Originally Posted by
curth
I have a Nitro TC3 I laid aside about 2 years ago with three Nova-Rossi motors. Ran great back when I ran it.
Long story short nitro racing might be coming back and two of the three motors turn like someone shoved gum in the ports. The third one seems fine.
Any advice for rebuilding them? can the piston/sleeves be saved? what cleaners/oil/tecnique should I use?
I mean I know I shouldn't take it all apart and run it through a dishwasher cycle, and steel-wool is probably not a good idea, but what then?
I have cleaned old cases by letting them sit in a bath of cola. It works good for getting all of the gum out of oil holes, like in the front bearing area etc. Also works great on conrods where the oil holes are plugged up.
The last engine i rebuilt,(a 20 year old novarossi) i stripped it to a bare casting, let it sit overnight in coke, and the gummy crap softened to where i could scrub it out easily. I then was able to finish the insides with a little aluminum polish.
If you have access to a blasting cabinet you can make the castings look brand new again. I glassbeaded mine, just make sure you wash it throughly to get every last bead out.