I needs some help please, I had in my basement a homelite weeder that I bought from H.F. about 3 or 4 years ago.The carb went south on it I think, so I bought another brand to use around the house. Tonight, (after reading all the good things about conversions here on RCU over the past couple of weeks) , I thought I would take the plunge and tear this thing apart and see what its all about. Does homelite make just one size of weedie engine? Let me show you what it looks like after I tore it down tonight.[img][img][/img]
I do see that this engine just has one ring on the piston- is that a bad thing for what Im doing?
Next question is who can I get an upgraded carb from (maybe someone here on rcu has some for sale? ) Will I need a spacer for the carb as I have been hearing talk about that? Also, does the extra material that extends out behind the flywheel(thats on the block where there are mounting holes) needs to be trimmed down? I also understand that the flywheel needs to be trimmed and balanced- can you guys point me to someone (maybe close to Alabama) that would machine it down if I paid them? I just dont have the equipment to do all the'big boy' stuff that you guys are doing .
Lastly , I have a mcculloch weedie someone gave me that supposedly runs but he broke the trimmer shaft bolt off on the ground end where the trimmer head is . Here is a pic of it hopefully, it just says FR44 on the side of the weedie. Would anyone suggest I get the mc converted instead of the homelite? [img][/img]. I want to get by without electronic ignition with this project. I really appreciate anyone 's responses!!
Thank you,
John

The Mac is probably a 32cc. Pull the muffler off of the Homelite. If you see a "bridge" in the exhaust port dividing it in two, it is a 25cc. If there is no "bridge" in the port, then it is a 30cc. If the Homelite is a 25cc, in your position and capabilities I would convert the larger Mac. If the Homelite is a 30cc, I would convert it instead of the Mac.

Good luck and have fun,
AV8TOR

I have a FR44 and it is a 28cc, it's a low end bent shaft no clutch reconditioned model...

The Mac is simpler to convert, but heaver afterwards. Why chose?? do BOTH
Practice is good

Good point Terry!!
Let me see if I can get the 25cc under my belt then I'll look at the mac.
Thanks!
John

John I have two converted 32's with C-H ignition. They look like they always were model engines. There was no cutting to do.

I have a couple Homelite 30's too. They have a little more power than the Mac

Check these people for conversion accessories:

[link]http://home.att.net/~carrprecision/[/link]

I converted a 25 cc Homey, and it ran great. Had about the same power as a Zenoah G-23.


Dr.1

Scott from Brillelli converted a 28 Mac for me. Here is what the finished product looks like. The size is under the muffler.

Mine is for sale, incidentally.

Bill

WOOOHOOO!! I got my case cut down this afternoon,. here is a little progress...[img][/img]

you might have just screwed up your chances of using the mag... with the mag mounted like that it needs a decent amount of support so it isn't pulled to the flwheel magnet, and the amount of material you left doesnt look sufficient to get the job done... I'll let someone with experience with those engines have the final say, but in my eyes it's not going to run that way very long...

john, not to worry if you cut too much. If may just be a candidate for a gas with glow conversion and you can then lose the coil, flywheel and more of the case.[8D]

that's kinda what I was getting to, don't worry that much, and I haven't converted a homelite or even looked at mine in several months...

Rangerfredbob, thanks for the observation but it still has a pretty good piece of material in back of what you cant see in the pic. I believe I'll be ok though.
Like Mikenlapaz said, if it doesnt work, maybe the gas/glow would be in order
Now I gotta see about getting the flywhell turned...
Anybody got a used prop hub spacer/nut for sale to fit this ?
Thanks guys!
John

you don't necessairly have to turn the flywheel down, I broke the fins off of my Mac with pliers then dremeled the nubs down trying to keep it even between sides and the thing doesn't vibrate at all... I might have lucked out, but you can do the same...

I'll look at my homie in the next few days and see what it looks like, I just know on the mac I had to leave a fair amount and even the way I left it the coil still pulls to the flywheel some...

Carr Precision makes a plate to hold the mag on the MAC engines. You remove the entire front housing.
If you slotted the bolt holes a bit you could adjust the timing a bit.

You also could make a support arm and drill holes to bolt it between top of mag to the heavy part of a cylinder fin. Lots of options to use mag yet!! Capt,n

Terry, please tell us more about shifting the mag, ie, the procedure and all that good stuff.( Oh man, this is getting good!!
I'm assuming (yall know where that gets me dont you ) that you would shift the mag to maybe advance the timing when you go full throttle?
Talk it up Terry- you have the stage and my full attention
Thanks guys!!!
John

Go to the Carr site and look at the mag plate. It bolts to the crankcase with the same 4 bolts as the stock mag bracket/cooling shroud. If you wanted to get max power you would move the mag coil CW a few degrees at a time. Once at max lock it down.
I dont think moving the coil with the throttle would work to good. Its to heavy and the engine vibs would wear out thing quickly.

TKG ( Terry), I sent you a pm,
thanks!!
John

My arms are aching, my basement floor full of shavings, can anybody tell me how much money I'm saving !! LOL!!!
No, I could never stand poetry - as you can tell!!
I decided to try my hand at cutting down my homelite flywheel tonite so I broke the fins off as close to the base as I could with some pliers, then got out my big file and started smoothing the top of the flywheel down. I do realize it still needs to be checked for balance and i'll be sure to do that.My regular prop balancer isnt going to work (topflite with the magnets on each side) cause the flywheel is just a tad too heavy . A friend of mine has a balancer ( a dubro I think ) that has a cradle or something that the prop sits in so when I get this thing finished out, we'll check it, unless you tell me a better way to balance it?
Here is a couple pics :[img][/img]