If you can hear a ticking sound that's not a good sign. In regards to your question yes you can take all of the parts and install them into a B5 case if you want. To check a bearing I normally just tear the engine down andwith one hand hold the case and using your other hand stick your thumb through the back plate hole and push against the inner bearing race and keep pressure on it. Rotate your thumb while pressing against the inner race and see if you feel any grittyness or notchiness. If so that is confirmation that the bearing is going out.

For the sake of sharing for those on the fence about engines ....

I like what I got so far ! I have been breaking in a B5 pro on a x ray xt9 truggy and I am to the point where I am letting the temps get above 220 Dg and things have gone great . Starting to see the power potential in this lump. This engine has only flamed out 2 or 3 times early in the break in process, 4 stroken fat as a cat on the box for the first tank or two. It has not burned or fouled any plugs. It has always started first try on the settings I left on it from the last session. It stays running well upside down for plenty of time and doesn't flame out when you finally get to it to flip it over . It doesn't hunt for a idle. It restarts easily after running out of fuel and refilling it . Even running fat its good power for my truck. I'm just digging this thing so far.

When its cold though , the bump box cannot handle it without a heater of some sort or backing the plug out . But I guess that's to be expected.

Josh thanks for the update on your engines! Sounds like the motor is still tight so get your LS set properly and leave the HS a couple hours rich for another quart or two and it should be fully broken in. The B5 is a beast and you're going to love the power in a truggy

Well , 3 tanks later , no real changes to the settings yet , plenty of smoke and I don't need heat on the box anymore to get it started. Hope that's normal . I hear about other engines staying tight for a gallon or so. Engine really handles this Xray .

That just means that your engine is starting to break in and you have gotten rid of the excessive metal pinch which is good. If you think about it the sleeve has a taper in it, the piston is cylindrical so it has to wear into the shape of the sleeve in order for the engine to seal properly and when the fit of the 2 components "matches" it means that there is no longer that excessive amount of friction created as the piston reaches TDC which means your engine performs better. That is what breaking in an engine is all about.

Some companies are not able to match the tollerances of the piston to the sleeve very well due to older or less accurate machining equipment, that means that generally the piston is much more oversized which prolonges the break in process (as you nead to wear off more metal inorder for the piston to wear to the point that it's shape matches that of the sleeve). That also means that you are putting more stress on the rod, wasting more time and fuel (hence money) breaking in the engine and have to deal with an engine that does not run at it's prime for a longer amount of time. Our facotry uses some of the latest CNC equipment and we are able to closely match the piston and sleeve sets so break in is quicker, less stress is put on the rod and the engine is able to perform at it's prime sooner. You often hear of people talking about an engine "dropping it's nuts" and going rich all of a sudden. That happens when you hit the point that the piston/sleeve fit is at it's ideal point. You are not there yet but you will be soon. In the interim just know that you engine is getting closer to being fully broken in and it's performance should be getting better and better all the time!

Got to the track yesterday for a couple of hours . Hot as all get out , 90 degrees , humid , and dusty . Got 5 more tanks through the truck . I think Its as good as its going to get. On the last tank , engine took a couple more hours on the HS needle with out changing temps much at all , still just under 240 but making smoke and better power. Bottom isn't as crisp as I would like it to be , but that will be another day . For now , if I run the straight wide open and stop , engine will slow then idle up a bit . If I do the pinch , it will take about 5 seconds then idle up and shut off . I think it idles too high , but the more I make the bottom rich , the worse it runs down low . I set the idle gap early on and haven't touched it since. So still a little turning to do there . This thing is awesome ! Haven't had a single flame out the entire break in process except for the very first tank or two on the box. So far has been worth every penny . I keep writing all these little posts for those that I know are lurking and on the fence about getting one. I have a little nitro experience , a lot of engine experience , and this thing has been the easiest to tune and run so far . Previous mills were a rb7w , nova 4btta, and a os xzb vii. Good werk Ron !

Thanks for the update! Your air gap setting is going to play a large role in bottom end performance. From how you described the idle after a HS run it sounds like you may be a little lean on the LS needle setting right now but that I'm guessing is probaly because you just have a too large air gap from the break in process etc. So next time that you are going out just pull the reducer and set the air gap to 0.5mm. Put the reducer back in and install your filter, fire up the engine and let it warm up blipping the throttle. Once it's warmed up a little let the engine come back to idle and assuming that the idle will be low, lean the LS 1-2 hours, blip throttle, let come back to idle and keep repeating until you get a smooth/steady idle. Then todd that car on the track, do a few laps and check performance!

Is there a number of turns in on the screw that equals or comes close to equaling .5 ? For the sake of simplicity ? I imagine its actually not a complete turn now that I think about it ...

It's something best measured so that you know it's set right as your fixed air gap is basically the set point around which all of your other needles is going to be adjusted. Just use a 0.5mm allen wrench or a piece of solder as a "feeler guage" to set the air gap, something that you do once and are done with (so it's best to just make sure it's right the first time if that makes sense).

I found a staple that measured out , so I used that . My slide wouldn't actually close that much , even with the linkage disconnected , so I put a rubber band on it to help it as best It can until the rubber boot on the linkage gets a bit used. It was a bit rich after that , and I haven't had a chance to run it at the track yet , but it runs good at the house .. .

Josh, bring that thing out on Saturday. I help you get it sorted out....

Where is you idle screw at now josh? flush, in from flush, out from flush?

I have no idea where it ended up .

I put a rubber band on the slide , took the linkage off , unscrewed the throttle stop screw until the slide was bottomed out (closed) and then just opened it until my .5mm staple fit in the gap with slight tension on it . Hooked the linkage back up and that's that. I would also guess my ls ended up needing 2 hours leaner than before I set the idle gap . Truck runs great ! Need a prepped surface now so I can use some of the power. It was hard to make the triple with all the wheel spin the other day .... Saturday will be another no go for me , summer is a horrible time of year for me and RC. Next wed night is going to go down though if I have to find a rental car to race Heh heh ....

Gotcha, i misunderstood the other post. i thought you couldn't get it to close down to the .5 gap. I still haven't had a chance to really test out my modded b5 yet, i tried it last time at pro but the random, small unknown click when i hit the brakes quickly showed its ugly head with the rear gear stripping out.

Yeah , it wouldn't close down to the .5mm without a rubber band pulling it closed. The rubber bellows on the linkage side is still a bit stiff and enough to hold it open just enough ....