hi all - i have a couple questions i was hoping to get some help on:

1) i bought this engine used from someone who claimed it ran great but i haven't been able to establish the low idle at all. the problem is that it gets down to about 3,500 or so and just starts dying. it almost seems like it's skipping or something. the manual and most of the troubleshooting stuff i read talks about whether or not an engine runs at idle for a while then dies (lean) or idles ok then dies at transition (rich), etc. well this thing runs like a top at the mid and high end but just won't run at idle at all. i would normally chalk it up to owner error but i've had my club's two best engine guys (25+ yrs. in the hobby) spend about 10 hours each on it and they can't figure it out either. we've checked the valves, the timing, flushed the carb, changed props, plugs, fuel line, in the plane, on a test stand, etc. etc. etc. currently i'm using 15% nitro with 18% oil i believe.

i'm not an engine expert, but i also own a .91 saito and these two engines couldn't be more different in terms of running smoothness. the .91 was cake to set up and hasn't needed one adjustment in over a year. it ticks off the low idle like a swiss watch. this thing doesn't seem nearly as smooth and adjustments to low and high end seem to have either no or random effect. very wierd.

2) if/when i bail on this engine for my .40 size ultra stick with floats, i'm trying to decide what else to put on the nose. i'm feeling lazy/anxious to get her in the air so i'm wondering what other engines would fit this engine's footprint (i.e engine mount holes and throttle linkages)? i'm also open to non-saito options since i'm sitting on some tower gift certificates so could go with an OS or Magnum etc if they would fit.

As always, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The flying season here in VT is short enough - i'm about ready to pull my hair out trying to get into the air this year heh.

Boneman