Noah

Noah

Well Known Member
Greetings All,

My first post to VAF! I recently purchased a substantially complete RV-7A project (similar to quickbuild in completeness) from a builder near me, and the project came with a nearly run-out, pickled IO-360 A1B6 200 hp engine (1850 SMOH, 900 STOH). I am debating whether to sell this engine or install it.

My question is, if I install it and later decide to buy a new experimental injected 180 hp engine, will both engines have the same form factor or would I be required to re-do things such as the cowl, control cables, exhaust, and etc? The IO-360 A1B6 overhaul is pretty expensive, and if I sold the engine I have, I figure I could apply the $8-$11K from the sale towards a new engine and be close to having less dollars into a new engine than an older overhauled engine.

Recommendations? (I plan to install a CS prop). Are these engines "plug and play"?

Thanks for any help on this.

Noah Forden
RV-7A Finishing
Rhode Island
 
The cowl, engine mounts, and most of the wiring will be the same. Some of the engine controls, the baffles, and the exhaust will be different.

The engine that you have is a very nice one. It is rated for 200HP out of the box, and has a counterweighted crank. If you put a lightweight composite prop on it, you'll have the same FWF weight as the 180/hartzell guys with better than average performance and smoothness.
 
Noah,

Talk to Mahlon at Mattituck and get a price to rebuild it and make it factory fresh.

I bet that could be your smoothest route into the air.

I need to get down there and see your project.

Keep in touch.

BTW, check out www.rivetbangers.com and make a user id there. Lots of local guys there.

Talk soon,

:) CJ
 
Overhaul Prices IO-360A1B6

Thanks John, I'd love to have you come down. I can certainly use some help getting started- I'm a bit bewildered about where to begin! I'm currently reading the builders logs and manuals and reviewing the drawings and trying to ensure that no steps are missed. Thanks for the RivetBangers reference.

I received the following pricing from various shops for overhaul of this engine:

Penn Yan:
Re-use cylinders: $19K
Ceramic Nickel Coated cylinders: $19.9K
New Lyc cylinders: $23.8K

Mattituck (Mike):
$21.8K (new limits, new cylinders)
Add $655 for lightspeed EI

Aerosport Power:
New Lyc cylinders: $17K
Hone and re-ring my cylidners: $12K
Add $1K for single lightspeed EI
Add $1500 for Airflow Performance

Highest Regards,
Noah
 
flyeyes said:
The cowl, engine mounts, and most of the wiring will be the same.
Click to expand...
THE COWL IS NOT THE SAME!

The angle valve IO-360 is a fair bit wider up front than its parallel valve (160/180hp) brethren, and Van's makes a cowl that specifically accommodates the cylinder head on #1 (front right) for the angle valve engine. It's also a "smooth bottom" cowl since the assumption is that you'll be taking advantage of the horizontal induction design of the IO-360-A1B6.

The cowlings are NOT interchangeable. A parallel valve engine WILL fit in an IO-360-A* cowl, but not the other way around.

My advice is -- stick with that engine, because it kicks butt!!
 
dan said:
THE COWL IS NOT THE SAME!

The angle valve IO-360 is a fair bit wider up front than its parallel valve (160/180hp) brethren, and Van's makes a cowl that specifically accommodates the cylinder head on #1 (front right) for the angle valve engine. It's also a "smooth bottom" cowl since the assumption is that you'll be taking advantage of the horizontal induction design of the IO-360-A1B6.

The cowlings are NOT interchangeable. A parallel valve engine WILL fit in an IO-360-A* cowl, but not the other way around.

My advice is -- stick with that engine, because it kicks butt!!
Click to expand...

Dan, I'm pretty sure the top half of the cowl is the same, regardless of the type (at least on the RV-8). If he later changes to an injected parallel-valve engine, it should drop right in. He could also drop in an IO-390 or IO-400 without any modification at all

I bought a cowl for a carbed, parallel-valved engine, and wound up getting a deal on an angle-valve engine. I used the same cowl, but added an induction scoop (from Mark Frederick/Team Rocket) to the lower cowl after Dremeling off the big carb scoop. I sold the scoop to a guy with an RV-6 who made the opposite swap.
 
flyeyes said:
Dan, I'm pretty sure the top half of the cowl is the same, regardless of the type (at least on the RV-8). If he later changes to an injected parallel-valve engine, it should drop right in. He could also drop in an IO-390 or IO-400 without any modification at all.
Click to expand...
I can't speak to the RV-8, but he's building an RV-7A. Trust me, on the RV-7[A], the cowl is definitely different for the 200+hp angle valve setups. Check out the little "patch" looking thing on the front right. They do away with the thick stuff there and go with just a thinner area of just fiberglass to accommodate the top front boss on #1. Even so it's still a tight fit in that area on the RV-7[A] 200hp cowl.
 
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I can't speak to the RV-8,
Click to expand...

Well, not yet maybe...

Who'd a thunk it? This means that the -8 cowl is slightly wider at the front than the -7. I'll have to go find one to look at. Locally, RV-8s and 8As outnumber -7s maybe 5:1.

My cowl definitely was ordered for a parallel-valve engine, and the IO-360 fit without undue persuasion.

I agree with you that it's a fabulous engine in these airplanes.

 
Cowl Fit

Thanks Dan. BTW, your site had a lot of influence on my decision to purchase this project, so hats off to ya!

I looked at my new cowl halves and the Vans receipt, and now I'm a little worried (If I do install this engine). The top cowl just says "7-IO", and is marked P/N 0638 made by M&W fiberglass. The bottom cowl P/N is tough to read, but I think it's 0606 or 0608. The Vans receipt just says 7A Cowl Kit IO-360.

Since there is no reference to the angle valve engine on the cowl part numbers or on the receipt, did Vans ship the right cowl for this engine?

Highest Regards,

Noah
 
OK, I'm a little out of sequence from your 2 emails, but I did verify that the top cowl right side is thinner where the #1 cylinder is. So we're cool. This cowl will work no matter what I decide.
 
IO-360-A3B6D

Noah:

Stick with that engine. I ended up with a super good buy on one. It wasn't my first choice, but now I'm glad it ended up this way. As Dan C. says: "It kicks butt".

I also did Sam James cowl and plenum. My RV-8 trues out at 180 knots at 7500ft. with the engine running 23 squared. I don't have temp sensors on all the cyls yet so I don't lean agressivly but I still burn less than 10 gal. per hour at that power setting and speed.
 
Noah,

Looks like everyone agrees with me (and Dan) that the engine you already have is a good choice.

:D

And my cowl says the same thing, so you probably have the right one.

I will check the part numbers later to confirm. Gimme a call some time and we can go over it.

Talk soon,

:) CJ
 
Gulp

Thanks everybody for the responses!

I love this stage of learning where I hooked my lips up to the firehose right after yelling "I'm thirsty"! :eek:

Noah
 
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