My Kohler K321 14HP rebuild thread
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:58 pm
Hi all,
I'll use this thread to document my rebuild of a K321 that came out of my 224.
The story of this tractor
This guy somewhere near Niagara had this 224 on for sale or trade. He said he got the tractor from an older gentleman who just didn't finish the restoration. The paint job was somewhat rough on it, but there seemed to be quite a few new parts on the tractor. He claimed, like many others, that the tractor runs but just needed the carb adjusted - which was new too. Well, when I got it home and played with it...
http://www.vimeo.com/406420726
If that's not convincing, how about this.
http://www.vimeo.com/406707922
Couldn't do anything about it for a while, just too many other priorities, replace the roof on the house and shed, garden, plus the other tractors. Still, took the head off and there were all kind of tell tell signs. The piston said 030 hm... so this block is probably done. The head gasket looked like new but was broken; that means probably the head is warped.
Found some time to pull the engine out about 2 months ago, and went at it, little bit at a time, as I barely can scrape a few minutes for such things. So it's going to be a long story here.
Managed to disassemble the engine, was having trouble making a good measurement of the cylinder with the cheap telescoping gauges I got from amazon. Started looking for something better and managed to score a nice Mitutoyo dial bore gauge from ebay at a really good price. Wow, what a difference in being able to accurately meausure the cylinder, repeatedly! The cylinder measured pretty much everywhere 3.533 which is right on the edge of worn out for 030 over. Some folks offer 040 over kits, but the internet says it's too much over boring for the Kohler K321, you end up with an overheating engine. Not being sure what to do, I was keeping an eye on ebay for a block, and voila, one showed up. Not only that, but it was from a Case 224, and it was STD. Pulled the trigger on it, as the price was not indecent, and shipping price was really good, which is these days a killer if it comes from the US.
This one measures the worst at 3.502 inches. The wear limit is 0.003. I could use it as is, and get a few years out of it, but since it's all ready for boring, I decided it will go to our own member Sylvester Calzone of http://enginebore.com and have it bored 010 over. He will supply the rest of the rebuild kit as well.
What about the crankshaft? The old crankshaft measured closed to 0.02 under already What to do? Went back to the ebay seller that sold me the block, wondering if he has the crankshaft belonging to the block, and he did. That one measured at 1.499
Why am I complicating myself this way? Because it's the first time I rebuild an engine, and intend to keep this engine for as long as I live.
Updates will follow, hopefully soon.
I'll use this thread to document my rebuild of a K321 that came out of my 224.
The story of this tractor
This guy somewhere near Niagara had this 224 on for sale or trade. He said he got the tractor from an older gentleman who just didn't finish the restoration. The paint job was somewhat rough on it, but there seemed to be quite a few new parts on the tractor. He claimed, like many others, that the tractor runs but just needed the carb adjusted - which was new too. Well, when I got it home and played with it...
http://www.vimeo.com/406420726
If that's not convincing, how about this.
http://www.vimeo.com/406707922
Couldn't do anything about it for a while, just too many other priorities, replace the roof on the house and shed, garden, plus the other tractors. Still, took the head off and there were all kind of tell tell signs. The piston said 030 hm... so this block is probably done. The head gasket looked like new but was broken; that means probably the head is warped.
Found some time to pull the engine out about 2 months ago, and went at it, little bit at a time, as I barely can scrape a few minutes for such things. So it's going to be a long story here.
Managed to disassemble the engine, was having trouble making a good measurement of the cylinder with the cheap telescoping gauges I got from amazon. Started looking for something better and managed to score a nice Mitutoyo dial bore gauge from ebay at a really good price. Wow, what a difference in being able to accurately meausure the cylinder, repeatedly! The cylinder measured pretty much everywhere 3.533 which is right on the edge of worn out for 030 over. Some folks offer 040 over kits, but the internet says it's too much over boring for the Kohler K321, you end up with an overheating engine. Not being sure what to do, I was keeping an eye on ebay for a block, and voila, one showed up. Not only that, but it was from a Case 224, and it was STD. Pulled the trigger on it, as the price was not indecent, and shipping price was really good, which is these days a killer if it comes from the US.
This one measures the worst at 3.502 inches. The wear limit is 0.003. I could use it as is, and get a few years out of it, but since it's all ready for boring, I decided it will go to our own member Sylvester Calzone of http://enginebore.com and have it bored 010 over. He will supply the rest of the rebuild kit as well.
What about the crankshaft? The old crankshaft measured closed to 0.02 under already What to do? Went back to the ebay seller that sold me the block, wondering if he has the crankshaft belonging to the block, and he did. That one measured at 1.499
Why am I complicating myself this way? Because it's the first time I rebuild an engine, and intend to keep this engine for as long as I live.
Updates will follow, hopefully soon.