O-360 Engine Upgrade

[YellerDaisy]

Not a lot of activity here (RV-4 forum) these days so I figured a "maintenance update" might be welcome.

My -4 is an early one, serial number 107, and has been flying since 1984 with a 160hp O-320. She's constantly being updated and received a new glass panel a year+ ago. Early this year, she surprised me with an engine issue (cracked head). So, the factory sprang into action.

She is now sporting a freshly overhauled O-360, new cowling, loads of new parts, and firewall modifications for a future prop governor. As most can attest, many factors were involved with the decision to make such a swap - rarely a simple choice.

I've got ten hours on the new engine (in spite of the heat wave here in the desert SW) and am very pleased with it and the additional performance! Thanks to a lighter cowling and lithium battery, she actually lost a couple of pounds and is now at 970lbs (completely empty except for 6 qts oil). The 'real world' empty weight is 1010 lbs which includes all the 'stuff' that I normally carry (survival gear, tools, & spare parts). She performs normal and acro maneuvers exactly as before (meaning… Great!!) - but with a bit more pep.

Yes, I know... matching paint is difficult. The good news is that I'm a flyer and not terrible affected by such things.

A big thank you to all those that have contributed here over the years. The data archive is super helpful!!

 

[Scott Hersha]

It’s a beauty!! Nothing performs better than a light 180hp RV4. I like that prop too. Had the same on my 180hp RV4, and now on my 180hp light weight RV6.

 

[YellerDaisy]

It’s a beauty!! Nothing performs better than a light 180hp RV4. I like that prop too. Had the same on my 180hp RV4, and now on my 180hp light weight RV6.

Thanks Scott!

Yes - I'm pretty happy with the Sensenich GA but she has been itching for a constant speed prop. Santa?? Are you listening??

 

[Tommy123]

I hope Santa has deep pockets...CS props ain't cheap but they're a huge improvement.

 

[chrisbryanolsen]

360

Looks good John!

 

[YellerDaisy]

Looks good John!

Thanks Chris!! Lovin' the heat!!

Regarding Santa... I had not considered it until now but I suppose it's reasonable to assume the situation has also changed at the north pole. If the elves are also demanding increased pay and benefits then perhaps big gifts from Santa may be less likely. As a kid, I don't recall considering Santa's cost for my wishes and frankly, I still don't know the economics behind his operation so my requests may be completely out of line. In any case, I'm certainly feeling a bit disappointed now thinking that he may not bring me a CS prop this year...

 

[YellerDaisy]

I was asked about cowl weight.
My old/previous cowl was VERY old (12" spinner, circa early 80's) and quite heavy at 25 lbs.
The new Van's cowling is much lighter and weighs 16 lbs (trimmed, painted, hinges installed, & ready to go).
So, a savings of about 9 lbs.

The other big weight savings was switching to a lithium battery. I didn't weight them but am told the savings is 10 lbs.

Another potential for weight savings was the starter though I don't think so in my case. I switched from an old Sky-Tec (installed in 1993) to a new Sky-Tec. I assume they were pretty similar in weight but should have weighed the new before installation.

 

[YellerDaisy]

Just thought of another tidbit...
I've been messing with 3D printing for the last year so decided to try creating the oil cooler duct that way. It took several iterations but I finally got to one that fit.

I tried it and it seemed to work so needed to print it with materials that would hold up. I priced sending it out to be printed but that was a bit too expensive for a test. The best I can do on my current printer is FibreX PA6-GF30 (Glass Fiber Reinforced Nylon) which will get a little soft just north of 300 degrees and melt at 500 degrees. So, that's what I used.

I always open the cowl oil fill door on shutdown and figure that is the time that this duct (and the p-mags) will suffer the most. This duct shows no signs of suffering with eight hours of very warm operation. The zip ties are for a quick change should that need arise!