Dusting off nitro engines

[Lawser]

Folks,
Is there any guidance on maintenance on a nitro engine that has not been used for years.
Several of my engines have not been run for quite sometime, after some pre run maintenance is it best practice to bench test without blades ?
Thanks,

Paul

[trillian]

Get plenty of oil in the cylinder and make sure there is good compression. If there is very little compression it's probably a stuck ring. If the bearings are shot you can tell just at an idle as you'll hear the swishing / metallic grindy noise. It is not advised to run a nitro engine at higher throttle without blades, but you only need to idle to hear the tell-tale signs of corroded bearings.

[hedge]

Ive bought a few 2nd hand nitros, some ive run straight off and others I strip and rebuild. First up just look at it, twist the carb and turn over by hand - check the carb barrel for rust as it spins around. Look in the exhaust port as the piston rises and falls can you see the ring does it look frozen. Does the visible piston look scored. How does it feel? Remove the back plate and look for rust spots, if you can see the bearing how bad does it look. Whip the head off check the top of the piston - is it pitted, cracked or scarred - dont worry about burnt oil/ discolouration.

If anything does not add up strip it - take a note of the connecting rod orientation and the piston orientation

- mark it. Strip the piston off the rod and clean and oil the piston pin before rebuilding. Replace bearings. Use green scour pad to clean all the rust and discolouration out of the internals (I tend not clean the inside of the piston liner), replace the ring and any broken parts.

Rebuild and rejoice in your new shiney ready to go nitro goodness

Folks,
Is there any guidance on maintenance on a nitro engine that has not been used for years.
Several of my engines have not been run for quite sometime, after some pre run maintenance is it best practice to bench test without blades ?
Thanks,

Paul

[Lawser]

Thanks all for the info