# New to me 1962 10ML55



## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Hello folks, first post here. I've always been fascinated by vintage snowblowers. So, about 10 days ago, I started researching them and picked up a 1962 5.5 hp 10ML55 in original condition. For the past 3 days, I've been working on it and learning as I go. So far, I've changed the idler pulley, belt, adjusted the carb, and detailed it. Here are some pics. 

Here's a video of it in action today 



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It worked pretty well! I really like the ergonomics of the machine. Prior to using it, I checked the oil in the gearbox and noticed it was empty. Also, there was oil residue on the left auger. I believe the seal on the gearbox is going. I topped it off with 70W-90 gear oil and will monitor how bad it is leaking.

-Ken


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Welcome Ken
It looks beautiful. That cant be original paint?


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## db130 (Feb 16, 2013)

Congrats and welcome, that's a nice machine. I also have a 10M that I repowered with a Tecumseh H70 from a Jacobsen snowblower, and fellow forum member "Ray 1962 10ML60" has a nice one


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

*Nice find.*

That is a nice looking and running machine! I also have a 1962 "55." Mine was in rough shape when I got it. Was missing all the carb linkage, including the throttle cable. Would love to see pics of your carb linkage, or other forum members who have a similar original machine, so I know what I'll need to pick up for her. MH


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Ken,
welcome to the forum! 
all your good research paid off..
glad you got it up and running, looks great!
Scot


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## Ray 1962 10ML60 (Oct 14, 2011)

Ken, she looks great. You did an amazing job with it in just a few days. I just did the auger seals on mine this summer. Had a slight leak too. The seals are avail on eBay (auger seals are part #05605100, you need two) and pretty easy to change. The rear seal on the impeller can be a pain, but it's do-able, you just have to pull the roll pins out of the impeller and slide it off. (seal part #05605000). Just add a coating of permatex around the outside of the seal where metal meets metal or you will end up redoing it like me, lol...enjoy the snow!


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## rnaude241 (Nov 24, 2013)

Nice machine Ken. Glad to see another Ariens resto hitting the snow!


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! Special thanks goes to Scot and Ray who has given me a 3-day crash course on these fine machines.

@motorhead64, Ray has pointed out that the carb on my machine appears to be from a 1960 or 1961 since it has the vertical intake setup which is different from a '62. To be honest, I'm not sure if mine is a '62 or '61. I was just going by what the seller told me. But looking at this pic of a '61 from Scot's webpage, it's starting to look more like a '61. Thoughts anyone?










Here is a close up of my carb.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks for posting the pic ! That looks like my "updraft style" carb, a Tillotson E2B. I am looking at the governor arm to throttle connection.. is the rigid link on the lower butterfly hole? Also, is the spring in the same hole as the rigid link on the governor arm end? And lastly, what is the other end of the spring connected to? Is there a fitting of some sort on the blower housing with its own spring? Thanks again. MH


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## Ray 1962 10ML60 (Oct 14, 2011)

Hey Ken, what are the numbers on the engine? That should help nail down the year of manufacture.


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Ray, where would I find the numbers for the engine? I do not see it anywhere obvious.


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Motorhead, here is a diagram of the links and springs that I drew up. I will be taking my carb apart pretty soon since it does not idle smoothly. I will take some pics of all the linkages then. There are 2 links coming off of the governor arm. One goes to a swivel mechanism that is mounted on the motor. The other link goes to the butterfly. There is a spring that goes over this second link and it shares the same holes on both ends as the link itself.


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## Ray 1962 10ML60 (Oct 14, 2011)

Hey Ken, the engine numbers are likely on a plate that is riveted to the left side of the shroud under the carb area. Check on top of the shroud, but I don't think they started stamping the top of the shroud until a few years later. May be hard to read on that plate, they were just printed on there, not stamped into the metal.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi Ken..
Thanks for posting the drawing of your linkages. I will wait for your pics when you take your carb off. Have to see components on your engine. I think I might be missing a few. I'm putting my engine back together. Had to cut the valve seats and new valves. Both valves could be spun in place at top dead center. Zero clearance on either valve...Zero compression. Old valve keepers had pins that went through the valve stems. New valves use the newer slotted keepers. Cleaned the carb and ready to reinstall it. Now it will get interesting. Don't have any idea when this engine last ran. MH


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## Ray 1962 10ML60 (Oct 14, 2011)

Ken, I just took a close look at your pix again, didn't see the plate I was talking about earlier, so I'm not sure where you numbers would be. They are usually stamped somewhere on the shroud, but I've never had my hands on an old 5.5 like you have there.


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

motorhead, sounds like some serious engine surgery! The updraft carb on my machine doesn't look like anything I've ever seen. Any suggestions on how I should go about cleaning it? It doesn't have anything that resembles a float bowl.


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Ray, thanks for the input. Correct, I do not see any stamping, number plate, or rivet holes where a plate might had been on my motor.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi Ken. Cleaning the updraft was a curious endeavor. I removed the manifold from the carb and also the "air horn" which makes it a down draft. What was left was a strange bird. The float chamber is the squarish case on the side. Be careful with it as parts are NLA (no longer available) The E2b was a rare carb to begin with. Doesn't show in any of the manuals I have come across. Gasket for the intake is still available, but I had to trace and cut my own for the float chamber. I sprayed everything down with carb cleaner and blew it dry with 5 psi on the compressor. I do have an ultrasonic cleaner, but it is not working at the moment..so I did the best I could with carb cleaner alone. Won't be able to assess my efforts until I try to fire her up. The cold has kept me out of the shed lately so it may be another week or two. My mistake was disassembling two machines. Now I have to determine which parts go on which machine. Won't screw up like that again! MH


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

motorhead, thanks for the information on the carb. good suggestion on only taking one carb apart at a time. the carbs on both of my '61's require some cleaning. my first machine is surging at idle, while the second machine is leaking gas at the carb. Perhaps a stuck float or needle?


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Ken
The float should prevent gas from entering the float chamber. When it fills to its regulated setting, the float's attached needle seals up the entrance to the bowl, thus preventing a flooding situation. As fuel is used by the engine, the float "falls" and more fuel can enter. You could be right on as far as what is causing fuel to leak. If the float valve fails to seal, the fuel has to go somewhere. Other things to check on an older machine would be cracked fuel line, especially right where it enters the carb; I have even seen a cracked line behind the blower shroud that allows fuel to flow on the outside of the line and drip from below the carb; and bad gaskets. A carb with closed up galleys will generally not even start, but a dirty carb can definitely affect the sealing of the float needle. MH


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

I took the carb apart this evening on the machine with the surging issue. Cleaned out the bowl, removed the mixture screws, and blew compressed air through the orifices. She's now idling smoothly . I adjusted the high rpm to 3600. However, the lowest she will idle is around 2400. Is this normal? 

As promised, here are some pics of the procedure. @motorhead, I took a few pics of the linkages at various angles. Hope it helps with your re-assembly. Let me know if you need more. I noticed the linkage between the govern arm and butterfly was installed backwards by the previous person. I correct that, along with pointing the air intake towards the back.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi Ken,
2200-2400 is normal low idle speed for Lauson Tecumseh engines. MH

PS Thanks for the pics! I assembled my 5.5 today...65 psi compression and good spark. Got it to pop with a shot of carb cleaner in the cylinder. I will now study the linkage set up from yours. I think I am missing the long rigid link from the governor arm.


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Do you think the 2400 low rpm is limited by the points system? If it were updated to a modern coil, would that help?


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

No, the breaker point magneto will not affect idling on any machine. The carburetor's throttle butterfly setting does that. Your low idle rpm is not that high. Don't forget, this machine is meant to operate at wide open throttle. "Idle" rpm is only use for warm up and no load moving of the machine. MH

PS On your posted photo of the carburetor ending in number "351" is shown your throttle arm and return spring mechanism. There is a mounting nut in its center, that looks like it would alter the throttle's "stop" position. If you scribe your current arm position to begin with, you could try loosening the nut and see if the arm relaxes to a lower rpm stop position, then retighten the nut. This will not affect mixture, only rpm.


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

Good points, MH.I will monitor how the governor affects the butterfly at low rpm and adjust the screw accordingly.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi Ken...
In the photo sequence you posted of your carb linkages...the photo ending in numeral 31 shows a link of some sort that travels vertically from the long slot on your throttle bracket and terminates somewhere down behind your carburetor. What is that, and where does it go? I am missing that piece and have seen glimpses of it on another series of photos on the garden tractor site, but I can't tell where it goes there either. Help. MH


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

MH:

Is this the link in question? it connects the throttle to the stage 1 butterfly, which is also connected to the governor.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks, Ken. I'm definitely missing that one. Is that the only connection on that butterfly and the long link from the governor runs behind it to the pivot arm on the blower housing? As I observe this photo, it almost looks like there could be 3 links on that lower carb butterfly? Or, am I seeing a total of 3 links in the photo? Tillotson must have had a lot of link stock laying around when they designed this carb! MH


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

MH:
Correction. the linkage in question is for the choke. Here is a labeled diagram. There are 3 linkages in total. Let me know if this helps, or adds more confusion


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks Ken,
Your labels are terrific! Any chance you can get me a measurement on that vertical choke link? I'm going to have to make one. MH


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## WestminsterFJR (Dec 30, 2013)

MH, glad the diagram helped. I will try to get to the carb on 10ML55 #2 this weekend and will take measurements then.


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## bbaugh66 (Jul 28, 2014)

Whoa this is a great thread. I am new here and I joined up for the sole purpose of finding out about this carb. I have just recently aquired 3 motors with this carb and I'm really scratching my head over them. One is an E8A and two are E7A. Look very much like this. None of these motors are running. I'd like to try and use this carb before I change them out for something more conventional. Has anyone ever found a kit for this carb? How have you all made out since this past winter? I see no updates.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

that is an awesome machine. great find and good work getting it running. any of those early machines are worth keeping and fixing up.


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