Experience in tearing apart a Savage 21

[Benwahballz]

Last night I decided to do something with my savage, at first I was thinking just a good cleaning for the winter, but I decided to take the motor out and do a few extras. First thing, I can't believe how easy it is to remove the engine from this truck ( 4 bolts on bottom, remove throttle linkage, remove fuel lines, remove screw from exhaust). I started taking parts off the engine and cleaning each piece with a q-tip making sure there was nothing that would make the engine look dirty. I reset the carb back to the factory settings (which I will retune in the spring), and applied ARO to the carb, piston and intake valve. I think I may have put more than enough, but more oil in the engine over a few months cannot be a bad thing. I am going to give the air filter a super good cleaning today, or possibly head down to my LHS and get a motorsaver air cleaner, exhaust deflector, and a fuel filter. I usually clean the air filter with nitro, then either let air dry, or use a blowdryer to speed up the process. Question I have is, I've got some fuel in the bottle(about 2 -3 tanks worth of fuel in a 1 gallon jug) that it originally came in, but its been sitting for about a month or so now, every now and then, I will give it a good shake. How long is fuel like this good for??
I never knew taking apart the savage would be such an easy task, I am excited now to almost tear the whole thing apart. The book that came with it too is great describing how to completely put the ENTIRE truck together (excluding the internal motor parts). Any suggestions to what else I should be doing/cleaning while I take it apart? Any good cheap mods that I can do to it that will lengthen the engine life?? transmission life?? Whole truck life?? Might up the Spur Gear.....what would be the ideal spur gear for the savage 21 for bashing (what else would you do with such a great truck)??

Any tips, suggestions, or help questions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tomoracle290]

the fule will last for probaly a year i have just used fule that i have had for about 6months and it worked fine.
i would probaly do a nearly compleate strip down and clean everything and look for any broken or worn parts.
here is a good main gear you can get: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19168&item=5942401538&rd=1
Good luck
Tom

 

[AC48]

I would suggest getting rid of the fuel or using for cleaning filters and stuff. The nitro and methane can evaporate leaving just the oil and it can get pretty gunky. Just a thought.

As for tearing it down, its a good idea to do this (I should too...) because you can check for worn or broken parts, plus if you clean all the parts you can make it look new

 

[Benwahballz]

I bought a few things today
1 - HPI High Performance Air Filter
2 - 52 T HPI Spur Gear
3 - Threadlock
4 - Fuel Filter
I plan to install these today, anyone have any tips or suggestions for these?
How hard is it to install the spur gear?
Location of Fuel filter?? does it matter?

 

[AC48]

For the spur gear you just have to take off the lock nut that adjusts/holds the gear on, then slide off the spring and washer, pull the gear off. THe hard part is the copper spacer is a bitch to get out of the gear lol. Once you get it out slide it in the new gear, slide the gear on, then the washer, then the spring, then tighten the nut on until you have the slipper clutch to your preference.

I don't think it'll matter where the fuel filter goes, just anywhere its easiest I guess.

 

[Benwahballz]

slipper clutch to my preference???
whats like stock setting?

 

[fisherman]

you just tighten it enough so you have it not slipping and not to tight.

 

[AC48]

Yeah, there isn't a stock setting. I don't how the RTR coems, mine is an SS. Just tighten it, drive the truck and if its too loose and slips alot then thighten it more. And if its doesn't slip at all then loosen until it slips as much as your driving style needs.