Rudolph Hart

Hope you enjoyed the day anyway trev saito's sound good on 25% and i agree about the OPEL GT!! them american boys is just plain crazy el loco..hey,is the ashtray half full or empty re the factory special vt commodore??

Dave some people say stove enamel but vht will handle it,you should seize an engine before the paint starts to blister

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I miss my old TR3A I had a friend with a Healey 3000 and a XKE 2+2 both were nice cars. I started the XKE with my TR3A key those English ignition locks were crap!

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

This is the one WR blackened the cylinder on.

spaceworm

At least we all agree on Saito engines. What cars do you Down Under consider good looking?

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I hadn't seen one of those.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Sorry Okey, the WR stands for William Robison who wrote the Saito Notes at the top of the Glow Engines Forum. He borrowed my little .30 for research on his Saito Notes and painted the cylinder black as a little joke. Since his passing it has become a treasure.

FNQFLYER

Old Fart, the VT has 450,000 K's on the clock and is now in semi retirement. Basically used to transport models to an from the field (10 minutes) and not much else. It has so little real use that I have to charge the battery up about once every 6 weeks or so or take it for a real drive. The State champs were not good to me but at least I am back into "serious competition" and along with my "old mate" we are once again a serious team to contend with. BTB did you know if you put the fuel line check valve in the wrong way you get serious flooding problems (in the crank case) in YS's. It is enough to make a guy seriously look at "real go fast mods" to Saitos. On good looking cars of course the VT Commodore, the Datsun 240s, Nissan 300Z (series 2, bubble) and the Nissan 370z and for nostalgia the TR3 and early 911's. Enough off to the shed for me and start looking at ceramics and Saito 65, 62, and 56 engines. Catch Ya.

SrTelemaster150

Use semi-gloss engine enamel. After it dries, bake it in the oven @ 300 degrees F for 30 minutes. Let it cool in the oven, or be very careful handling it as the paint will be soft while still hot during the 1st heat cycle.

Here's an FA-150 cylinder I gave the treatment to. The finish is hard as nails.





No need for VHT. If the cylinder gets that hot it will be toast.

the pope

Datsun 120 Y ! Y indeed ! Cheers the pope

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Thanks Dan, that looks good.

Rudolph Hart

Popey you're a scream now stop making people smash their heads into keyboards when they double up with laughter,it's not fair on the rest of us.

Richard something like a mk11 jag.

Dave dribble some acetone over the saito to clean it by evaporation before you paint it,if you lean over the top of the job it's like getting teargassed except it makes you happy

YellowBlueBird

My first Saito is a 125. It has presented me with a problem. The needle valve is about even with the top of the fuel tank. The problem is this when running about right at the beginning of a tank of fuel it goes very rich when the throttle is reduced. When the airplane rolls inverted it gets slobbery rich. Toward the end of the tank it may be running a bit on the lean side. It has plenty of power for a Pulse 125. Would it be worth the effort to redrill the firewall and mount the engine sideways? Or is the problem likely to be something other than the tank to needle valve position? Would propeller size have any bearing on this problem?

Your thoughts please

Jerry

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Where does the outlet for the tank line up in relationship to the needle valve?

SrTelemaster150

Seems the FA-125 is the problem child in the Saito family.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

The 1.25 is definitely not a problem engine, have you set the LS needle for the best idle and transition, I'd bet not. It is a torquer and guys get upset because it does not like to rev much beyond 9,000. I can't wait to get another one.

SrTelemaster150

I fail to see the logic of the FA-125 when the FA-115 is physically smaller, 36gr lighter & in all likelihood would make the same power.

Double that for the FA-100 which is the same footprint as the FA-125, has the same bore as the FA-82, is far out-paced by the FA-115's power output & the 115 has the same footprint as the FA-65..

Rudolph Hart

See jerry that can be a problem here,everyone gets serious and technical,sheesh.I agree tho,125's are lazy but they bounce off the edge of bins well.Seriously what you describe sounds normal,just a bit of in flight tuning needed.

YellowBlueBird

I plan to work with the low speed needle today. Should I expect adjusting the low speed needle to help with the rich run when going inverted? The needle valve is about even with the top of the tank and the outlet is in the center of the tank about an inch and quarter lower. The first gallon of fuel is almost gone so it should be nearing break in.

I_Fly

IMHO you have two opportunities here. I bit of tuning may get more even performance for you. If that does not yield what you want then the tank position does sound low. It's hard to tell from your description. I don't know that turning the engine on it's side will change the position enough to make a difference. Hard to visualize without a picture. I suppose a third option is to use a regulated pump. I don't have experience with them and couldn't provide much information about setup or what to expect from a performance perspective.

Good luck.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

F.Y.I. The FA-115 is rated by Saito at 2.1 hp the FA-125a is rated by Saito at 2.2 hp. I just had to look.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Bird, the LS needle controls the fuel mixture for about 85% of the throttles range, it has a huge effect on the economy or the lack of it.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

If you have a 1.00 and a 1.25 there is no need for the .65 or the 1.15. That's my take anyway.

SrTelemaster150

If you have the FA-91 & the FA-115 you don't need the 100 or 125. The FA-125 I worked with barely made slightly more power than my FA-91 when both were converted to CDI.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Dan, why don't you put a 15x8 or 16x8 on the .91 and on the 1.25 and see who wins.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Here are some random numbers from various posters in the Tachometer Readings Forum.
APC 16x6======9,150
Graupner 15x8==9,190
Graupner 14x11=8,750
APC 14x12=====8,555