In a buy out I recieved about 15 820 engines. The metal tags on the shrouds mostly have chrysler on them but some have westbend. The stuffers all have westbend cast into them along with the port covers. They also have aluminum pull starters. In the past I had also came upon others most with U.S. Motor Power stickers in place of metal tags. The stuffers & port covers do not have a logo cast into them. They also had steel pull starters. Some of the crankshafts have drilled rod journals and some don't. Most are model # 82006. I am planning having 3 built for the back of a 1959 pecival kart I am restoring and want to use the oldest to make it as correct as possible. What parts should I keep? Is there a person or company in the midwest that rebuilds these?
thanks,
Tim
History of the 820?
Moderator: Rob Voska
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tim mclaughlin
- Posts: 20
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- Vintage Karting items owned: Percival? U.S 820's
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Dick Teal
- Posts: 229
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:12 pm
- Vintage Karting items owned: 1959 Mak-Kart, 1960Fox 60L, 1961 Fox (2), 1962 Fox, 1963 Fox, 1964 Fox, Margay New Breed
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Re: History of the 820?
Tim,
The engines that have the West Bend tags are the earliest. First production was in late 1961 and sold as 1962 models; they will also have West Bend on the stuffers. 82006 models were made for chain saws according to West Bend documents.
The earliest engines had steel cylinder head shrouds; they were changed to aluminum early on. You can try a magnet on the ones you have to see if they are steel or aluminum.
The early pull starters are cast aluminum and are smooth on the outside; they also have a steel roll pin that the rope ties to in the rubber pull handle that you can see.
The Chrysler Power Bee engines also have cast aluminum starters but the tooling was changed to add a raised area on the outside surface of the housing. The rope can not be seen in the handle because there is a metal plate that covers it.
The West Bend kart engines were painted a champaign brown color and the Chrysler engines did not have paint. I don't know about chain saw engine color.
To be correct for your early kart you should use the West Bend engines but once the paint is gone most will not know the difference.
The crankshaft output shaft is stepped on kart engines and the engines that have left hand threads rotate clockwise when looking at the end of the shaft. The engines with right hand threads rotate counter clockwise.
I used to build engines in the early days but I use Dave Bonbright to do my work now; his phone number is 1-707-938-8122. He will rebuild the stock engines and modify them if that is what you want. He will give you a quote over the phone.
If you ever want to sell some of the engines please let me know; I'm always looking for parts and pieces.
Dick Teal
teal@charter.net
The engines that have the West Bend tags are the earliest. First production was in late 1961 and sold as 1962 models; they will also have West Bend on the stuffers. 82006 models were made for chain saws according to West Bend documents.
The earliest engines had steel cylinder head shrouds; they were changed to aluminum early on. You can try a magnet on the ones you have to see if they are steel or aluminum.
The early pull starters are cast aluminum and are smooth on the outside; they also have a steel roll pin that the rope ties to in the rubber pull handle that you can see.
The Chrysler Power Bee engines also have cast aluminum starters but the tooling was changed to add a raised area on the outside surface of the housing. The rope can not be seen in the handle because there is a metal plate that covers it.
The West Bend kart engines were painted a champaign brown color and the Chrysler engines did not have paint. I don't know about chain saw engine color.
To be correct for your early kart you should use the West Bend engines but once the paint is gone most will not know the difference.
The crankshaft output shaft is stepped on kart engines and the engines that have left hand threads rotate clockwise when looking at the end of the shaft. The engines with right hand threads rotate counter clockwise.
I used to build engines in the early days but I use Dave Bonbright to do my work now; his phone number is 1-707-938-8122. He will rebuild the stock engines and modify them if that is what you want. He will give you a quote over the phone.
If you ever want to sell some of the engines please let me know; I'm always looking for parts and pieces.
Dick Teal
teal@charter.net
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Gordon Duax
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:39 pm
- Vintage Karting items owned: Lots!
Re: History of the 820?
Were the 820s even available in '59 ?
And when they finally were available,
was there even a class to run 3-8.2 cu in engines ?
As Rob Voska just told Lynn
"Remember the spirit and intent of this whole deal is to preserve history not change or improve history or not to chase land speed records."
Just my thoughts,
would you not be more period correct to have 3-580s ?
And when they finally were available,
was there even a class to run 3-8.2 cu in engines ?
As Rob Voska just told Lynn
"Remember the spirit and intent of this whole deal is to preserve history not change or improve history or not to chase land speed records."
Just my thoughts,
would you not be more period correct to have 3-580s ?
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ted johnson
- Posts: 1685
- Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:59 am
Re: History of the 820?
820's weren't available until late '61/early '62. (3) 580's would still have been a cubic inch too big for GKCA or GPKCA rules in the olden days. I once ran (2) Mc6's plus an Mc20 for 16.4 C.I. - Barely Legal 
! TJ
! TJ