195.6 Problems

Glad to see things are working out for you.  Post a link so we can see and hear it now.

Usually it's just the softer shaft that wears bad. If the shipping turns out to be too much, pull one or two of the rockers off and measure the inside diameter. Then measure the outside diameter of a non-worn area of the shaft. Check fit a rocker over a non-worn part of the shaft too. There should be 0.001-0.002" difference (rod & main bearing clearance is 0.0010-0.0015", a little more on the rockers should be about right). If you can find a piece of tubing the correct diameter it might be no more than shipping a good used assembly over. Before going that route, you'd want to measure the ID of all the rockers to see if they are all the same. The rockers could be reamed to the same diameter and matched to a slightly oversize piece of tubing. If the tubing needs sizing this process could get costly though. Should be easier (and therefore cheaper) to size the rockers to oversize tubing. Then just drill the tubing to match the old one. I'm not talking about a lot oversize, just a few thousandths (maybe a couple hundredths) of an inch. Something to run across the local machine shops.

If you can't see the wear in the shaft (most would be on the bottom, so rockers would have to be removed) it's probably okay. Might make a little noise, but the 196 OHV will ALWAYS make a nice little tapping sound -- should be about like a well oiled sewing machine at idle with the hood up.

Pokerchip wrote: Its a good thing 196 rockers grow on trees!

Funny, there just happens to be a 196 rocker assembly tree here in Las Vegas!   I have a used spare if you really need it. Shipping shouldn't be too rediculous!

Yeah, that loud "ticking" sound is definitely an exhaust leak. There is no gasket between the manifold and block, and no "donut" gasket -- just a balled end on the headpipe that fits into the exhaust manifold. You can use a thin coating (not much more than a skim coat) of high temp "red" RTV on both. Make sure they are real clean before bolting up. 

Well the mechanic came around yesterday, and he checked over a few things, and it turns out that everything is ok! The dizzy might need a rebuild, but thats all. we managed to get it started after jumping the battery from my mum's Corolla.

This is what it sounded like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlWSs2syjKY


Edited by Pokerchip - Nov/03/2009 at 8:39pm