TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:48 pm

My neighbor gave me an old-school 2-stage snowblower that sat unused in his garage for about a decade. Got it running, and love the thing; it's WAY better than the rubber-flapper single stage I've always used. Only problem is the 5 HP Tecumseh is a little weak for wet, heavy snow. I know some of you gearheads hot-rodded your go karts and minibikes in your younger days. Any easy tips to get more power? It doesn't need more HP by cranking up the RPM's, it needs more mid range torque. One red flag is the crappy looking muffler stuck on the side of the engine. Would a straight pipe help give it more torque? Does anyone sell such parts?

Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:31 pm

Try here: http://hillsboro.net/users/dare/dare04/index.html

Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:34 pm

Hell, why waste money on that boat anchor! Try these guys for a great deal. http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com

Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:23 pm

ive seen small cc engines like your benefit greatly from small electric turbos,

Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:54 pm

Throw one of these on there. :wink:

Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:28 am

runslikeapenguin wrote: ive seen small cc engines like your benefit greatly from small electric turbos,
True! I work in landscape construction and I've always wanted to hook one of those up. In the field sometimes when I encounter a no-start/hard start situation I park a running backpack blower on the ground and aim a stream of air towards the intake of the fussy machine. Instant Redneck Turbo!! :lol: It works!!

Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:20 am

Drop that sucker and put earlies on it...

(I am so so sorry for this comment)

Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:35 am

You could definitely pick up some power with a free flowing exhaust. My friend used to build race go-kart engines. Most stock 5hp briggs would make around 9-10 after they've been built properly. Keep in mind this was no porting, stock carburetor etc. It was mainly exhaust and cam. If I were building it I would port the block and put a striaght pipe on it with whats called a hot dog muffler on the end.

Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:57 pm

Try this site: www.oldminibikes.com

There's some pretty knowledgeable guys over there....

Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:09 pm

The boring advice - new points, new plug, new rings and head gasket. A decent muffler for back pressure (helps the torque) and you're set. Take it from a guy who had a Monkey Wards mini-bike, aside from the cast crank, these things run really well at factory specs.

Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:59 pm

Zeen wrote: Only problem is the 5 HP Tecumseh is a little weak for wet, heavy snow. I know some of you gearheads hot-rodded your go karts and minibikes in your younger days. Any easy tips to get more power?

It being a Tecumseh engine is the problem. The con rod is made out of paper machie. THe easy answer is replace it with a B&S engine.

Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:41 pm

ToolBox wrote: Zeen wrote: Only problem is the 5 HP Tecumseh is a little weak for wet, heavy snow. I know some of you gearheads hot-rodded your go karts and minibikes in your younger days. Any easy tips to get more power?

It being a Tecumseh engine is the problem. The con rod is made out of paper machie. THe easy answer is replace it with a B&S engine.

Bingo. B&S is the only way to go. I just run mine ported and polished, and straight piped through some copper tubing, the copper looks bad ass.

Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:14 pm

sano66 wrote: Bingo. B&S is the only way to go.
OK, I'll definitely go B & S if I do an engine swap on my 30 year old snow blower. :wink:

sano66 wrote: I just run mine ported and polished, and straight piped through some copper tubing, the copper looks bad ass.
This is what I'm looking for. Copper would let me bend it to fit the mounting situation. What is the right length and diameter for mid-range torque?

Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:45 pm

As soon as we talk about how bad Tecumseh is, here comes Googlebot-induced E-Bay ads at the bottom for Tecumseh parts. :roll:
It seems that the artificial intelligence can't sense everything. :lol:
I always wondered if Google paid for that ad space, or if it is taken in exchange for search engine services. Sometimes I'd just like to boot the googlebot.

Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:13 am

Zeen wrote: sano66 wrote: Bingo. B&S is the only way to go.
OK, I'll definitely go B & S if I do an engine swap on my 30 year old snow blower. :wink:

sano66 wrote: I just run mine ported and polished, and straight piped through some copper tubing, the copper looks bad ass.
This is what I'm looking for. Copper would let me bend it to fit the mounting situation. What is the right length and diameter for mid-range torque?

Im not sure on the length, i usually run it to fit my needs (all kinds of minibikes). Ill take a picture of my latest B&S and post it.

Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:38 pm

ok, so i just bought a brand new B&S 6.5hp intek engine for $25, im excited to mod it up and throw it in a mini-bike or kart..

i would like to see the exhaust photos too!

also, does anyone have more extensive info on how to hot-rod B&S engines? theres really nothing online that has a nice step-by-step for any kinds of mods...

Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:12 pm

Ill take a couple pics tomorrow and throw them up here.

Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:26 pm

typesoneandtwo wrote: As soon as we talk about how bad Tecumseh is, here comes Googlebot-induced E-Bay ads at the bottom for Tecumseh parts. :roll:
It seems that the artificial intelligence can't sense everything. :lol:
I always wondered if Google paid for that ad space, or if it is taken in exchange for search engine services. Sometimes I'd just like to boot the googlebot.

I run Firefox with AdBlock Plus. No ads to deal with!