stryped wrote:

I got it working last night by just lubig up the shaft. I have one
question though.

How close is "good enough" when dealing with an engine such as a
tiller like this in terms of the bore and crank journals being
perfect? I would like to attempt to rebuild it because I have never
doen so before but I don’t have the measuring equipment to check those
two items. Can I go over the crank jhournal with 00 steel wool to
clean it up to see what it looks like? I noticed just visually it
looked ok, however there is a very small area of "material" that I
cant seem to get off. Like maybe it was aluminum left over from the
connecting rod?

I am just curious as to what level of preceision is needed for a
tiller that is only used ocassionally in the summer. But at the same
time I would not want to spend the time and effort and have the thing
blow up the first time I used it.

With the engine assembled, take hold of the crankshaft and try to wobble
it in a radial direction. If it moves noticeably, there's more wear than
there ought to be in the bearings.

You can do the same with the piston. Take off the cylinder head
(assuming that it's not a blind bore), put your fingers on the piston
and try to move it from side to side. Any noticeable movement of the
piston indicates that there's a lot of wear in the engine. It's best to
do this in a direction perpendicular to the crankshaft, as this is the
direction in which there will be most wear. Wear will probably be worse
at the top of the cylinder due to there being less oil reaching the top.

This method is simpler than trying to use a feeler gauge. Use of a
feeler gauge in a cylindrical gap is a bit questionable anyway.

Best wishes,

Chris