I have done a little reading here and on other forums. The subject may have been touched upon before but this combination of factors is odd enough that it should be worthy of comment by some here.
I have a friend that has a 5 axis CNC machining center. He is looking for work and may if, nothing turns up take some of his time and work up a specialty product.
I have had a look at the Rotax 9XX series engines. Nice but so high priced a fellow might buy an O-200 except for the overhaul cost.
So, with a 5 axis CNC machine you could carve “Whistler’s Mother” in high relief and polish it after lunch! I have been given to understand that one of the classic problems of the VW is lack of cooling capacity in the heads reflected in various problems traceable to excess heat. This set me to thinking, always dangerous that thinking stuff!
Select the right Aluminum billet or maybe a casting. Be generous with the metal for strength and features like: dual plugs standard, better rocker covers that are not so prone to leaking, (add your wish list here) etc. Water cooling like the Rotax 9XX, possibly with lots of fins or not, so just the water cooling to save weight.
What are the likely problems? What is the market? Assuming that the things work like I think they should, is there a big enough market to justify the development effort?
In the end you would have a water cooled head VW that should be capable of sustained high power output. This should replace the Rotax 9XX engine and others in the class. It would use standard VW parts, so would OH for that cost and should be within the skill level of about anyone that has ever worked on a lawn mower as a kid.
So, should I stop smoking that funny weed I found yesterday or am I on to an idea?
Cabover
I have a friend that has a 5 axis CNC machining center. He is looking for work and may if, nothing turns up take some of his time and work up a specialty product.
I have had a look at the Rotax 9XX series engines. Nice but so high priced a fellow might buy an O-200 except for the overhaul cost.
So, with a 5 axis CNC machine you could carve “Whistler’s Mother” in high relief and polish it after lunch! I have been given to understand that one of the classic problems of the VW is lack of cooling capacity in the heads reflected in various problems traceable to excess heat. This set me to thinking, always dangerous that thinking stuff!
Select the right Aluminum billet or maybe a casting. Be generous with the metal for strength and features like: dual plugs standard, better rocker covers that are not so prone to leaking, (add your wish list here) etc. Water cooling like the Rotax 9XX, possibly with lots of fins or not, so just the water cooling to save weight.
What are the likely problems? What is the market? Assuming that the things work like I think they should, is there a big enough market to justify the development effort?
In the end you would have a water cooled head VW that should be capable of sustained high power output. This should replace the Rotax 9XX engine and others in the class. It would use standard VW parts, so would OH for that cost and should be within the skill level of about anyone that has ever worked on a lawn mower as a kid.
So, should I stop smoking that funny weed I found yesterday or am I on to an idea?
Cabover
