TCHedOff

Wires37,

Rod's pretty well known on this side of the ocean.

I'll let someone else chime in on his accomplishments (too many to list). But he does pretty much any and everything engine related. He'll freshen up old engines, improve new ones, and does "modding". I've been lucky enough to meet him at his house a few times and learn from him (and it was more about boat design & set ups than engines).

I remember Rod telling me a few things about engines though: "Todd, most people think they know more than Novarossi, who spends @1 million a year on R&D, and they try to improve on their engine. Dont you think if they (Novarossi) knew how to make a better engine they would do it!?! The end result is these people read some crap on the internet from someone who doesnt know *^^ and then they go and wonder why their boat doesnt run worth a crap and end up quitting the hobby after spending a bunch of money!" Rod also said that the "modding" he does is more about making sure that the engine works like it was meant to - things like making sure tolerances were right, conrod-to-wrist pin was loose enough, checking that things are true (straight), or at a true 90* angle etc, changing a shim height, or adjusting the amount of water that flows thru the engine. He was dead clear that for the typical boater/racer shouldnt be messing with porting/timing etc unless they want headaches and problems. I'm relaying this to you pretty much verbatim.

I have 2 nitro engines Rod has looked over (.21 Novarossi & .12 Novarossi). The .21 is one he put together out of spare parts essentially with one of Rod's custom K&B black carbs. I mentioned to him that it was going into a rigger that was on the heavier side (weight wise) and he said, "I'm glad you mentioned that, I'm going to make a change to your engine", and when I got the engine he showed me how he had changed the spray bar in the carb to draw more fuel.

My .12 is the new 3 port Top engine from Glenn Quarles. Rod changed the shim height, plugged the water exit outlet on the head and drilled a smaller diameter hole in the top of the head to restrict the water some (so now water exits stright up from the top of the engine). I dont know what else he did, but he said "Todd, now just leave those #@*^ engines ALONE and go race! Spend your time on set up of your boat and props and that is where you'll get more speed!!!"

I'm passing these words of wisdom on to you - it's up to you if you want to listen. As for me, I took what he had to say VERY seriously indeed and am going to listen/do EXACTLY as he said.

todd hollander