Gear Case too tight after assembly

[jeff-register]

My first experience with mechanics I asked our neighbor if I could change the oil in his lawn mower. It was early 60’s & I removed the air filter top & started to fill to the oil fill mark. Little did I know I was filling up the carb with oil & it was a oil bath filter. It was very hard to start full of oil. I figured out what I did & reversed my actions the best I could. Ended up pulling the flatheads head & removing the oil & it started finally. Yes I learned how to change the oil in the oil bath filter.

[chris-p]

As stated above, I think MOST of my personal learning came from blowing things up, or making mistakes! I can promise you next time, you wont do it again. And think of how much you learned taking it apart a dozen times! lol

Any guy on here that says he has never done anything like that is lying, so don’t worry about it too much. We have ALL been there.

[fleetwin]

happens to all of us, glad it is solved, don’t beat yourself up for being human.

[jeff-register]

Don,
My issue was fixed fast as I bought the reel type lawn mower, & made my first mode of transportation from it. I used two big door hinges & made a pivioting motor mount. That was my clutch tightening up the fan belt using the motor weight. Pull back on my broom handle lever & get neutral, Let it go forward & the motor weight tightened the belt & off I went. I later added helper springs from a screen door as the belt was slipping. I sat right behind the motor so control was with in reach. After some time the rubber tires fell off & it was metal to pavement. Man I learned about a sliding drift while making too much noise. Pretty good for a 12 year old. Later came a mini-bike & blew it up so my first experience with a 2 stroke Mac motor 6hp.
It was too fast then for a kid. Beat the Clintin motor by two times as fast. I wasn’t ready for how fast it was! Took apart a Dodge car & made a desert ride with the flathead 6 & three speed. It had a 1.5" driveshaft & twisted the rear axle in the u-bolts to align the D-shaft & more welding. It would smoke the tires. Next welded up to make a solid axle for traction. A 2 X 6 board was our seat. Later stuck rings in it & didn’t check end gap. It locked up & we pulled it backwards to get enough traction to break it loose. Never finished as I noticed girls. That was my biggest mechanical mistake as they wanted a quiet car with a floorboard. 😯

[PugetSoundBoater]

quote wannabe outboard guy:

Look at it this way Johnny. Some of the BEST lessons I have learned over the years from restoring many, many classic cars, Harleys, and of late boat motors have come from MY OWN MISTAKES. Screwing up is a very valuable teacher. I learn more from my own two hands taking things apart and putting them back together (sometimes more then once) then reading most “how to books”, manuals, or internet postings. I just think better with my eyes and hands and my brain is just along for the ride most times. I never consider it a screw up IF I learned from it.
Best to you in the new year.
Wannabe

Wannabe- your learning experience you stated above echo my feelings exactly. In addition , if I’ve been struggling getting something mounted ,can’t reach a bolt, tough position and just getting more and more frustrated.. I just stop. Come back later after eating , rest,clear your mind ,relax..later or the next day I’ve had it go right together perfectly.

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[johnny-infl]

LOL P.S.Boater – that is why I went fishing yesterday . . . .
I have looked at mechanical stuff for so long it is all starting
to run together.
Not just boat motors, but, a ’52 8N tractor, ’97 Dodge van getting
ready for paint and a ’96 Jeep Cherokee that has issues and my
riding lawn mower that needs a new steering pinion……

whew – and this is FLORIDA where we don’t shut down for the winter LOL LOL

[frankr]

While telling stories on ourselves, here is another one. When you change the oil filter on your car, look to see if the gasket came off with the old filter. If it sticks to the adapter housing and you screw a new filter on top of it (two gaskets), oil pressure will blow the gasket out and very quickly pump all the oil out on the road. Hopefully, it will happen at home and not ten miles up the Interstate. Now how would I know that?

[johnny-infl]

Frank – that is the EXACT story I was gonna post later tonight !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WORD – FOR – WORD.
in 1964, my father, a professional mechanic by trade, changed the oil in our car
before a trip from Florida to Alabama . . . one mile down the road, the idiot light came on.
the exact – and I mean the EXACT scenario as you just described.
And I will bet you a buttered biscuit we aren’t the only ones to tell that one !

[reivertom]

The thing that "gasts my flabber" is when you are working on something and set a tool, gasket, pin, bolt, nut, down and when you look back it has disappeared from the planet. It happens every time I work on something no matter how careful I am, it seems. You end up spending half your time looking for the items that go missing and find them right in front of you after a 5 or 10 minute panic search of the same area, or across the floor under something you haven’t even touched. I have found things several times in my pants cuffs and down in my shoe. I have even been known to actually put something where it belongs and not be able to find it because I wasn’t expecting myself to be that neat! I have found the magic of the little magnetic trays and use them all the time now….they make things harder to lose, but it still happens…

[johnny-infl]

well, the 40hp gear case went together flawlessly ……
Lessons learned:
#1 – don’t use a perfectly good prop shaft like it was a cold chisel.
#2 – if you are missing a part, make sure it is not already installed
before scavenging a part that is nearby for another project.

#3 – if you gonna be dumb, you gotta be TOUGH !!!

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