I found a repair shop and got a great deal! I mentioned to owner...Wow you have a lot of repairs ahead to do. He said that section was all to be junked. He gave me 8 engines in all. Homelites=4, Ryobi,s=2, Weed Eater=1 and one Mac. Only 1 had carb missing. Only 1 is toasted. Like new inside= 2...not bad. I gave him some money even though he said free. He is a very nice guy to talk and deal with. The Weed eater is a model 400 ??? It looks like a good conversion. Regards Capt,n

You lucky dog.

The repair shops around here aren't friendly at all. I've been to one guy 2 times looking for carb rebuild kits, or neoprene fuel tubing. He never has it, and won't even order it for me. He told me that I'd have to just take my chances and come in to see if he has it. I mentioned his pile of rebuilders, and he told me they were all getting sent to the junk yard. I told him that if he'd let me take the mufflers off a few of them to check the cylinders, I would pay him cash money for any that were useable. Then he wants to know why I want junk weedies and chainsaws. (DO you want to sell them and make some money or not? What do you care why I want them?) So I tell him that I use them for RC airplanes, and he tells me they won't fly an airplane. [>:] I am not the kind of guy to beg someone to take my money, so at this point I pull out a $100 bill and ask him if he'd like it. When he says "well sure!" I tell him I'd have given him that $100 bill for 5 or 10 of those "junk" engines--if he wasn't such an A-HOLE!! Last time I went back to that shop.

I went to another shop and the guy was playing 20 questins with me. Why do you want them? They don't run. What makes you think you can make one of them fly a toy airplane. Isn't that dangerous? I don't need any lawsuites. They all need carbs or coils. BLAH BLAH BLAH. I tried explaining to him that I know how to rebuild a carb and don't mind spending $10 or $12 for a carb kit. I'll even buy the kits from HIM if he'll sell me the engines and order the kits. Then he tells me the coils aren't worth buying at $20 apiece. So, I told him I don't need the coils, I'll make my own electronic ignition for them (C&H). He tells me they won't run without the magneto and coil. He tells me it's not worth his shop time to rebuild them. Customers don't want to pay the $12 for the kit+ his shop time--so in his eyes they aren't worth spit. I'm trying to explain to this guy that my shop time costs me $0 and I would like to take the muffler off a few of them and look at the cylinders. Then he goes back the the song and dance about how they won't run because they need coils or carbs. [:@]

Apparently, small engine mechanics aren't the most intelligent creature around these parts. Talk about beating your head against a wall. I was on the verge of an ulcer trying to get these 2 morons to sell me a "junk" weedie motor.

I finally gave up and bought a "remanufactured" weedie from Harbor Freight for $60. Engine looks brand new.

Rcpilot: I have had the very same thing happen to me at repair shops. I wonder if it is they really do not want to give away a engine that they could NOT get going? Maybe it kills their pride. Then some shop owners say" I won,t have anything to do with a throw away engine. Like you say...you cannot reason with them. Go Figure?? The repair shop I found was when I was searching for parts for my leaf blower MB290. The guy could fix it but turns out he cannot get parts. One shop in Muskegon called AGARDS really ticked me. As soon as they seen I had a Mac product...he spurts out WE DON,T DO MAC,S HERE I said hey your lucky to get paid for working on engines..... most I do for free.....no complanits either. Well time to cool down. Take Care Capt,n

Your comments cause me to wonder what the reception would be if you carry an airplane with an engine mounted and show it to a mechanic. Mechanics generally like experimental and unusual projects. Maybe seeing airplane with engine would eliminate the concern. The concern comes from a lack of understanding.

Bill

Bill:
You'd just have to meet these 2 guys. They really shouldn't be allowed to breed or drive.

I used to live in Denver, and I met a guy at a small engine shop who was only mildly skeptical at first. But he was intrigued at the idea that a chainsaw could fly an airplane. I did just as you suggest, and I took him a converted Ryobi with C&H ignition and a Craftsman 38cc conversion with one of Ralphs ignitions. The guy started calling me about once a month after that. He was trying to sell me very engine he had that wasn't worth fixing due to the price of his shop time. I got a few Poulans and a few Ryobis from him for next to nothing.

I did take a Poulan 54cc conversion back to him after I had it mounted on an 80" Extra 300S. He was quite impressed. I had him stand over the tail while I started the engine and ran it up. You should have seen the look in his eyes. They had to be the size of coffee cups.

I guess it just depends on the personality of the guy who owns the shop. These 2 guys down here in Pueblo have the personality of an angry slug. Not to smart--but mad as hell at the world.

aounds like these guys aren't mechanics but what I call part changers , we have several around here that run shops and they replace parts till they find the right one to fix the problems.

Yeah folks.I had a funny,sort of simmilar run in with one of the guys.

I used to fix lawnmowers and weedeaters for friends and kinfolks but it was a while ago.For the parts i usually drop by local john deer dealership.
So once i stopped there and they have a repair shop next door.It was 5.25 and they started locking up doors.When i walked in guy said"what u got?" i said "it's not what I got but rather what YOU got" he looked at me like i was nuts.Thats what i wanted.I asked him if he can give me or sell me any small engine running or not as long as it got carburetor and coil on it. He told me "yeah,look at this pile." I told him " i don't care what engine or what brand.Just reach and pick one up.He reached and picked up 46 cc poulan chainsaw with no top nor anything else but magneto,carb and engine hanging there on one bolt.He told me"give me $5".When i was leaving he kinda sarcasticly asked "It aint worth restoring it".I bet he though he made a deal of a century LOL. I put the saw in my truck and told him "nah,I will just use it as alternative to 350 dollar engine in my model airplane. See ya."
A few months ago i bough a perfectly working ryobi trimmer for $15 using the same technique . I almost finished converting it.
Bottom line is it never hurts to stop and look and talk with guys but i wouldn't just mention right off hands that engine will be flying airplane.Unfortunately psychology of the sale people is this:He gonna use it for hobby.Hobby stuf is $high.Then this engine is high."
Instead tell him you buy it for parts or out of curiocity to see what's inside. You'll get a better deal.I guarantee it.

It don't work around here any more. We have been doing weedies for 10 years or so. Usta be we would get told if you want one out of that pile you gotta take them all (free) so the shop didn't have to haul them to the dump. Now so many guys are running weedies/chainsaw engines around here the shops figured that they might be worth money, so we gotta BUY them out of the junk pile. []

I almost go mental when confronted with an expert who ditched high school so he could get a job to buy a car and stop wasting time in school. I was trying to find a Stihl 4 stroke a few months back and it is really apparent how replace and dispose have eliminated any knowledge base from "dealers". I couldn't get anything but sales drones and they just ship back defective units to Stihl so there was no luck. About two years ago I went to a Subaru dealership to pick up an alternator for my truck, an 82 BRAT with an ER27 engine from a 1991 model XT6. I know what is in the truck because I built it myself. I go to the parts counter and tell them that I need an alternator for any year XT6, they are all the same. He asks for my VIN. I tell him that the BRAT's VIN won't do him any good. He gets the gotcha look and goes into the whole "Well, I thought you said you had an XT6, this is why we need the VIN so we can tell what you have." I explain to him that I have an 82 BRAT with the XT6 engine in it and that it also has 12 inches lift and 33x16 swampers. His tone gets even more snide as he informs me that the engine is too big to ever fit in that truck and that it would be; "Nice if it existed". The air was starting to get real thick and ugly, you could feel the tension and it seemed that we could have come to blows over this. I had no idea why it had to go this way, all I wanted was an alternator. So I told him that he was entitled to believe what he wanted and that I would take it under consideration as I drove home in the truck, but for now I just wanted him to go get the alternator off the shelf and ring it up. He gave a sneer and asked me if I could just drive the truck in so he could look at the VIN. OK, so I walked outside and drove it into the shop bay area right outside the parts window.



The look on his face was priceless and then he was trying to act like he was my best friend or something. I asked him if I could use this phone while he went to get the alternator. I had bought my last 3 Imprezas from this dealership and the sales guy is a club member. I called the general manager and asked him if he could walk across the lot and come meet me in parts, he had been wanting to see the BRAT since he had sold them in the 80's. I explained the whole episode over the alternator to him and there was a very uncomfortable (for the parts guy) discussion about his atitude and prospects for staying employed.

subarubrat: I would sure like to use you truck to flattten out a couple of shops where the worst repair jerks spend there time giving cutomers anything but a good deal or nice advice. You know...the ones that will not give you the time o day!! I cannot believe the way some of these clowns treat customers. Well I know where to shop now. Regards Capt,n

Parts counter person, yea right. You ever been at K-Mart when the power is off and watch the clerk try and make change.
The best parts guy here abouts is a woman, she even can use the master book to look something up when the computer goes stupid.