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Laser Engines development.


Jon H

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  • 1 month later...

Final 2021 update. 

 

Things have been rather delayed for a variety of reasons. I was off work all last week and half of this week with suspected covid. My tests were all negative but i had all the symptoms so..

 

Anyway in the background the crankcases for the FT 160/200 were being manufactured and i was able to get one together to test the mechanical aspects of the case. For the most part it has gone well and everything works nicely. I will be moving the cams a little to improve pushrod angles and cosmetic appearance but that is about all. 

 

Once we are back in the new year the revisions will be made and the crankcases will get their cosmetic treatment as well. The final jobs will be to make a new mount for the back, and the new exhausts. Its likely the first engines out the door will be supplied with no exhausts but the price will reflect this. 

 

As a parting gift for the year, here is the FT160 doing its thing on the bench with a 16x8 RAM prop. Fingers crossed 2022 is better all around. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

Lovely job.  I take it it's using a common crankpin - how's the bottom end lubrication without volume changes?

 

yea common crank, and it didnt seize up yet on 7% oil so lubrication is clearly just fine. When it comes to inadequate lube it would seize in about 3 seconds of that were the case. Also the oil gets into the case by getting round behind the rings rather than ring blow by, but some gasses will get down there as well. With all the bits inside flailing around they generate quite a breeze combined with blow by gasses from the top end will create a positive pressure in the bottom end. They will then escape out of the crankcase vent as normal although with less enthusiasm. As a little oil was coming from the vent this is clearly working as intended so i dont have too many concerns ?

 

I may fit a 2nd nipple to the case to allow contaminated oil to drain from the engine and prevent rust. OS do this on their engines but i am going to see if it is a problem first 

 

 

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Some of the earlier Saito opposed twins had an air pump at the back of the crankcase driven off the crankshaft in order to push oily air through the cam/followers area but perhaps it was found to be unnecessary as later ones did without - or were there internal design changes in the later ones that improved flow?

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saito have their cams at the front but the breather is at the back. i can see that this could cause issues as the oil has no flow to carry it forward without the pump. as our cams are at the back along with the breather this is not an issue for laser. After the first run i dismantled the engine to see what the oil situation was like and everything was suitably lubed up

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 25/12/2021 at 00:03, Jon - Laser Engines said:

saito have their cams at the front but the breather is at the back. i can see that this could cause issues as the oil has no flow to carry it forward without the pump. as our cams are at the back along with the breather this is not an issue for laser. After the first run i dismantled the engine to see what the oil situation was like and everything was suitably lubed up

Just fitted and run a Saito FA40a and the breather is actually on the side of the cam housing on this model. But I do note that there doesn't seem to be a standard breather location on Saitos.

Edited by Frank Skilbeck
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Frank nailed it. 

 

All (as far as im aware) glow engines are measured in cui but petrol engines tend to be in cc. 

 

As for 2 strokes, we wont have any of that filth around here ?

 

EDIT: Yep, that makes sense Frank. My old 45's have it on the backplate if i remember rightly but they are a fair bit bigger physically i think. I would like to get my hands on a saito 40 (a new one) at some stage as it looks rather compact. 

Edited by Jon - Laser Engines
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25 minutes ago, Robin Colbourne said:

Jon, At this sort of money, perhaps you should knock out another batch of Laser diesels and retire on the proceeds...

Laser 80 Diesel on Ebay

 

If you're looking at this in a year's time, they were asking £1499 'Buy It Now' for it.

 

This sort of greed really angers me. We sold them for £300 and pricing it like this is just a way of cheating someone out of their money. If it was sold as an auction and got up to that price then fine, people had a choice to bid it that high, but going in at 1500 is just extortion and greed. 

 

Not impressed. ?

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19 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

It’s not really cheating someone if they pay the amount that it’s for sale at, they only have themselves to blame for paying that amount!

 

On the one hand yes, they could just not pay it, but on the other hand is dishonest to mark up the price to that degree. By pricing it so high you make it so that people have to pay that if they want it. 

 

I think if i dug around i could probably scrape together another diesel or two, but realistically we would need to start again with it. I have asked the boss but he isnt interested as he doubts there would be sufficient sales. I dont see it that way as there are only 4 parts in the engine different to the glow and a sale is a sale even if we only sold 10 a year. 

Edited by Jon - Laser Engines
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I would gladly make them to order but the hold up is getting the parts manufactured. The last batch i made was using up new old stock parts i found in a drawer. With that supply gone it would need new parts manufactured and while i was at it i would make some design changes anyway. So its not an over night thing to sort out, but equally its not the most complicated task. 

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On 17/01/2022 at 13:02, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

I just looked at all of his other listings on eboot, obviously a greedy collector who has lost his mind ?

I watch his listings and everything is listed at a premium but you know what... It always sells eventually! Some people like the convenience of Buy It Now and are prepared reluctantly to pay the big bucks. Have a look at his completed item sales. Crazy! 

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