on the engine and go faster, right?

if the shafts are the same size, just swap the pulleys on the engine and trans around... the same belt would even fit...

Awesome! My first engine swap was on my dad's Murray 36" mower. The old 11hp B&S engine gave up the ghost after a cable snapped and it revved itself into oblivion. Since I was the one mowing at the time, I also got stuck with the repairs.

I friend of mine's dad had an older Murray he was going to junk, I told him I would take it off his hands. So at 16 I got to do my first engine swap, wasn't all that difficult, except getting the old pulley off the mower. I had to borrow a friends 3 jaw gear puller for that job. All said and done, it was a good lesson in mechanics for sure.

I wish my dad would have done this kind of stuff with me too. I got a late start but I'm learning, and I'm trying to bring my boys along with me. Hopefully they will develop the interest as they get older...

Great job though dad! Thanks for sharing!

Chuck_Norris wrote: Should have put an LSx in there More seriously: Good job. I would have loved for my dad to do projects like that with me... He's one lucky kid.

Take that Briggs and Stratton out and get you something made by Binford Tools!

My Dad had zero mechanical talents. I regret that, as I started early, but got no support from him. He passed when I was 19. Shortly after that I rebuilt my first engine, a 283 out of a '57 Chevy. On a gravel floor of my garage. With my girlfriend helping. Miraculously, that engine ran fine for a good 15 years that I know of. Put it in a '33 Plymouth. Fun time in the Good Old Days. Your son is very fortunate. Keep up the good work, Dad. You won't have to go searching for him if he's all greasy in the garage!

z31maniac wrote:

accordionfolder wrote: Fathering: You're doing it right.

This. It's nice to know there are good ones out there.

Minus points for letting him have the Bieber helmet. J/K, believe me, I know the value of choosing your battles. Good job!

This is how I started out, I just cut a hole in the hood where the exhaust was.

Duke wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

accordionfolder wrote: Fathering: You're doing it right.

This. It's nice to know there are good ones out there.

Minus points for letting him have the Bieber helmet. J/K, believe me, I know the value of choosing your battles. Good job!

Yeah, the hair drives me nuts sometimes, but in the general scheme of things it's a fairly minor problem.

We are going to keep the speeds reasonable because in needs to actually cut grass.

The exhaust is going to get a tail pipe of some sort to direct it out from under the hood. It's going to have to stay on the quiet side to keep the neighbors from complaining. I'm noisy enough to live around without adding an annoying mower to deal with.

It needs a set of zoomie headers . .. . Or a small cherry bomb some how mounted similar to a side pipe.