I made a starter (for my shop) by taking apart an old broken starter and used the shaft and cone in my 18v cordless drill. I have several TH engines (3- .46's; 3- .61's; 2- .75's) and all were hard to turn over by hand. So- I took out the plug, put them in a test stand, poured some high quality oil down the carb and into the top of the cylinder head and gave them a healthy spin with my drill/starter for about 20-30 seconds with the plug out (cover the plug hole and don't run it dry). Then- I immediately put the plug in, hook up the fuel line, started the engine and begin my traditional bench break-in.

All my TH engines run strong. I have a .61 that at last count had over 400 flights. I haven't worn one out yet- but my oldest .61 is certainly getting very easy to turn over nowadays. I love my TH engines. And my OS engines. And my ST and Magnum engines. All are unique and have their quirks.

With that said- the TH mufflers do tend to leak, rotate, and fall off. The RTV method in Post #29 works great. I also add a dab of RTV to the threads of the screw that runs through the body of the muffler, and to the screws that hold the muffler to the engine.

I have also had the rotating throttle piece come out (new screw) and had the throttle stick full open which resulted in a full-throttle 12 minute flight on my Delta Vortex followed by an very nice dead-stick. That was my fault for not paying attention to the throttle end point and jamming full throttle all the time. Smoothed out the divot in the little channel, set the end point properly and no more problems.

Now- when I get a new TH engine, I take off the muffler, RTV it as described, break it in on the bench until it stops moaning at me when I hand crank it cold, and go fly. True- it can be a bit of a headache- but I like playing in my shop and building as much as I like flying so it's good for me. I can see where the folks who love to fly but hate to build or otherwise piddle in the shop could get frustrated. That's my definition of diversity! RC-er's come in all shapes and sizes.

Have fun- Jim