Kimhoff

My Feedback: (22)

What do you mean by blueprinting?

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

"Blueprinting" an engine is a term that refers to rebuilding the engine to the tightest clearances and tolerances called out for in the spec's of the engine.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

I took another look at the engine and found the timing marks. I am golden!

Cam and reduction gears timed:







Timing punch marks:













And the controversial 'crack':

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

....are you going to balance the pistons and rods ?

SJN

Great pics.

I think ill take mine apart again and do a detailed inspection the the pins.

I just bought an onlboard glow module for mine.
8 terminals, max 15 amps Its just operated by a on/off switch, or mixed into the radio on teh throttle chanel if i want...

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

I'm going to check the weights, yes. Don't know if I will do anything about it though, because trying to balance the counterweight afterwards might be tough without a slug. And I'm not really into making a jig and everything in order to do the job.

Unless you have one I can borrow.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

The engine is now almost completely disassembled. Some things of note:

The master rod needle bearing is made in Germany:



The main rear bearing is an NSK made in Japan:



The front main bearing is no name, but is a rubber sealed 6000RS:



The master rod capture bolt is left hand thread:



Some miscellaneous photos for anyone keeping a reference file:













This is a stand I made to keep the cylinders, pistons and rods, and linkpins organized:





The cylinders have a permanent liner, that is pinned. The steel liner then slides into it, and is keyed on the pin:





To be contined...

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

The cam drum is an assembly of several parts. They are timed and fortunately they have punch marks as well so the assembly can be taken apart and put back together again without worry. The cams are also ID'd as to whether intake or exhaust.











The intake cam lobes show signs of wear already, which I find bothersome.





The crankshaft has a small pit in it which I shall stone clean, as well as a couple of scratches from the prop driver that was probably assembled with some tiny pieces of grit inside it.



Lastly, the crank pin is not what you would call 'micro-polished'.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

The crank has been serviced. I stoned the pit out and then polished all the journals using a variety of abrasive cloth and sandpaper.





Looking a lot better!

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

I see the gobs of used crocus cloth....good man.

Did you order the link pins ?

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

I have sent my wish list to Just Engines in the UK to check on availability and pricing.

Crocus cloth. When I was employed, that stuff used to follow me home.

Now that tiny 1" x 3" piece is all I have left. I slice it into thin strips and use it sparingly. I need to find a cheap source for some more of it.

Motorboy

Hope Santa Claus will come to you with spareparts as gift.

pe reivers

Great thread!
I have one of the prototypes, but did not have any documentation. The manual in the link was half Dutch (my native tongue) half German. Thanks guys.
My engine came apart easily. The bearings in mine are all no-names and only seemed fit for demo-running, so I have not run it extensively yet. If I have to get it in running order, Kmot's pictures will be a great help. One of those future projects I suppose.

Best Seasons greetings to y'all,

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Thank you, Pe! This is the reason I am doing the thread, so that others with this engine will be able to save the photos for their own documentation as well as see how it is made and what to do to overhaul it.

[sm=49_49.gif]

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Still waiting for a reply to my e-mail to Just Engines in the UK for the spares I need. I sent it on 12/22 and re-sent it on 12/27. I don't know if they take a long holiday in the UK for Christmas?

Motorboy

I Europe are holiday 24/12-27/12 and 31/12-1/1. But not all has holiday to example supermarked etc.. The official such as mail, transport etc can have holiday..

Marcol

Just to let you guys know, Just engines aren't back until January 2nd.

Great thread , very interesting reading. Although, being a mechanical engineer by trade, some of the machining and heat treatment of the cam rings and gears does leave a bit to be desired.

I have seen the OS radial stripped down and I have to say that you can see where the extra dollars have been spent. The finish inside and out was just perfect. But then it should be at twice the price.

Once again many thanks for a great thread

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Thanks for the update on the holiday schedule gents!

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

I found a cheap source for ultra fine grit wet/dry paper. Harbor Fright tools has it in 9x12 sheets, seven sheets for $2.50 and among the grits available are 1200 and 1000. I also got a 50 yard roll of 500 grit cloth backed from Enco for $7.50 [8D]

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

I was contacted by Just Engines and informed they will not be open again until next week. Also, it will take some time to inventory the parts I am interested in and get back to me. I need my workbench for other projects so the FS400 has been placed into a box and put on the shelf until further notice.

See you next year! [sm=wink_smile.gif]

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Just an update about the spare parts situation. Just Engines in the UK was not able to source all the parts I needed and actually has nothing in stock. Fortunately, I have a friend in Germany and so through him I was able to source all the spares I needed through Conrad, the German distributor of the ASP FS400AR engines. I sould be receiving the parts within another couple of weeks I estimate.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

My spares arrived today from Germany. [sm=thumbup.gif]

However, I am right in the middle of overhauling and customizing an OS FS-70 Surpass. As soon as that is finished I will get back to the radial.

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

....lookin' good, Tom. [sm=thumbup.gif]

FBD.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Thanks Dave.

Jazzy

Very nice pics & documentation! Excellent job!

Seeing those bits of metal inside the rear housing about stopped my heart! I agree with FBD and Greg (I think it was those two guys...?) about the possible causes of the link pin failure. Someone probably couldn't get the circlip to seat all the way and forced it into the groove. It may even be possible someone used a drift on the rear assy to push the crank forward into the front housing. Whether the circlip was too thick or the groove too small or poor alignment was the culprit - it is mute now. I have seen similar things happen to hardened steel parts that were either not hardened properly or stressed in ways not associated with designed specs. The cam gears and lobes give me cause for concern as they too look to be of sub-standard workmanship. Then again, I'm an EE not an ME!

While I do see where corners were cut regarding the finishing of materials, it is still an impressive piece of mechanical ingenuity! I love seeing stuff like this and wish I could be there to help!

Those are jugs for the .80 right? If you are looking for piston assy or head assy parts that might be a good place to start looking if the supply of 400AR parts cannot be confirmed.

Best of luck and keep us posted!
Jeff