I just luv hacking away at these motors! I posted my "Hack" mods for anyone interested in what I do to them.
I figgured I might as well share my tricks. Ya never know we may not be able to play with these things and break em like ya stole 'em for very much longer with the way things are going electric these days.
Anyway, Here is the link.
www.toadsrc.com/engines.htm
Doing any of these mods can get costly!

Those are impressive results, Toad! It sounds like you guys have the hottest 1/2A racing program in the country. You're getting Cyclon-like numbers out of the AME, do you think a day will come when you guys start running Cyclons on low nitro? In the long run, you might find that it's cheaper.

I think that would be great really, but I just dont think most the racers here really wanna go that far.
I really think they just wanna run non ball brg engines and most of em do not bother with any mods at all. I just did this to see if I could and to see if one would hold up for 6 heats. My oppinion of the production run Novels is that they are kinda junky things. the rules this yr allow these mod's for the 8 races they will hold.
Next yr, I am sure the rules will change some. it is a lot of fun. I have more fun modifying engines than the race it's self. Great Hobby.
I'll race whatever the rules may be, these guys are a blast to fly with.

I hear you about guys not wanting to change what really is a pretty good thing right now. But a guy could race with just one CYCLON for years, instead of having bins full of NORVEL parts and no less than 2 strong running AMEs ready at all times. If the Norvel and VA diehards were honest, I'll bet most of them have enough junk P/L sets lying around to buy a CYCLON with.
As long as the AME is still available, there's not much point in rocking the boat in your club. If Norvel was to quit making small engines, I wouldn't expect the supply of engines in new condition that are for sale on auction sites to be as deep as COX engines has been.

Whatever way it goes, dont matter to me, I would have fun with a bunch of Cyclon parts laying around too
I am not a club member there, I have no voice in the matter, I do wish I didnt live so far away from the action though, 4.5hr drive 8 times in a few months is too much for my tired overweight butt anyway.
What I would like to do is maybe get the oppurtunity some yr to go east or west to a 1/2a race. I look forward to that.
I hope the racing part of the 1/2a interest lives for a few more yrs in any form.

http://carlsonengineimports.net/products/mpjet.shtml

I think carlson may have the bulk of the worlds present stock of the mpjet .061 engine, as the son took over the factory and they began producing electric motors. But I asked mr Carlson and he said the tooling is still there if the need for another batch run of the engines happens in future.. Sort of the same attitude cox and va seem to have taken..

Anyway, have a look at the mpjet, it weighs more than the norvel, but it may hold together better since it's sold as a diesel too, and beefier as a result.


Please ignore the above post- it's off topic, sorry.[]

When the Nelson .36 came out it eventually ended the need to buy several Fox MKIII .36s and a week's wages worth in aftermarket parts to turn the Foxes into competitive engines. Still, folks complained about the cost of the Nelson. The Nelson was (and is) a bargain.

'Same sort of thing happened in CL 1/2A Combat when the Cyclon appeared. Until then I could count on nearly always having the more engine up front than most everyone else when I went to a contest, but I probably also had the most TIME and money in my AME or VA. Soon after the Cyclon appeared more guys started showing up at the bigger contests with good 1/2A equipment and nearly everyone was getting good, solid, fast runs.

And yes, I have enough used Norvel and VA parts to buy several Cyclons. But, as Toad indicated, making the engines work better was about as much fun and enjoyment as the contest was.

Were I designing a 1/2A class I would not restrict the engines except to stay at .050 or smaller. Make the planes larger or otherwise figure how to keep the speeds controllable by the intermediate pilot.

Yah, when the Cyclon first showed up, I thought it was going to ruin 1/2A combat by displacing the other engines. It has actually made life simpler for many competitors, and for a lot of those guys 1/2A is just a side show, not the main event. If you really want to, you can still go out there with a souped up AME, VA or COX and compete, and there is a guy out here who sponsors a TD only contest for old time sakes.
The same scenario with the evolution of 1/2A combat existed with Formula One Pylon, guys would have countless hours and lots of money wrapped up in below par engines that blew up regularly, they blew plugs on every run and needed to be fed high nitro fuel. When the Nelson .40 showed up, F-1 got scrapped and they drew up Q-40 to be a lower maintenance class but every bit as fast as F-1. The leveling of the playing field has helped maintain interest in the event, now a guy doesn't have to own a machine shop or go after market to stay in the game.

My Intent of posting this thread was not to tout the Cyclon or to discuss the rules for a race in Utah. but to merely talk about mod's to the AME. wow, seems strange to me how fast a topic can get hijacked in here.

Since parts are short on supply, does anyone know if any of the AP engine (looks just like a Norvel) parts would fit a AME .061. I broke the spring clip for the needle and rounded the retainer nut.

Ahh... yes. Rudeness is a fine way to keep your thread on-topic.

Well, I'll admit that it was rude of me to steer the conversation off course. Some guys have stricter regulations about how their threads should go than others.

Dont get me wrong guys, I am not offended that it took a different course. If I sounded rude, when I mentioned we had strayed, that was not intentional.
I wanted to see what mod's other folk do to their Norvels., compare notes, have some fun with it is all.

Is bending the propscrew with the dirt considered a 'Modification'?

OK, here's one that is tough, but might give you 57 RPM . . .

In the case journal where the shaft runs: Mill away a few thousands of case material in between the front 3/16th" and the rear 3/16th". You have to leave the material in place around the venturi opening or all the case pressure will escape.

The shaft is then touching only the front and rear portions of the bearing area.

When the case wears out, install a bronze insert.

And another:

Most (?) many, engines with the bypasses cast in the case have the area at the top of the bypasses shaped so as to direct the flow smoothly into the cylinder port.

The AMEs don't have that and the bypass extends past the ports and dead ends into the bottom of the cylinder block.

Using Devcon F or JB Weld, form a fillet in the top of the bypass that looks like the cast fillet of nice, high $ engines.

Take one of your engines and remove the cylinder.

Look and see how much clearance there is between the backplate and the crankpin.

If it is excessive (?) . . . mill off the back of the case so it will screw in farther and pack the case a bit.

If you go too far, or if packing turns out to hurt vice help . . . add some backplate gaskets to return to GO.

Chuck up a cylinder and turn the OD down to the size of the Galbreath Head.

1/2A engines used in racing, with light prop loading, and running large amounts of cool fuel thru at high rates don't need as much coolin' as Norvel is providing.

Toad , on your site you mention recutting the exhaust port to restor the timeing , did you allso recut the transfer ports ??? , if not , then doing so should improve performance some .
Stewart

I didnt touch the intake ports. I was concentrated on the exhaust port because of lowering the case affected the timing. I didn't find any difference in performance raising that exhaust port the same amount I took off the case. I realy dont think the small amount I removed was even needed.

the intake and boost ports are machined at an angle thru the cylinder wall. damn, this task is gonna get a bit hard to do. Makes me wanna try another sleeve now and do all I can, just to see how it runs. I worry about taking the hard anod coating off the edges of the ports. What ya think?

Toad,
I ain`t no pro with norvels, but I have played with some using tuned pipes. I would suggest to you that it may not be worth the effort- the ame always seemed to have too big transfer ports <fuel ports/ whatever you want to call them> to me when I was trying various mods to the timing. I bet the norvel guys tried different setups when making the engine, and its the way it is because that ran best. But as you say, it is a difficult job to get right.
On another note, I found that there was a definate tuning limit when running pipes with the anodised <dark coloured> cylinders I think because of heat transfer problems. I had a quite a radical engine that was o.k on 15% fuel and the pipe, but when I tried 25% <castor/synthetic oil> the piston overheated and exceeded the max temp of the oil, and suddenly the engine was doing about 35K with no lubrication in the bore.[X(] it slowed down really fast ast the nickel plating wore off the piston.

J.M