Continental Flathead 4-cyl / Kohler Generator

[richard5933]

Finally got the engine to spit fire...

First attempt was nothing but a loud backfire and flames out the muffler. Rotated the distributor shaft 180 degrees and corrected the order of the ignition wires to the plugs.

Lots of hand cranking later, and lots of fiddling with the carburetor, and now I can get it to run for 10-15 seconds on its own if I continue to futz with the throttle.

Lots of flaming grass seeds shooting out the exhaust - I suspect some little mouse is going to be out looking for his winter food at some point very disappointingly.

Next part of the project is a starter. Got a used one on its way, and once I see that it meets the flywheel where I hope it does and then I'll take the flywheel to a machine shop and have a ring gear fitted (doesn't currently have one.)

[Jim Blackwood]

Probably explains where the stuff in the cylinder came from. You might try using a squirt bottle to spray gas into the carb throat to keep it running for awhile. Something sounds clogged in the carb. Fuel inlet, or jets. Give that a good going through and you should be able to get it to run. Does it use an old cast iron updraft carb? You can replace that with a side draft motorcycle carb and get good results.

Jim

[dtcerrato]

It will be rewarding to get that ole' jewel running decent...

[richard5933]

Probably explains where the stuff in the cylinder came from. You might try using a squirt bottle to spray gas into the carb throat to keep it running for awhile. Something sounds clogged in the carb. Fuel inlet, or jets. Give that a good going through and you should be able to get it to run. Does it use an old cast iron updraft carb? You can replace that with a side draft motorcycle carb and get good results.

Jim

The carb is an updraft. I did a rebuild on it last year, but it seems to drip fuel from the throat. I'm guess that either the float valve is not seating or is set incorrectly causing the float to overfill.

I got the engine to run about 15 seconds just now. Can't really go any further since the radiator is not connected. That's my next project - getting hoses to attach the radiator and electric fan.

Eventually I want to get a conversion kit for it so I can run the engine off bottled propane. My ultimate goal is to mount a new generator head to it and use it as a back up for the house, But, for now I'll be happy just to see it run.

Love the sound of the old flat head engines.

[richard5933]

Short video of it running. Radiator hoses are due tomorrow, and once the radiator is attached I hope to do a tune up and run it a bit longer.

https://youtu.be/x5bnymtxQFg

Not a Detroit Diesel 8V71, but it's been fun nonetheless.

[Jim Blackwood]

Sounds pretty good. Dripping usually means the float valve isn't closing or is set too high. A little tricky to get the float level right and it'll be different whether you are using gravity feed or a fuel pump.

Jim