First off I found a Lycoming O-290-G conversion engine. This engine was installed on an experimental Cub and removed for an upgrade. I new nothing about the engine history other than the fact that it had a pair of nearly new magnetos. Because of the magnetos I decided it was a small risk to buy the engine. I drove up to to Port Townsend and picked it up for $1000.
Above is the O-290 mounted on an engine stand that my brother was kind enough to fabricate for me from some spare material he had around his shop.
Unfortunately after tearing down the engine I discovered a number of problems. The cylinders had a little corrosion. Probably so little corrosion that they could have been cleaned up with a hone and some elbow grease. But the real problems were further down. The camshaft was toast. One cam lobe is nearly round. The lifters were all badly spalled and pitted. There was a lot of metal imbedded in the main bearings and clogging the bearing oil ways. The crank was badly spalled and the main bearings appear to have rotated in the case.
Bottom line is that this engine wasn't worth overhaul. I was right though about the risk, I sold the carburetor and the magnetos and recovered my investment. I am still selling some misc engine parts on ebay and the rest will likely become a coffee table for Marc's shop.
Here are the nearly new magnetos and harnesses that I sold.
Spalled lifters.
Posts
