Sharkey's savage octane build

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well its taken me a few weeks since i first tried to fire it, but its running now. it sounds like a beast , kind of a cross between a 1/5 scale gasser and a nitro engine. and yes, after some playing around i did drive it, however i didnt get to the end of the driveway, figured ill be nice to the neighborhood as it was 830pm. initial thoughts are one, im geared too high, and two, the heat sink head is the next thing i gotta build.

 
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ive had some setbacks on it. my starter setup on the truck isnt going to work, every time i run the truck it breaks the bolts off the ring gear on the flywheel. im redesigning a different setup and ditching the ring and pinion. i also need to make a heat sink for the motor, the temps climb too fast to get much run time out of it.

im hoping by next week ill have some more parts cut out for the starter setup.
 
been slowly working away, this project is just fighting me something fierce. i tried to cut some parts on the weekend, had issues drawing them, computer crashed after 2 hours of work and lost a lot of data. next day i head to my friends place to cut them out, i lost my thumbdrive somewhere along the way so wasnt able to. went out monday evening after work, the drivebelt on the mill broke on startup (we have never had belt issues, and as a result don't have a spare). managed to use an o-ring as a belt, but had to turn the feeds way down, resulting in what should have been about 45 minutes of cutting taking 4 hours. with all the setbacks im thinking im not supposed to have a savage octane.

the good news is despite the setbacks i have the new parts on the truck and its going back together. i started with redesigning the engine plate to address a number of issues, new engine mounts to go with the plate, and starter setup number 832. had to machine a new flywheel as well for the new starter setup.

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so the new starter setup. im using a 47 tooth steel spur gear that ive machined to fit the flywheel to act as a ring gear. i then made a pedestal to mount a bendix gear, its a 16 tooth 1m pinion gear. ill have a long starter shaft, when i push in it will engage the starter gear, once the roto start is removed the gear pops out. should solve most of my issues.
 
I'm very impressed by your commitment to the project.
Seems like you've had nearly as many problems as HPI themselves!!

Perhaps if you get yours going reliably first, you can sell the plans to HPI?

On a more serious note, I'm fairly certain if you can perfect a 'conversion kit' that there are certain RC enthusiasts who enjoy tinkering, have some $$$$ and like the idea of running petrol / gas instead of nitro fuel....

Al.
 
at the start of it my plan was to build a conversion kit, however i don't think im going to follow through with it. first off it would be too costly for my to produce, a kit would need to include an engine plate, mounts, flywheel, starter setup, and a starter shaft. my best guess is to make it worth my time id need $200-250 a kit, and thats not including the crankshaft machining, id have to figure out an exchange for that, or people send me the crank to machine. add in a $250 engine, plus the end user would still need a powerful starter, and a savage xl rolling chassis, its just too costly for most people. i like doing these sorts of projects to showcase what can be done, and produce and sell the bolt on parts that anyone can enjoy.

well its all back together now, ready for some more testing

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i tried out the starter setup after making an extra long starter shaft, seems to work ok, but my battery was dead for my starter. ive made a couple other changes as well, ive geared it down a little for the time being, till i can get some stuff sorted out. ive also eliminated the slipper clutch i had built, again, just too much going on, easier to eliminate it for the time being. and after 2 months of waiting my hobby king order showed up with some batteries, so i have a new turnigy LiFe 1700mah pack to power the radio and ignition.
 
so some good news finally, i got to actually drive the truck a little the past couple of days. did a bunch of tweaking, got it to idle not too bad. i am still having heat issues, i haven't gotten a heat sink built quite yet, i did most of my idling using compressed air to keep the temps under control (not much pressure, just some flow was all it took). because of that i wasnt able to drive it much, but the little i got out of it tells me it'll be fun. its got a pile of torque for sure. only a little blast in 1st gear because of the heat.

the heat sink is coming, i started it today. i milled all the fins off the head so i have a good flat surface to bolt the heat sink to. i got my hands on a chunk of 2 1/2" diameter by 4" long chuck of solid 6061 aluminum. i started trying to machine it, its just slightly too large for my lathe, so im going to have to find a bigger lathe to get this down to something i can work with.
 
I remember the cooling fan, the pics from the nurberg hobby show this years how the cooling fan has been eliminated. With a proper heat sink I can't see needing one
 
i kinda had put it on hold as it was frustrating me to no end. i got the heat sink head built, and proceeded to break the starter setup before getting it running. i tried a few minor changes to it and still couldnt get it to work. i have one last design to try to get this thing started. ive already got parts cut, just need to assemble it.
 
i haven't forgotten about this project, ive been picking away, however ive run up against an unsurpassable road block. i just cant come up with any reliable way of starting it. my best success lasts 2-3 starts before something breaks, and most of the time something in the starter setup breaks before i get the truck running. i knew a bumpstart engine in a savage was going to create a challenge in itself, however i didnt think id have this much difficulty. im sure everything ive tried would work with a smaller engine, however a 15cc monster with huge compression, i just cant build anything big enough to start it within the confines of a savage.

so that being said, im calling this project a failure. with the real octane right around the corner and the new losi xxl-2 gasser its lost its uniqueness and ive just lost the drive. im going to sell off the rolling chassis, and i may eventually put the engine into a buggy, or something i can bumpstart.
 
@Sharkey man I sure hate to hear this isn't going to go any further. Even with the Savage Octane and Losi LST XXL-2 just around the corner, neither have anyone on your build as it's truly a one off build. :(
 
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i really don't want to can this build either, i just have no idea what i can do differently to have a reliable starter setup. only thing i think will work properly is a pullstart, and that means machining a backplate for the engine, a starter shaft and a new crankshaft, let alone getting a pullstarter that will work reliably. as i have the needed machines to make most of that happen, i don't have the skills to make things like a crankshaft, and then know how to properly harden it.
 
If you don't mind me saying, I thought your original idea with the starter shaft on the side and the pinion to the flywheel was the best. All I thought it needed was the spring setup there. I think you would have less problems since the flywheel and the pinion were tapered gears and the two would separate easier without drag just like a real car's starter motor!
 
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