Has the Post Office turned over a new leaf, or the Evolution 40 arrives......early

Thanks Ken, I was afraid that this beautifully rendered piece of Chinese architecture wouldn't get any love.   Obviously, a cut above the ordinary model airplane engine that the Western world creates.  It's so special that I refuse to put it in my display case for fear that Mao might start a revolution and convert all my other engines to communism.  Instead, I have relegated it to a position where it shares space with unlike species that are less prone to that influence.



Kidding aside, it does have some unique features.  The needle has a pin on it and a sleeve that you can set to limit/set the needles rotation, and the intakes barrel rotates north/south and well as east/west providing a varying aperture and it would seem more throttle variation.  Not especially unique to this engine as I have seen it before but it's not exactly the norm.  And the avant guard styling visually gives it a one up.  Chrome may not get you home, but it sure looks good.  




It dwarfs my Enya .35 (to lazy to get out a .40) and my Enya 60.  It's a big lump of Chinese alloy that so far I can find no fault with, other than that commie thing.  

I have played a bit with some of the r/c carbs and while they look great, I see the typical air leaks. My control line versions were real crap but I change them anyway. I've written many e-mails to Horizon and also OS in regards to this . No response whatsoever. It really is somewhat disappointing to not even receive a acknowledgment. Pete Bergstrom who has since passed on was responsible for bringing the EVO control line engines and the PT-19 ARF into fruition. The stunt community never accepted the control line version initially. Mainly because most don't read and feel that their years of experience supersede simple instructions.  Pete had asked for some feedback and I gave him 4 pages of what I thought would improve the engine in terms of venturi, needle, and how to resolve without major changes. It was said that these changes were going to take place. Well, they did. Horizon  discontinued the engine and no parts support. When I asked about parts early on, Horizon said in the e-mail that they would provide parts for 2 years after discontinuation. Well, they didn't live up to that in it's entirety. You can get a head gasket, backplate gasket and some screws but no major parts, theoretically I guess I wasn't lied to.
             

                  The Fox .35 crankcase looks like it was made in a school yard sandbox. The slag and sand also came free with the purchase.  The EVO crankcases are truly remarkable in terms of quality. The Fox .35 cases at the time of their demise was $37. The EVO .36 was $13.60. It's no wonder Fox used the excuse that they couldn't be competitive with the Asian market. Thank goodness for sweatshops and product dumping.

Still not getting much love Ken, but I'm going to keep hammering away.

Second Evolution arrived today, also a day early.  The PO has turned over a new leaf.  I have no idea as to it's displacement, it's not marked other than the strange looking "a" now in three places.  It's also cast onto the boss where 40 is located on the first one.  I think it's a .40 bored out to a .60 as the needle valve setup is different.




But, it came not without problems.  The needle is bent and the nipple is broken off in the assembly.  Wasn't that way in the sellers ad.  The box it came in was bashed but how do you break off the nipple.   The intakes barrel is seized but the crankshaft rotates.  







Overnight in penetrating oil, tomorrow we will see what we have.



Looks like this thing came out of the Hangar 9 trainer. I guess that it is a .40. Horizon's website does show some parts, but nothing that I need, although a OS needle may work. I will know more tomorrow when i take it apart.

I got deeper into it this morning.

My smallest easy-out made short work of the broken NVA nipple.  I think I can use the pressure nipple on the muffler as a replacement.



The bent needle had me worried.  Thought the best way to straighten it without breakage was to screw it back into the assembly up to the point of the bend, vice it up and slowly bend it back.  Worked.  The ratching split collar was bent too, spring steel it did not come off easy.  Whole thing required a lot of heat to loosen up.  





Also took heat and RemOil to free the intakes barrel and the piston/crank.  Cylinder liner is steel on this one not bronze as on the other.  




Now to get it back together and see if it runs.

Nice engines there Bob. There has always been something drawing me to an Evolution engine as I really think the 'look' is cool. But I too have heard both very good to very bad about them as Ken had mentioned above. But I still have yet to bag me one of them. Probably a .40 would be the one I would look for as it would go into a trainer.

As for your second one, yes, it came as a part of a package deal, and if you do some searching, I believe there is talk about removing the 'flywheel' on those particular engines, should you choose to run it or do so.

I picked a few up over the last few years. I pressed the flywheels off and it seems like about 300 rpm better. That is on the Alpha type. I think it is a .46 if I remember measuring it right. The one that I checked revved much higher on a 10-6" than any other .40 and .46 that I have. I removed the mixture stop too. Had a .60 Evo with a broken wrist pin which ruined the piston cyl. I guess the design of the Evos is better than the materials used. Good bang for the buck overall I suppose.

Yes, that flywheel is curious.  I see it too on the Horizon trainer pictured above.  Both of mine have them, but there are others that don't.  I have a bid on this one, an ebay sale.



I have the broken engine about back together.  I used the pressure tap offf the muffler to replace the broken fuel line nipple, but can't find a replacement from among my leftover mufflers to replace it.  All taps, mostly Enya's are to large and I can't find a replacement on Horizon's website.  An OS tap might work.

A stiff brush and RemOil removed most of the surface corrosion improving it's appearance.  

This thing must have taken quite a whack, in addition to breaking off the fuel line nipple and bending the needle, it also bent the mounting bracket to the point where I had to bend it back to get the fuel line on.  A 1/2" boxed end carefuly applied helped without snapping it off.



It's ready to run, but I would like to use muffler pressure.