Saito spares

[John Payne]

Can anyone help? I visited the Gildings auction yesterday and bought a previously enjoyed Saito 40 four stroke. I need help on a couple of things. I have not had anything to do with Saitos before and I am not sure what age it is. Any indicators I can use? Also I need to get a new silencer for it as the original was missing. I can't find any way of telling if a new silencer manifold and silencer will suit an older engine. Any suggestions where to get spares and if the new silencer bits will suit? Thanks. John.

[Wingman]

You could try here and you can certainly phone them for advice.

[kakariki]

Hi John

Is it the open rocker engine?

Barry

[Stephen Grigg]

It depends on its age but I had a saito with a straight piece of exhaust and no silencer and it was very quiet,didnt need one..Be nice if it was open rocker they look good dont they.

[John Payne]

Hi guys, thanks for the replys.

Thanks Martin, I hadn't seen that site. It looks as though they do the modern spares, but it looks as though the engine has moved on from my model, but a phone call is a good idea.

Kakariki, it is not an open rocker motor, but that could be arranged .

Stephen, I didn't realise that the early ones had no silencer, and looking at the cost of the current spare parts, that would be a cheaper route if I could find one.

Any ideas on how I can tell how old this one is?

Cheers, John.

[Stephen Grigg]

Ive had a couple of earlier Saito 40,there quite big compaed to a new one I now have but think thats general for bigger engines now.No idea how you tell the age.

[Engine Doctor]

Hello John. The really early models ,after the open rocker type had a detachable cylinderhead . Then the were made with a one piece cylinder and cyl head.These were also fitted with a slide choke . These models that didn't use silencers had a quite small exhaust fitting ;using about a 10mm spanner . the newer ones now fitted with silencers use a 12mm spanner .All tthreads are I believe different to OS so cant be subtituted. As for spares try this www.motorvationmodelengines.co.uk or 07939 155901.

[John Payne]

Thanks for the reply Steve.

Hi Engine Doctor, thanks for the reply. It is a closed rocker engine but the head is separate, so it looks like it is a really early type and all the more reason to get it going properly. The pitch on the thread is 1mm I think, so it could be a 10*1mm thread. It's good to know that the OS is different, but not the the new is different to the old as that makes it a little more difficult to get one. I will try Motorvation to see what he has, otherwise I will have to get on and make one, but I would prefer to keep it original if I can.

Once again thanks for the replies. Cheers, John.

[John Payne]

Hi guys, I thought I had better update this thread.

Following the advice from Wingman I contacted Macgregor, via Hobbyplastics site on Monday. After sending photos of the engine to them they contacted Saito, confirmed the parts I needed and let me know the phone number to order them. I called on Thursday and ordered the parts and they arrived today. I think that is excellent service and would recommend them to anyone who needs Saito spares. I also thought that I had better strip the engine down to check internals and, due to castor oil grunge, I had to change the bearings. I have ordered replacements from Simply Bearings and once I have them I can clean and rebuild the engine. One or two interesting bits to the strip, but just have to clean it all and rebuild. Thanks to the Brian Winch articles on timing this should be fairly straight forward. Thanks for all the help guys, cheers, John.

[John Payne]

Just for completeness, the bearings turned up from Simply Bearings today, so that was next day delivery. Another piece of excellent support. The clean and rebuild can now start in earnest with all parts available. Cheers, John.