# Repainted My Blower



## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

She isn't perfect, but she looks a lot better than the old rustbucket in my avatar. I downgraded from the 340cc Greyhound to a 212cc Predator and it doesn't run as well as the old Greyhounds. Surges a lot and has to have half choke to run smooth. The gas I had was a couple months old so maybe that is part of the problem. If some new gas doesn't solve it does anyone have any good info or links on drilling the jets or buying new ones? I have never done that myself. I did see one or 2 youtube videos on jets an emulsion tubes, but all that did was confuse me since the tubes all had different hole patterns.

Still haven't had much snow to try it on. Gave it a first test run today and it did pretty well. I had to shovel first to get a pile of snow deep enough to have something to blow. Did get one stupid look from someone walking down the street when I was taking the pictures.

Yes, this is a late 1970s model that now has black handlebars and augers. I hope no one tells Scot on me


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

looks great.

I have come across the newer engines or even newer replacement carbs that for emissions reasons the settings cause it to surge but its fine when under load.

The engines dont sound right to people that are used to the older stuff but apparently they are fine.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I suppose, but watching the governor arm go up and down while the engine oscillates bugs me.

The Greyhounds are very similar and I had an 11HP and a 6.5HP and neither were as bad.


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## abumpa (Nov 21, 2010)

Very nice but I think you need a bit more practice. 

What time should I drop my blower off at your place?


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

abumpa said:


> Very nice but I think you need a bit more practice.
> 
> What time should I drop my blower off at your place?


Anytime is fine. If no one answers just push it around back. Don't wait though. I'll make sure to let you know when I am done with it.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Repaint*

Looking good! Are you going to replace the safety stickers or not, looks a little barren without them at the moment. Needs a little something to break up the orange in spots IMO  Pinstriping or graphics?

By the way, see if you can get non-oxygenated gas (non-alcohol stuff) and see if that settles your motor down. Made a difference in mine and that's all I'm running in them now.


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## truder1400 (Oct 1, 2011)

Looks nice, but I think it needs 3 more coats..... and a clear finish.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

HCBPH said:


> Looking good! Are you going to replace the safety stickers or not, looks a little barren without them at the moment. Needs a little something to break up the orange in spots IMO  Pinstriping or graphics?
> 
> By the way, see if you can get non-oxygenated gas (non-alcohol stuff) and see if that settles your motor down. Made a difference in mine and that's all I'm running in them now.


Not going to do the stickers. Would be nice, but I don't care that much. I don't see any pure gas stations close by, but I did notice a lot of Marathons in a few states on the list so I'll fill my can up there and see if it helps.



truder1400 said:


> Looks nice, but I think it needs 3 more coats..... and a clear finish.


Maybe, but I used spray cans. I think I need to set up a compressor and spray gun if I ever do it again. The cans got expensive in a hurry and took a lot more than I expected. I started with 3 black, 3 orange and 3 primer I think while telling myself that should be enough, ended up going back to the store 2 more times before I was finished. Stripping it with an angle grinder and drill with wire wheels took a lot longer than expected too. I am going to have to get myself a blaster or farm it out if I do another one.


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## Wayne195 (Nov 16, 2010)

Looks a lot better, but you could achieve a more glossy finish if you gave it a coat of Rustoleums' Crystal Clearcoat paint(rattlecan).


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Shryp said:


> I am going to have to get myself a blaster or farm it out if I do another one.


Too bad I didn't know you were looking for a blaster, Eastwood had this one on sale through the first with free shipping:
Eastwood 100lb Pressure Abrasive Blaster - Pressure Cleaning Equipment - Abrasive Tools
I saw some other ones on eBay etc for close pricing but this one already had the ceramic tips, deadman included and water filters included so it seemed like the better deal if gotten before 1/1/12. Plus I've dealt with Eastwood before and so far they've been good in their products. 
If you do look at one, note the cfm requirements of the unit, most will take something like a 5 HP 60 gal unit or better to run an abrasive blaster.

Also found a place with some abrasive on sale, but don't know what will happen on that. It's cheap and supposedly free shipping if sent to one of their stores for pickup, but when I tried to order some it came back with a msg they'll have to contact me because of special handling required. Have to wait and see what happens.

I've got this one torn apart right now and I'm planning on blasting and paint it before I'm through rebuilding it:








It's got a bunch of surface rust to clean up plus I want to try my hand at abrasive blasting before doing a couple of other projects coming up:









I'm almost done with the mechanicals so the next phase will be cleaning up and repainting the chassis. I've done the wire brush and sander in the past but I have a big enough compressor and a spray gun so now it's time to try and do it right. We'll see how it turns out.

The way this year is going for snow, there's no rush so I can afford to make a mistake or two along the way.

On the gas, the stations around here that have it list it as Non-Oxygenated gas, most are 91 octane. It usually has a sticker saying it's for small engines and collector cars also, at least where I've bought it so far.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I just watched a few more videos about the clone carbs and think I understand how they work now. I saw most of the Honda's have an adjustable idle mixture screw so decided to go see if mine did. Mine just looks like it has a cap pressed in there. I pulled the idle stop screw out and pulled the pilot jet out. That hole really is tiny. Wasn't impressed to find 2 small chrome looking flakes of metal stuck to the side of the plastic holding the jet. It did seem to run a little bit better after putting it back together. I haven't tried opening the jet up yet as I still want to get some fresh gas before I go messing with it. Suppose now I should just take the whole carb apart and make sure nothing else is hiding inside.


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## kb0nly (Sep 22, 2011)

My Duromax clone does that also until its warmed up then it goes away. Sounds like yours just needs some tweaking. There was some reports on a go kart forum that the spring was too weak on some of them causing it to surge. Might be something else for you to check out.

If you can't find any of that fancy gas just put in some plain old ethanol blended fuel and add some octane booster along with some Stabil, same results in my opinion.

I would take the carb off and go through it if you found some flakes in it, that was another complaint i read. Some found debris in the tank that ended up in the carb. I put an inline fuel filter in before i even put fuel in mine for the first time. I saw some dust/dirt in the filter after the first few times i ran it, cleaned up after that.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions kb0nly. Mine was more than just needing to warm up, it was just too lean. The spring seemed fine to me as it was fairly tight when I had to pull it off.

---

Good news!

I dumped the old gas and took the carb apart. It was clean everywhere so I guess those couple flakes I found on the idle jet were a fluke.
I put it back together and put new gas in it. Didn't make much of a difference in how it ran.

I took the idle jet back out and ran a torch tip cleaner through it. The smallest one didn't fit all the way. I "forced" it through and then it could slide in and out.
The "file" part wouldn't fit because the lead was too long so I cut part of the lead off it. Now the file part is just too thick completely. Oh well, I put it back together and it runs a little better.

I take the main jet out and put a file in that. One is a little too small, but the next size wouldn't fit at all. So I take the smaller one and try to ream it a bit. Didn't really seem to do anything, but I don't want to go too far. I put it back together.

Now it works great! I can even start it without choke once it is warmed up. Smooth as can be, good acceleration from idle to full. Picks up well when engaging the auger on idle and on full speed without any stutter. So if anyone else has problems with their Predator 212cc 6.5HP surging opening the jets just a hair will do wonders for it.

It is still about 45 degrees here so not sure how it will run when it gets cold, but now I am a lot happier.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*I like good news*

Great to hear you have figured out the issues. Sounds like it's ready when the eventual snow hits 

Let us know how that baby works now that it's all nice and pretty along with the repowering.


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## 69ariens (Jan 29, 2011)

SHRYP, what brand/ shade did you use for Paint ? I am working on re painting my 69 ariens. ( wife thinks i'm crazy)


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

*RustOleum 12 Oz. Chevy Orange Engine Enamel Spray Paint
*
If I was to do it again I wouldn't use spray cans. It took too many.


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## Simplicity Solid 22 (Nov 27, 2012)

HCBPH,

Are there an upper and lower auger in the housing....tough to see in that pic???

Can't wait to see it redone!


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## Simplicity Solid 22 (Nov 27, 2012)

Shryp....Looks great like how you painted controls orange and black too...


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Simplicity Solid 22 said:


> Shryp....Looks great like how you painted controls orange and black too...


The knobs are black plastic, so really all I did was paint the 2 pieces of the levers orange and the dash/handles black.


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## Simplicity Solid 22 (Nov 27, 2012)

Still looks very slick!!!!!


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Just noticed this*



Simplicity Solid 22 said:


> HCBPH,
> 
> Are there an upper and lower auger in the housing....tough to see in that pic???
> 
> Can't wait to see it redone!


Just noticed this, sorry to have taken so long. Not really a 2d auger but more like a beaterbar to knock down the tops of drifts so the main auger can pick up the snow.


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