ORIGINAL: Roary m
I've only had a couple of Saito's but I would recommend them to anyone. Having said that, I just bought a O S 91 surpass/pump job so we'll see how he does. It's just that when I began to read all of the stuff on peeling liners, a few of the guys at the field were losing bearings in their 46 and 50 fx's. not just one set per engine mind you, but several stainless included. This led me to believe that that there was some align bore issue don't know for sure.
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Over all the years of the past several decades, I have always had good experiences with OS engines. No, they were not perfect, but I was generally satisfied with them. Of course, I never bought into the philosophy that OS was "the best". I knew better, since I was with them since the Sixties when they were sold and known as Japanese Junk here in the USA.
I have replaced ball bearings in engines, but only in used or crashed engines that I bought from others. Don't get the idea that I didn't fly a lot. I did. Was I just lucky? Could be. But I prefer to think it was more from good maintenance practices. I have had some very good teachers and mentors over the years, so I can't take credit for my good fortune.
My OS.32F ABN engine did peel its liner, but the engine still ran great. I would never have suspected a thing if I hadn't removed the muffler in order to remove the engine from my plane and just happened to glance in through the exhaust port and saw the liner wall devoid of nickel.
I still like and buy OS engines. Today I buy mostly four-strokes though. I have one ringless OS engine that I have bought within the last twenty years and that is the FL-70. Can't wait to get that going. <G>