Its A Corvair Engine!!
This Is not My engine!! This is
just an example of what I am working on.
Again, Not my engine or plane, just an example.
If you haven't guessed by now, I have chosen
a Corvair engine to power my project. My decision was purely a financial one as the other engines in the 100 HP
category are all over 10 Grand. Even the 80 HP VW will be close to 7 grand when installed. I liked
the Corvair because I can build it myself, is direct drive (no psru), is a flat six, and has a continuous power out put of
90 to 100 HP.
For the record, I am not an engine builder. This portion of my web site is strictly for documenting my progress.
You will not find any technical info here. The true Corvair authority is William Wynne. His web site
is www.flycorvair.com There is some great info here and I highly recommend it.
The picture above is whats left or usable after the tear-down of
the engine. The only usable parts were the case, back cover and some smaller parts.
This is the left and right case halves, front cover on the right, back cover on
the left. The front cover is actually fabricated from the bell housing. Everything is cleaned,
and then painted. I chose "Chevy Orange". The bolts in the picture are ARP case bolts
and are much thicker and stronger than the OEM bolts.
Here's the back bone of the engine. An 8409 crank and an OT-20 Cam
shaft with failsafe gear. To make the Stock crank flight ready, I; cleaned it, Magnaflux tested it, did
a .010/.010 regrind on it, polished it, checked the balance on it, Nitride treated it, and finally, drilled the end of
the crank for the safety shaft. Both the crank and cam came from Clarks's Corvair Parts as my original crank
was bad, and the stock cam does not make much power.
Here are the cylinders, New forged pistons, and New forged racing rods with ARP bolts.
The cylinders are used and reground to .060 over. These come from Clark's Corvair Parts.
The pistons are Sealed Power Pistons and were purchased on the Internet as were the Rods.
This is probably the "cheesy" part of my project but you know, I just had to
do it! OH Baby, CHROME!! I had these parts chrome plated. The Top part
is a CNC Machined oil pan from William Wynne. He normally ships his products with gold anodizing.
I chromed this one. Bottom right is my Oil Air separator, Center are my push-rod tubes, Left is my High out put
oil pump, Top Left are the Heat shields that go around the base of the cylinders.
Just a closer view of my oil pan. I didn't notice it then but you
can see my camera in the reflection.
These push-rod tubes were used and abused when I removed them from the core engine.
After 45 years of service they were scratched, rusted and dented and had several tool marks on them. The 3 rusty
tubes on the right are from Clark's. These are considered in pristine condition!
These valve covers are the best pieces I have completed so far. The
far cover had the Oil fill tube cut and welded into it. The near cover has the air exit tube (top) and the
oil return tube (side) welded to it. These tubes will eventually be connected to the Oil /Air separator.
The next 3 photos are high resolution and take time to load.
Sorry
Here are the rods after being heated and pinned to the pistons.
The two pictures above show the new oil system designed by William Wynne
of "Fly Corvair .Com". These peaces are normally anodized gold but I had them chromed.
These parts shown above are from "Fly Corvair". They are,
from the top, a "Top Cover" which closes the top of the case. On the right is an "Alternator
Bracket". On the bottom is my starter "Ring Gear". And on the left is the "Starter
Brackets".
Here is the business end of my intake system. The manifold
tube is manufactured by "Fly Corvair.com" The tube ends aline with the intake runners welded to the
heads. The carb is a 35mm Aero carb and is used in many Corvair powered planes.
This picture shows my "Fly Corvair.com" Distributor, My Niagara
oil cooler, and my John Deer 3 LB Alternator. The alternator produces 18 amps which is more than enough
for the electrical requirements of my plane. The distributor is re-manufactured by William Wynne of Fly Corvair.
The two photos above show the mods made to the distributor. There is an electronic
pickup from "Crane" on one side and a "Points" pickup on the other. This gives the engine
a margin of safety as the pilot can switch between the two modes in an emergency. The distributor is also given
an extra bearing on the shaft and the advance curve has been modified.
The two photos above show the heart and sole of the Corvair engine.
These heads were shipped to "Falcon Machine" where they received the full re-build treatment.
These heads have all new hardware, stainless steal valves and new seats. The head and valve cover area has
been "fly" cut and the ports have had a minor "port" job. The intake logs were milled
flat and an intake tube was welded on top. I added my special touch by sanding, filing, and polishing the cooling
fins. The intake tubes and logs were polished by "Treasure Valley Chrome".
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