Lycoming 0-290-D2

[Tom-D]

It's certified at 135 horse power. Is there a method of increasing the horse power to 150 in the Expermintal category ??

I don't believe bolt on Ign. will do it, nor will a bigger carb.

Will 0-320 cylinder kits fit?

This is an engine I've never played with.

 

[BiffJ]

I don't think the cylinders will fit or help. They have a quarter inch larger bore but the same stroke. Not likely there is enough room in the case to fit them.
Spinning it up is about the only thing I can think of.....3200 rpm might get you close. The spec page on wiki says that the D2 will put out 140HP for 5 minutes so more revs could get you there but won't help the engine. There is no replacement for displacement....


Frank

 

[Henning]

It's certified at 135 horse power. Is there a method of increasing the horse power to 150 in the Expermintal category ??

I don't believe bolt on Ign. will do it, nor will a bigger carb.

Will 0-320 cylinder kits fit?

This is an engine I've never played with.

You can probably get close doing a tuned exhaust pipe and carb work alone.

Clay spot around the top of the piston and see how much you can take off the deck, you can pick up compression that way. Wouldn't surprise me if you could take .060 or even twice that depending on what you can do about the pushrods. You only need to do that to raise the volumetric efficiency though. If you just want to add some power, just add fuel for a couple hundred more RPM. 2900-3200 is absolutely no sweat for the engine, it's just prop efficiency and the diameter reduction to keep the tip below .92 Mach. Experimental, you can also ship the cam off to Isky or Crower and have them regrind and fatten them up a bit. The O-290 wasn't too bad of an engine and I don't see why the bottom end wouldn't take 200 hp. The thing that sucks about them is the parts prices are so it's cheaper to swap to a 320 than overhaul a 290 that needs major parts.

 

[kyleb]

A little googling with show many options for fitting 0-320, 0-360, VO-435 or 0-480 cylinders. Some of those require lots of new internals too - it all depends on how much power you want and how much work (and expense) you want to put into it.

 

[Skylane81E]

If expense is ok perhaps ground boosting it...

 

[Henning]

Oh, another good cheap HP boost is rocker arms. If you can get a longer ratio rocker arm that fits, you increase your cam lift. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on what you desire for effect. Since you happen to be looking to NOT increase the RPM range, you are well served by maintaining your duration SO LONG AS it falls between 272* & 280* duration. If I was specing the cam for 2400-2700 on hydraulic lifter on customs I'd want 276*, on a solid tappet I'd spec 280*. If I wanted to bring it up to 2950 cruise 3250 high as I had with the O-360 on the MM because I had to swing such a small prop anyway, I went 287 with a long split overlap for altitude. It was a mistake for me because I rarely used the plane at those altitudes because of the prop, but I built the engine before I had a plane to put it in. Actually, I found the plane while storing the engine after I was done lol. If you have less than that the cam should be reground. When you regrind the cam, have them take it as far as they can, then take that out of the deck. If that does not = at least .030, see what you can add to it with pushrods to make at least .060. Also drill it for face oil if it's hollow.) it doesn't help modify duration. 1.65 arms were good for nearly a second on any 70s vintage Z-28.

 

[Tom-D]

Oh, another good cheap HP boost is rocker arms. If you can get a longer ratio rocker arm that fits, you increase your cam lift. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on what you desire for effect) it doesn't help modify duration. 1.65 arms were good for nearly a second on any 70s vintage Z-28.

those tricks are not available for aircraft engines (no parts)

 

[Skylane81E]

Oh, another good cheap HP boost is rocker arms. If you can get a longer ratio rocker arm that fits, you increase your cam lift. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on what you desire for effect) it doesn't help modify duration. 1.65 arms were good for nearly a second on any 70s vintage Z-28.

Thanks for the tip, doing the bro-in-law's El Camino this summer

 

[Henning]

those tricks are not available for aircraft engines (no parts)

I thought you were a welder/fabricator/machinist engine man? This is experimental baby, we build WTF we want. You can do it by taking a MIG to the rocker arm bosses and redrill & bush them at the correct dimension from the valve stem. Now take your rockers and a tig to build the necessary faces finishing it off with a hard surface rod with a bunch of extra meat in the depth so you can grind it down to meet you push rods when you mill the decks.

 

[Tom-D]

I thought you were a welder/fabricator/machinist engine man? This is experimental baby, we build WTF we want. You can do it by taking a MIG to the rocker arm bosses and redrill & bush them at the correct dimension from the valve stem. Now take your rockers and a tig to build the necessary faces finishing it off with a hard surface rod with a bunch of extra meat in the depth so you can grind it down to meet you push rods when you mill the decks.

Too much work, too little gain.

 

[Skylane81E]

Blow cower's(sp) mind and spec a custom cam...

 

[Henning]

Blow cower's(sp) mind and spec a custom cam...

Wouldn't blow Crower's mind in the slightest. I used to have Ed Iskendarian's counsel, he was a buddy of the guy I worked in a machine shop for and took a liking to me when he visited once. I had the ability to call for advice, invaluable. Brilliant guy too.

 

[Skylane81E]

Sweet!

 

[Ted]

Wouldn't blow Crower's mind in the slightest. I used to have Ed Iskendarian's counsel, he was a buddy of the guy I worked in a machine shop for and took a liking to me when he visited once. I had the ability to call for advice, invaluable. Brilliant guy too.

Ed was very good about that in general. I spent a couple hours once chatting with him about cams for my Jag V12. Smart guy.

To the original question: sell the 290 and get an O-320. The 290 is an orphaned engine.

 

[Henning]

From all accounts I have heard, and the section he wrote for the back of his catalogue proved he was a generous and kind man. I remember long before I ever met him reading the back of his catalogue, the education init is extremely high value for the cost of the catalogue.

 

[Stanley Wilson]

From all accounts I have heard, and the section he wrote for the back of his catalogue proved he was a generous and kind man. I remember long before I ever met him reading the back of his catalogue, the education init is extremely high value for the cost of the catalogue.

Stan: I am a retired military maintenance officer. Howerver when I rescinded to convert my Lycoming 0-290D2 to 0-320/160 hp I chose a good engine shop in Orlando, Florida to do the work. They bored out the cylinder opening to accept the larger cylinders, then ground off a little of the interior flanges for rod clearance. Low time cylinders were bored .010 over with new pistons and rods. Lycoming 0-320 cam and crankshaft were use then the engine parts were balanced and blueprinted. To be used in my Wittman Tailwind W10. The BIG question is can this engine use a field mod or STC or is it simply experimental. At and rate it was not all that expensive.