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fmarino1976

Well Known Member
Hey guys, I really don't have much experience with this engine. But after looking at the specs, I was wondering if it could be used on a -10. According to Continental the IO-520 weights approximately the same as the IO-540, but it is rated to 285 HP @ 2700 with 8.5:1 pistons. Any thoughts on the feasibility of using this one on the -10? Also, I haven't found anybody here that has installed electronic ignition on a continental. Can it be done?
 
Not sure you could fit the Conti in without cowling mods with induction on top. Cowling line is pretty tight on the -10. Both EFI and EI has been installed on the 550s. 520 is pretty similar.
 
IO-520 Induction.

I believe that most of the IO-520 models have the induction on the bottom. Although I guess the induction on the top might be better suited for EI since the fuel lines could be routed away from the exhaust heat. Any thoughts on the mount type of the IO-520 compared to the IO-540?
 
You are right, I'm thinking IO-550 here. Duh. The mags on the 520s are at the top rear but there is decent room here under the -10 cowling. Probably need a bed type mount but this would be all different anyway. Go for it if you can get a good price on the engine and have the fab skills for the mount. Should be lots more of these engines around, I'd think.
 
Hmm, I was told they weigh too much for the -10. They sure are cheap on the used market. If I ever build a Lancair ES, it'll have a IO-520.
 
Some buddies and I were talking about the the other day. What's a fair price for a 500-1000 hr -520 with accessories these days???
 
The IO520C/CD has the induction on the bottom and the fuel injection on the back. It is mounted almost identiclly to the IO540- a dinofocal style mount. I had these engines on my Baron and I thought they were fantastic! I'm not sure but they may also be SLIGHTLY lighter than a Lycoming? If I were to ever build a 4 place aircraft there would be no question I would have to use a Continental engine- everything is just cheaper for them!(used, of course)
 
elfiero said:
......... If I were to ever build a 4 place aircraft there would be no question I would have to use a Continental engine- everything ...........
Click to expand...
or a Super 8! :)
 
IO-520 availability

I was reading a while back about a few companies swapping the stock IO-520 for IO-550 on some cessnas and maybe other airframes. So, I was thinking that there might be a good supply of them on the market. But a few searches on barnstormers haven't been very successful. I thought that all the io-520 were bed mounted. Are there dynafocal mounted ones?
 
I've NEVER seen a rear dynofocal on a big bore conti motor. They are all bed mount, some of the beds are dynofocal in that they point toward to the center of gravity of the engine. Again look very closely at the weights of these engines, I'm pretty sure they won't work because they are HEAVY.
 
Not so fast there, pard...

osxuser said:
I've NEVER seen a rear dynofocal on a big bore conti motor. They are all bed mount, some of the beds are dynofocal in that they point toward to the center of gravity of the engine. Again look very closely at the weights of these engines, I'm pretty sure they won't work because they are HEAVY.
Click to expand...

Looks to me like any of the big bore TCM engines can be equipped with the dynafocal mounts as is done for the Baron: the TCM mounts bolt to the engine, same as the 540 Lyc does.. BTW the 550N weighs about 25 lb more than a straight valve 260HP 540 if you use the lightweight alt & starter, but it is 50lb lighter than the 300HP 540. It's not an apples-apples comparison as Lyc does not include accys in their EW figures as TCM does.

Also, it looks like the straight valve Lyc puts out 13.5HP/gal of 100LL compared to 15hp/gal for the IO550-G & N (econ cruise figures), and has about 100lbs/ft more torque at rated power.

Carry on!
Mark
 
520

Most of the 520's are comparable in weight to the parallel valve 540. I think the Baron mount is similar to the Lyc but its been a long time since I worked on a Baron. The big issue to me is the Cont alternator mounted in front of the right cylinders. It obstructs cooling airflow to the right side. If you google the specific Cont engine model it should lead you to factory info including drawings.
 
We ran many IO-520's in our Agwagons.

The highest time we ever saw was 1600 hours and it was using a quart per hour then! (We were simply trying to finish the season). Most of our engines made it to around 1200 hours running at 25"/2500 RPM while we worked them and ferried at 23"/2400.

I've seen many big bore Lycs go 2,000+ hours and since I've run both engines many years, the Lyc is my favorite pick. Yep, they were bed mounts as well.

Best,
 
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