wrote:

The fact you CAN swing that biga prop doesn't mean you HAVE to.

I was think more along the lines of a crankcase machined to accept a
crankshaft machined to accept a connecting rod that was laying there
on the shelf, along with the bearing-shells to fit it. We STILL gotta
come up with four barrels an' four slugs an' four heads an' four
rods... and I've no idea in the blue-eyed world where those would come
from. Grab 'Speedway' or 'Jegs' and they got all kinds of neat stuff
but if you want four BIG finned cast-iron jugs you're still looking at
something around 4" diameter (ie, about 101mm) But they DO got some
beeeutiful rods. Old Ford style. Got enough bearing area to use in a
steam engine. (See, it has to do with the Specific Impulse and
converting Torque into Thrust an' neat **** like that... an' I show up
with a VW engine in my pocket and they just LOOK at me...

-Bob

I would look to Harley-Davidson for the pistons. New Harleys use German
made Mahle pistons and they can go a lot of miles without service. The
sleeves could be ordered from any company that makes them and there are
more than a few to choose from. The fins could be turned out of
aluminum then pressed on or cast around the sleeve before the final boring.

All aluminum cylinders with nickasil coatings could also be made up but
the cost and R&D would both go up... There are small shops that apply
this coating...

Tony