STS D30M engine Initial Review
webmaster note:Yes, found this post in the rctech about STS D30M engine. Thanks to Horatio, this post should be in this blog. So i posted on his behalf.
On the subject of STS……..
I decided to have a good look at my new engine. Now there’s been a fair bit of hype surrounding these engines, not just the MT engines but the TC and buggy engines too. After some initial niggles, it soon became clear that these engines perform extremely well at about half the price of typical competition engines.
The engine I received came protected in a vacuum sealed bag within a very nice foam-packed box. The excellent instructions cover all the important things in a very concise way, with some occasional ‘quaint’ English thrown in, just to amuse us!
Here in the UK, most of us have had a fair bit of snow over night, so running in at this stage isn’t a good idea. Instead, I stripped and checked my STS D.30’s internal parts.
All I can say is - WOW. Bear in mind I’ve had lots of decent engines in my time, so I’m not easily impressed. But this engine is so well made, it’s almost too good to be true. The quality of the casting is first class. The inside of the case was perfectly clean, properly lubed with absolutely no sign of rust or even the merest blemish on the crank or the knife-edged con-rod. 10/10.
This is one of those engines that you could fire-up straight away, without any need to flush or clean first. Much like OS quality in terms of finish.
The carb isn’t quite as good as an OS, nor would you really expect it to be. It’s a little bit sticky at the closed side, but presumably this will soon be eliminated with use, once everything has had a chance to bed-in. Otherwise, the needles, slide, spray bar and carb body look very nicely made.
The screws all needed a little torque to pinch them up, so I decided to de-grease them and apply some thread lock. I did this on the back plate and also on the pullstart assembly. As the plastic on the pullstart is potentially incompatible with solvents present in the thread lock, I ensured the thread lock was put only into the holes of the alloy casing, therefore eliminating any contact between the plastic and the thread lock.
The button head comes supplied with what looks like a 0.1mm and a 0.3mm head shim. After run-in, I’ll probably stick with just the 0.3 shim on 25% fuel.
Remember the problems I had with my trusty S 25 when I first inspected it? Looks like Nitro Star could use a few lessons from the engineers at STS. And the K 4.6 - remember the interesting ‘pitted’ piston that they came supplied with in many cases? Both engines cost about the same. Hmmm.
This is all well and good, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating!! I’ll keep you updated with how the engine break-in goes. In the meantime, I need to get hold of the STS .21 Tuned in-line pipe/manifold and the Fioroni Turbo Slider clutch. More £££.
Just added, New tuned pipe for D.28 and D.30 engines will be available 12th Feb, #0702.
[ratings]
Related post: STS Archives, Monster Truck category
Technorati Tags: STS D30M, MT, buggy engines, button head, head shim, Nitro Star, STS .21, Tuned in-line pipe/manifold, Fioroni Turbo Slider clutch
