Meow

[cheesy]

Some success. The electronic ignition module has an output that will jumpstart your ticker, whether it needs it or not.
Right now, it looks like a fuel problem again. Something funky with that petcock.

[cheesy]

Gave the 60cc Kawasaki the middle finger and walked away from it for a while yesterday. Lost spark after double checking the timing. I don't know right now if the module failed, there's a bad ground, or a wire broke behind the flywheel. I know it isn't the kill switch, because it isn't connected.

I'll look into it after I get back from lunch with Harold this afternoon. I'll have more insight as to what's happened in Beaufort. Sounds pretty interesting.

[cheesy]

Well hell. Looks like the Kitty Kat is going to be the recipient of a 79cc Predator engine. The no longer available coil in the Kawa engine is shorted and fried two electronic ignition modules. Giving that engine the sign of the cross.

[cheesy]

So, here we are.


And now we have this.


Not quite the bolt in I was told it would be.


Oh, well. I'll get it in. it's not like I'm trying to shove a Wedge into the DeSoto.

[cheesy]

Mounted in place.



Wasn't all that hard after removing the exhaust and air filter. I was going to use 1" square tube to mount the Predator to the Kawa plate, but that placed the engine too high and the hood wouldn't close. So, I went with the plate supplied with the Predator. Drilled into the Kawa plate and the front cross member. Made use of my new Riv nut tool.



This went too easy so I'm figuring I screwed up something and will be doing this over next weekend.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to buy some Predator speed parts.

[david3921]

Do you have a picture with the Kawasaki engine still in? Just curious as to what that looked like.

So far I've used the Predators in two applications. One in a snow blower (212cc) and the other in a leaf shreader/blower (173cc). Both have been great and fairly easy to install. Oddly, both have replaced Tecumseh engines that were shaking themselves to death.

No speed parts yet...

[Emerikol]

I put a Predator 212 on a go-cart that found it's way into my garage, and an old pressure washer about seven or eight years ago. Overall, I'm super happy with them. The Cars and Cameras guys on YouTube are single-handedly keeping Harbor Freight in business with as many of those engines as they buy. I've been thinking about digging up an old motorcycle and doing a Predator engine swap and turning the bike into an automatic with a torque converter and jackshaft setup. That project is going to have to wait until we get the new house sorted, though.

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by david3921

Do you have a picture with the Kawasaki engine still in? Just curious as to what that looked like.

I’m out of town until Saturday so I’ll get a pic of the Kawa engine then.

As far as ‘Speed’ parts, cone type air cleaner. Only because the stock one wouldn’t clear the steering column. DIY exhaust because, see above. Copper exhaust gasket, just because. #80 x 2 jets because I don’t really know which carb is on this thing. Throttle kit to eliminate the governor because I want the grandsons to go through life wide eyed.

[cheesy]

Here are the requested pics of the Kitty Kat engine. I dug around but could not find one with the engine in place.




I've had that roller skate case since grade school. I was a rink rat and I several more. I know where at least two are that I can access.

[david3921]

Thanks for the motor pics. I can see now the challenges ahead for you because of the different locations of the carb and exhaust. Are going to be using the stock tank?

[cheesy]

The plan is to use the stock fuel tank for now. The hood closes without interference.

[cheesy]

So, at an impasse until the other parts show up. I did get the brake relocated. That required fabbing a new mount. The mount took two hours to make. A half hour of that was setting up to do a two minute weld job. Five minutes of that was just getting an arc struck because I do stick maybe twice a year anymore.

While waiting for the parts to arrive, I decided to attack the slop in the steering. Need to replace the ‘ball joint’ and bush a couple plates for the drag link. That’s a next week project.

[cheesy]

All the parts are here. Yay!

[cheesy]

Muddling along here. The weekends' water leak in the laundry room sort of fouled up any plans of getting this worked on. To quote John Lennon, "Life happens when you've made other plans."

So, in between paperwork, brush fires at corpulent, and customers that won't RTFM, I managed to fit the new jet, air filter, and just about have the throttle set up. The throttle has been a booger because I'm trying not to hack the original cable in case my buddy from in Finland can come up with a workable ignition for the Kawa engine. He did good on the Maggot.

I just need to drill two holes to wrap up the throttle then onto the exhaust. I bought a flange and have a few feet of 1" thin wall tubing, so we'll see how much of that will end up in the 'Experience Pile'.

Only thing I 'have' to do for work today is the annual 'Butthurt Feelings Quiz'. Once that's done, I'm in the garage.

[cheesy]

Throttle is in and working. The entire length of thin wall tubing ended up in the experience pile because it was too thin. The tube collapsed in the bender, even with a mandrel. So, Plan B was some thicker walled 1010 and my extension bar on the bender. I have a smelly heat pad on each of my shoulders right now.

I'm picking up a muffler at NAPA after my run to Indiana for work. Weld it all up and I should be golden.