Humble Pie

[hilltop170]

...........The 0-300's are an antique design that probably would not take too much of a performance increase due to the increased stress on the bearings, rods and the flanges on the cylinders that hold the cylinders to the the crankcase................Dwain

I don't know about the rods and cylinder flanges, but the new crankshafts that Continental sells for the O-300 are the same as the Continental IO-360 that can make 210hp. The crankshaft main and rod bearings are probably the same too.

[DKent]

Bruce, it sounds like you and others have found a piston that will raise the compression ratio a reasonable amount which in my opinion would be the most costly item. now all you would need is a die grinder with some abrasive rolls, an intake manifold which could be fabricated from sheet metal and tubing and a larger carburator (its gotta eat),, the advance in timing you can do anytime,, right??
Richard, I wrote the sentence about over stressing the crank, rods and bearings so George wouldn't have a heart attack, you know how he is. Your thoughts about 210 HP going thru the same crank and bearings are probably right on, but remember the cylinders on a 0-360 have a larger bore and low compression therefore the "push" from the ignition cycle might have more total power but would be "softer" at the onset of ignition, therefore easier on the bearings. I think you would have to raise the comp ratio to over 10:1 and install larger valves to break 200 HP with only 2700 RPM, but I may be wrong since I have only worked on high reving engines.
I do believe the 0-300 engine could produce more power than 180HP, but most people want the 180HP lycoming or 180HO Cont. ,, and 35 HP is so much easier and cheaper to get from the 0-300 than changing engine types or size considering now we are using 100 octane fuel.
Of course, we could install an all aluminum 572 C I Turbo BB Chevy with a reduction drive and 4 bladed prop and pull out the firewall during run-up,, that would make a hellova video !

[W.J.Langholz]

Ok Bruce, being you live closer to the power center than I..........c-85 pistons, io-360 crank, in and o-300 how difficult for some type of aproval ?
or is this a military situation "DADT"

W.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

W,

We would have a difficult time getting an approval to swap out an LED bulb for incandescent. I'm afraid engine mods like Dwain is talking about would be impossible.

This is why the home built experimental aircraft category is so popular.

And I didn't think up the swapping pistions for higher compression, many others before me did. I just happen to own some.

[N171TD]

I too have a set of Lycon 9:1 pistons on my shelf. These require no additional changes and are machined pistons.

[DKent]

Bruce, I didn't say anyone could get it approved, I just said it would work and be a heck of a lot cheaper and easier than adding cubic inches thru an engine swap