For the love of a tractor engine: The life and times of the 18R-G

[crowncustom]

So ppl I have just finished rebuilding my Step Sons RG and it is going all sweet considering.
First I had the valve timing out as it was popping and farting and just wasn't pulling the way I wanted so today I spent 4hrs re dialing the cams and tunning the carbs.
Took it for a run and it revs all the way to 7000RPM with no probs but its not got the pull it had with the 9.7 pistons.Plus it needs a re jet as it is blowing black shit when you give it a gut full from idle.
So running flat tops in a RG will work ok.
Cheers Brett.

[o_man_ra23]

its not got the pull it had with the 9.7 pistons.
So running flat tops in a RG will work ok.

I think the general consensus always was that the motor will run and rev, but would be quite lacking in the torque department (Power = Torque X RPM X Constant for those who don't know)

Just need to strap a hairdryer on the side and you will gain back that lost torque

[hosking1991]

Wouldn't running flat tops with the rg's huge combustion chamber result in pretty low compression ratio ?

[Steve M]

Hi Guys,

I have posted a parts wanted thread for an 88211 generation 18RG inlet manifold.
Will swap for other usable manifold that I have.

link is here:

http://www.toymods.net/forums/showth...11#post1037111

[o_man_ra23]

Hosking, yes. Hence the lack of torque and poor combustion resulting in black soot out the exhaust.

[The Witzl]

yeah even comparing the 8.7:1 and 9.7:1 pistons there is a large difference in torque.
I always found the 8.7:1 to drive nicely and potter around really well - but just didnt have that grunt that the 9.7:1 pistons gave, and lacked the pulling power.

8.7:1, and also 8.3:1 pistons are still domed, so flat-top pistons would probably result in a compression ratio somewhere in the 7.xx:1..... good for forced induction, but not great for NA.

[JustenGT8]

Yup, i ran flat tops and comp ratio (calculated from cyl vol but can't remeber what series head and had been shaved twice) was 7.5:1...i suspect it would ordinarily be a little less again approx 7.3:1. I could run 30psi no worries so get some boost into the thing

[The Witzl]

From memory i think the combustion chamber volume on my 88250 head is 72cc.
I'll have a look in my green book, im pretty sure we wrote it down in there.

[crowncustom]

Yes a Supercharger is next on the cards but a little further down the track till the Step Son learns how to drive and handle it a bit better.
Cheers Brett.

[Javal]

Good evening team 18R-G.

As usual, i'm in a spot of bother.

You see, for the past 2 1/2 hours i've been wrestling with my timing cover, in a vein attempt to remove it.

At first i removed all the bolts and attempted to remove it. No luck, it was stuck on rather firmly.
Then out came the hammer and brass drift to knock it loose. This worked to a degree. It broke the seal between the cover and gasket enabling me to peel and wiggle a small measure away from the block, but it would still not remove itself.
It then seemed rather stuck to something up near the head end of business. I reviewed some pictures of my old 88210 timing cover i sold, and found this:



Now i can't seem to see this bolt. From what it seems, it would go in from behind? Fuck knows.

I'm very much considering just tearing the head off (from what i gather, cam gears must be removed from the cams in order to get the cams out... i've never had to do this as my old motor had no upper timing gear at all ) and dealing with it later.

Thoughts?

[RA35GT]

Dood, the head needs to come off to get the timing cover off.

And yeah, timing gear has to come off also to get cams out.

[Javal]

Failboat.

Shows how much i know about these things.

Ask me anything about an alloytec

What really irks me about that is the timing cover is generally an easily removable item which you use to inspect and replace wearing components in the timing assembly. Obviously this was not the case 30 years ago.

Guess i'm bringing home the big spanners tomorrow.

[roadkill]

Hi,

it's been a while but from memory you don't need to take the cams out to take the head off. if anything it's easiest to take the cam gears off the front and then it should be pretty easy. As for the timing cover, yes you can take it off without taking the head off but you tend to phark the head gasket and have to replace it too. Guess how you do that.............

bEn

[Sagluren]

i have once got the timming cover of with out de-heading my first engine, cant remember how but i did destroy the large chain guide/ tensioner, so i would suggest removing head first.

ohhh and when putting the engine back together, dont forget the bolt that goes into the timming cover threw the back of the head, ( near where the dissy is on the 18r) you get a major oil leak.


cheers

[o_man_ra23]

Removing the timing cover without removing the head can be done successfully (have performed this operation in the past). HOWEVER, when you put said cover back on, the front section of the head gasket will never seal, so it's sort of a lose lose situation.

My suggestion is to take the head off, replace the upper timing chain while it is off ($40), take the sump off, get the head faced, and after you have finished doing what you needed to do with the timing cover, put it all back together with the knowledge you have a good seal. Personally I like to use a product called Hylomer to give the head gasket a better seal, but this is not essential.

I just hope you haven't farked your timing cover.