Continental IO-360

The Lycoming O-290 didn't work out. The crank, lifters, cam and cylinders were shot. I don't think the purchase was a mistake. It was a low risk purchase to begin with. I paid $1000 for the engine and managed to recoup my money by selling the carburetor, mags and a few other parts. I think I actually made a profit after all the parts I sold. We may make a coffee table from the remaining parts and I got to learn a lot about how these air cooled engines go together.

I was really looking for a low time O-320 when I found this continental IO-360 for sale. The engine only had 100 hours SMOH, however it had been sitting in a barn for over 20 years. It was pretty crummy looking. But the price was right, so I took a chance.

I mounted the engine nose down on the same stand my brother made for the O-290 and began to pull the cylinders. At first I thought I would be in luck, the first couple cylinders looked pretty good. Minimal corrosion. But, by the closer I got to the #5 and #6 cylinders that had been sitting at the bottom for years, the more they had corroded. The last cylinder had 1/4 cup of loose rust.

I found a set of low time cylinders and pistons. The pistons are TSIO-360 pistons. Lower compression, so there will be something like a 10-15 HP loss, however I should be able to run high octane auto fuel. Its basically a IO-360-A converted to a IO-360-AF (alternative fuel).

I purchased new rings, honed the cylinders and installed them on the engine after many hours of cleaning and prepping. I have also moved the engine to a new larger shop that I will share with fellow builder Marc Oppelt. Eventually the whole project will move to that shop, but not until the engine is ready. The shop is really cool, we have a lounge area, a beer fridge and Marc has a killer set of shop tools, including welders, hoist and others.

Here is the engine after I prepared the cylinders, cleaned and painted the case and accessories. One Cylinder is fitted for the photo op.

All six cylinders installed and intake manifold installed.

 Here is the engine as of today. New mags, harness, plugs, starter all installed. I have a few gaskets and bolts to install, rig up a air filter, bolt down the starter and alternator and then build and mount a test stand. It's been quite a process, but with any luck I'll have this thing running on the test stand this summer.