What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Hugh's RV-8

nzrv8

Well Known Member
Due to living overseas I haven?t touched my project since early 2014, and I am only getting to spend a few weeks a year working on it but it's better than nothing!

My engine was dropped off a few months ago (Thanks Wayne!) so I set about tearing it down to see what surprises it had in store for me. It was a very cheap IO-360-A1B6 with 700hrs TT and no damage history but it had been sitting unpreserved for 20 years. Nothing quite like taking a gamble :)

1_zps2a9a41c2.jpg


The floor of a barn isn't the best environment for engine work, but no worries - a few hours later and I had it reduced to a pile of parts.

2_zpsa68e3687.jpg


3_zps20c447f3.jpg


4_zps913d521d.jpg


Things I noted:

Some rust on rocker shafts and piston pins.
All cylinders have a little patch of light corrosion in the bore. Cylinder 3 is pretty badly pitted but hopefully it can be salvaged.
Crankshaft and camshaft both look to be ok, with no corrosion or wear visible on the cam lobes. All of the followers/tappets etc look good.
Cylinder 3 piston has a bit of scuffing around the crown and the skirt, which might be related to the heavier corrosion in that cylinder. The other pistons look good.
Accessory gears all look good, no rust or pitting. Fuel pump cam and plunger look good.
The crank has the lightening holes in the prop flange, and the hollow section was full of sludge. It looked OK once I it cleaned out, I?ll do some further checks on the crank later.

I cleaned the cylinders, and treated the bores with some sticky spray grease, and have stored them in an airtight container with some desiccant.
The crankcase was wrapped in plastic after fogging it with some sticky preserving oil.
All other parts were treated with preserving oil and sealed in plastic.

5_zps9b6e7200.jpg


My plan is to send the cylinders to be checked, and then do a few basic checks on the crank and cam without splitting the cases. If the cylinders can be saved, I?ll reassemble the engine with new gaskets/rings/accessories etc and comply with all relevant AD?s. This is my preferred option in the interests of saving money! If the cylinders are toast, then I?ll split the cases and get a full overhaul done with new cylinders, or use it to make a coffee table..

Tomorrow I'll continue building my third horizontal stabilizer (I wasn't happy with the first two for various reasons) and I will be incorporating the front spar SB at the same time. Then I can mount it to the fuselage and continue with the control systems later on in the week.

Happy new year!

Hugh
 
Today I carried out the HS SB. As I was re-building my HS it was a prime time to do the mod. Overall it was straightforward and took about 4 hours on top of the time to build the front spar.
The only issue I have is where Van's want you to put the new flange on the front of the HS-405's - Where I have riveted on my doublers there is a row of rivets which are in the way of the flange. I should be able to rivet the flanges on the inboard side of the HS-405's instead, rather than the outboard side as per the plans.
Tomorrow I'll bang the HS together after driving to town to get some more primer (3 hour trip), then Tuesday I'll mount it on the fuselage and carry on with rigging the controls.
It's nice to be back on the wagon, even if I do spend most of the day drilling out bad rivets :)

Cheers!

Hugh

1_zps89fc213c.jpg


2_zps4aa3b221.jpg


3_zps94320955.jpg
 
Last edited:
I am in a very similar situation. I purchased the same model a few months back. It has about 700 hrs since overhaul but had gone through a prop strike and sat for some time; but the price was right. I think I saw your engine when it was listed actually. I am hoping not to do any work to the pistons cyclinders, obviously I'll send the case and crank out for inspection. I did notice very light pitting on the cyclinder bores; similar to you. I am planning on going as is with them. What are your plans?
 
I'm going to send my cylinders out to be checked and make a call once I know if they only need a hone, or bored oversize, or new cylinders. I'm happy (lucky?) with the condition of the bottom end as is, especially given all of the cam lobe corrosion horror stories, and crank AD's!
My engine came to New Zealand with a bunch of parts ex Africa, I know the guy who imported 20 (all A1B6's) along with some new old stock spares so if you need any parts, let me know and I'll put you in touch with him!

Cheers,

Hugh
 
Back
Top