sperera's baja experience begins

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cool, i plan to do the rebuild after my bday later this month. i might make it like a tutorial or something and have it very detailed. im sure it will come in useful sooner or later.
 
got a couple of problems id like some help on please.

broke a couple more engine mount bolts. these bolts go through the small engine mount and hold the mount to the engine. its a plastic mount so got no idea how the mount doesn't break but the bolts do.

next prob is a bit more serious. both sat and sun after running the baja on small track not using full throttle ive gone to take it out and its had no top end at all. i turn it off for 5 mins and then its back to normal, should I do a plug change or play with the needles?
 
a vid of saturday 21/08 action at the show grounds, wont be using this spot much more, its eated down so bad we've actually hit concrete!

 
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had a couple of days off work recently thanks to a stomach bug, decided to do a full clean of the FG and couldnt believe the amount of dirt caught up in the belt system. i cleaned it about 10 tanks ago so was a big surprise when I pulled it all apart.
 
LOL, cant argue with that.

put a new engine mount on last night and put engine and radio tray back in. all i get left now is the pipe and she's ready for a floggin :)
 
started the FG for first time in a couple of weeks last night after complete clean (had it down to chassis) and the idle was crazy low straight away, i did clean the air filter which was quite dirty so not sure if this would have affected it.

adjusted the LS to get idle right and it sounded good through rev range but a little curious as to why it tune would have changed like that.
 
ok i think ive definetly got some sort of engine problem. started the fg again last night, haven't touched the needles since yeasterday and idle was very high. turned the needle out and revs dropped for maybe 10 seconds and then instantly stalled, no drop of revs nothing.

couldnt get it going again so changed the plug and it started first pull, idled nice, too dark to take it for a run so just reved it on stand for a bit.

any ideas? should I strip it down or take it for a good run first?
 
took it for one last run today to make sure there is def. a prob and now i have no doubt something's wrong. feels like its got no compression, performance is definelty not where it used to be and its not responding very well to needle adjustments.

going to put a new ring in it and see how we go. might put up some pics of the the piston and bore and get opinions if I should be changing that as well.
 
removed the engine last night and took the head off, haven't got any pics yet but had a close look under some very bright down lights in the house.

piston is unmarked, besides some carbon build up on top of piston which I think is normal. not even the slightest of scratches on the sides. the bore is also excellent, one of the faintest marks inside, wouldnt even call it a scratch but otherwise perfect.

based on this im going to replace the ring and try again. also notice that my clutch spring had snapped so just ordered another one, dicided to try a red HPI one instead of the stock blue fg one that came with it, see if I can get it going harder off the line. so hopefully tommorow I get my alloy engine mounts, exhaust gaskets, clutch spring and some other small items.

let the fun begin :D
 
got all my bits today, alloy engine mounts, clutch spring, piston ring, gaskets etc.

stoopid me ordered a large 2wd alloy engine mount which ofcourse isnt compatible with my 4WD FG so i need to sell one now as ive already had the bearing pressed.

CRAP!
 
got the proper large alloy engine mount today :D but its missing a couple of bolts.

does anyone know the specs of the two bolts at the top of the large engine mount, one holds the belt cover on and the other secures the mount to the diff housing.

i can check with a local bolt shop once I know the specs of it.
 
well got the alloy mounts in and gave it a test, also tried a red hpi spring which lasted only 20 mins. the things started moving on idle, at first i thought I broke the spring but when i got it out all in one peice, so im thinking it either got very hot and stretched or got some dirt jammed in there. Does that sound possible?
 
well ive come to the conclusion that I hate putting the clutch spring on. 45 mins and finally got the blue FG spring on last night and everything back together.

should get a chance to test it tomo.
 
ok gave the FG a bench run last night with the new blue spring and looks like all is fixed. got it in the boot so if its not raining at lunch time will give it a squiry.

don't know what went wrong with the HPI spring though
 
finally got to take the FG out yeasterday and got an awful gear noise problem, super loud. considering its my first real run with the alloy engine mounts im thinking its thrown the layshaft/ring gear mesh out of whack.

has anyone installed alloy engine mounts on a FG Baja 4wd before and if so was this an issue?
 
removed the engine last night and had a close look at the layshaft/ring gear mesh. there's a good 3mm of play which is way too much. haven't got a response from FG yet, ill let you know what they come back with.
 
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