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The good the bad the disappointing..59 economy!

L

Live4outdoors

New User
Well today I disassembled my economy to get her ready for restore and found the briggs engine has an aluminum head and sump...boo! That tells me a rebuild, the only confusing thing too me is the sump had the original color underneath their ac paint job but know that engine did not come that way from factory! Pretty sure it's original engine due to the oem paint and a date stamp of 59 on the fly wheel. My question is I have a spare engine in shed from years ago, would you guys split a perfectly running engine with great compression and no smoke and put a cast sump and head back on it considering I have the parts? Or am I best to leave it alone? Thanks all!
mvphoto11224.jpg
 
In the final analysis, that decision is your's alone to make. If your
are convinced that your tractor did not leave the factory with an
aluminum head and sump, then you must decide whether YOU
can accept those alterations and live with them.

But if you are a perfectionist that is bent on a 100 percent
perfect restoration, then those two things may be difficult to
accept... even though YOU might be the only person who would
know, once the engine has a fresh coat of paint.

As you say, you do have the correct parts and this spare engine
has been sitting around in your shed anyway on the off chance
that you will find a use for it. It seems to me that you could put
that engine back together with the aluminum sump and head
and then it could go back into your shed and gather fresh dust.

Going that route may provide you with a peace of mind that you
will not have if you ignore the facts you uncovered.
 
What difference does it make?
The route you take isn't going to make the world go away and life will go on as before and people will be confronted with the usual problems that plague life.
 
Before tearing into a good running engine I'd double check on the alum cylinder head I'm thinking by the mid 50's B&S was using alum heads as for the sump I've seen cast iron and alum just depends on the application ie Gilson tractors had cast iron Simplicity's had alum.
GB in MN
 
Generally speaking...... some collectors are never concerned about how
CORRECT the tractors are in their fleet but others insist that there is no
grey area. It is either 100 percent right or it is just plain wrong and that
knowledge can bug the heck out of them.

I agree that more research should be done before taking any action
because the OP wants to know that he is making a decision HE can live
with. He might try joining the group in the link below to see if he can find
a definitive answer there as to exactly when Briggs changed from cast iron
to aluminum heads and sumps.

In addition to that site, there are also discussion groups for Economy
tractors on My Tractor Forum, Garden Tractor Talk, Tractorbynet as well
as a fairly large group on Yahoo at this URL.


https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PowerKingTractors/info


Obviously, this is an important issue to the OP or he would not have come
here and asked about it.

Good luck in finding the answer you seek Live4outdoors.
Untitled URL Link
 
Well, I guess I am wrong, I've researched the engine after reading some posts and they all came out of the factory with an aluminum sump...I would have never guessed that considering the different metals expand at different rates, guess it has worked all these years and the model 19 was one of briggs best! The head was recommended to be changed every so many hours in the old manual and might explain the head, that wasn't as worry sum for me cause it is on top of the engine. Thanks guys
 
The good news is doubly good. Most importantly, you now have this issue resolved and it will no longer trouble you. Now you are free to proceed with the restoration. The other bonus is that your spare engine will remain intact.

That is a win-win end result.
 
Model 19 Briggs always had an aluminum head, AFAIK. I had a Model 14 on a Simplicity L walker, and it had an aluminum head. I think Briggs recommended changing the head gasket and cleaning combustion chamber carbon periodically. I don't think they intended for the head to be replaced unless it was damaged.
 
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