Nitro Engine Scarcity...

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Clifffff

Active Member
Messages
112
People,

I was away from the hobby for about one year. A week ago pulled out my Savage X 4.6 and my Savage XL 5.9 out of storage. The former has a Picco .28 and the latter has an HPI K5.9.

According to my logs I have run about 66 litres in the Picco and about 50 litres in the K5.9.

Now I have decided to either rebuild or replace both engines. I looked for piston liner sets for both and checked the availability and pricing for both units.

To my great surprise however, I could not find the parts for Picco and only saw very few big block engines available. However, the asking prices are 50 to 100 percent more than they used to be 1 or 2 years ago.

I went to 2 local shops and they asked for around €300 for K5.9. Neither had any big block Picco or Novarossi and could not tell me when they would be back in stock. I have since searched for big blocks on eBay and on various big online EC retailers but without much luck in finding something decent with a reasonable price.

I have found a piston liner set for K5.9 but the seller is asking for €150!!!

Am I missing something here?? I know HPI is outta business which could exain the astronomical prices. But are big block Piccos and Novarossi's that scarce these days that people can ask upward €300-350 for them?

I appreciate your feedback!!!

p.s. One exception is LRP. I see that they are available at the same prices as 2 years ago. But I have owned several LRP engines in the past and have had only trouble with them... I would rather avoid them.
 
Has kind of been a downward trend the past 5-7 years. At least the decent basher engines availability. Used to be able to find 4-5 drop in mid-blocks for the traxxas trucks too, but they are hard to find now as well.
 
Never had issues with LRP or SH engines. You can get new SH 28 3 port for about 90usd and SH 28 8 port is about 115usd. LRP/SH engines are basically the same. Nosram are also same as LRP/SH. Just got a used LRP 28 spec 3 which had a broken pull start. New one way bearing fixed it and it goes very well.
 
Never had issues with LRP or SH engines. You can get new SH 28 3 port for about 90usd and SH 28 8 port is about 115usd. LRP/SH engines are basically the same. Nosram are also same as LRP/SH. Just got a used LRP 28 spec 3 which had a broken pull start. New one way bearing fixed it and it goes very well.

Thanks for your input. I am actually thinking about getting an SH 28 engine. Except for having a weak conrod and mediocre bearings, SH are decent mills.
 
Has kind of been a downward trend the past 5-7 years. At least the decent basher engines availability. Used to be able to find 4-5 drop in mid-blocks for the traxxas trucks too, but they are hard to find now as well.

If you are interested in mills for Traxxas, check out the 28 Techno engine made by Tecnomeccanica. I got one a while ago for my brother's Revo and that thing is a beast. I have a video of it in action somewhere. I will post it if I ever find the file...
 
Search for force .36 or sometimes sold under hongnor .36 fantastic engines and cheap
 
If you are interested in mills for Traxxas, check out the 28 Techno engine made by Tecnomeccanica. I got one a while ago for my brother's Revo and that thing is a beast. I have a video of it in action somewhere. I will post it if I ever find the file...
I saw that a while back, but I don't think it's made anymore. Either way, I have a 21TM in one and an LRP28 in another. Was only mentioning it because 10 years ago, there were 5+ readily available drop ins that don't exist anymore.

Post up your video if you can find it.

I did run across this one recently when I was trying to find the tecnomeccanica engine for someone else:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Force-Engine-Nitro-28MAX-TRAXXAS/dp/B00UJVH9JA
 
I saw that a while back, but I don't think it's made anymore. Either way, I have a 21TM in one and an LRP28 in another. Was only mentioning it because 10 years ago, there were 5+ readily available drop ins that don't exist anymore.

Post up your video if you can find it.

I did run across this one recently when I was trying to find the tecnomeccanica engine for someone else:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Force-Engine-Nitro-28MAX-TRAXXAS/dp/B00UJVH9JA

The Tecno engine I am talking about is not made in the Golden Horizon factory in Taiwan. It is made by Tecnomeccanica in Italy. I think it is still listed on eBay. I will ask my brother for the link to the listing and will post it. The guy who we bought the engine from is also called Cliff. Perhaps more interesting for us Savage owners, is that he mentioned that he would soon be offering .24 long stroke 5P GRP engines. He already sells the truggy version of this engine on eBay but he said he will introduce a version with roto/pull start back plate before the end of the year. He swears the GRP .24 has performance on par with a .28 picco or nova...
 
...and this is the info I have received from the seller about the .24 GRP engine which he will soon offer with roto/pull start backplate:

  • Engine displacement = 4,1 cc or .24 ci
  • 17 mm Stroke
  • 17 mm Bore
  • Steel 14 mm Main Bearing
  • Full Alloy Conrod
  • CNC-machined piston
  • 5 Ports Liner
  • True ABC Construction
  • 40.000 rpm
  • High Torque
  • Aluminium Carburettor
  • Hard-anodised Crankcase Cover
  • High-compression Conical Burn room
  • Aluminium Silver Anodised Cooling-head
I have also attached a picture of the truggy version of the GRP .24 so we can all get an idea...
 

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@guinnessdublin

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT , SAME HP 2.99 , SAME STROKE 16.6, SAME
RPM RANGE 3K - 33K, .15CC SMALLER & BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS THE BORE
20.18 COMP TO 18.68 AT 1.50. $142.00 NOT BAD , SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.
 
Never had a 5.9 or anything bigger than a 28 engine. Is there any significant difference in acceleration or top speed in direct comparison with same gearing?
 
Well no not in top speed as gearing dictates that but in acceleration there will be a difference
 
Also in a difference in fuel consumption. Would be good to know if anyone has past experience of using both engines. I read more negatives than positives about the 5.9 if that means anything. Sometimes I think that marketing bigger engines is just to maintain market share.
 
best alternative engine for the K5.9 is the force .36 engine. when working on the savage xl, the engines considered were the K5.9, force .36, and force .38 engine. they ended up picking the k5.9 engine. the k5.9 was a kingstar sourced engine
 

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