Research

Choosing an Engine Shop

When making the decision on where to get my engine overhauled, i had a couple of choices. Suncoast Aero Engines in Caloundra, Queensland is headed up by Joel Buchbach. He is a very knowledgeable engine builder, and a very generous guy. When i was looking at this engine, he drove down to the engine and had a look at it for me, free of charge.

Joel sent me a quote for the overhaul of the engine and it was in the 80k range. The overhaul included all mandatory parts replaced plus case close and line bore, and overhauled cylinders. This is certainly less than going with an engine from the US, and was very tempting.

The other shop who i talked to was General Aviation Maintenace (GAM), who was located at my local airport (YMEN). They agreed to undertake the overhaul for me, and permit me to do as much work as i was able. They were able to supervise me while i dissassembled, cleaned, and assembled the engine. This was a huge positive for me - afterall, i am in this project to LEARN! What better way to do that, than by doing the work myself.

So it was decided, i would use GAM located at YMEN for the overhaul, and the best part is they are about 10 mins from my house!

What engine is this exactly?

The guys at GAM asked me a very good question? How do i know exactly what engine this is?

It was sold as an IO360-C1E6, but without the sump and it's associated data plate, how can i be sure what the engine is?

Fortuantely, we were able to look up the serial number, and confirm that this is indeed a 200hp Angle Valve IO360-C1E6.

This is the serial number of the engine, stamped on the top of the case.

The engine was a "Lycoming New Service Engine" which left the facotry in April 1971. Only 54 years and 1 month ago!

We decided to also go ahead and check that the cylinders were from the correct engine. The part numbers on the cylinders were a little hard to see, however could decipher "??-?299?", "LW1299?", "LW12993" and "LW12987".

So how do we know if these are the correct cylinders?

Some useful Publications

Fortunately, Lycoming publishes lots of publications related to its engines. Some useful ones are listed below:

Lycoming Illustrated Parts Catalog - IO360 A & B series

Lycoming Illustrated Parts Caralog - IO360 C series (this engine)

Lycoming SSP499C Superseded Parts List - this gives you the new part number when an old one isn't used anymore. If you need a part and can't find it on Spruce, then check here. It's likely been superseded.

Lycoming Approved Pistons, Rings and Cylinders list - this gives a list of which cylinders, which pistons / rings are standard for each engine.

Checking the last list, we find the correct cylinders for this C1E6 are LW-12993.

So why is there one cylinder which is LW-12987?

You need to check the 'Superseded Parts List' and we find that LW-12993 superceded LW-12987.

So in summary, this is indeed an IO360-C1E6, with the correct cylinders! (3 of which must've been replaced at some point).

Engine Sump

My first order of business was to work out whether the sump i have on hand fits the engine, then work out what the part numbers are for it and the matching intake tubes. The first step was to see if it physically fit - so i lined it up with the case and it looks perfect. The intake tubes are nicely centered into the holes on the sump.

The mystery sump bolted right on!

The intake tubes lined up nicely as well.

I had a look on the bottom of the sump, and this had the number "LW-13783" in the casting. Assuming this was the part number, i searched for it in the -A/-B and the -C IPC manuals, but could not find it. I could also not find it in the superseded part number list.

Like all things in experimental engine building, i made a post to the good folk on Van's Airforce, and along with the help of the local Lycoming rep found:

"Part Number 74384 was superseded by part#: LW-13864

Looking at the drawing for the LW-13864 it lists casting LW-13783.

Based on that information we can assume that the sump assembly you have is either Part#: 74384 or LW-13864”

I looked into these 2 part numbers - LW-13864 seems to be only installed on the AEIO series of engines. The original engine shop where this sump came from mentioned “it is probably one of the old partenavia sumps we had”. Basing on this, the IPC says the 74384 gets fitted to an -A1B6 (Partenavia). So I would say this is the PN for this sump.

This would make the tubes #1 78741, #2 78742, #3 78743 & #4 78744

LW-13783 is not the part number, but a casting number for this sump.

My sump looks like this one, which is labelled as "2" in the picture. Unfortunately, "2" is listed against a number of different sumps.

The Partenavia was fitted with an A1B6, so likely this is sump #74384 (this is also the most common sump amongst the A series of engines).

The intake pipes which came with the sump.

My intake tubes look just like these ones...

Which also match with the -A1B6 fitted to the Partenavia.

So this sump will work for my engine!

Engine Dataplate

The guys in the engine shop queried on whether they can release an engine without a dataplate. I was not sure, so contacted the Sport Aircraft Association (SAAA) here. They are the body who looks after all the Authorised Persons (AP's) which sign off experimental aircraft (and issue the Experimental Certificates).

They said:

Never heard of a dataplate coming off or missing. If it doesn't have one, get one made, give it a number. Maybe pick something that sorta looks close to factory serial layout, or get creative. X360EIEIO-RSPCA-RSVP... Nobody will care.... An X might be a useful giveaway that it's now an EXP engine.

So it doesn't seem like it is a big deal, but i will make contact with the seller of this engine to see if he has the original dataplate hanging around somewhere.

This brings up an interesting point - the data on the dataplate will not represent what the engine configuration is when we finish - it will say the engine is an IO360-C1E6, but it will end up with a lot of differences! Firstly will be a sump which is from an -A series engine (forward facing), also different ignition and fuel systems. Even higher compression pistosn (maybe!).

So how do we deal with this? Fortuantely, Lycoming has a document which gives some hints! Refer to Lycoming SI 1304J - this states that if a commercial engine is modified, then the 'serial number' on the dataplate should have the letter 'C' appendid to it. So the serial number would be "L-8195-51AC" on any dataplate i choose.

What do i make the engine model number? It is not an IO360-C1E6 anymore. Who knows! I think it will need to have an "X" in it anyway. Maybe "XIO-360-TAS" (my initials), or "XIO-360-GAM"

Any ideas welcome! Off to research laser engraving a brass dataplate!

First Steps of Dissassembly!

Before taking the engine to the shop, i decided to remove as much as i could from the engine. The mechanical fuel pump was removed, followed by the fuel injection 'spider' and it's lines. All the oil drainback lines were removed, and as a couple of these are damaged, i will replace all of them. Many of the fittings on the aft accessory case could not easily be removed, so i left these until under the guidance of the guys at the engine shop.

These larger fittings could not be removed. Most of the accessory case fittings were steel, so i will try and re-use these if i can.

Hopefully these parts won't be needed (as i will go with SDS EFI).

Pulling this apart with paint on all the bolt heads, showed me that i need to paint before engine assembly. It is impossible to undo anything without damaging the paint otherwise.

Many of the nuts were in poor condition - all the nuts and washers will be replaced.

Once i had as much off the engine as i could, it was strapped back to the pallet and dropped off at the airport, for the real disassembly task to begin!