IO-375 install

Wondering how many of you have completed an Aerosport IO-375 install?

How much of the Vans FWF kit could you use?

What exhaust did you use?

How much extra work over using a stock Lycoming and corresponding Vans FWF kit did you encounter?

Thanks

Kai

Re: IO-375 Install

I'm still working on the cowl and baffles, but haven't run into any issues and don't think I will. Externally, the IO-375 is dimensionally equivalent to the Lycoming parallel valve IO-360, so all of the components that work that that will bolt right on to the IO-375.

There are a couple of things to be aware of though. The ECI cylinders have tapered fins which will require modifying the baffles. Also, Bart at Aerosport recommended installing the Stewart Warner 10599R instead of the more common 8432R because of the additional heat generated by the larger engine. This is a bit of a pain since the 10599R is over 1" wider than the 8432R. This makes it challenging to mount on the baffles and the extra weight will likely require even more baffle reinforcement to avoid cracking. I'm still toying with the idea of mounting the oil cooler to the firewall as an alternative.

Larry Vetterman recommended the four pipe exhaust for the IO-375 which is what I installed. Not only does this look really cool with the four pipes coming out of the cowl, it allows the heat muff to surround two pipes instead of one which provides significantly more heat for the cabin. The lack of cross over pipes also appears to reduce the interference with other components in the cowl.

firewall oil cooler mount

I would definitely recommend the firewall oil cooler mount for the big cooler. I have the big angle-valve IO-360-A1A and used a 13-plate cooler. I made my own cooler mount for the RV-8 that is very similar in concept to the one Van sells for the RV-10, except that I adjusted the angles of the plenum box to fit in close to the RV-8 motor mount. I supply the cooler with a 3.5" scat from the back of the #3 baffle, with a butterfly valve control to adjust cooler airflow. This works great for summer-winter op's. If I had it to do over, I would probably use the 4" scat, and buy the 4" butterfly valve that is available at nonstopaviation.com.

If you search, you can find pictures that I posted in a previous thread.

scsmith said:

...If you search, you can find pictures that I posted in a previous thread.

Click to expand...

Here's the picture:



Thanks, Bob K.

Hey Kai,

i installed my io-375 with the superior cold air sump. i use the vetterman crossover. if i had to order again i would use the 4-pipe version instead. i believe that this would have made things more easy (heat muffler, oil drain, sniffle valve etc...)

i don't think that the engine itself is a problem but the cold air sump is... just a pain sometimes to install things. but it's doable.

Kay Stecklum

that's what I'm looking for...

Thanks Kay,

Those are the issues I'm looking at. It seems that the cold air sump leads to needing a series install modifications and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the trouble. I have little experience and don't want to find myself having to "engineer" solutions to problems I could have avoided by getting a more "stock" engine. If its just a few simple things that's one thing, if its a whole series of things that may be a deal breaker for me

Kai

Kai,

as i understand it the cold air sump for the 360 and 375 is the same. the vetterman crossover exhausts for the 360 and 375 are different.

so it's not the engine itself that is making things more difficult, it is the new combination of the cold air sump with the 375-crossover exhaust that can make installation of stuff harder.

so that shouldn't hold you off to order a io-375. just go with the 4-pipe-exhaust (and have other problems ) or, if you a far away from fwf-installation, just wait for the engineering solutions of the other people in the future (luckily, in the experimental aircraft builder world, it's not a shame to shoplift ideas and solutions from others).

Kay

Kai

I installed a IO-375 on a RV-8 and it went well. I have the cold air sump and used the cross over pipes. Had to make some brackets no big deal. I think the cold air sump is worth the extra time. Plan first flight is 5-15-2011.

Oil Cooler Location

I've been having a bear of a time trying to figure out where to mount the 10599R oil cooler for my IO-375, but finally stumbled on a location that I think will work fine, but I want to run it past the group to see if anyone sees any issues with this location:



I'll fabricate a bracket so that I can use two adel clamps on each side, but even as it is, I can move the entire plane by pushing/pulling on the oil cooler. The full writeup can be seen here.

Thoughts?

While that will probably "work" I don't think I'd feel comfortable with that setup without some real scrutiny from an experienced DAR.

Are you planning on running scat hose to it?



For the RV-7 setup with the cold air, the vetterman 4-pipe with the Vans cowl fits? Is that what I've read?

By the way, that's a good looking engine you've got there!!

Yes, I would run a scat tube to it from the back baffle and build a custom plenum to direct the air through the oil cooler.

And to answer your other question, the Vetterman 4-pipe exhaust fits the stock cowl very well. There is plenty of clearance around the exhaust.

For all of the people flying behind IO-375 engines, have you all used the 10599R oil cooler as recommended by Bart? Is anyone using the 8432R with the IO-375 and finding sufficient cooling?

IO-375 Installation

I installed the standard Firewall Fwd kit with my IO-375. The control cables and horizontal induction snorkel were the main problems (although these are common problems with all engines). Everything else was OK.

The standard oil cooler has been fine, although its seems to be cold here all the time in the Pacific NW. During the peak of summer, I've had to reduce power/increase airspeed a couple of times to prevent excessive oil temps. If the cooler was any better, I'd have to install a blocking plate during winter to increase the oil temps.

Robert Grigson
RV-8 FB, IO-375, 200RV Prop

Rob, was it the length of the cable or the routing. And did you just have to adjust, refab the snorkle to make it work?

Yet, another way to cool your engine

Here is another way to cool your engine.


(Click to enlarge)

We made that in one night.

Re: question from Sig600...

It was the length of cable for the mixture and stroke of cable for throttle. The cable Vans were supplying at the time had only 2 1/8" stroke, and I needed 2 1/4" to get idle to max throttle (ended up getting a different lever from Precision and modified that to make it work). I replaced the mixture with a 52.5" cable and that worked better as far the length of cable went.

The snorkel ran into the alternator bracket, and a lug on the starter (and it was generally too close to everything in that vicinity). I modded the snorkel locally (cutting off the offending area and putting new plies on), ground off the lug from the starter motor, and modded the alt bracket (more grinding). The snorkel was still a little too far forward, but did a lot of tap dancing with the baffling to get something that worked. Pretty tight fit.

Bill,

I can't tell from the picture, how is the oil cooler supported?

Thanks,

SW 8432R Mounted in a RV7



The SW8432 oil cooler is mounted. The oil lines are on order from Bonaco. A 14 1/2? with a 90-degree and a straight fitting and a 11 1/2? with a 45-degree and a straight fitting.