Porting an engine... I wish someone would have stopped me!

[olds97_lss]

I know it's cool to be able to do stuff on your own. I figured I could handle it. It's just a little grinding here, a little sanding there and WALLA, more power!

Ummm, yeah... didn't work out so well. I'll be getting a new engine on friday. Looking at maybe the orion wasp .18 since it's so cheap.

The next time I say I'm going to port an engine, someone please remind me I suck at it!

Stupid dremel.

 

[X_Gamer7]

what went wrong? Porting is not a super hard project, you just have to have a steady hand with the dremel. I did it with my trx pro .15. Maybe i'm lucky? :shrug:

 

[Hypedonrc]

I want a new motor anyway, so I'm going to try it.

 

[olds97_lss]

X, if I knew that, I probably wouldn't be having a problem!

I don't know, but it won't idle hardly at all unless I crank it up to a speed that it wants to move. And I can't seem to get it tuned right to keep it running consistent. Oh yeah, I hit 280 within 5 minutes. If I richen it it dies, if I lean it, it gets hot and dies.

I must have f'd something up. Don't really care though, it was something I hadn't done yet, now I can say I did.

Maybe with a little more patience and time, I could get it to run more consitant. I only ran 2 tanks through it this way (250cc total), so I didn't put a whole lot of time in it.

I was planning on replacing the engine with something with more hp. I tried to get more hp out of this engine first. Didn't work so well.

Thinking about an orion wasp .18, epic .18 and recently saw a PeakRacing 18 on the net. I don't know much about the orion, I know a little about the epic and I don't know anything about the Peak.

The cool things about the orion is that I can get it on tower for $90 and the P/S is only $30.

 

[kwong2001]

Well, porting is a super advanced thing to do. I know you really really have to understand EXACTLY how the engine works. Knowing what you're plans are for the porting and how you're going to get there.

I think it's a lot more complicated than people think it is. That's why i'd never try it unless I have an old tired engine, and that just to mess with the engine.

 

[Nitro_Freak]

what engine was it?

 

[NooP]

I ported my cv .15. Before I started porting, I told myself, "Lets take this easy and take only a little of material." As soon as I put the porting tool to the metal all I could think is "MORE HP!" and I went over board.

My results were an engine that was very touchy to tune, but once it was tuned, it ran cooler and STRONG as hell. My tired engine ripped like it never had before. Only problem was, that it was very touchy to tune and it needed a high idle. It was cool at first, but I got tired of retuning it all the time.

So I said f*ck it and put a .21bb in my rs4.


--NooP

 

[Nitro_Keebler]

You people who are porting are saying this like you know the mechanics of the engine.

Do you all have engineering degrees? Do you have schematics of the ports and how they flow and work? Do you use a flowbench when you are done to maximize your work?

Are you full of poop and just say these things? Seriously here, engineers get paid lots of money to do what they do, and someone with a dremel is just gonna "make it faster and better"

When the import craze hit southern cali, we had people coming out of the woodwork offering to port and polish heads... Sure you could go to them, but it was up in the air whether or not your junk would work when they were done...

My point is this, if you understand the works, then please share, otherwise if you just grabbed a dremel and started cutting at the sleeve without any knowledge of the engine, you arent doing anyone any good. Someone is just gonna fubar their block now cause they think they can be cool.

Thanks.

 

[olds97_lss]

That's why I was posting this thread. To make others aware that it isn't as easy as they may read or hear. I looked around on the net for a few weeks to see what's been done. I found quite a bit of info, but as you said, unless you know what your doing, I wouldn't recommend it.

My engine was about dead anyway which is why I tried it. I had overheated it many times and had 4 or 5 gallons through it. It was getting pretty weak, so I gave it a shot.

NitroFreak, it was a OS 15 cv-r(x). I'm pretty sure it was already well ported, but there were a few ports in the sleave that were square edged and I beveled them down. I also funneled out the bottom neck of the carb as mine was shaped like this [). Kind of like goofed up rectangle.

 

[X_Gamer7]

no, i dont have schematics or a degree in skilled trades. I've been reading up on how 2 stroke engines work for years now. I've seen many many many articles on 2 stroke nitro engines, and I can identify every part and how it works with no problem now.

 

[scottm]

Olds, the pro porters only work on new engiens or new sleeves, precisely to avoid tuning problems. I'd say practice grinding on old parts, but don't plan to run them.

Nitro-keebler, I have an engineering degree, and it means absolutely nothing when it comes to porting engine xyz. It is true you need a general understanding of how an engine works, such as why enlarging the exhaust port trades away low end for top end. But what works to improve specific engines is often the result of careful experimentation. After a procedure is proven, it is failry easy for a competent machinist to reproduce. For example, improving the trx pro 15 is easy, because they deliberatley mismatched the ports in the sleeve from the block casting.

 

[Nitro_Keebler]

Originally posted by scottm
Olds, the pro porters only work on new engiens or new sleeves, precisely to avoid tuning problems. I'd say practice grinding on old parts, but don't plan to run them.

Nitro-keebler, I have an engineering degree, and it means absolutely nothing when it comes to porting engine xyz. It is true you need a general understanding of how an engine works, such as why enlarging the exhaust port trades away low end for top end. But what works to improve specific engines is often the result of careful experimentation. After a procedure is proven, it is failry easy for a competent machinist to reproduce. For example, improving the trx pro 15 is easy, because they deliberatley mismatched the ports in the sleeve from the block casting.

Thats outstanding, I'm happy for you.

I'm sure you dont NEED an engineering degree to port an engine, obviously by this thread that statement rings true. In the context that I wrote it, I was asking what credentials ANYONE had to back up their reasoning for stating the ease of porting engines.

Hell, I can port an engine, but will it work? Engineers get paid to design this poop, machinist's build it You give me a schematic and port usage and I can port me an engine also.

My point being that anyone can grab a dremel and take a wack at it, but is it productive? Will it help or hinder the engine? That person wouldnt know unless he had a detailed knowledge of the engine, a degree in 2 stroke engineering, or some sort of testing bench to see if what he had done had helped or not.


:hammer:

 

[olds97_lss]

And here I thought "I" was going to be bashed on...

 

[scottm]

OK, I wouldn't recommend just anyone go to town on their new $400 Rex. But I think a lot of people could get noticable improvement from a sport engine with some proven basic steps, like matching sleeve passages to the block passages and matching the exhaust manifold to the port. And if you can't resist and get carried away, you're out a $50 sleeve or a $150 engine, no big deal. Squeaking every oz of torque with max fuel economy and reliability for a pro driver is rocket science. Playing around for fun with your old stock engine isn't.

 

[Nitro_Keebler]

Originally posted by scottm
OK, I wouldn't recommend just anyone go to town on their new $400 Rex. But I think a lot of people could get noticable improvement from a sport engine with some proven basic steps, like matching sleeve passages to the block passages and matching the exhaust manifold to the port. And if you can't resist and get carried away, you're out a $50 sleeve or a $150 engine, no big deal. Squeaking every oz of torque with max fuel economy and reliability for a pro driver is rocket science. Playing around for fun with your old stock engine isn't.

This I agree with.

I know that really doesn't matter, but just thought id let you know

 

[BCSavage]

Just wanted to add my 3 cents. I tried to port and polish my S25. Worked WICKED for anout 3 tanks and now it won't hold a tune or idle worth a sh!t. So I'm buying a Wasp26 today

 

[HumboldtBlazer]

Hey ScottM where is the Reed Valve on my .21? LOL!

 

[scottm]

Yeah, I saw the scuffle that wound up in the FFA. I say keep trying on cheap engines, but you need to have a new piston/sleeve for best results. There is some great info about nitro break-in, porting, etc. on radiocontrolzone.com

Steve Pond is an admin there, and is the technical editor at RC Car Action. Here is a thread about his porting article in the Feb RCCA issue.

http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163960&highlight=porting

HB, its hooked to the cam through the con rod, duh!