Had a few sleeves serviced by RayARacing (photo intensive)

[olds97_lss]

All I had him do was do a mild pinch on all three engines.

The engines are a SH28, Dynamite Mach 427, XTM 24.7.

The XTM had pinch still, but it was acting goofy late last season, so I figured why not send it in with the other two. The other two are a buddy's of mine and I'm getting this done for him. Neither of which would hold a tune, stalled constantly, ran hot and wouldn't idle hardly at all.

EDIT:
For those that missed it on the end, the cost is $25 (for pinch+priority ship) for each single sleeve/piston shipped if you do individuals. I did 3 at the same time, so it was $55 total.

This is a link to Ray's site: Ray A Racing Sleeve Service/Tooling

You can find the Resize Order form on his site. He responds pretty quickly to emails and is generally a decent guy to talk to.

Pics of the before:

XTM 24.7:

SH28:

Dynamite Mach 427:

Photo's after:

XTM 24.7:

Mach 427:

SH28:

It seems he did a nice job on the XTM as I've put that engine back together and put it back in my buggy. With the GP out and it being lubed with ARO, it will turn over with the pull-start. Not easily... But I shouldn't have any issues re-breaking it in.

The other two engines were in far worse shape (as noted by Ray) and as you can see in the photo's. The piston would easily push out the end of the sleeve.

The "after" photo's are set where I could push the piston in as far as I could by hand (without a large amount of force), so you can see where the pinch now begins.

I'll post results after all engines are put back together and we get them broke-in again and running.

Just thought I'd share what can be done to an old tired piston/sleeve for $25 shipped (less per set the more you do at the same time).

 

[Bryson]

Good write up! I think when my os gets a little tired I may have it pinched beings they dont make the sucker anymore lol. They look really tight now. can't wait to hear how they run.

Bryson

 

[olds97_lss]

I spent $55 shipped for all three to get worked on at the same time. He also cleaned up the piston tops to get the carbon buildup off. He didn't touch the sides at all. I sent them on a Monday via USPS priority and got them back the following Friday.

If nothing else, he has great service!

 

[Rolex]

That's looks like a great pinch and great service. I think you should post his link for future reference.

 

[Mattyfats420]

what does that mean "pinch" just confused by the terminology

 

[Cupooterluvr]

It means they compress the sleeve so that the compression is like new. Nitro engines don't have rings, they seal by way of a tight fit between the sleeve and piston. Pinching them renews that seal after they lose it.

 

[Rolex]

The cylinder is actually tapered to provide a tighter fit the higher the piston goes. When your engine just doesn't have enough compression to run right any more, this is actually an inexpensive rebuild process.
When you get it back, you have to go through the break in process again, just like you would with a new engine.

 

[Cupooterluvr]

:stupid: what he said.

 

[Racer 1966]

Nice post Olds, don't forget to update when you get them running, I'm very interested in how well they work.

 

[jon2]

Hey Olds,

How much did you pay for each pinch? I may want to do that for a Mach 26 to get my LST2 project rolling. How long did it take?

Please post contact info.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

I noticed he paid $55 for all three of them to be pinched, he sent them in on Monday and had them back on the following Friday. Hope that helps Jon.

 

[jon2]

Thanks Charles, I thought the price would be different due to the amount...Is the cost different for a pinch other than "mild"?

 

[SMaxxin]

Hey Olds,

How much did you pay for each pinch? I may want to do that for a Mach 26 to get my LST2 project rolling. How long did it take?

Please post contact info.

Old age is catching up with you Jon :LoL:

http://www.rayaracing.com/

"Just thought I'd share what can be done to an old tired piston/sleeve for $25 shipped (less per set the more you do at the same time)."

"He also cleaned up the piston tops to get the carbon buildup off. He didn't touch the sides at all. I sent them on a Monday via USPS priority and got them back the following Friday."

 

[ohmygahitscoby]

Are the sleeves suppose to keep the pistons from going more than half way of its size? I saw in their video that they could only push the piston up until the midway mark.

 

[Rolex]

That's where they start to get tight and the compression starts to build.

 

[panpan]

$25 for each sleeve? not bad actually

 

[olds97_lss]

Sorry guys... I've been buried at work. But it appears all questions have been answered by others. I edited the first post at the beginning for those that missed the cost info at the end and I put a link in there at the top as well.

Typically I won't "advertise" for someones work until I see and experience the results. So far, I've only seen the end product, and he did do a nice consistent job. He also did exactly as I asked. A nice mild pinch to compensate for a pull start break-in. It may not last as long as a hard pinch, but I'd rather save my knuckles, pull start and con-rod vs a few $ up front.

I'll definitely post up my results once time allows me to start up these engines. I'm more waiting on a fellow basher for the two really bad engines (SH28, Mach 427) as the only engine I had done wasn't really in need of a pinch, so results may not be as evident.

With my fellow basher falling on much harder times than myself, it could be a while before burning nitro is in his schedule. But when he does, I'll be there taking score on how they run.

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, we happened to get out and run a few tanks through the XTM 24.7 and the Mach 427 this weekend. My buddy had an appendectomy last Thursday, came home friday... so he was hurting pretty bad. I stopped by his house Saturday and he wanted to at least see how to put one of the engines together, so we did the Mach since the truck it goes into was 100% runnable with the engine. It took a while to get him through the steps, but I think it was mostly due to him still being in pain and being heavily medicated... we stopped once the truck was put together.

So, he called me Sunday morning to see if I'd take him out to fire them up, since he can't pull a pull start with his gut the way it is after the surgery... or bend over, or stand... but he really needed to see it go. And GO IT DID!!!

We did a real nice job putting his engine back together, cleaning it, sealing it, lubing it... The pinch Ray did was absolutely perfect for a pull-start. Just enough pinch to make a nice pop with the glow plug out and a decent amount of resistance.

Well, we primed the engine (blew into the pressure line), put on the heater, adjusted the throttle trim to +5% and pulled the cord. It fired to life on the second pull and sat there idling ridiculously high (due to wrong carb settings from when we ended our last attempt at getting it to run right last fall). I told him it needed a mild break-in/cool down for a few tanks, which we did (as he fought the severe urge to rip the trigger). Then after the 3rd tank/cool down cycle, we let it rip. It was the first time the savage pulled a wheelie with that engine that appeared to require almost no effort at all! He ran it pretty hard in the grass, on concrete, in dirt for that fourth tank and we filled it again. All the while, tuning to keep the temps up and within range. It idled perfectly, revved cleanly, started very easily and ran a stable 240F for an additional 4 tanks. I'm pretty sure this is the best that engine has ever ran. In fact, I know it was! I was there 99% of the time in the past when that engine was running and it always had idle issues, flameout issues, stalling when heavy throttle, stick at high idle... just generally a PITA.

It was the first smile I'd seen on my buddies face in a very long time. I was glad I could be there with him to see it.

Well, after he was sitting there beaming like he just won the lotto, I fired up my buggy with the XTM 24.7 in it. Exact same results as his. Perfect pinch, easy idle, held the tune great, power was back! The engine ran better than it did new! I had a hard time getting the temps over 210 with that fat head on it, so I covered it with a sock. Within a short time (and a couple tanks/cool down), it was tuned great and running great.

It will be interesting to see how long the Mach holds it's pinch though. It was as bad as the photo's above show with probably not much more than 4 gallons through it. Not sure if the piston is soft, or if it's just due to newbie learning.

I'll report at a much later date I'm sure on engine pinch longevity and on how the SH28 we had done works out.

All in all, Ray has done a great service for me so far and I'd send him any engine any time without hesitation.

 

[olds97_lss]

Just an FYI update on one of the above engines, the Mach 427 (the worst of the bunch). It has probably seen at least 2 if not 3 gallons of fuel since the last post (over a year ago) and it still runs like a top. Good and strong with solid tune and temps.

 

[Scrogg]

Thanks for the update on this thread. I have heard nothing but positive comments on his work. Too bad I always wear out the conrod bushings before I loose pinch! I have finally learned ifyou want to keep an engine running properly, you HAVE to change the bearings once in a while! LOL
My last two engines I retired at 4 gallons due to worn bearings and conrod bushings. I could have saved both of them with a set of bearings around the 3 gallon mark. Both of them still had compression out the ass, but the rods made them not worth rebuilding.
I am going to check with this guy to see if he can replace rod bushings.