Just Between You, Me, and the Bingo Card: Life Lessons from the Assisted Living Facility

My last order actually shipped last night
usually takes a week before that happens. Might get it in 10 days now.

 

Quite fooling around and lets build this

 

Turns out there was a feeler gauge, I was very close, and adjusted it to spec.

Cool little mixer valve. Had to remove the head to thread it in as they are at an angle. That was super kewl to thread and not screw up.


The exhaust stack and the ridiculous ground tab for the CDI. I'll bitch about that more later.


Oil feed cup for the cylinder. It has adjustable flow, the toggle on top is on/off and it's filled via a small oval at the top that has a slide to close it. This model actually drops the oil right on the piston. Others fake it and it goes nowhere. Gas is mixed with 2 cycle anyway, so it's a redundant oiler.


Governor spring. One stock and one for experimenting with. I suspect the stock will run a bit fast, fine for first startup. Mess with that later.


Leftover/spare parts.
The upper left bag is the base mounting screws that will not be used as the casting on the block for the pushrod guide is directly above the hole, and a bitch to get to. I will bolt the thing down, i think nuts will look better than allen heads.
Lower left bag is the only one with a question mark, two set screws and no idea where they go. I'll find out when something flies off I guess.
The rest is just spare parts.


Time for the sparky things. And a explanation of the CDI ground and it's importance in being securely attached.

 

The CDI box has 4 leads. Red JST plug for battery power, Black Servo plug for the magnetic field to initialize the spark, Fat red spark plug wire and that black ground wire with the broken lead.
Ground wire was originally attached to the cylinder head. there are no other bolts for this that provide a good ground and the manufacturer assumes they will be mounted to a block of wood, so that's the spot.

Thinking I can do better, and really not liking the look of the ground wire, I moved it underneath the base plate, ohmed it out, all good, and reassembled it.
It started fine, ran great for a few minutes, then the damn wire broke from me messing with it too much.
CDI must be grounded in order for it to run. Fun fact, ungrounded, that spark will find something else to zap. Something in the box made a pretty neat buzzing sound for a few seconds and that was it. No more fire.
So while the idea was sound, the execution was shit.
A new box is only $20, and with the holiday deals, $17, free shipping on all orders. It just takes two weeks to get here.

 

The CDI box and plug for the red engine. This one is a bit more expensive at $40 for the box and new plug. But it does come with a legit plug boot. This did not come with the red engine, it is ordered separately.
The black wire with the blue eyelet connector, that gets cut off and the red spade connector installed and that clips to the ground tab on the exhaust stack. It's gonna stick out like a sore dick.
Maybe a coating of liquid tape will make it less noticeable.

 

Hooked it all up, and it has spark right at TDC. I think, after it runs, I'll solder that ground wire direct to the tab, shrink toob it in black, bend it down and run the wire behind the mixing valve...

...and then route it with the plug wire thru this hole in the block. Then hide the sparky things underneath somehow.

 

Success! It's tight and going thru a few heat cycles but gets better each time.
This was the first time it would do the hit and miss cycle. Before it only ran at high speed.
It should be doing a single hit instead of the double hit, maybe it'll get better as it loosens.
Mixer is super finicky but I'll figure it out. Fuel delivery is a bit janky, using an old nitro fuel tank, flooded the hell out of it at first until i set the tank at the same level as the engine.
Ordered a set of gold plated cast iron wheels from Etsy, things are a bitch to find. Spent a few hours scouring 4 antique/flea markets and found nothing that was under $100.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6QdTv-wCVY

 

I did find this gem at one of the flea markets. So it was not a total waste. Paid $7.95 for it. Fleabay has one for double that with poor paint.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/403427382283

 

It didn't take long, just a few cycles of running and cooling and she starts by hand and the hit and miss cycle smoothed right out. This one is much easier to clean, didn't expect that. It has a small well at the base of the block that collects it and then it just gets mopped out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJWX6ULnnk0

 

You would think a simple round brass/copper fuel tank for a model would be easy to find. But no.
So fuck it, I made my own. It turned out so well, that I'll do a couple more for the other two.
Roughly 60 milliliters, maybe a bit shy but that's close to two ounces of volume. Good enough for a good half hour of run time. Still needs a finish polish, or maybe just paint it and let the fuel naturally weather it. Or maybe just leave it.

 

I say leave it!

 

A mockup to see what happens. Testing is good. Tank doesn't leak and will need to be mounted so the top is below the level of the middle of the head. Where it sits now, it floods the mixer at half tank. So it will be sitting right on the rails, which is fine.


Ran about 20 minutes on half a tank.

made a skid for the blue one. No wheels for this guy.

I'll build a box to hide the batteries.

Electronics sit hidden underneath. I'll route the plug wire a different way and there is room for a tank up front.



And the obligatory video. Really happy with how well balanced it is and not jumping all over.
Wheels for the cart shipped today, will be here between the 18th and the 28th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR2qOgaXkrg

 

Nice lazy Sunday for hanging out in the garage. Made this happen. Prolly give it a dark tobacco stain later this evening to age it and help hide the oil that's gonna hit it.



Just needs a fuel tank that I'll make later this week, and the CDI box that's hung up somewhere in Guangdong China.
Plug wire is in it's new home.

 

And the prototype for the red one. It's much cheaper and easier to cut up packing lumber. Helps to see if the design will work well with hiding the electronics and stuff. This the 2nd prototype, made one last night that made a few things readily apparent and is now destined for the fireplace.
The engine base and engine mount blocks are now centered on the main beams. This gave better clearance for the upcoming wheels and my fingers when starting it.
The engine blocks raised it a touch more and with the tank directly on the beams, it no longer floods. Looks better too. The bottom "axles" are just to keep it steady for now, but the end result will be about that wide

The bolts with the nuts look sweet. The ones for the engine blocks are recessed inside the blocks themselves.
The ones thru the main beam into the blocks are exposed on the bottom and look fine.

In the back, there is room for the Lipo to fit concealed between the frame rails. The CDI box will be turned after I lengthen that stupid ground wire. That narrows it up 13mm and will then have a similar box built around it.

If the wheels were here, it would look something like this, maybe sit a bit lower. The Zyn cans are similar diameter.

This design is super easy to cut out, the drilling for the engine mounts is fairly precise, Those hidden bolts sit tight so no wrench is needed.
But i wrote all that info down for when it comes time to cut up the rosewood.

 

This one is basically complete. Made another fuel tank, but that one will go to the red model as it turned out just a bit nicer.
The brass straps are actually holding the tank in place, no tape or any other bullshit.
It's fully self contained.
Got fed up with both the price and integrity of nitro fuel line, so picked up some weed trimmer fuel line. It's almost as pliable as the silicone crap and much stronger. Plus it's clear and a third of the price. 3' was only $1.50.
4' of nitro is around $7.00. It's main benefit is heat resistance, but this ain't hot at all.

 

That nice rich dark color went away after sanding it.
Hoping it comes back after I clear coat it.

Wheels should be here today, that will prompt a trip to ACE for some brass rod of the appropriate diameter and some brass acorn nuts, washers, clear coat, etc..

 

Wheels showed up. And there is an oil stain on the engine mount block that leads me to think that maybe just rub the wood down with some Marvel Mystery oil, since it's a nice red color and the thing is gonna get oily anyway. Pretty sure any clear coat will not stand up too well to the petroleums.

Debating on just screwing the wheels on vs making a brass axle that attaches under the wooden axles. Lot of work.
They really don't need to turn, not dragging it behind a tiny mule, and would prefer that it not self propel off the table when running. The front axle will however be floating and turn side to side, so it can be posed.

Edit:
Gonna be Marvelous with the oil rubbed wood.

 

I used hanger bolts for the axles, so kind of legit.

 

Fuel line placement was not going to work with the front pivot, so i moved it.

 

Leftover lumber. Really not a lot of waste.
Need to mill some boards so i can build the toolbox for the back to cover the electronics.