I'm Not Sure Why, But I Now Have a B-80

[BradKahler 178]

12 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Kroil. Just ain't much better than that. 

 

Yep, it penetrates so well, the plastic spray bottles leak like a sieve.  I wish I could find a spray bottle that would work with it.

12 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

IMHO  "pb" is a joke with good marketing and it's been proven by experiments online. 

 

Just a minor word of caution here. 

Remember that these are cast iron blocks. Occasionally brittle.  

 

 

Actually they weren't hard blows, I wanted to create vibrations to help the Kroil penetrate.  I don't know if it helped, but the nipple is out.

 

12 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Excellent work! 

 

Thanks 

[Handy Don 15,057]

Your blade quadrant resembles the curved #11 in the IPL clip below.

This early one shows 3 holds--left, center, and right for positioning the blade straight rotated to either side. Some later models came with 5 holes with the extras being left and right of the center halfway to the “outer” holes.

Some members with a 3 drilled it to become a 5 and are quite pleased with the extra positions. 
(Note that blades before 1964 had a different style of quadrant)

 

 

[Handy Don 15,057]

3 hours ago, BradKahler said:

Yep, it penetrates so well, the plastic spray bottles leak like a sieve.  I wish I could find a spray bottle that would work with it.

 

You won’t. I ended up “decanting" my penetrant into little 2 oz. bottles like these.

I can drip or squirt. 

 

[Retired Wrencher 6,146]

22 hours ago, Achto said:

 

It's your call, but I hardly ever change the points unless they are really bad. The material that they make the new points out of just does not seem to hold up as well. If you do decide to change them, I suggest Kohler brand.

100%

[953 nut 62,906]

19 hours ago, Racinbob said:

Using the locknuts lets me not tighten the nipple as much for future removal

Lock nut is the way to go but be sur to get a top quality electrical conduit lock nut from an electrical supply house,   do not buy the junk ones being sold at big box stores.

[BradKahler 178]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Your blade quadrant resembles the curved #11 in the IPL clip below.

This early one shows 3 holds--left, center, and right for positioning the blade straight rotated to either side. Some later models came with 5 holes with the extras being left and right of the center halfway to the “outer” holes.

Some members with a 3 drilled it to become a 5 and are quite pleased with the extra positions. 
(Note that blades before 1964 had a different style of quadrant)

 

 

 

Ok, got it.  I'll check today to see how many holes.  

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

 

[BradKahler 178]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

 

You won’t. I ended up “decanting" my penetrant into little 2 oz. bottles like these.

I can drip or squirt. 

 

 

I'm glad to hear it's not just me that was having issues.  I'd prefer drip bottles over spray bottles anyway, less mess.

 

Thanks!

 

[BradKahler 178]

52 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Lock nut is the way to go but be sur to get a top quality electrical conduit lock nut from an electrical supply house,   do not buy the junk ones being sold at big box stores.

 

There are only two big box stores in my area and I don't know of any electrical supply houses within reasonable distance

 

Would this style lock nut work?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Brass-Pipe-Fitting-Locknut-Female/dp/B07QM8T78V

 

 

[953 nut 62,906]

5 minutes ago, BradKahler said:

 

There are only two big box stores in my area and I don't know of any electrical supply houses within reasonable distance

 

Would this style lock nut work?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Brass-Pipe-Fitting-Locknut-Female/dp/B07QM8T78V

 

 

No, you want a steel locknut. Most of the ones at big box stores are cast pot metal or thin stamped steel. Home Depot or ACE may have steel locknuts for ridged conduit.

[BradKahler 178]

15 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

No, you want a steel locknut. Most of the ones at big box stores are cast pot metal or thin stamped steel. Home Depot or ACE may have steel locknuts for ridged conduit.

 

Turns out I was using the wrong search words on Amazon.  I was searching for NPT pipe nuts, I should have been searching for electrical conduit nuts.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Raco-1194B2-Locknut-1-Inch-Conduit/dp/B00G9IR596?

 

[Racinbob 12,397]

Steel (on the right), not brass or pot metal.

 

 

They can be found at the big boxes. Like Richard said, often tagged for rigid conduit.

 

Sigma ProConnex 1-in Rigid / IMC Zinc-plated Steel Conduit Locknut Conduit Fittings (2-Pack) 49103 at Lowes.com

Edited November 26 by Racinbob

[BradKahler 178]

6 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

Steel (on the right), not brass or pot metal.

 

 

They can be found at the big boxes. Like Richard said, often tagged for rigid conduit.

 

Sigma ProConnex 1-in Rigid / IMC Zinc-plated Steel Conduit Locknut Conduit Fittings (2-Pack) 49103 at Lowes.com

 

Thanks.  You can definitely see the casting marks on the ones on the left.  I'm going to swing by Lowes today to see what they might have in stock.

 

 

[953 nut 62,906]

26 minutes ago, BradKahler said:

 

Turns out I was using the wrong search words on Amazon.  I was searching for NPT pipe nuts, I should have been searching for electrical conduit nuts.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Raco-1194B2-Locknut-1-Inch-Conduit/dp/B00G9IR596?

 

That is a ridiculously high price, go to lowes, Home Depot, or ACE

Edited November 26 by 953 nut

[BradKahler 178]

4 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

That is a ridiculously high price, go to Lowes, Home Depot, or ACE

 

I 100% agree 

 

Around here, Lowes is the only one that stocks 1" stuff and I'm heading there after lunch.  I'm finding more and more that the only place to find a lot of things is online 

[BradKahler 178]

I stand corrected.  My local Ace Hardware actually had 1" conduit fittings.  

 

Unfortunately no one around here had 1" street elbows so I ended up having to order one along with a 4" nipple.  Parts should be here sometime next week.  

 

Thanks for the help everyone.  I hope y'all have a nice Thanksgiving.

 

[EB-80/8inPA 1,934]

On 11/24/2025 at 8:57 PM, BradKahler said:

My best guess is the blade lever is bent to a position where it shouldn't be

Can’t tell from the pic but it might need to be flipped around.  I had a similar problem when I mounted mine backwards one year.  I have to remove the bell and do up some protective greasy sleeve for the driveshaft which seems wrong - I don’t think my blade’s control arm was meant for the B-80 but I’ll make do until a nice hydro combo comes up for sale nearby.

[BradKahler 178]

On 11/26/2025 at 8:06 PM, EB-80/8inPA said:

Can’t tell from the pic but it might need to be flipped around.  I had a similar problem when I mounted mine backwards one year.  I have to remove the bell and do up some protective greasy sleeve for the driveshaft which seems wrong - I don’t think my blade’s control arm was meant for the B-80 but I’ll make do until a nice hydro combo comes up for sale nearby.

 

The blade blade assembly isn't installed right now so I haven't been able to try this.  It's possible sometime next week I'll be able to do so and I'll report back at that time.

 

Thanks

 

[BradKahler 178]

I've been tinkering with the B-80 for the last week or so and I'm making progress towards driving it in the near future.  The fuel system has been completely redone including a carburetor rebuild.  The condenser is installed and I was able to start the engine to see if it helped, and I believe it did.  It started and idled just fine and also accelerated just fine, no more missing or surging.  I'm guessing the condenser was the biggest culprit, thanks for that tip!  Once the fuel pump filled the bowl the bowl started to leak, something it hadn't done before.  Of course I had just finished cleaning the bowl and it was corroded in the bottom but I didn't see the tiny pin hole when I reinstalled it.  I have a replacement bowl on order.  

 

I also drained the gearbox and at first I thought it was just muddy fluid but then realized it was about 4 or 5 to 1 oil to water mix.  By the time it was done draining it was probably mostly oil.  I'm going to fill it with diesel and let it sit until I have it drivable next week and then I'll drive it for a few minutes, drain, refill with diesel and drive again for a few minutes before draining and filling with gear oil.  It certainly isn't as bad as the 656 was   Having a gantry crane to lift the front end sure makes changing oil easy.

 

 

 

Also, the gravely muffler is installed and looks and sounds great.  I'd find a small tail pipe to point the exhaust out to the side.  I have been looking but haven't found anything yet.  I did learn a hard lesson yesterday after I had it running for the first time.  I noticed gas on the ground so I leaned down to get a closer look and put my hand on the muffler to support myself.  That was a mistake   Hopefully I won't do that again....

 

[Handy Don 15,057]

17 minutes ago, BradKahler said:

4 or 5 to 1 oil to water mix.

The oil usually floats leaving the water on bottom (unless you’ve recently stirred it up) so water comes out first

 

17 minutes ago, BradKahler said:

I'd find a small tail pipe to point the exhaust out to the side

Lots of tailpipe “tips” on the car restorer supply sites. Might be hard to choose one! 😁

[BradKahler 178]

I found a 90 degree stainless fitting that worked.  

 

I repaired the broken stud on the battery box and now need to clean the frame before reinstalling it.  Next is to install the new replacement fuel bowl and the battery. then I should be ready to try starting it up again.  Who knows, that might happen yet today

 

[Retired Wrencher 6,146]

On 11/24/2025 at 5:09 PM, Sparky said:

Nice score.. and with a couple attachments 

  I have a ‘77 B-80 and she’s a great machine! Mowed occasionally with the 36” RD and then get hosed off and dragged to the local tractor shows 

 

 

Mike that still  a locker.

[Retired Wrencher 6,146]

On 11/24/2025 at 7:55 PM, BradKahler said:

 

The condition of the muffler turned out to be not what I was expecting.  The previous owner had welded a plate over one end of the muffler.  I thought it was to keep the exhaust from blowing into the drivers face.  So I removed the plate and found that the baffle an grill was missing 

 

So now I have to come up with some sort of replacement.  I'd like to use the Gravely muffler but I'm leery of trying to remove the pipe nipple in the block.

 

 

Too bad we can’t find someone to make those shusher mufflers. They’re pretty simple design. I’ve always liked those mufflers.

Edited yesterday at 11:11 AM by Retired Wrencher
I was wrong.

[BradKahler 178]

53 minutes ago, Retired Wrencher said:

Too bad we can’t find someone to make those shusher mufflers. They’re pretty simple design. I’ve always liked those mufflers.

 

They are definitely unique looking mufflers.  I'm guessing whoever blanked off one side didn't like the exhaust being blown back in their faces.  I was hoping when I removed the plate the the baffles would still be there.  If someone wants this muffler they are welcome to it.

 

 

[BradKahler 178]

Yesterday I tried starting the engine after replacing the leaking fuel bowl and found the starter solenoid wasn't getting any power.  The first thing I found was I didn't have the PTO lever in the disengaged position.  The next thing I found was a bunch of burned and spliced wiring along with the connections to the ignition switch being in the wrong positions.  I'm not sure how it had started for me previously but the wiring is a total mess.  There were splices wrapped with tape. I found one wire that was spliced twice and three different colors of wire were used!

 

The plug for the ignition switch is toast so I ordered a replacement that includes a pigtail.  The ammeter was bypassed, I assumed due to a bad meter but found that the spade connector was not making contact with the post.  So the ammeter is ok, I just need to replace the spade terminal.  Also, the Rectifier tested bad using the Diode setting on my meter.  One side is open and the other side is shorted.

 

On the ignition switch, the (B)attery connection was on the (I)gnition terminal, the (R)ectifier connection was on the (A)ccessory terminal, the (A)ccessory connection was on the (R)ectifier terminal, and the (I)gnition terminal was on the (B)attery terminal.  Looking at the switch layout diagram it doesn't look like this arrangement should really make any difference but I'll go ahead and wire in the replacement plug to match the wiring diagram.

 

I tested the clutch safety switch and it seems to be working so today I'll dig a little deeper to see if I can figure out why no voltage was getting to the starter solenoid.  

 

 

[Handy Don 15,057]

8 hours ago, BradKahler said:

Also, the Rectifier tested bad using the Diode setting on my meter.  One side is open and the other side is shorted.

This isn’t clear to me, can you explain further how you tested?

Do you have a rectifier bridge or a voltage regulator there? Bridges are easily tested with a VOM using either the DCV setting and a battery or else the diode setting sans battery. But a VR is isn’t really testable with VOM alone--it needs both an AC input and a 12v reference supply. 

Many of the the VRs that I’ve encountered (including on both the Onan P218 and P220) have one of the stator terminals directly tied to the 12v output terminal. That could look like a short.