An RC Dream comes true! Saito FA-80T

I realized one of my RC dreams! I have acquired a Saito twin, more specifically the FA-80T MKII. The FA-80T was the first twin cylinder engine that Saito mass produced. The MKI was introduced in 1981 and featured a singe carb. It was soon determined that the single carb was in adequate and the MKII with dual carbs was released. Basically they added the dual carb and designated it the MKII in 1982. This engine was only produced until 1983 when it was replaced with the FA-90T. The 80T also has a two piece head assembly as opposed to the most common feature of Saito engines, the single integrated cylinder head. The 2 piece head has an advantage for me, which is the ability to remove and inspect the valves without completely tearing down the engine. A task I did last night when trying to determine approximately how much run time this engine has. My best guess is 1 gallon or less, but it is used. This is not going to be a display only engine. It will be powering an airplane possibly this year and running even sooner. However, I am making the preparations to get it running this weekend if not sooner. I have a PSP Mfg. test stand with the back mount adapter. Tonight I drilled holes for the engine and throttle arm.

So I started out with a Master Airscrew 14x6, the glow plugs that came in the engine, 10% Omega fuel. After prime the engine fired on the very first flip!! Being my first twin I was learning on the fly what it should sound like, what happens when a cylinder drops out, etc. It seems the engine likes the pressure tap on the left cylinder. ( I am referencing left/right from behind the engine) Anyway with setup as above I was able to tune it to nearly 8000 RPM WOT. I could not get any more than that out of it for fear of leaning it too much. I did shut down the left cylinder once by leaning too much.1. Propeller from MA 14x6 to TF 13x6. Installed a header from another Saito on the right hand cylinder for pressure tap. The original runs the pressure fitting was on the left cylinder. Seeing as I am still very green to running twins, I am unsure what to make of this. it is also a bit difficult for me to know how to tune each carb. You can see in the videos I was using an IR temp sensor to read the head temps as an aid in how to tune it. At the end of the last run I checked to see where the needle valves were and each was only at 1 full turn open. This seems pretty lean to me. With the 13x6 I was able to get a peak of 8530 RPM. Again, I'm not sure if that is good or not for this engine. Much to learn still.After the first two runs I changed 3 things.2. Plugs: unknown plugs that came in the engine to Hangar 9 Super PlugI think for future runs I will switch back to my smaller fuel tank and see if that helps at all. Perhaps the size of this tank had an affect on how it ran with regards to the pressure. I had only filled it halfway and never completely emptied the tank over the course of the 4 runs.I had a heck of a time getting it to start and run after these changes. WTH??? So I moved the pressure tap header back to the left side and I was finally able to get it started and running again. This really does not make any sense to me. But in the first video above, I did remove the pressure line once and it immediately dropped the left cylinder.