Ex L29 Reno raced Viper 601

[rpwp]

Hi guys,

I'm new to this list so gidaye from "down-under" here in New Zealand.

My son-in-law and I just picked up a Viper 601 that has come out of an L29 now based in Wanaka New Zealand. With the jet ban at Reno the 601's racing days are over so I'm intending mounting in a portable stand and firing her up (idle only...well maybe a bit more) from time to time for the hell of it.

She needs a bit of tidy up work particularily the 2nd stage NGV which we've discovered has several broken segments at the outer tip support plate area which need welding up.

And of course no starter which seems par for the course when picking up these old vipers, good information around on building something suitable which will be a help.

I also have a Teirney TT-10 APU that's getting mounted to the run stand and will provide ample assistance in starting the Viper...well that's the plan anyway!

Anyone out there with a 601 that wants to share their experiences be keen to hear from you.

If you guys are interested I'll post photos from time to time as we tidy her up, first job is top compressor case off for a bit of blade damage blending.

I should explain that many moons ago I was in the RNZAF and trained as an engine fitter. 5 years of my service career in the late 70's was in an overhaul depot working on Viper 535 and J52-P8B (Strikemaster/A4 Skyhawk) component and core overhaul so I have a rough idea of what we're doing

Cheers......Rene

[rpwp]

[racket]

Hi Rene

Welcome to the Group :-)

Some pics of the inside once you split the case will be interesting .

Cheers
John

[rpwp]

Thanks John it's always good to share this info!

Over the weekend we got the engine mounted to the new frame and got the APU positioned. We removed the 2nd stage turbine wheel to expose the NGV as we knew a couple of segments were broken. Hoping to get these welded so we can at least run to low power (idle).

If anyone knows of a 601 in pieces somewhere that we could obtain a few NGV segments from please let me know!

We also removed top compressor case as there are several blades that need minor blending from a bit of FOD damage.

Cheers...........Rene

[rpwp]

[rpwp]

A few shots of turbine and NGV damage.

[Richard OConnell]

Ouch.. I've seen several 301s around, but this is the first 601 I've seen here. Best of luck finding replacements!

[racket]

Nasty :-(

Thanks for the pics

[tarquin]

Hello

Anyone know the best way to remove old hylomar from thar compressor case before applying new?

Should it be removed with soft scraper or with solvent?

Cheers
Tarquin

[rpwp]

We've been lucky enough to find 5 serviceable NGV segments in the US will advise further details once they arrive!
Should also mention that we have the HS125 maintenance manual that covers the 601 in great detail plus a full RR parts breakdown manual for the engine.

Tarquin my Satanic Mechanic (and son-in-law) has scanned both manuals and plan to put these online so anyone that needs reference material can access them.

Also have a huge range of .pdf's on the Viper 535 power plant and it's fitment to the Strikemaster including pilot notes. Really useful for anyone wanting engine specs, starting procedures, engine parameters etc if there's any interest these can also be made available!

Cleaning up the 601 comp case flanges at the moment and blending some minor blade damage will post some photos shortly.

Cheers.....Rene

[rpwp]

Over the weekend we cleaned all compressor case mounting faces with acetone to remove old Hylomar compound and blended all the comp blades that required tidy up. A fine Riffler file was used to contour and remove any sharp corners that can lead to crack development.





Tarquin then used a 1/4 x 28tpi bottom tap to clean out the front housing and diffuser housing threaded holes ahead of refitting the top case.



Final job was to clean locating pin holes on rear case face and draw the pins flush with face so minimum movement will be required to engage with diffuser housing when top case is refitted.



Next weekend we'll refit top case and move to the turbine NGV rebuild!

[rpwp]

It's been a while since I updated the thread but things have progressed well getting the 601 back together and almost ready to run!

With the compressor blades blended we can now refit the top case half which was accomplished with little difficulty. Mating flanges we cleaned and Hylomar applied prior to assembly.


We replaced several NGV segments kindly supplied for the price of postage by Dave Cannavo at Aero Enterprises in the US. Dave had originally fitted my 601 to the L29 it came out of and was incredibly helpful! Photo shows 2nd stage turbine refitted and tailcone ready to go back on.

[rpwp]

Next job was to refit the location pins in the front and rear flanges along with all the different length bolts and locking nuts. Once that was completed the blow-off valve and various other piping and components refitted.

[rpwp]

After much debate over building or acquiring a starter we were able to locate a genuine starter generator including it's adapter ring. Only thing missing was the V band clamp to hold the two together!! a search of the net found one at a wreckers yard in Florida...only problem was the part no was correct except that it had a /1 after it...what the heck how different could it be right? well turns out different enough that the 2 mating flanges would only just enter the V band not well enough to secure. After a bit of pondering the adapter got put in the lathe and 0.5mm got skimmed off the starter face of the adapter housing...perfect! of course you couldn't get away with this if the engine was in service but that doesn't worry us!

[rpwp]

Time to start thinking about getting the Tiernay TT-10 APU up and running as the plan is to use the APU to start the Viper. Again nothing is ever as simple as you think and after months of sourcing missing generator control module/faulty ignitor plug/contactor etc and undertaking an almost full rewire we finally got it up and running...well almost! after a few starting issues that are still not fully resolved we couldn't get the generator on the APU to go on-line. After carrying out a bunch of tests we identified a suspect field winding open circuit.
A strip of the generator revealed a broken wire just outside the actual windings so a new solder connection and we're back in business!
Whilst all this is happening we have started to construct the Mobile Control Module cabinet as you will see a tool trolley from the local hardware has worked a treat.