On Apr 14, 12:53*pm, Bob Hoover wrote:
On Apr 12, 7:04*pm, wrote:

No other parts needed.............
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Leon McAtee

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Dear Leon,

Thank you for that. *A lot of folks actually think I'm whipping all
this stuff up out of hot air & wishful thinking :-)

As you've pointed out, if spacer's aren't available for stock jugs
they are easy enough to make. *And it's a one-time sort of thing. *In
fact, for the size we're talking about you could probably make all of
your spacers out of ONE CYLINDER... and need only a hack-saw to do
it. *Why? *Because you'd probably take them to a shop with a surface
grinder. *That is, you'd chuck an old jug in your bench-vise then use
the Sawz-all to lop off the skirt.. then figure out how thick you want
your spacers, add about an eighth to it and slice them puppies off
like cutting salami. *Take six or eight down to the fellow with a
surface scratcher, see if he wants to dicker -- most shops ALWAYS have
little nickle & dime jobs waiting to fill-in on a tool. *The day of
seeing machinists standing idle is long gone; the man with the tools
calls the man with the skills only as required. *So you may end up
trading $30 of your time for a $5 job, you've still got a set of
spacers outta the deal.

The other things that change size, one you buy, the other you make
ANYWAY. *What you buy are the long rods... unless you want to go
through the trouble of converting for Chevy rods. *Not that difficult,
just lotsa time on your feet. *The stuff you need to make is your push-
rods. *Why? *Because they're dirty inside. *Every time the engine
stops, the rods stop rotating and a film of oil oozes down to the neck
of the ball-end fitting. *Where it stops. *Any solids will settle
out. *They will do that until the rod can store any more... you will
have filled the slope defined by the push-rod's angle of repose. *So
even when building a stock engine I like to start out with new CLEAN
push-rods. *Just another of those 'unimportant' details.

Based on the mail I've received about this msg... (folks are shy;
afraid to ask questions in public for fear some Internet sociopath
will jump on them. *Sad to say, but it does happen. *So don't feel so
bad about the private messages.)

As I was saying, based on the mail a lot of guys just didn't get it.
Which means I didn't put enough emphasis on the ADVANTAGES of the 1700
engine. *Everyone got the point about it being cheaper than other
engines at the outset although more than a few doubted it's ability to
fly their particular airplane. *But other than the lower initial cost,
they couldn't see any advantage.

STOCK heads. *Meaning stock valves & springs. *Do a couple hundred
hours behind a VW and it's going to need a valve job, pard. *That is
NEED rather than GET. *With stock heads you can make an identical
THIRD HEAD and keep it bagged on the shelf. *Leak-down sez its time to
take a look at your exhaust valves, you pull just ONE HEAD, install
your ready-spare and keep on flying as you overhaul the head you just
pulled. *(Got lotsa money? *Then sure; keep TWO IDENTICAL spares on
the shelf. *Indeed, that's what the really smart VW-drivers do. *And
they don't wait for the Leak-Down Test to tell them when, they simply
adjust their calendar... that is, they plan ahead for the job.

But the key issue is that, not only are you looking at a significant
reduction in your initial cost *--- an this for an engine that was
DESIGNED to fly --- but when it comes time to do a bit of maintenance
you're looking for a handful of STOCK parts. *Nothing exotic.

Yeah, the rods and crankshaft are non-stock items but they are items
that are NOT REPLACED. *Rods get overhauled; crankshafts get re-
ground... exactly as would happen if you were using stock parts.

Flying is good. *It's good for you, physically & mentally. *It's good
for the airplane, having someone roll it out EVERY WEEK or more.
Problems get discovered sooner... and fixed cheaper. *Flying is also
good for your community. *You SEE MORE than the average citizen and
are more likely to mention such things to others.

Flying keeps your skills alive. *And you too, in the long run. *Those
guys who log 99% of *their flying trying to get to and from Oshkosh
are a hazard to us all. *But a lot of your skills are embodied in
'muscle memory' -- they are skills that NEED practice and habituation
to make them useful.

-R.S.Hoover

I've been researching the VW stroker engines build up's you've
mentioned Bob and they do make a good deal of sense. One thing of
intrest though is the stroker engines offered for sale with all new
parts look suspiciously like VW airplane engines?;-) In pricing it
seems competative to purchase one of these and then add the rest of
the firewall foreward stuff. Of course theirs always some type of
hidden cost or bit of modification left to do with just about any
engine I've ever dealt with.

Joe S.