BTerry

My Feedback: (8)

Hello fellow .074 orphans! Now that I am down to my last remaining plug and they are prohibitively expensive on the auction sites, I am looking for another option. MECOA makes one now, but it uses regular plugs.

I contacted Jon Valentine on ebay and he mentioned he can make insert head buttons for turbo plugs. He wants to know how many to make, and what price people would be willing to pay. He will just list them on bebay.

So, who wants one? What would you pay? MECOA makes long plug inserts for $3.99, but a turbo plug equires more work. So, how much would you pay? $6? $10?

Let me know, and I will tell him how many to make!

Brett

**edit** I don't know what the cost will be, I just want to get an idea. I will ask him the price.

GrahamC

at $6 or $7 dollars I would take a couple.

cheers, Graham

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I would like some, so would anyone with any .074s still running. Conversations here end up on Google search results, so if the word gets out, he should be able to sell some.

ProBroJoe

Yea, $6 or $7 sounds reasonable... I have an immediate need for at least one.

Silvaire

My Feedback: (50)

The Norvel .074 wasn't in production very long - and neither were the plugs for them. Most of the .074's made are probably still around in the hands of modelers who place some value on them. As original plugs dry up, there would be more and more interest in having a replacement that would provide something near original performance. It's a shot from the hip, but I would guess that there would be an eventual turbo head market for perhaps as many as 30% of all the Norvel .074's ever made.

Seeing what NOS plugs have brought recently, and how many of the MECOA adapters have sold, I can't help but think there would be an immediate market for turbo plug heads.

A turbo plug head priced somewhere near $10 would probably sell enough to make it worth the effort of making a short production run of them.

I own three .074's and have but one new plug. I'm not excited about buying a MECOA standard plug head. (I'd rather try to make my own turbo plug adapter before I settle for one of those.) If or when a good quality turbo head is available, I would certainly buy a couple.

Arlen

Toad

The only way you could get one for $7 is if someone invested in having a bunch made on a Screw Machine.
I know some guys out there that could do this. I cant see anyone making a handfull of them and selling them at that price.
Vallentine should do his own research if he is interested

ChicaWolverina

I want one too, and that price is just fine.

eroc144

My Feedback: (1)

I'm always willing to try out high-quality replacement parts for my Norvels.

EG

DeviousDave

I've never done business with him or any of the various names he trades under, but I've heard enough that I won't.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

What would I be willing to pay?...look at this cool widget...cool how much is it?....how much ya got....?.....at $7.50 or so,, I'd get a couple once they got around and there was good info coming back here about them.....Rog
I have 3 .074's and about 5 glow plugs, but I've never burnt one yet, and I rarely fly any of them at full throttle so I'm guessing the Meccoa ones would do for me...

gcb

Has anyone tried the standard plug adapter? As engine size increases, volume loss of a standard plug decreases. For some of us, a small loss is acceptable.

Another possibility is for someone to adapt a standard burned-out NORVEL plug for a Turbo or Nelson plug.

Save your old burned-out plugs, just in case.

BTW, I'll take one if they are reasonable.

George

Mr Cox

I do wish that Meccoa would make turbo plug heads instead of the regular ones for cox etc. Only tends to fool people into thinking that it will work as well as the original one...

Japanman and Andy have shown how easy it is to make your own turbo head using an old plug.
It involves a PH#3 bit though which I'm struggling to find (sharp edges and right diameter), now I find myself looking at philips bits in every hardware story I happen to pass by...

gcb

Mr Cox,

I remembered the thread so I looked it up. Quote from Andy: I started a thread that allows you, with a little practise and a small investment in a Phillips bit and tap, to make your own turbo heads. You don't need a lathe, but you do need a drill press. Just use burned out, Norvel plugs as blanks. The problem is, most of us toss out burned out plugs. Why keep them? That's what I did and have precious few left so I have to make the turbo button from scratch.

Give it a try though, it's amazingly easy with a little practise.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_45...tm.htm#4533758

If you do find an acceptable #3 philips to sharpen, let us know. I'll look too.

I wonder if Japanman or Andy would consider doing some? Since it is their idea, it would be nice if they could make a few bucks from the idea. Besides, how much do you have to spend to buy a tapered drill, tap, and dedicated phillips to use on extinct NORVEL plugs? I have only one plug...the good one currently in the engine. [&o]

George

Mr Cox

The plot thickens as japanese philips are different from american/european ones... [:'(]

Silvaire

My Feedback: (50)

Regarding doing buisness with Valentine/Wisolmerski family:

I have had two eBay transactions with them - one purchase and one sale. I won't go into details, but one was a very straightforward transaction and the other was a bit complicated. In the second situation they took the "high road" in a matter when they could have justifyably done otherwise.

I would be quite willing to do future business with them!

Providing a Norvel .074 turbo plug head would be right within their "market area". Hopefully making a Norvel plug turbo plug adapter it is technically "doable" and they will decide to do so. (I know clearances are tight, and it might be necessary to make a complete cylinder head rather than just the "button" head.)

You have to wonder why MECOA would offer the standard plug head. I do know they are much easier to produce though, with a straight tapped plug hole.

Regardless of who you are, you would need to have access to an automatic screw machine or CNC lathe to be able to sell any style of head for what the market would be willing to pay. (If you didn't put much value on your time, you might be able to do a setup on a turret lathe for a short run though.)

Arlen

DeviousDave

I think the reason that they went with the standard plug is that the turning operations are simpler due to the tapped thru plug hole. They get more expensive when you have to hand load every part to do the other side.

ebeneezer3

I would be interested in a turbo plug head to keep my .074 running,

jessiej

I have purchased several items from Mr. Valentine and been quite pleased with each transaction. I would be very interested in a turbo head for the Norvel .074.

jess

Schu

My Feedback: (5)

Same w/ me if the price was not to high - I have maybe 4 or 5 Norvel .074's, but only 1 or 2 replacement glow plugs at this time.
So I guess I would need more than one.
Dale

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

What is shop time worth nowadays....$100 per hour? How many of these could the fastest pair of hands crank out per hour, and package for shipment and put in the mail? The production costs don't end there, then the payments need to be documented and deposited. Warrantee work is another hidden cost.

gcb

CP,

I have no idea what shop time costs. I'll take your word that it's $100.00/hr. I think most of us were assuming a home-shop hobbiest who could make some bucks to help pay for his hobby, rather than a professional machinist doing some commercial contract work.

As you allude, how many of these could a guy make before the fun subsides and it becomes merely a business venture? Unfortunately, I have no idea.

Perhaps someone like MECOA will see this thread and whip out a couple thousand heads for turbo or Nelson plugs.

George

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I would charge $20 for the first head and $15 for the second head, limit of 2 per customer, per order. If he sells them for less, some of them will end up on the auction sites getting sold for $20 anyway. If this guy is trying to help us, I want to think that his time is put to good use by flyers who really need those heads and who intend to use them.

BTerry

My Feedback: (8)

He hasn't yet responded to my inquiry, so maybe this is a moot point.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Maybe one of the other machinists looking in would help out if there was enough guaranteed [not wannabied ] earnest money upfront? I'll pay $25 for a 1/4-32 head that runs with as much power as stock. I think 17,000 with a APC 7x3 is a good standard to go by.

Japanman

There are only firipsu bits available here, which adds to the confusion.

Actually it was a no.2 bit that I used to do the first of mine.

If you guys are really getting stuck I`d be happy to make a few plug inserts, but I do have two young kids here so I do not have huge amounts of time.

J.M