MECOA

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Kez

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2003
Messages
1,230
An interesting clip on MECOA.



I would think there is enough demand for them to make a K&B outboard production run...
 
It's interesting that the video shows a guy building an engine and then claims he can build over 200 per day. If that's the case, why don't we see them on the market and why, after being told I would get one in a few weeks, have I heard nothing in several years?
 
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It isn't going to happen. I think MECOA did a short run of K&B red head sleeves a long time ago. Their main mode of operation is to buy up engine companies and assemble what they can from the remaining stock. The best K&B stock vanished into several places before MECOA got there. They did get some molds and machines. Whether there was enough to build any desirable engines is anyone's guess.

Lohring Miller
 
This video is a bunch of garbage! The reason I say this is because no human being can possibly assemble 150 to 200 engines per day, even when all the necessary parts have been prepared ahead of time. My personal experience for the last seven years in building & repairing all the Nelson pylon racing engines sold worldwide tell me this fact! K & B engines were made famous by Bill Wisniewski. Bill Wisniewski, Roger Theobald & Jack smith collaborated on the first working tuned pipe used for model engine use. The original theories were proved to be valid at the 1965 & 1966 Control Line World Championships in England. The dimensions of the first tuned pipes were developed using typical motorcycle proportions & scaling the length to model engine rpm's. Trial & error testing led to a jump in the F. A. I. speed from 140 to 150 MPH. Experiments in black Sperex VHT exhaust paint improved gas flow efficiency which resulted in speeds of approximately 160 MPH. The March 1967 issue of Model Airplane News explains in detail exactly what was done to develop a tuned pipe for model engine use. No place in this article & many others pertaining to K & B engine manufacturing is there a mention of the two persons shown in this video! This video is nothing but BS!!

Jim Allen
 
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The guy in the video literally said I got into the business 30 years ago, so you are right, this guy was not around in the 1960s. Outside of the inflated production number, why does that make the video BS? What exactly does its BS mean to you?
 
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If K&B is the largest American model engine manufacturer, the business is really dead in the US. Randy is an engine collector, not a manufacturer. I listened to him promise how he was going to resurrect K&B at the Northwest Model Expo over a decade ago. As the limited stock of parts got used up the "production" slowly vanished. I see he also now owns Fox. You can kiss the Fox 35 Stunt I learned to fly on in the 1950s good by.as well as all the other famous Fox engines. I think the largest American model engine manufacturer these days is probably Quickdraw. Their US content is probably as high as some American cars. Fortunately, it's a very connected world and we can still get a selection of engines from the surviving model engine manufacturers in other countries.

Lohring Miller
 
The guy in the video literally said I got into the business 30 years ago, so you are right, this guy was not around in the 1960s. Outside of the inflated production number, why does that make the video BS? What exactly does its BS mean to you?
I have posted photos of some of the parts that would be required to assemble a typical front intake engine. All of the parts shown have been carefully inspected, de-burred & washed before any assembly can take place. What is not shown is how the main bearings are shrunk into the crankcase; how the crankshaft ramps are glued in place; how the piston wrist pin holes are honed to size; how the connecting rod upper & lower holes are honed to size; the precision machined backplate; 10 socket head cap screws; the precision machined 9 mm venturi used & the hundreds of piston & heads machined in .0001" increments that are required to fit an engine properly. Does anyone think that 150 engines could be assembled in a days time? LOL!

Jim Allen

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Sorry my comment had nothing to do with the 200 motor claim randomly thrown in by some random assembly line guy, I was referring to you calling the video BS. If thats all you meant then you are probably right.
 
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