Engine

This thing is sweet lol,

it's already put together and looks kewl as all hell lol.

 
First thing you do that we didn't get to do that no one tells you about
is remove the starter and drill 1 or 2 small holes in the bottom bearing plate

to let the water that gets trapped in it out so it doesn't get trapped in the starter causing all kinds of problems.  RotorWay should have all ready done this because you know in 25 years they are well aware of the problem.  This is the kinda stuff you learn from the old timers like Homer Bell that have been into these ships for years. For some reason it isn't something anyone tells you on purpose it's something that comes up in casual conversation.

Next thing is

drill a small hole in the water bleed valve petcock wing so you can safety wire it shut.  Talking to Tom Smith on the subject, he said most folks do not safety wire these but the one on the engine that are in line with the main engine drive belts should be safety wired for sure because if one of the belts begin to fray it can hit the valve and open it up making a bad situation ever worse if antifreeze starts blowing out and possibly even though it's unlikely to, cause a fire.

Next thing is that
rubber you put in the upper pulley housing on the top of the engine.

Here you want to use rubber like the exhaust straps are made from.  We came on this item to at Homer's when a fellow was having troubles with his engine swimming around because of what they thought was the rubber wore out of the cup causing way too much slop there.  This fellow had an electric clutch installed and within that setup the top of the engine isn't stable until the main drive belts are engaged.  Personally I don't like the way it is left swinging in the breeze and feel that's the main reason the rubber has a short lived life.  From what I can tell the engine only balances in the lower engine mount with nothing to support the top at all except the one torque link and that just keep the engine from rotating in place.  At this time we don't have the funds to buy the electric setup so researching it is on the back burner for now. Perhaps when we know more about it we'll have a different opinion.  Having the blades free from the starter would be a huge plus on the starter and being able to have the blades free while trailering we're told is a must as damage will result to the clutch and rotor head assemblys.  Even things like putting the heli in the hanger would be much easierbecause we could rotate the blades back and forth. We got to witness that first hand at Homer's the past two times we went.

Next

 
you want to make sure you install the engine centered in the ship from the top mount to the center of the bottom mount.  You can grind the outer sides of the rubber donut to make the engine move left, right, fore and aft in the lower mount and the slots in the lower engine mount and ring will have to be slotted to the max to be able to get the belts on and possibly later the other way to get the belts tightened once they stretch, we haven't gotten to that part yet so we've no idea.  Something that would have possibly helped it sink in sooner would have been to lube the donut with something that won't attack the rubber
to allow the engine to settle further in to the grommet.

 
Before you install the center clutch idler be sure to let the engine settle
in the mount for a few days if not weeks

or it will throw your idler off when you drill that hole in the frame mount for the swing arm, wanna know how we know that? lol   That's what were blaming it on anyway.  Over the years we've seen several others have this problem to so it isn't an isolated incident.

A little update

here about the electric clutch and safety wiring the top engine air bleed petcock. Later on in March of 2001 we installed the pro drive electric clutch and so far it rocks.

As far as safety wiring that pet cock on top of the engine, DO IT!, and with very strong wire to.

While I was at RotorWay for my Phase II training in 2001 Bill Orth and I crashed on my very first day from a belt on the turbo fraying and flying off.  When the belt went, it opened that valve up and caused the FADAC units and or Coil packs to cut in and out making for one hell of an autorotation.

END