Engines dont usually give ya what they got even if you lean em out until they are ready

I wouldn't worry, it should be fine...just make sure there's plenty of smoke..I've run mine 250-260+well before the first gallon. There's no magic amount of fuel, but once it loosens up, it'll seem like it's running really rich all the sudden. You can then dial it in and it will start producing more power.. temps will be more consistant...

To those who has problems fine tuning their Novarossi engine (and any other engines for that matter): 1/10 or even 1/12 of a turn on the needles are too much. You should bearly be able to see the srews moving when you are going to tune your engine for the race tune! Try it and be habby. Otherwise you either get it too lean or too rich and wont be able to get the best out of your engine.

yep.... just a tickle !

Yes, I found that out with my btt last weekend, had a 2 stage idle that I couldnt get rid of, on the weekend when I was close in the tune I only turn the neeldes a real small amount, less than half of a 1/12 and got it running much better, in the past always use to turn about 1/12 and struggled to find a good tune.

I am mindblown, I have never had a Nova that wasn't broken in by a gallon or so

Lsn needles are fairly sensistive on nova carbs in comparison to say OS , 1hr increments can render the perfect settings , hsn not quite as sensitive but must be left a little rich when fine tuning the lsn for race tune

If you do alot of idling at low temps the piston/cylinder walls where most of the heat is started iin your engine will varnish/shellac from the oil pkg in some fuels especially those with mostly synthetic causing the engine to get tighter and tighter and build a false compression seal , if you clean this residue the piston/sleeve set will be very loose as the piston gets squished (for lack of a better term)

I am too. I broke it in by the book and motor never was under 200 bc of comp heat. Never idled either for long period of times. I have ran and ran that thing and finally almost approaching 2 gallons I feel confident enough to actually race with it. I took it apart and looked brand new! Maybe I had a little varnishing going on but when I cleaned nothing really to clean so to speak. Oh well, it is getting there and the top end started to come in last night pretty well!!!! I actually think I was a little too easy on it during breakin!

I was racing the p5, ran the first heat of the day and it was runnnig great, weather didnt change all day. It had a chance to cool and was then reheated to operating temp before it was fired for the second heat. when i started it, it was running crazy rich. A quick adjustment and I was back in business, power was much better than before and that was really close to the 2gal mark. My Toro did the same thing around its 2gal mark

My p5's and plus-4's all were broken in and ready to race at about 1/2 gallon. They were still slightly tight, but once I heated them up and raced them everything freed up nicely, and after the first couple of races they were still a little tight, but nothing changed about how they ran. I think overly breakin in an engine is just a waste of fuel and hours of good running with an engine. I idle 1/2 a tank after preheating, then cool, then 1/2tank again after heating, then cool, then I heat it up then run it gently for about 4 tanks strait then a little faster each tank until about 10-12 tanks total. after that it should be pretty darn close to race ready.

I use Byrons 25% 11% oil with a little (1 ounce) castor added for the break in, after that 1/2 ounce added for the life of the engine. I never run them fat on the bottom during breakin, and once I run it after the idle tank it's keep it running for at least 3 tanks, no heat cycling after the first two half tank idles.

This subject pretains to break-in method and fuel many different ways with different results someone cant say it should only take .75 gallons maybe with your method also some baby their motors not applying enough heat and a lot of idle which to me is bad.

agreed. i only run 2 fuel bottles through my engines before they hit the track, i just noticed a change in how they ran at about the 2 gallon mark and after which the metal pinch had freed up(no glowplug in)

what do you guys think of the tko ceremic bearings for the +4 and toro?or is it best to stay with novarossi steel bearings? is amain the best place to get the tko?
cheers

Guys, this may have been covered. What do I need to do to convert the plus 4 to turbo plug? The head button is in the box. What shims do I need to use?