Does anyone know what the deal is with Brodak .25 and .40 size engines with muffler for sale on ebay? They are claimed to be and look to be brand new but lack the bolts that hold them all together and no needle valves. The seller would only say he bought these in bulk and they don't come with bolts or needle valves. The prices are great unless they are defective in design and got dumped onto ebay to flush them out of inventory. Any idea what's going on?

    I would tread very carefully on this deal. I don't know what is going on, but the biggest redeeming feature of Brodak engines bought from Brodak is that they will just replace them if defective. It has been argued that this is in lieu of extensive quality control - saving the initial cost but shifting the burden to the consumer - but if you can get a replacement, hard to argue.

     If the seller is taking the engine apart, or selling them as a kit, then you have no recourse if that particular set of parts doesn't happen to fit correctly. Caveat emptor.

    Brett

The bolts can be bought at ACE Hardware, as I have done in the past.  Take the engines with you to double check.  RTL Fasteners is another source if you buy in bulk.  The engines look new from the pictures.

That is a good price unless some one gets into a bidding war.

I'm not worried about bolts, gaskets or even needle valve. What I'm concerned about is that these components, while perhaps new, are potentially a batch of components that didn't quite fit together well or are from an attempted version change that didn't quite work out.

Why would Brodak allow someone to buy their private branded main casting in bulk AND sell engines with their name on them via ebay. If they are good engines, Brodak loses sales. If they are defective pieces, Brodak gets a black eye. I was just hoping someone here knows the back story.

I'm probably not a buyer. The last thing I need just starting out in control line is to get sidetracked trying to get a buckets of parts to play nice together AND keep my planes out of the dirt.

Hi Marty;
  What is the seller's name or the auction number? I just want to check this out of curiosity. I think I found the auction but want to be sure.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

Just search "Brodak" on ebay. You''l find him, or they, soon enough. The guy I was talking to says he is there under two names. There is a 2nd guy for a 3rd ebay user name also selling and using the same pictures. He said he bought these in bulk and they've been in storage and he needs them gone. They come as pictured so no gaskets, needle valve or bolts.