Preparing for January 14 Engine Teardown

Today I purchased an HA129S shell bearing set and a DR59 piston ring set (tri-chrome) for the Wisconsin S-12D engine that powers the rail-mower.  Frank Glatzl and I are going to tear the engine down during our January 14 get-together, replace those parts, and then put it back together.  Frank already has purchased a new set of gaskets so the engine will be in great running shape when we are done.  Frank had noticed that the breather tube had a lot of blow-by coming out of it, so that indicates the piston rings need to be replaced.  And as long as we are in there, we might as well replace the shell bearings.  Sure hope there isn't anything else we need to replace since it takes a lot of effort to find parts for this old engine.

Yesterday I was down in Austin so I stopped by American Bolt and picked up six stainless steel hex coupling nuts, plus the screw inserts to turn them into standoffs mounted on the rail-mower.  I will drill holes in the conveyor belting mats and then mount the mats onto the rail-mower using the standoffs to hold them in place.  It was actually a good solution to a vexing problem of finding affordable standoffs that wouldn't rust quickly.When I drill the holes for the screws I am going to tap them so the screws can be screwed in.  That should keep them in place, along with a nut at the back.  A short screw insert on the top of the coupling nut will keep it from unscrewing.