Hello,

A friend that I fly with recently purchased a Veco .35.  The engine looked to be nearly new and had been stored away since the 1970's.  It was stuck so he disassembled it and cleaned up the old oil which freed the engine.  He didn't notice any apparent head gasket on the Veco.  There was no parts diagram with the engine.

 Question is:  Did the Veco come with a head gasket? Perhaps it is there but he overlooked it.  Also, if he does need a gasket, is there a source for them and what thickness should it be? Any recommendations on making a head gasket if he can't locate one?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

AFAIK, there is an aluminum gasket just like the Fox.  It is probably there, but not seen.  I have 6-8 Veco .35 Stunt engines from the early-mid '60s and they are great.  Gotta run good oil in it, 25% all castor is a safe bet with 5%-10% nitro.  5% is about all I use until it gets very hot.  A 10-5 (true pictch, not labeled) prop like a B-Y&O is good on them. If you get a B-Y&O from Brodak, the 10-6 is about right at 5" pitch.  I don't like the APC props on them, but I have used an old Master Airscrew "Simitar" series 10-5 and it works real nicely.

Juhani Kari of Finland placed 2nd at the WC with a Veco 35 in his NAKKE in '64.  A strong stunt 35 for its day.

I'd give it a good look, to see if there really isn't a head gasket stuck in a groove in the head (like the Fox .35). Next step would be to measure the bore and research online for engines with similar bore size. I'd suggest ST G.34, Magnum XL & XLS .32/.36, TT .36, Fox .35, etc. There's not a lot of variation in bore/stroke ratios, tho of course, there are some oddballs (like the Fox Stunt).

I guess it might be worthwhile to check with RJL/MECOA, since they got most the K&B stuff, and K&B did buyout Veco when they closed. I believe Frank Bowman also got a bunch of K&B parts, so you might also check with him. Can't say I have heard of a Veco collector/specialist lately, except for Clarence Lee. There were some back when they were in business, "Barr-Norsikian" and locally Bob Tucker (Yakima, WA). Bob's still around, flies R/C, I think. Probably pretty wobbly by now...

Steve 

Another reason why you should leave engine rebuilds to the pros.

Odd reply there, WVD!  Care to elaborate? 

Bill <><

Hello,

I had a chance to look at the Veco .35 yesterday and, yes , it does have a head gasket.  It appears to be in good shape and  the guy it belongs to found another head gasket that fits in his parts box in case he needs one later.  I guess it pays not to throw stuff away! 

By the way, yesterday was a great day for flying here in West Virginia.  Probably anywhere in the East.  67 degrees, sunny and no wind.  Shorts and a t-shirt. 

Thanks again to everyone for the advice on the head gasket.

Joe

Most of you know that I worked for a major engine builder/rebuilder for many years. During that time I disassembled way too many "atrocities" from folks that didn't know whether or not their engine had a head gasket. You cannot imagine how many of our small engine parts can be installed backwards. Pistons, sleeves, cylinder heads, and most often seen, con rods. Long screws in short holes, 4-40's in mm, or 5-40 holes. I could go on but I'm sure you are getting my theme.

I'm not trying to bruise anyones sensitivities here, just attempting to to provide knowledge where it could be weak. Some folks know engines, some don't. For those that don't, the $$$$$$ are well spent.

Hi Ward,

No argument here!  I have picked up some engines that "wouldn't run right" and parts were in there wrong, etc., and some were ok with just putting them back together rigth.  Some had ruined parts!

Oddest one was a "Scratch and Dent" OS 46VF for a give away price.  The engine did not look to have been opened up, but the Sleeve was 180 degrees out!  Fortunately Papa Dave Hemstraught had a new sleeve (he had replaced the stock one before it was run with an AAC from Randy!) and that 46VF is still running strong today.

Bill L wrote in Post #7...

>Make sure the wrist pin is free to turn in the rod/piston.  If it stays stuck, bad things happen. 

Not only that, but that the rod has not glued or cooked onto the wrist pin, side-to-side.  For an engine that has sat on its side for a number of months or years, the rod may 'gel' into a lock on the wrist-pin, in the wrong alignment with the rest of the moving bits.

If it has 'glued' it can still turn the wristpin in the piston, but only as far as t'other end of the rod can swing in the bottom of the piston. Crock-pot technique will  likely free this up with minimum hands-on, but might just not.

I've done a few engines in the last 50+ years, even had an aero engine shop course in HS, so I feel a bit competent on some of this stuff...

A few engines I've cleaned up, for me or others, had this bound rod problem.  At the least, it makes disassembly more difficult, as the rods usually need to slide on the wristpin some to allow the big end to slip off the crankpin. At the most, a well-aligned engine still feels like something inside is not fitting. Freeing the rod/wrist pin fit made significant improvement, every time I found the problem.