flipflop

Or how to waste a lot of time on an old motor. Since someone seems to be asking about one of these every month or so, I decided to convert mine. I bought the Weedeater XR 30 new in 1982 and it ran fine until about 5 years ago (it was the carb, haven't taken it apart to see what the problem was) Needle bearings with thrust washers on the crank, needle bearings on both ends of the rod. It was easy enough to convert, just a lot of metal to cut away. 5/16-24 right hand threads, so I just borrowed a prop hub and carb from one of my Ryobis. The photo shows it chugging along backwards on my 16x8 Bambula test prop. I didn't tach it, but a brief full throttle run up sounded to be in the 6500rpm range(my test stand was in front of my car, so I didn't want to run it wide-open too long in case the prop hub decided to unscrew itself). And that's as far as this conversion goes, no plans for putting this thing in a plane. This one is now officially retired as an "Antique Conversion". Weedie motors have come a long way in the last 25 years.

captinjohn

This is a dumb question??? Will it run just as good the other direction.? Seems like reed valve engines will run both directions with correct timing. Take keyway out and loktite flywheel on crank to get right spark timimg. Not sure of this, but then the prop may stay on better running in correct direction. Capt,n

KenLambert

My Feedback: (107)

looks like you trew that one against the wall a few times !!!!!!!!

maby to loosen it up from sitting

sscherin

My Feedback: (1)

Seeing as this takes the same prop adapter as the Ryobi I think I'll go ahead and play with the one I have..
I need a prop hub for my Ryobi anyway.

Reverse the rotation, check the port timing, open up the muffler a bit., try the carb off my 23cc Koritz.
Maybe give it a shot running glow/gas.

No $$ wasted.. plus I get a chance to practice port mods with no risk to a good motor.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Hey, maybe it's a "sleeper" and will turn a big old prop at 9000 with mods!!

Have fun, that's what it's all about.
AV8TOR

sscherin

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah with my luck it'll turn a 12x6 at 3,000rpm then pitch a rod.

flipflop

Mine didn't want to idle too much below 3000rpm Little bit more about the reverse rotation. After I turned the flywheel, I compared it to a left hand rotation engine. I was expecting to see the keyway located (in relation to the magnets) around 56* away from a normal flywheel (28* back to zero, then 28* the other way) NOPE, the flywheel is like every other flywheel out there. My coil is marked for reverse rotation, so somehow it's changing the timing. Hmmm... a Ryobi coil is shaped exactly the same and bolts right up. I tried starting the motor in this configuration, only got an occasional "poop", never got a real pop. Since I was in a rush to see the motor run, I went ahead and put the stock reverse coil back on without ever checking to see if the Ryobi coil was firing in the normal rotation. I'll have to go back and check that later. There are a lot of variables here guys, the cylinder has large transfer ports on both sides (much like a Ryobi) But there is a slot cut in one side of the piston in the transfer area. So maybe I would just have to rotate the piston 180* for it to run in the normal direction with the Ryobi coil. Also, the reed valve is shaped like an elongated triangle, don't know for sure if it works in the wrong direction. I may fiddle with it some more the next time I get a bad case of nothing to do, but I really should be in there building planes

captinjohn

flipflop: Very interesting about the reverse coils ect. You may be right about that 180 degree piston swap. I wonder why the super pros are not chiming in!!!???? Maybe they don,t know either!!!!!! Capt,n

KenLambert

My Feedback: (107)

because that engine is a wast of time unless you have nothing elso to do.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Well, that's true, but one thing's for sure; a reed valve will work in any direction.... It just doesn't "care". The only thing that matters is when the spark occurs...

AV8TOR

captinjohn

Ken Lambert: I agree about the waste of time....that is why mine is just stored for external parts. Like carb and fittings. Maybe reed valve for another engine brand. Capt,n

flipflop

OK, here's a shot of the Boat Anchor running in the normal direction with the Ryobi coil. Had to do a simple modification to make it work. Ran it about 30 minutes this afternoon. I had forgotten why I didn't like this motor in the weedeater, doesn't want to idle much slower than 3400rpm (upright anyway) Wide open it's about the same as any of the other cheap stock weedies out there. This one wasn't one of Poulans finer efforts. If it had run a little better, I had planned of doing the full electronic ignition conversion on it as the bare block is VERY light. Ok, I've proven the point, satisfied my curiosity, conquered the challenge, and HAVE FINISHED this project.

KenLambert

My Feedback: (107)

hey flipflop I am at the house for a couple days are you going flying? come on over if you want.

captinjohn

flipflop: Did you try a different carburator? My boat anchor looks in good shape. Will at least run it first before I pitch it. I am not going to spend much time on it though! Capt,n

flipflop

I'll try to get over there this afternoon after work.

captinjohn

I bet it would run good in both directions if run on Gas/glow Capt,n