New (Old) Garage Ornament - 1966 Sears 250

[Speedbag]

So this relic followed me home last weekend (literally, on a trailer), a 1966 Sears 250 Twingle.

It was my Dad's, and has spent the last 38 years crammed into the corners of various garages and sheds, covered with rugs and old blankets, until now. I plan to just get it cleaned up and fully detailed and get it running again.

I vaguely remember it running last when I was a kid. During the late '70s and very early '80s my Dad had several Honda SOHC 750s, an old BSA chopper, and this thing (last time this one was tagged was 1981). Some brain donor pulled out in front of him on one of the Hondas and he t-boned their front fender and racked up a leg pretty badly. After that he gradually sold off all the bikes except this one and never rode again. I'm not sure why he kept this one.

By the look of it at a glance, about all I need is a throttle cable and to rid the carb of the inevitable goop and get rid of half a tank of incredibly nasty gas....

 

[ducpainter]

Be mindful of the crank seals. If they leak, it will suck air and seize.

[Speedbag]

Be mindful of the crank seals. If they leak, it will suck air and seize.

Good call, especially after this much downtime.

Oddly, the tires are in amazingly good condition, tubes hold air just fine.

[ducpainter]

Maybe no electrical equipment in these garages and sheds. Electric motors create ozone.

[Speedbag]

Nothing but your basic lights, garage door openers and such.

[yamifixer]

That is exceptionally cool.

 Built by Puch they are relatively reliable. sadly Ducpainter is right and those crank seals are a must.

[Speedbag]

The seals are available, we'll see how much of a PITA they are to replace. Wonder if I can luck out and swap them without tearing the entire engine down.....

[Stuka Pilot]

After that period of time I would toss the tyres and tubes regardless of how good they may look.

[ducpainter]

The seals are available, we'll see how much of a PITA they are to replace. Wonder if I can luck out and swap them without tearing the entire engine down.....

Most...and I repeat...most 2 stroke crank seals are replaceable without splitting the cases.

You'll need a puller for the flywheel, and possibly the primary gear.

I'd see if it runs, before I did the seals. You might need to do more, and if the cases need to be split, I wouldn't want fresh seals in there while taking things apart.

[Speedbag]

Yeah, the initial plan is to clean the carb, points, and plugs then see where it goes....

Winter project, since it's just around the corner.

[Speedbag]

Got bored over Thanksgiving weekend, so I finally tore into this thing a bit.

Pulled the carb and stripped it to find that it was remarkably free of crud. Gave it a good soak for the better part of a week and put it back together, all passages are clear, should be good to go there.

I wish the 'remarkably free of crud' comment could also be said for the gas tank. There was so much goo down deep in it that I couldn't get more than a drop of the nasty old gas to come out with the crossover tube banjo bolts and the petcock completely removed. Yes, you read that right. I dumped in about a gallon of E85 for a solvent to mix with the old gas and started ramrodding the holes with a bamboo skewer to get the flow going. From what I can see down the cap hole there's just some fine rust sediment left, along with a little black goo. I had the black goo drooling out of the bolt and petcock holes, and it is the strangest thing I've ever seen in a gas tank, like thick plasticky tar that looks and smells completely evil. Next I plan to try and scoop out anything I can reach through the cap hole from the bottom, plug the holes, refill with E85 again, and drain it again. After it dries out I'll fill it with vinegar and BBs and start shaking. The tank appears to be in pretty decent shape inside otherwise, and appears solid. Time will tell.

So, in closing, if anyone needs a couple gallons of E85/mystery goo, I'm your guy. Would probably make good bonfire starter.....  

[kopfjäger]

  Fire starter goo. 🔥

[ducpainter]

Ditch the E85 and get some MEK.

[Speedbag]

Yeah....been thinking about something a little more aggressive, but the air in my shop is probably toxic enough at the moment. Don't really want to risk damaging paint either since I want to keep this thing original.

Here's the black goo that's drooled out of the right side crossover tube hole onto the paper towel. The globules have solidified completely. Weird.

[ducpainter]

Weird indeed.