A year or two ago, someone with a new Revmaster - I think it was the R-2300 - sent us a picture of head/valve damage he had suffered with his new engine. Someone else was referenced at that time who had the same problems with that engine.
How could that happen? Nobody knows the VW better than Revmaster Joe yet here were people having serious issues with their new (and really nice) R-2300 engines. There's plenty of people flying that engine who don't have those problems, so how does this sort of thing happen? I can postulate just how - Somebody there at the shop in Hesperia took parts off the shelf to put the engine together like they'd done dozens or maybe hundreds of times before. I doubt Joe Horvath does assembly these days, but I'm just guessing. I doubt whoever put the troublesome engines together did anything wrong - but I'd also bet they didn't put the engine together as carefully as a person would who was going to fly behind it. I'd bet they just took the valves out of their boxs and put them in. I'd bet they didn't use any dykem to check the seats with each valve . . . and how carefully did they torque the head studs? There's all sorts of little but critical things that need to be done with great care in assembling an aircraft engine and somehow I just don't have the confidence to trust that whoever assembles engines at the shop is taking the same care that I would in putting the engine together myself. That R-2300 looks to me like a wonderful engine - but it needs to be put together perfectly. These engines get sold already assembled so if I bought one the first thing I'd do with it is get all the manuals and take the thing completely apart then put it back together, incorporating any improvements it might need. As Jeff Scott has said, that needs to be done with any new and unknown engine. Notice this engine is rated for continuous power of 80 HP at 3000 RPM. Max RPM is 3200. I really appreciate that this engine has been designed to operate at the perfect RPM for a VW. I haven't priced what an equivalently-equipped Great Plains engine costs these days but I imagine it'll work out about the same as what Joe wants for these R-2300 Revmasters. GP appeals to me more because it is bought as a kit, so you KNOW how it's been put together. Plus, parts are not proprietary. Looks to me though that a lot more engineering has gone into the design of the R-2300 - rather than just increasing displacement. I'm reading just now that GP's 2300 (actually 2276cc) is "optimized" to operate between 3200 and 3600 RPM. Since I know 3200 is the very top of where I want to run my engine, both for prop tip mach speed issues and internal friction heat issues, I think I'd rather have an engine that's been engineered to operate at an RPM that will keep it cool and where it is most efficient. I'd buy that R-2300, take it all apart and put an Ellison on it if I were choosing between the two. It's gorgeous. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Blazeray Deemed: One Household Item Everyone Should Have In Any Emergency http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5769aa518cbb92a513765st02vuc
