Is it possible to still get a new KB 3.5?

[Lowell Tryon]

I know their site shows 0 in stock, but it still lets you backorder. Anyone know if they’re still making them? Looking to buy a 3.5 SS (gold top model).

 

[RobertDoak]

You may have an easier time by just buying a used 3.5....then purchacing the gold carb....gold flywheel...gold cooling head and exhaust and adapter...and the SS lower
Then you have a 3.5 SS..
I made an SX in that manner...

 

[Ron Olson]

Try Gary Preusse as if anyone can get one or has one it might be him. Call him at 630-279-2451.

 

[Geraghty]

Try Gary Preusse as if anyone can get one or has one it might be him. Call him at 630-279-2451.

Gary had a heart attack , had surgery and is doing well and will be coming home later next week.......
Don't ask because that is all I know about Garys situation.....

 

[Alan Elzer]

I have a good used water cooled 3.5 & very used 3.5 (needes p/s replaced) air cooled if interested

 

[Terry Keeley]

Gary had a heart attack , had surgery and is doing well and will be coming home later next week.......
Don't ask because that is all I know about Garys situation.....

Holy crap! I just talked to him a couple weeks ago and all was well.

Get well soon Gary!

 

[Lowell Tryon]

Thanks for the info guys. I was just curious if MECOA intends to make more, since their site doesn’t just flat out say DISCONTINUED under the 3.5 models...

Got a good price on a pair of thunder tigers from e-bay... gonna give them a try on a JAE 21... currently reading all the old Jerry Wyss posts about them.

 

[RobertDoak]

Oh darn...your the one who bought them..
I hope you got a good deal...im on the same track as you...lots of info ...but no pics...or very few..and no hard detailed info...if I only had a lathe....

 

[camaroboy383]

Yeah, Jerry was a good friend, he was a wealth of knowledge, and I'm glad I had the time I did with him.. there were always very few of us that worked with the tt's.. Jerry, myself, and Tim duggan that's pretty much it.. I think gabe Clegg messed with them for a short while as well... Jerry always said there was nothing better than to take a sub par engine and make it shine the way it should have.. Jerry had some very competitive tt driven tunnels in his day.. they loved the gadget craft o.b pipes...I still to this day have one of those pipes, as well as the many tt o.b's... for sure if you search Jerry's, tim duggan's posts you will find a wealth of knowledge on the tt...

I miss that man greatly!

 

[Lowell Tryon]

Parts seem to be pretty scarce for them now, the two I bought are supposedly in working order except one is missing teeth on a bevel gear. Only place I can find that gear is from an ebay store in Germany... I’m not looking to seriously race with them, just thought they’d be fun to tinker with and a break from all the electric rc planes I normally mess with.

 

[camaroboy383]

Yes... I can imagine the parts are scarce these days... they were back then as well... the tt outboard was one of those engines that tt would produce on and off.. there were spells of no parts, then they would come back and flood the market, then disappear again.. the tt o.b came in two different lower bevel ratios.. 1.19:1 and 1.04:1... the 1.04:1 ratio is what we ran all the time, we ran a x640 cut back to 37.8mm or a x637 with added trailing edge cup.... tim duggan had run the 1.19:1 ratios at one point with a x642 but it liked to eat flex shafts if I recall correctly... if there is a bevel gear damaged something catastrophic happened, weather it bulged a flex at high rpm or the bevel bearings failed.. another thing to look at is if someone had removed the shim and forgot to reinstall it...there is a hole on the right side of the lower that is threaded and leads to the bevel gears... we used to use waterproof grease in a small grease gun with a needle zerk.. that way we could add grease easily without pulling the lower... it was important to keep that cavity well greased for gear and bearing longevity...

These engines were alot of fun, and they were very cheap compared to the opposing manufacturers...they were like a genie in a lamp, if rubbed the right way they came to life!

 

[Lowell Tryon]

very good info, thanks a lot! are the bearings something I could get from a machine supply/ mcmaster?

 

[camaroboy383]

Yes the bearings are common.. you can get them from pretty much any rc bearing supplier like boca bearing... I will look at the numbers tonight.. I cant remember the bearing numbers off the top of my head

 

[RobertDoak]

Get the bearing size or measure them yourself...it will be im Millimeters and go to Boca bearing..
Lowell...has your t.t. arrived yet...I messaged the seller on which version they were and he had no clue...just curious..they have the 12mm crank and the 13mm crank...K&B went through the same thing with the early 3.5 engines.

 

[camaroboy383]

I do remember the part number... pn0109.. but a quick search on Ebay showed the only vendor was in taiwan

 

[Lowell Tryon]

I took apart the motor with the chipped teeth last night. i found several busted gear teeth floating around, in addition to the bearing on the backplate (607z i think) having a dent in the cover and seized up. not sure which happened first, but it will need all new bearings and a gear set to work again.

the other motor looks ok, but I’m going to go ahead and replace all the bearings in the lower anyway.

Robert, if you mean the diameter of the crankshaft at the flywheel, it’s 13mm.

 

[Lowell Tryon]

One other thing- I bought one of the few remaining pro .21 inboard motors from TT’s site- mostly because they’re 40 bucks and I might want to build an inboard someday... but if need be, could this be used in the outboard lower?

 

[RobertDoak]

Thats interesting....from many sources that should be 12mm ....just goes to show...cant trust everything ...thanks for the correction....there is another TT on ebay and was hesitent on bidding....
But if you really dont want to mess with all the experimental stuff...there is a GO power head for sale on the site....the Go Engine web site dont list a powerhead any longer...but the engine should give the Italians a good run for the money.....and its made in Taiwan...the other competitor....

 

[camaroboy383]

Lowell, how did the lower needle bearing look? Did you get into that section of the lower? If the bearing in the pto is bad there was a lack of lubrication, most likely never greased the bevel cavity... my guess would be the needle bearing is smoked as well... easiest way to gain entry would be to split the lower..pay attention to the shim and the internal ring that retains the assembly...

 

[Lowell Tryon]

the needle bearing spins smoothly, but there is definitely zero grease in the lowers of both motors, so i’ll be replacing all the bearings in both.

the contents of the lower kinda exploded out when I opened it up, fortunately a parts diagram was included with the sale!