I was thinking about how dismally hard it is to get a flat-eight

"Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull" (RamblinRover) 11/05/2013 at 22:06 • Filed to: None

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...but then it occurred to me how very easy it is to get flat fours and double them up. Ramblin's flat-eight air-cooled hot-rod hypothetical could very much be a thing, way more possible than I'd thought. Or a flat 12, even. This pleases me.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:10

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Imagine the noise....

Leadbull > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:17

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Yes

McMike > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:17

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I think most of the flat 8s have been 180* V engines.. Putting two boxers end to end would be too long.

Neat thread on Porsche 8s

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT 11/05/2013 at 22:18

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Mechanically supercharged would be even better, and easy to do....
Imagine a deuce coupe or contemporary that made that kind of incandescently loud roar off the line...

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:18

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Lycoming built an opposed 8 cylinder for the Piper Comanche 400 back in 1964-1966. It was the IO-720 (720 cid) and rated at 400hp. Other factory aircraft used this engine as well as conversions. They are kinda rare, but they're available. Only problem is these aren't high-revving engines. Redline is around 2700.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > McMike 11/05/2013 at 22:19

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too long

No. Such. Thing.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 11/05/2013 at 22:20

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Yep, I know about the IO 720s. Jabiru also makes or made a flat eight, that I knew. But... easier to get a bunch of fours, to be honest, for what either of those go for last I checked.

Also, high revs are for sissies. Sissies who don't have hot rods that sound like an air raid.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Leadbull 11/05/2013 at 22:23

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Cool, yes. Impractically awesome in the manner of an air-cooled aircraft engine with dual ignition in a hot rod with exposed cylinders and pushrod tubes? Fuck no. High displacement, low revs? Also no.

I have standards for my ludicrous hot rod ideas, you know.

Franzouse > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:23

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Sadly, aviation piston engines such as this Lycoming, are optimized to produce linear torque (due to stresses on the propeller and gears) and even performance across the whole power band, so they are really not that well adapted for use on cars. If you rewrote the telemetry and changed accessories you could improve all that but you'd still find that the displacement to HP ratio is quite disappointing.

The awesome IO-720, which has 8 cylinders, gets about 400 hp from 722 cubic inches.

I'll tell you, if you want aero engines in a car, go radial!

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:23

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Jabirus are small displacement, so probably not worth the effort. If you wanted to gang up two Lycoming IO-360s (200hp each) you'd need a custom built engine case. How else could you pair two engines on a common crank?

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Franzouse 11/05/2013 at 22:27

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I know displacement to power ultimately is kind of sucky, that's not the point so much. Also, the radial belongs in a Studebaker Commander, this would belong in something else with a long thin hood. In either case, practicality might speak to electric drive - rear wheel motor or motors, battery buffers over the rear axle, and a gen-set on the air engine.
If you wanted to build revs for power before takeoff, you could make a power dump of some kind like... I dunno, some giant tesla coils. Wait, did I say practicality? I meant F*CKING AWESOMENESS.

McMike > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:29

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Oh, I forgot.. there is plenty of room in a hotrod,

Carry on....

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 11/05/2013 at 22:31

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Custom case is not terribly hard, or at least an adapter stage/splice block, which would be easier. People do common-crank pairings all the time with big-blocks, though practicality often suffers. The big point is to have the hard parts (cranks, camshafts, jugs, etc.) that would be hard to make with an ordinary mill all collected.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > McMike 11/05/2013 at 22:32

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Pre-zactly my point. If long rod is long, long engine is looooooooong.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:35

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What's the application for this frankenmill?

Franzouse > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:41

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Awesomeness indeed.

I'll just leave these two things here then:

http://jalopnik.com/5302246/awesom…

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http://jalopnik.com/326059/pch-air…

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 11/05/2013 at 22:41

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Something 30s with a narrow hood, extended. If they weren't so dang hard to get one's hands on, I'd say a Terraplane:

Possibly a formerly rusty LaSalle:

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 22:49

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I wouldn't think aircooled would be the way to go, but I'd never say it can't be done. (hardly optimal though) I looked up torque values for Lycoming's 300 series, thinking they were pretty low but was surprised. The 180hp carbed O-360 is good for 350lb-ft.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 11/05/2013 at 22:55

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The thought would be to leave the hood sides open or ported (i.e. exposed jugs) and build ducting/a cooling manifold for the engine to the individual cylinders, possibly over the top. Think kind of like a Deutz diesel, but less extensive:

Then, drive that with a blower. That way you keep the fantastic looks of the engine, stay cool, and stay light.

Advan > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 23:07

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Whenever I think of weird engine configurations and old cars with superchargers, this instantly comes to mind.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/05/2013 at 23:53

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Maybe a central cooling fan like the 917?