is there a way to test compresion? i dont thik i had the power in my F4.1 that i used to. when I had the engine out and turned it by hand there was slight hiss (through exhaust) on the compession stroke. I'm assuming thats bad compression????? also, is it worth it to buy the piston and sleeve and rebuild? will it run like new or are there more parts that need replaced? or forget rebuilding and just buy a new one? pretty tight budget here. thanx guys

How much fuel has been run through it? If you take care of a big block you should get 7 to 10 gallons of run time out of it. When you turn it over by the flywheel does it fell like you have compression?

Sound doesnt matter, mine made a small hiss too. Yes there is a way to test compression, you LHS should have a compression guage which is just like a tire pressure monitor except that you thread it into the glow plug hole. We normally test the engines compression by turning the flywheel over. At the top of the stroke, for a used engine there should be a nice light pinch at the top. Not too light but still fairly easy to turn over by hand. This also depends on the engine as some have much tighter pinch than others. In my opinion, even if you are on a tight budget I would sell the old engine for parts (you can get around $35-40 depending on the run time) and buy a better one. If you dont want anything crazy I would suggest buying a nice .26 like a Mach or the XTM 24.7 which are both great mills. The XTM is really cheap $100 shipped off ebay. But not cheap in quality! One of the best .26's on the market today. The Mach I think is just a little bit more, good luck, Tom.[8D]

what about the axial 28?? ive run 2 1/2 gal, but feel i could have done a better break in knowing what i know now[&o]

Axial .28 is a great sport engine. Loads of power, you will like it. Easy to tune

will a new piston and sleeve make it like new?

As long as the engine compartment doesnt have any damage and the bearings are still good it should be like new.