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

[Ren_RG28]

Hi everyone.

Time has come for me to do a full rebuild on the 18RG. She's pretty much stock at the moment and is putting out around 100rwhp. To keep costs down, I'm wanting to hang on to the 40mm Solex's and see how much we can get out of it. She's a 88270 head with 88251 block.

How much HP can I expect to get out of it with 40mm Solex's? And what modifications would I have to do to achieve that? It would be nice to be looking at the 120 - 150rwhp mark, but would jetted-up 40mm's do the job? I know my mechanic will have something in mind, but I'd like to hear everyone's opinions before work gets underway...

How exciting!!
Ren.

[Steve M]

Matt did ok with his solex 40s, should ask him what he had done to them.

http://www.toymods.net/forums/showth...?t=5122&page=3

[The Witzl]

solex's are perfectly fine to get good power out of - they are just as good as a weber.
The only downfall is that not so many people know them, and parts/jets arent as easy to get as they are for webers.

Get some 9.7:1 or higher comp pistons, and you should be happy.

[Ren_RG28]

I had a chat to my mechanic and he really does recommend getting some 45 Webers for the rebuild to make sourcing venturi/jets a heck of a lot easier. I had a look on the net - you can get them for $399 US ea, which is just over $500 our money which is affordable I think

So at this stage I'm seriously considering a full modified rebuild with 45 Webers, welded/reground cams, hi-comp pistons, lightened flywheel, blueprinted & balanced bottom-end and serious head work.

But, since it's primarily a daily driver and assuming the cams are around the 280 - 304 mark with 10.5:1 pistons, does anyone know if it would be drivable around town? Obviously a lot has to do with tuning, but I definitely want something that idles nicely and won't overheat on a hot day in traffic..

I guess I'm a little worried as I've heard a few people have had bad experiences with wild 18RG rebuilds. Problems with missing, poor idling, or just a severe lack of torque. Of course a lot has to do with the engine builder, but for peace of mind, am I better off just going with a standard rebuild?

[Norbie]

Obviously a lot has to do with tuning, but I definitely want something that idles nicely and won't overheat on a hot day in traffic..

It sounds like you want EFI. Given the cost of the Webers + jets + setting everything up, it wouldn't be a lot more expensive to slap on the 18R-GEU hardware and a Microtech. There's no doubt that EFI is the best way to tame wild cams.

[Rodger]

Yes indeed $500 each for basic Webers.

Then think about linkage, cable, jets, venturis filters/ram tubes, as just said. Getting Jets may appear common but how many times have people on this forum asked "where can I get jets for Webers?". The Webers have different size throttle shafts so Solex linkages do not fit.

Solexes can be made to work on any state of tune and most of the difference between 40s and 45s is at the top end. It is possible to loose low/mid range if you over carb an engine.

[The Witzl]

im going to reitterate what Norbie has said.
If you wanna stick with the throaty, gurgly, carby sound... then get yourself some DCOE mount EFI throttle bodies (injection perfection do some). It will be more expensive again, but will give you the best of tuning, and the best of the aural experience.

[Ren_RG28]

Yeah, thanks for the suggestions but I think $1000 for twin 45 Webers is pretty reasonable. What can I say, I'm just an old school kinda guy...

As for the cams - the mechanic has suggested a weld and regrind. Has anyone had experiences with welds? Is it even possible to buy new billet cams made to your specifications, or is that just wishful thinking?

[Rodger]

Ren,

Keep us posted on how things go with the pair of Webers and the build. They will make good power and can be made to be drivable.

Keep a running cost sheet and maybe create a thread for the set up, so that others asking the same questions can find some common answers.

Regards

Rodger

[Ren_RG28]

Will do Rodger, I'll start up a thread as soon as things get underway

Also, anyone had experiences with "Tighe Cams" at Wacol? They'll be doing the work on the cams. They've got a website: www.tighecams.com.au

[o_man_ra23]

Just spoke to the bloke from Tighe... sounded alright, and a 278/282 .410 .410 cam for the 18RC is only $100 (regrind)... should be interesting. Should have asked him what the next one up (weld and grind) was worth.

[sillycar chick]

Tighe do a lot of race cars, a lot of the cars I saw on Sunday at the Leyburn Springs had Tighe sponsor stickers on them. Will be getting them to do a set for the 3TGTE build most likely.

[Norbie]

Yeah, thanks for the suggestions but I think $1000 for twin 45 Webers is pretty reasonable.

Don't fool yourself into thinking it will cost you $1000 to have Webers up and running.

But it's your money, spend it as you please.

[The Witzl]

I've heard bad things about "tighe" cams..... there is a lot of comments about them in this thread:

http://www.toymods.net/forums/showthread.php?t=26504


I will also back norbie up again.
Having owned and driven a solex powered, weber 45DCOE powered, stock EFI powered and now a programmable EFI powered 18R-G.... i know which one i would build.

[Ren_RG28]

Norbie: Cheers for the advice I'm aware of the costs to get Weber's up and running, but I'm sure setting up a fully programable EFI system with DCOE throttle bodies wouldn't be cheap either.

Like I've said before, it's all in the tuning. After getting my RA28 (Solex 40's) back off the dyno initially, although it was driving nicely I spent a little more time fine tuning the mixtures (actually, hrs and hrs relentless trial and error ) and eventualy got it responding with EFI crispness from 1000rpm+. Floor it in 5th at 50kph and it pulls. Couldn't get it to miss if I tried.

Witzl: What kind of bad things have you heard about Tighe cams? My mechanic builds sprint car engines and only employs them when it comes to cams. Thanks for that thread you posted too. It seems like one person hasn't had a good experience with Tighe making decisions on cam specs, but that doesn't concern me much as my mechanic will make that decision and just get them to do the grind.