XRAY - Model racing cars

what I do is this;

take it apart and inspect for junk in there.

Then most important is never to run the engine too cold.
I keep mine at at least 175-200 degrees.
preheat with a good heat gun to 200. Start it up and start driving it right away and check every minute to see if it stays at 200. If it comes in colder lean it out till you can keep up the temp. Cover the head also if it is cold out.

I can't wait to get the new spectrum system with telemetry so I can see engine temp on my radio:-)

once you get it as rich as possible but lean enough to not run below 200 you can start heat cycling it and then running it in.

It will take a good gallon of fuel this way before it is ready.

just my .02 cents.

there are many ways to do this. just have to do a lot of reading and make up your own "system"

BTW if the pinch is really tight don't force it on the starter box just keep heating it until it spins on the box easy.

What engine mounts are you guys using? I've tried using several different engine mounts and can't seem to get one to work. I've been told that in the past Serpent included their Universal Mount (SRP3412) with the stand, but for some reason stopped and I cannot find them anywhere. I also don't want to buy mounts for my .12 and .21 engines. So as of now, this stand is of no use to me.

Any help on finding the universal mount would be greatly appreciated...

I went a step further with mine. Being a retired computer guy I instrumented the bench with a couple of temp loops , an rpm sensor and exhaust gas temp probe connected to a laptop through a eagle tree datalogger. You can actually see the rpm rise with the same throttle setting as the parts bed in. Next step is to find or build something that I can control a servo with through the computer. Then I can break in every engine identically and identify which method gives the best results. I run an xray buggy but I am also very into scale drag racing. You might thing boring!!! but not so. People who run top fuel class are very experienced in motor modification and other aspects. For instance the club I belong to has two members that have built their own dynos one has a chassis dyno and one has a wind tunnel. Most of these cars are scratch built although I run a Litespeed chassis with only the front steering that is scratch built. All these guys regularly get 1.6 sec runs out of a .21 engine for the 1/10 scale quarter mile 132ft. at over 90 mph. Think about it there is not a proformance car on the market that will go from 0 to 90 in 1.6 seconds. Not too easy to control one of these beasts either they seldom run a straight line. I've learned a lot about nitro motors and especially about tuning since these engines once modified for top fuel have a sweet spot for the tune that is very very narrow. A 5 degree change in temp requires touching up the tune. One thing I have picked up from these guys is not to exceed 180 degrees for the first 5 minutes. You need to get to 175 to bed in the little end and big end bushings in the connecting rod. Too much more and you can actually change the tolerance of the rod which will reduce the compression. Running it cold is a death sentence to good preformance.

Griz