M700 rebuild and restore project

[SkidRoe]

Finally got the rebuilt motor back from Martin Motors. Although he was pretty quick on the turn-around, the shipping company dropped the ball. Not only was the freight three days late but they also trashed the pallet the motor was bolted too. There's some minor damage to one of the cooling fins but I think the internals are fine.

Used a come-along to pull it off the pallet.

Mounted on the motor plate.

Flywheel cowling installed.

Flywheel installed. Much easier to get back on than take off! Remember to install the two bolts that attach the distributor mount before putting the cowling and flywheel on. Duh!

Here's the little boo boo that Vitran Express created. I don't think losing an inch of cooling fin will matter much.

I think that your fin will be okay. I would take a file and smooth it up a bit so that it is less likely to catch dirt, and try to make it look a little prettier. That sucks that they damaged it. Maybe if there had been some cardboard wrapped over top of the heads..... hind sight....

 

[mahans7]

I think that your fin will be okay. I would take a file and smooth it up a bit so that it is less likely to catch dirt, and try to make it look a little prettier. That sucks that they damaged it. Maybe if there had been some cardboard wrapped over top of the heads..... hind sight....

Disgusting that they dropped your engine, just glad its only minimal damage. Looks really good so far!

 

[HanSolo]

Disgusting that they dropped your engine, just glad its only minimal damage. Looks really good so far!

It lives! Friday after work I began putting all the externals back on the long block. Intake/exhaust manifold, distributor, starter, oil fill, oil filter all went back on smoothly. Martin Motors included the gaskets for everything.

I got up early Saturday morning and continued by putting on all the cooling shrouds.

Later that morning I got some help and we stuffed the assembly into the machine.

Sunday morning and I'm ready to finish this off. I had already set piston one at TDC so it was just a matter of setting the distributor to fire cylinder one. Installed the plugs, wires, fuel pump, battery and added motor oil. Crossed my fingers and BAM the engine fires up first start! I hadn't put on the air cleaner and vacuum hoses yet so it was running pretty fast. Got all that hooked up and still too much RPM. I read through the service manual about the hook-up on the goverenor and it became clear. The throttle control rod was too short (it broke during tear down and I spliced it togeather). So after some adjustments there I was able to get the idle down and set high throttle to what I believe is 2800 rpm. The goverernor is kicking in under load so that's good. Next is getting wheels back on and getting out of the garage.

Another call for some help and I've got a buddy coming over to help me get the ROPS back on. The neighbors Case backhoe comes real handy!

Having a helping hand for that was huge. We got everything lined up and bolted down.

All I need to do now is put on the reproduction Melroe Bobcat stickers I had made. That and I'll strip the original wheels and repaint them. That will give me a good excuse to buy new tires too!

Aside from the appearence, the rebuilt motor has so much more power. No stumbling under load like before. The hydraulics are very responsive and strong.

Not bad for a 38 year old machine!

 

[ancomcabs]

It lives! Friday after work I began putting all the externals back on the long block. Intake/exhaust manifold, distributor, starter, oil fill, oil filter all went back on smoothly. Martin Motors included the gaskets for everything.

I got up early Saturday morning and continued by putting on all the cooling shrouds.

Later that morning I got some help and we stuffed the assembly into the machine.

Sunday morning and I'm ready to finish this off. I had already set piston one at TDC so it was just a matter of setting the distributor to fire cylinder one. Installed the plugs, wires, fuel pump, battery and added motor oil. Crossed my fingers and BAM the engine fires up first start! I hadn't put on the air cleaner and vacuum hoses yet so it was running pretty fast. Got all that hooked up and still too much RPM. I read through the service manual about the hook-up on the goverenor and it became clear. The throttle control rod was too short (it broke during tear down and I spliced it togeather). So after some adjustments there I was able to get the idle down and set high throttle to what I believe is 2800 rpm. The goverernor is kicking in under load so that's good. Next is getting wheels back on and getting out of the garage.

Another call for some help and I've got a buddy coming over to help me get the ROPS back on. The neighbors Case backhoe comes real handy!

Having a helping hand for that was huge. We got everything lined up and bolted down.

All I need to do now is put on the reproduction Melroe Bobcat stickers I had made. That and I'll strip the original wheels and repaint them. That will give me a good excuse to buy new tires too!

Aside from the appearence, the rebuilt motor has so much more power. No stumbling under load like before. The hydraulics are very responsive and strong.

Not bad for a 38 year old machine!

Nice job. Two questions, do you mind sharing the cost of the motor rebuild and what it included? and where does the other end of the hose coming off the oil breather tube go?
Thanks!

 

[HanSolo]

Nice job. Two questions, do you mind sharing the cost of the motor rebuild and what it included? and where does the other end of the hose coming off the oil breather tube go?
Thanks!

Martin Motors did the rebuild (found his shop on eBay). You send your core to him and he pays that shipping. As long as the motor is rebuildable, the price is $1800. When he's finished , you pay that and return shipping which in my case was $230. The rebuild includes main bearings, strenghtened rods, rod bearings, bore cylinders .003 over, pistons, valve guilds, grind valves and mill all mating surfaces. He gets a complete gasket kit and sends the remaining gaskets with the freshened long block. He also paints the motor. He advertises for the Wisconsin VH4D but he might work on other Bobcat motors. He did mention that he builds race engines also. The vacuum hose off the oil fill tube connects to a T fitting at the goverenor and air filter.

 

[Mikefromcny]

Martin Motors did the rebuild (found his shop on eBay). You send your core to him and he pays that shipping. As long as the motor is rebuildable, the price is $1800. When he's finished , you pay that and return shipping which in my case was $230. The rebuild includes main bearings, strenghtened rods, rod bearings, bore cylinders .003 over, pistons, valve guilds, grind valves and mill all mating surfaces. He gets a complete gasket kit and sends the remaining gaskets with the freshened long block. He also paints the motor. He advertises for the Wisconsin VH4D but he might work on other Bobcat motors. He did mention that he builds race engines also. The vacuum hose off the oil fill tube connects to a T fitting at the goverenor and air filter.

Looks great!!! thanks for sharing.

 

[Zorack]

Looks great!!! thanks for sharing.

Awesome writeup with pics,glad you have it rebuilt and going...$1800 is pretty good price for the rebuild and I would have gladly paid that if I was going to have a engine rebuild. Thanks for this thread

 

[Tazza]

Awesome writeup with pics,glad you have it rebuilt and going...$1800 is pretty good price for the rebuild and I would have gladly paid that if I was going to have a engine rebuild. Thanks for this thread

Awesome job indeed. You sure didn't waste any time getting it all installed and running again

 

[mahans7]

Awesome job indeed. You sure didn't waste any time getting it all installed and running again

Amazing what a big difference a little paint does especially when comparing your original pics. I like the idea of using a backhoe to replace the ROPS, I was going to use a big tree limb. Now if I only had a backhoe.

 

[ancomcabs]

Amazing what a big difference a little paint does especially when comparing your original pics. I like the idea of using a backhoe to replace the ROPS, I was going to use a big tree limb. Now if I only had a backhoe.

Thanks Solo for the info
Any chance you could get a pic and post it of the "t" fitting the breather tube vent connects to? I have the fitting on my filler tube but it has always just be open not connected to anything, I'd like to figure out where it might go on my 630 VH4D
The 1800 does sound reasonable and worth it, does it include the valves as well?

 

[HanSolo]

Thanks Solo for the info
Any chance you could get a pic and post it of the "t" fitting the breather tube vent connects to? I have the fitting on my filler tube but it has always just be open not connected to anything, I'd like to figure out where it might go on my 630 VH4D
The 1800 does sound reasonable and worth it, does it include the valves as well?

Thanks everyone for the compliments! Ancomcabs - the T fitting is shown below. The hose at 2 o'clock is the long run to the oil fill tube. The short hose at 4 o'clock goes to the barb on the governor (below the intake hose). The hose at 10 o'clock goes to the hard tube, post filter on the air filter. And yes, David Martin does grind the valves and replaces the guilds.

You can also see my jerry rig on the throttle link in the top right corner. I'll have to find a replacement rod and do that correctly someday LOL.

 

[ancomcabs]

Thanks everyone for the compliments! Ancomcabs - the T fitting is shown below. The hose at 2 o'clock is the long run to the oil fill tube. The short hose at 4 o'clock goes to the barb on the governor (below the intake hose). The hose at 10 o'clock goes to the hard tube, post filter on the air filter. And yes, David Martin does grind the valves and replaces the guilds.

You can also see my jerry rig on the throttle link in the top right corner. I'll have to find a replacement rod and do that correctly someday LOL.

Thanks HanSolo, my vh4d has an open fitting on the fill tube but I took a look around and found nothing else on the govenor or the air cleaner. The only thing I can see on the govenor is a line that looks ike it goes to the lower part of the engine block, it looks like a pressure line of some kind

 

[HanSolo]

Thanks HanSolo, my vh4d has an open fitting on the fill tube but I took a look around and found nothing else on the govenor or the air cleaner. The only thing I can see on the govenor is a line that looks ike it goes to the lower part of the engine block, it looks like a pressure line of some kind

Ancomcabs - In addition to the vacuum hoses mine has the same hard line that runs from the governor to the block (joins between the oil filter and distributor). Perhaps your older VH4D didn't need the vacuum line? The main thing is your governor needs to be functioning correctly least there be engine damage. The service manual states that. At operating speed, when you raise the arms or tilt the bucket at full peddle, you should hear the engine RPM drop slightly. You can also see the arm on the governor pull back slightly then return. If that's not happening, there could definitely be something missing or improperly adjusted.

 

[HanSolo]

Ancomcabs - In addition to the vacuum hoses mine has the same hard line that runs from the governor to the block (joins between the oil filter and distributor). Perhaps your older VH4D didn't need the vacuum line? The main thing is your governor needs to be functioning correctly least there be engine damage. The service manual states that. At operating speed, when you raise the arms or tilt the bucket at full peddle, you should hear the engine RPM drop slightly. You can also see the arm on the governor pull back slightly then return. If that's not happening, there could definitely be something missing or improperly adjusted.

Reproduction Melroe Bobcat stickers installed. A very nice touch!

 

[SkidRoe]

Reproduction Melroe Bobcat stickers installed. A very nice touch!

Nice work, Han!!

 

[HanSolo]

Nice work, Han!!

Here's some full body shots. I dug about a 30' long shallow trench, threw in some drain pipe and covered all in about an hour Saturday morning. This machine rocks!

 

[melli]

Here's some full body shots. I dug about a 30' long shallow trench, threw in some drain pipe and covered all in about an hour Saturday morning. This machine rocks!

Thanks for all the pics! Awesome job. Good for another 40... Not at all familiar with your machine, curious as to it's weight and hp.

 

[Zorack]

Thanks for all the pics! Awesome job. Good for another 40... Not at all familiar with your machine, curious as to it's weight and hp.

Looks really sweet! You could have posted a video of it workin for you too

 

[BobCat]

Looks really sweet! You could have posted a video of it workin for you too

Man great job! Those stickers just make it look factory new. Looks good!

 

[HanSolo]

Thanks for all the pics! Awesome job. Good for another 40... Not at all familiar with your machine, curious as to it's weight and hp.

Working load 1200 lbs. Tipping load 2500 lbs. 30 hp. air cooled Wisconsin VH4D engine. Weight 4230 lbs.