O-360-A1A. Will it work?

I have a line on an engine, presently flying on a Starduster (or something like) that the owner is thinking of parting out. It's an O-360 out of a 1968 Mooney. It was overhauled 250 hours ago, given Airflow Performance injection and cold-air induction, 9.5:1 pistons, Christen inverted oil and a new solid crank. A handful of quick questions:

1) Will it work? That is, how much extra fiddling would be required to install this engine vs an M1B from Van's? I THINK it's got horizontal induction, but I may be wrong.

2) Am I correct assuming I can use the same mount he's using on the Starduster?

3) In rough terms, what would such an engine be worth?

4) I know he pickles it over the winter -- dehydrator plugs, AeroShell Fluid 2F, inside hangar, etc. Is that of real value or just so much Internet claptrap?

5) What questions do I need to ask the owner? I've flown it, but all I really know is that it got me home safely.

This thing dyno'ed at 195hp. I'm planning a FP prop, so I like the solid crank. On the one hand, it could be a great opportunity. On the other, I don't really know what I'm doing!

Thanks in advance.

A O-360-A1A is vertical induction. On my first build I got a new engine from Van's and backfired the Airflow Performance injection. It sounds like this is what you have. You cannot make this a horizontal induction like the M1B without replacing the sump and such. If you really want horizontal induction recommend finding a different engine.

The engine can be used for fixed pitch or constant speed prop.

You might want to take off the inverted oil system and sell it - unless of course you plan on spending a time upside down. A plane like the RV-8 can do a lot of aerobatics without pulling negative GS - so few find a real need for the inverted oil system.

Carl

Have someone look at it.

The O-360-A1A will work just fine on the RV-8. If you want horizontal, just replace the sump. The cold air superior sump is nice and i just picked one up or stay with the vertical.

The mount probably wont work. It's made for the starduster...it is probably different than the one for the -8.

Have an engine guy look at it. Checks the logs for any damage! Any oil analysis done? Compressions? How much oil is it burning? All ADs completed? Whats the TTSN? Get a boroscope and pull some plugs....not going to give you concrete info, but if its rusty in the cylinders, chances are it could be elsewhere that you cant see.

As far as the inverted system goes, im looking for one!

Dehydrators plugs is always a good indication of moisture...

Lots of experts here that can give you excellent info....im not one of them!

Good luck

It may have been changed to horizontal when they converted to fuel injection. I don't think the engine mount would work on the RV-8.

It would be a good engine for an RV-8 though! Since that is the engine that Van's sells for the carburated version. If it was changed to horizontal induction you would use the IO cowl and finish kit.

I bought a O-360 A1A, but with 9:1 pistons and swapped the vertical sump for a Superior forward facing cold sump with AFP injection, Pmags. Mine has a hollow crank though. we put a new data plate on it "IO-360 A1X experimental". Great motor making good power.

Note in Brian's wonderful pictures that the cylinder base nuts are round and there are half moon plates under them (silver over the black cylinder flange). This is an older "Narrow Deck" style engine like I run. Newer style "Wide Deck" engines use Hex Nuts without the support plates. The bolt pattern is wider on the Wide Deck engine, so no converting.
Also note that Brian's engine mount forms a big ring with mount cups that face inward toward the center of mass of the engine. This is a Dynafocal mount.
I have the older 'Straight" mount without the mount ring. on this the mount bolts are parallel to the crankshaft. This is normal for the oldest O-360 O-320, O-290 and O-235 engines. This engine mount is available from Van's as a custom order, which was a couple of weeks lead time to have it built, so plan ahead if your engine has a Straight Mount configuration.
My engine came out of a Brantley B2B helicopter, it was a vertical engine so I needed to get a sump/intake and an accessory drive case plus a couple of gears to fit it on my RV-8. It is limited to fixed pitch props due to a solid crankshaft and no oil port in the case for governor oil to enter the crankshaft main bearing. My engine was 167 SMOH and 2170 TT, so I have many years of service ahead before I would consider changing the crankshaft & boring the oil port in the case. My conversion went well and I'm very pleased with the result.
Remeber engine Total Time is important like Time Sense Major Overhaul in running hours as well as years sense overhaul. An engine that has only been overhauled once or twice is preferable to an 8,000 hour engine with the crankshaft turned to minimums and the case set milled too many times.

If money is no object, go for the horizontal sump. This engine should be capable of CS or FP prop. I have an O-360-A4M, which is a solid crank with vertical sump. I'm going with a 90 degree elbow and spacer from Airflow Perf, along with the rest of the FM-150 setup. This allows for using the Vetterman cross-over exhaust and saves a few more $$$.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lycoming_O-360_variants#O-360

At the time of overhaul, this engine received a solid crank. The hollow cranks were having cracked flange issues and the owner wanted a FP prop.

What would such an engine be worth, roughly, with all of the usual disclaimers?

What would such an engine be worth, roughly, with all of the usual disclaimers?

Click to expand...

with the limited info available...$10-12000. could be less but also could be more.
how long ago was it built? logs? comp? oil sampling? etc.

Cold air induction costs $1600+ new.
AFP injection is close to $4k new

Engine as core is worth around $6k

With only 250 since OH, assuming it has flown regularly, I would be asking around $13k to $15k. Without the above upgrades, 10k to 12k.

Thanks. I wasn't expecting a detailed appraisal, just some idea of 5 vs 10 vs 20.