Hi all!
I'm new to this forum - just joined. I did a search on O-320 to see if the following questions were answered and I didn't see what I needed (not unusual - my questions can be odd).
Here's the situation:
I'm looking to build/buy a homebuilt which has an O-320 engine. I will use this plane for aerobatics (mostly gentlemanly) and XC flying.
My IDEAL O-320 would be:
Fuel injected
Provisions for Controllable Pitch Prop
160hp (as opposed to 150)
When I look at engines for sale I can't always find a good one that has all three of those. So then I tried to look at what the O-320 "comes with" and determine what can be added. This is where the trouble begins.
Firstly, I studied the designations such as A1A, E2D, B3B etc. and it's unclear to me how to tell, for example, whether an E2D has a solid crank. So I thought I'd ask outright. Here are my questions - Please *ignore* mount types for now. I'm interested in HP, C/S, Fuel injection:
1) Can any carbureted O-320 be modified to FI (e.g. IO-320)? If so how hard is that to do? Is an IO-320 merely an O-320 with different hardware mounted? Can you unbolt the carb and bolt on FI hardware? Or must holes be drilled etc?
2) Do all O-320's come with the mounting for a prop governor?
3) Do all O-320's come with the oil connection (though not the piping) for running a C/S prop?
4) How can I tell whether a particular model of O-320 (e.g. B3B, E2D etc) comes with a hollow crank (so that it can be modded to run a C/S prop)?
The designations make it pretty clear which are built for 150hp and which are built for 160hp, and which are FI stock. But it's not at all clear how they are different with regard to C/S props. Let me give you an example:
O-320-D2A 160 hp (119 kW) at 2700 rpm, Minimum fuel grade 100/130 or 91/96 avgas, compression ratio 8.50:1. Same as D1A but with fixed pitch propeller provisions
Ok and an O-320-D1A is the same as a B3B.....
Which is the same as B1A
Which is the same as an A1A which has provisions for a C/S prop.
So what "provisions" were made to the D2A to make it a FP prop model? What is missing? Parts? Or mounting ability of the parts?
My thanks to anyone who has the patience to shed some light on this for me.
I'm new to this forum - just joined. I did a search on O-320 to see if the following questions were answered and I didn't see what I needed (not unusual - my questions can be odd).
Here's the situation:
I'm looking to build/buy a homebuilt which has an O-320 engine. I will use this plane for aerobatics (mostly gentlemanly) and XC flying.
My IDEAL O-320 would be:
Fuel injected
Provisions for Controllable Pitch Prop
160hp (as opposed to 150)
When I look at engines for sale I can't always find a good one that has all three of those. So then I tried to look at what the O-320 "comes with" and determine what can be added. This is where the trouble begins.
Firstly, I studied the designations such as A1A, E2D, B3B etc. and it's unclear to me how to tell, for example, whether an E2D has a solid crank. So I thought I'd ask outright. Here are my questions - Please *ignore* mount types for now. I'm interested in HP, C/S, Fuel injection:
1) Can any carbureted O-320 be modified to FI (e.g. IO-320)? If so how hard is that to do? Is an IO-320 merely an O-320 with different hardware mounted? Can you unbolt the carb and bolt on FI hardware? Or must holes be drilled etc?
2) Do all O-320's come with the mounting for a prop governor?
3) Do all O-320's come with the oil connection (though not the piping) for running a C/S prop?
4) How can I tell whether a particular model of O-320 (e.g. B3B, E2D etc) comes with a hollow crank (so that it can be modded to run a C/S prop)?
The designations make it pretty clear which are built for 150hp and which are built for 160hp, and which are FI stock. But it's not at all clear how they are different with regard to C/S props. Let me give you an example:
O-320-D2A 160 hp (119 kW) at 2700 rpm, Minimum fuel grade 100/130 or 91/96 avgas, compression ratio 8.50:1. Same as D1A but with fixed pitch propeller provisions
Ok and an O-320-D1A is the same as a B3B.....
Which is the same as B1A
Which is the same as an A1A which has provisions for a C/S prop.
So what "provisions" were made to the D2A to make it a FP prop model? What is missing? Parts? Or mounting ability of the parts?
My thanks to anyone who has the patience to shed some light on this for me.
