911hillclimber

Yes, have done for 31 years, and Loton Park and Prescott. Expensive? Too true, but the car has been very economical to race for the last 5 years since an engine blow-up that cost £4000 in bits alone.... Current engine build will push the envelope somewhat and will be the last incarnation of this little lightweight race car. My recent model aeroplane activity is really good, a very big contrast to the race car in every way.

Yes, Porsche developed the nikasil process in the early 70's on the 917 race cars and put it into the production cars soon after, proper development that. Here are a few pics:

Good tip esp as it works! Thank you. Will give that a try. Done nothing today on it, busy, oddly, stripping a 3.2 litre flat 6 air cooled engine.....

Interesting pictures! Mine I think is quite late, # 882, no idea how many were made. It has the head of the above later engine, the comp screw is exactly like that but mine was chromed steel which I literally wire brushed off, the screw though has no stop. It has the clear plastic tanks, but has the spring assisted timer on the tank top casting (possibly edited out on the first pic?) So, could well be a 'transition' engine with a mix of parts depending on what was in the stores at the time? As said already, the mounts are light and the extended nose for the crank equally light, would not take well to a single point landing...

Totally agree, I wouldn't force the situation, which is why it is still in the engine cabinet while the oily mix seeps in I hope. Illtry to heat soak it and see if the screws yield without undue force.

Thanks, I think the engine is all BA and BSF. The screw, although (was) chromed is now raw steel and the thread is good, so is the head thread. Other pics of other engines show a raised turned section to give a deeper head thread, but this engine is a later serial number than others. The spark ign engines have a finned head. Diesels are not. Will give the head screws a go, but bothered about one/all shearing off, so some heat will help and also get some oil to the contra piston fit.

Correct, they went from plug to Diesel in 1947. The description in the 2nd post of this thread explains it all. The compression screw came out with a bit of persuasion and the thread is clean, just corroded. The chrome of the screw came off! I now have a working screw that looks the part. The contra piston seems jammed, but I filled the head with some oil, backed the screw off and eased so gently the engine over to push the c/piston up. Not convinced it worked. Going to leave it to allow the oil to penetrate the head parts.The sloted screws that hold the head on are TIGHT and I'm warey that things will get ugly if I try to take the head off to free the c/piston. The fuel shut off is all free as is the needle, and all parts are really nice and clean from damage. Some brake cleaner and a brass wire brush has removed a lot of the superficial staining and it looks smart. Turns over well and smooooothly, compression feels weak until I gave the inside a drop of oil. I am not convinced it is robust enough to start it...

OK, thank you. Never tried to fix an engine so old before. Making one not difficult, making it look a bit old is! Wonder why the head shape is different, less meat to carry the screw thread. Fuel cut-off is a surprise, never seen that before.

My main hobby is classic cars and old race cars, so freeing awkward threads is almost a weekly adventure...or disaster! will give it a go tomorrow. only 1/8" thread showing. chrome is perfect! If I know thread I can make one. looks 3/16 to me, but I'm a metric lad really, at college in 1970 so went imperial to metric along the way. Have a few old 60's diesels, but all are about 1/8 thread, this is larger, but not a 1/4. Are these engines rare or common place?

Agree, the current part is seized in solid. Not sure if it will come out without stripping the head thread. Where can i go to find an old compression screw that may fit this engine? Nothing on ebay...

That is quite a lot of detail! Thank you very much. Nice to have found it in such good complete condition. The head is different to the 743 shown in the article, but things would change over a run I suspect. It looks/feels like it would run and turns very freely. Need to find a decent 'propper' compression screw, the chrome screw in the engine is certainly not right. Thanks again, Graham.

£30 chance buy because I likes it! Label said it is a Frog, but no markings. Rear back plate has '882D' just the item number and diesel I guess. However, I'm sure one of you will be able to describe it to me, more details the better! Not sure to clean it and display, or leave it and make or find a correct patina compression screw/spinner, or clean and get it to run as a project in the winter. If the latter, what size prop do you think? I guess the bore to be about 0.5" x stroke of 1" (ish) Finally, what thread type do you think is used?? Thanks in advance, Graham.

My last but one post I think, but progress today. Missed flying last week to see a friend from school days who has been woken-up to the model plane thing... Went to the field today and with my Buddy link helper did 3 batteries in a blustery sky, maybe gusts to 10 mph with a 5 mph backdrop. Still, all went well with noticeably fewer instances of my Buddy taking over. Did lots of laps round and square and felt i was really getting the hang of things esp leveling the wings at the right time of a turn, keeping height and generally not panacing. Had another plane in the sky with me which was a distraction, but that is life on the field. As a treat I was allowed to take off twice which adds so much more to the progress, dread the time I'm allowed to land..... A fellow modeler turned up with a new pre-owned model, and what a beauty it is. Flew well too and very stable, oh so nice. Last post will be when I can land without damage which might be 2022 at my rate of leaning, but feeling good so far! The simulator has really helped.

Great day on the field today in perfect weather. Really made real flying progress I feel, and I'm sure the SIM had helped considerably! A RESULT for me! Thank you again to all of you for your help.

Positive day today at the field. I bought a Phoenix SIM a few days ago, and after a frustrating time loading it up and using the dongal I must have spent an hour or 2 'training' on it. In sessions about 10 mins at a time and after umpteem times crashing everywhere, this morning I felt I was getting somewhere. So, off to the field where my buddy box friend would be along with the usuals and a few others. The sock was vertical. Sun was gentle with some big clouds and it was dry. I flew the plane with M buddied-up and used 4 batteries with a good 10 mins break break or more between. I think I am actually a natural aerobatic flyer the way the plane moved at times, BUT steadily got smoother and a bit more adventurous. Noticeably, M was say less and less... Last battery and going round steadily I had the plane corrected after the turn before M said anything. What I hadn't realised was M had not taken over for about 2 mins! Time to come in while there was power and M bought the model down with grace as ever. BRILLIANT! To pop the cherry on the cake another member, new to me, had bought along his Junior 60. With a fresh 4 stroke and to say it flew with charm and certainty would be a unjust comment. It looked just great, reminded me why I was going through all this work. Weather and a motorcycle clutch will stop play on the field this week, but looking forward to more next week. Getting there.

Yes, good advice as ever. When i was in the 'air' and going round doing some involuntary aerobatics I had that, oh no, how do i land this now feelings. Thought it was going well out into the long grass, but must have been a harder landing as the plane broke to pieces.... Always good to have a goal though. My first is to shock my field buddy Martin as he does not know I'm cheating!

Thanks, the view is just like standing on the ground. I flinch when the plane crashes... Beats all that glue, so very please to have got this far and can see how I can get far far better co-ordination every day. Really pleased.

GOT IT!! All works now I've sorted the controls/reversals/etc. Just need to set the control movement if I can as they are a bit extreeeeem. Good at crashing, BUT, I can clearly see the advantages of this system now I'm here. Frighteningly realistic.

Well.... I've managed to crash my Trainer 12 times so far! Actually have an icon on the desk top and I'm now struggling with the set-up of the computer trainer I've selected. Computer descriptions are it is easy to fly... However, I have tried to fly from a farm yard which looks like the field I'm using. My current issue is getting the controls to match the Tx Mode 2. I think it is on mode 27 as nothing is where I need to to be, but this will be trial and error in the main, and the next task. I have not used CD 'B' that came with the dongal, David does not mention it in his post on page 1 that I have followed. What is DVD B for? THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH for getting this total novice this far, i have learnt a lot, struggled even more, but getting there. Hamilton is leading the Grand Prix so all the much better of a day! Now, just got to get the throttle to lh stick instead of the elevator control...

This is getting silly. Tried everything suggested by you all, and the nett result is No Hotlinking even if I go to RC thoughts site direct on the net. All his links return No Hotlinking. My pc is protected by Kapersky. It is provided by SKY and I have the 'rules' set to 18 years old, so surely that is ok for this lot? What I do have is the right click on the RC thoughts link resulting in it being on my PC in 'my PC' but when I open it...no Hotlinking. Going to try the CD's again. Have cleared the home duties deck now, so fully focused!

Mmmm.... Failed at the first post. The links to RC Thoughts stops me dead with 'Hotlinks' and refuses any downloads. How come it works for everyone except me? All the red highlighted links get to the same message.

Thank you indeed! I'll give it a go tomorrow and report back.

Think you are right. In anticipation of doing it tomorrow, what is the step by step I should follow please? Graham.

Wow! fantastic in every way. out of frustration turned the lot off and something sensible that I understand, a classic car magazine. I have never connected the Dongal! will try again over weekend following your help. Silverstone tomorrow and classic cars, should refresh my temperament....

Might have made some progress. I now have on the desk top 3 icons. None work. Reflex Model Flight, RF7 launcher Simulator. I am prompted to enter the serial number of the CD I have. It will not allow these to be entered. Thus, no further forward really. Disc B took 23 minutes to load, and Disc A 13 I have looked on google, did that before i started this lot this morning. Could not find much to help in that one video was 33 mins long. None seem specific to this system, so many pages shown bear no resemblance to what I have. Perseverance is the order of the day. Going to un-install the lot and start again.