One of the problems with vertical-cylinder OHV engines is that if the valve retainer breaks, or slips off due to poor assembly, you get the outcome that stockman got. Hence a brand-new, never-been-started GeoTech 65 might easily have a brittle or wrongly installed valve retainer like stockman's seems to have had, and produce the same result again. A new valve and a new retainer sound like a better solution to me, at least if the original piston has been carefully inspected and isn't cracked or bent. (It would be a good idea to check that the connecting rod, cylinder bore and cylinder head were not damaged too, of course.)
I suggest the first step should be to contact the same US vendors that Mr Bonnar used so successfully in the Kirby Lauson thread, giving the model number and part numbers that Joe has found. I think stockman's specific model is called OHH65. (There are also OHH50, OHH55, and OHH60 versions. The last number seems to be the claimed horsepower.)
Last edited by grumpy; 06/12/12 01:28 AM. Reason: Add detail
