Thanks for the reply. I found the main issue to be the chain. Must have been a mixture of riding through mud and water. A good cleaning and lube seems to have stopped the grinding for now but the chain has side to side play in the links. I already replaced the silent chain from the advice you gave me a awhile back. I'm saving up to go through the whole machine. My wife really likes the wheeler so I decided to restore it and not sell. It's a fun little machine. I think my next major step is a leak down test, I'm getting idle drop randomly, bogging and last winter it didn't want to start very easy. Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it.

 

I have the main concept of a leak down test and I did some research. You plug the exhaust side, then I hook my pressure gauge to the intake side and set it to tdc right? Any tips on finding tdc? Thanks.

 

If you plan on leaving the spark plug in going through the intake manifold as the test area,just pull the timing plug on the recoil cover,slowly pull the recoil and watch as the 3 timing advance marks pass,then the "F" for for ignition,right after it is the "T" for tdc. It may be inverted. Stop there and be sure to have no more than 7 psi or you will have to replace the crank seals for sure as too much air will pop the seals. On home made testers,most people use bicycle pumps or low pressure pumps of that nature. Use soapy water around the head gasket,base gasket,engine case,etc. If it's leaking anywhere in those areas you should see bubbles. If the pressure drops but you can't visually see leaking,then most of the time it's crank seals especially the one behind the drive clutch.

 

This may be a dumb question but where exactly are the timing marks? I pulled the bolt on top of the recoil cover. I can see the flywheel turning and I was looking at the teeth and the lip that sticks out but don't see any marks. Thanks.

 

If the flywheel's all rusty you may not be able to see them,sometimes not even the F and T mark. Wouldn't sweat it. Just pull the spark plug and insert a straw. Pull the recoil over until the straw reaches the top of its travel and put the plug back in. Then hook up your gauge.

 

What's the limitation on pressure drop? I pumped it to about 6 psi and lost around 1 psi after six minutes or more. If that's bad I'll have to go back and retest it because I didn't have a lot of time to check for leaks. Thanks.

 

I always went for NO leaking after about 4-5 minutes. Others say 1 psi leak after 5 minutes or so is acceptable. Plus you never posted what your compression reading was..

 

I'll have to do another test. I don't have a compression tester right now. I might see if I can borrow one or buy one to have. Thanks again.

 

Just get a good one at any auto supply for a refundable deposit. I know Autozone and O'Reillys does this for people.