grassie

Something else not that important but important to me is the fact that the inlet gaskets are made with a narrower and wider side but it seems like they get installed which ever way. My engine had 3 the wrong way and that could interfere with gas flow.
A pic or two of the engine and the gaskets and the donkey it is going into.

BJ64

In all fairness... one gets the idea that these units are assembled by young Chinese kids - probably with not much training or basic engineering skills.

Having said that, the manufacturing process seems quite reasonable for the price. Finding machining swarf inside the rear cover is just plain bad QA (even though you usually get a QA "pass" sticker somewhere on the engine).

My biggest beef with this engine has been the complete lack of lubrication of anything forward of the radial crank. And... by it's very design, it's extremely difficult to push lube up there during run-in etc.

Hence the several mods around a this thread that involve drilling an tapping a hole up the nose cone end so you can give the cams, followers etc. a good drink of lube prior to and after running.

My 'tappets' (cam followers) were SOOO dry, they had black powder around them (almost seizing one or two in) due to steel on aluminium running dry-as.

A bit of TLC prior to first run.. and this donk isn't too bad.

I hope you're enjoying your ASP 400...and the learning that comes with it

BJ

chorner

Myself, I ended up replacing all of the gaskets with thin gasket sheet. I made copies of all the original gaskets, and set them aside so I could make more copies if needed at some point. I also noticed the stock gaskets would sometimes cover/be installed the wrong way, and I opened up the size of mine when I made them slightly. With all the slight changes I made, it really seemed to change the running characteristics in a noticeable way.

BJ64

Good one, Chorner

BJ

grassie

I would like to add to that, if the the manual were written correctly as in the picture, far less of these engines would experience problems. Sorry, I don't understand why the software rotated the picture. Indeed the breather should be plugged during operation. That will inevitably cause proper lubrication of the front part of the engine.

grassie

@Chorner, when modifying for performance a lot of small things in the end comes together to add power.

grassie

@ BJ, Mate I think I was just lucky as I drowned my engine in fuel at the first run. I closed the breather to the tank and forgot to open the darn thing resulting in fuel running out the carb. Then I primed the engine to the point where it formed hydrolic lock. So I had to get rid of that. by now Everything and I mean everything was covered in fuel, that includes me. There was so much fuel I had to remove the plugs and turn the engine over to get rid of some of it. Well, needless to say it started right up after this commotion.
You know what techies are all about, when everything else fails, read the manual! After 3 tanks I settled down and read the manual and then decided to check RCU for some tips....
Imagine my surprise when I read about all the problems some of the guys had. Well I decided not to fix something that aint broke and to date I am lucky I guess.
I just rinsed the engine with WD 40 and then blasted a can of Corrosion X into it for good measure, then plugged the the drain plug.
Next step is to make another ring with a slightly bigger dia pipe as mine is a tad thin and the stinger is also to small. See pics. It is nice and quite tough.

BJ64

Nice work, Grassie

Compared to my attempt to make a big-*ssed diam collector ring, that thing looks mint.

How does she sound?

BJ

grassie

I would like to have a bit deeper sound out of it. I will post a video as soon as I start it again. I had a sound file but it disappeared.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Nice exhaust collector ring you made there grassie.

SrTelemaster150

Thinner head gaskets will raise the compression ratio. What is the thickness if the OEM compared to your gaskets?

grassie

Thanks Kmot. Only problem is that it is a bit restrictive. I am not getting max RPM. I already bought 5/8" copper pipe to make a slightly bigger collector ring. the rest works great. I basically just copied your ring. I used a small pipe bender though and did not use heat to bend the ring. I will post pics when I get to making the new ring. Ive been out of town for a while but hopefully I will get stuck in again next week.
Kmot, is your engine still around? I wish I had the inclination to make such a masterpiece!

rfrantz

Does anyone have a current available carburetor replacement suggestion from OS or Saito. I have access to a machine shop so adapting should not be a problem. I've been unable to get a consistent tune with the stock carb. I can only open the needle 1/2 to 3/4 turn before going overly rich at wot. When trying to lean to a comfortable tune the needle becomes incredibly sensitive and unrepeatable. I'm guessing sloppy tolerances may be blame. Also is there any reason other mounting constraints for the carb being 90 degrees to the inlet? I'm also considering converting to ignition and possibly gasoline.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Hi grassie. Has a month gone by already?? Sheesh.....

Yes, I still have my ASP400. It's in a display case, I see it every day lol...

nicoladestro

Hi everybody. I am doing some maintenance on my ASP400. I found that the bottom heads have 2 or 3 sealing aluminum gasket (spare part 80112). The top cylinder heads, instead, have only 1 gasket. How is it possible ? Is it normal ?
Thank you

grassie

I havent taken my engine apart completely, only to check for burrs and so on. I ca only think that they did this to get less compression on the bottom cylinders as there will be more fuel and oil present.

nicoladestro

Yes.. i was thinking this too, but maybe it is simply a wrong assembly. Thank you grassie.
Other opinion or experience ?
Bye

the Wasp

My Feedback: (1)

can some one tell me where I can buy ASP parts inside the USA ? a link would be helpful !

I never thought I would strip a plug thread, but I did, I have a Magnum 180 RFS, as I was installing a new plug the sealing ring got caught on a plug thread and as I tightened the plug 2 threads stripped in the head, I can't believe it happened.

so guess what, Magnum has discontinued the 180 RFS and there is no head to be found, so I am betting if APS makes a 180 RFS it's head will fit my magnum.

boy, I sure hope I can get a new head, cause I would sure hate to see this $400 engine with less than 3 gallons run threw it just wasting away on the bench for the next 100 years..

BTW, the idle was effected by the level of fuel in the tank, but other than that the engine ran fantastic, powerful too, it turned an APC 17X8W the same RPM as the Satio 180 was reported to do, that was 8800.

thanks guys !!
Jim

BJ64

If push comes to shove and you can't get a replacement head, Jim - is here a helicoil kit available for your plug size?

BJ

capnpaul

hi Jim, Adrian can repair the head for you. I think it would be cheaper and stronger.
ch-ignitions.com

rfrantz

I've torn down, cleaned and reassembled two brand new engines and both had double aluminum head gaskets per cylinder.

the Wasp

My Feedback: (1)

BJ64

capnpaul

thanks guys for the help !!

""hi Jim, Adrian can repair the head for you. I think it would be cheaper and stronger.
ch-ignitions.com""

stronger would be nice, as those threads did pulled out rather easily

Jim

nige69

Hi All,

Im looking at getting one of these motors to put into a 77" Ziroli PT17Stearman and have read through all 3000+ posts. I couldn't find (or can't remember seeing) the dimensions of this motor, in particular the length of the motor from mounting plate to the back of the prop.

Thanks.

Nigel

BJ64

Firewall to base of prop is 160mm.

Standard mounting is ~ 35mm.

You still need some standoff from motor to firewall to clear the carby etc. if you choose to design your own mounting plate.

Cheers,

BJ

nige69

Thanks BJ.

Will help greatly. Looks like I will have to set the firewall back approximately 20mm