Engine Break In Stand How-To?

[rlouis12]

Hello I am planning a buying a Engine Break In Stand? Currently I am learing towards the hudy stand. But I have a few questions before I buy one.

1. What is the procedure for breaking in a brand new engine on a stand?
2. How many tanks should I let run through the engine?
3. How long should I let the engine run?
4. What is the best stand to buy? Because I will be breaking in both non-pullstart and pullstart engines.
5. Should I use a heat gun and how should I use this heat gun?

I asked these questions because I find myself breaking in alot of engines. Personally, I have thirty-two vehicles. And I also have friends and students asking me to break in their engines. It was getting very troublesome sitting the linkage, putting on clutchbell and adjusting them etc. I just want to break in the engines and do all that other stuff later.

 

[Coach Z]

I'm curious about this as well so I thought I'd give it a bump.

I'm also wondering what if any differences there are between the Hudy, and RD logics stands???

 

[rlouis12]

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[Rolex]

Wow, 6 months without a reply. Sorry. I'll slap some heads around for you.

Hudy or RD Logics both make excellent products. You might pay a little more, but you're paying for absolute quality.

As you probably know, you'll need a flywheel on the engine. If you want, you can connect a receiver and servo that will allow you to adjust the throttle remotely, or hold it at a higher RPM without having to hold it with your finger.
I had one set up for breaking in airplane engines that also had an additional servo to lean or richen the mixture and keep me away from the prop.

The heat gun will expand the head and enlarge it slightly for easier starting on a new engine. Just direct the heat all around the head till it's pretty much at an even temperature.

You can start it with a pull start with no problem. You will need to have a fuel tank, inline filter and a muffler in order for it all to work properly.
Without a pull starter, you might want to look into a 12 volt airplane engine starter with the silicon cup that grabs the nose cone, or in the case of car engines, the flywheel.
I would also recommend the 1 1/2V block type battery with the screw terminals and the wired glow igniter. (Hobbico or Radio Shack) That guarantees that you'll have enough power without having to keep several igniters around that lose power quickly, and that one battery will probably last you the entire season.
Have a good temp gauge with you.
Rotate the flywheel from one side to the other, and you'll feel it start to compress in each direction. Find the center, BDC (Bottom Dead Center) and put a dot of paint or magic marker on the top of the flywheel. Each time you shut down the engine, rotate the flywheel to that point so you know that the piston is all the way down and out of the compression range of the cylinder.

Other than that, here's a link to the heat cycle method.