182 engine time!! O470R cylinder polish/balancing.

[182dude]

Im getting a fact new O470R for my 182P. Im considering having the cylinders ported and polished and the pistons balanced by lycon...my mechanic whom i trust says if any aircraft engine will respond to this its O470 520 and 550...lycon over the phone has told me i can expect around 30hp out of the job and a very smooth engine. They also agree the larger cont. engines like port and polish over lycoming and smaller continentals. Anyone have experience with this??

My mechanic has shown me 2 dyno reports on O470R with port and polish at 255hp@2650rpm and 504# tq. the other was 263hp@2650rpm and 520#tq. only polish no other mods done, engines went into 182's and ive spoken with the pilots they love them...

Any experience here with this guys...appreciate it

Ive considered pponk and IO550 520 and IO470 for me the fact engine makes more sence and cents as the injected motors are $$ to put in the 182 airframe! Im just looking for the 230hp maybe just a tad more and really just a reliable smooth rig!!

Thanks guys

Mike

[DBI]

I have a new PPonk 0-470-50 in my 182. Best thing going IMHO.

Have Fun

[Rob]

I have flown behind two of Kenny's engines, an O-360 and an O-470-50 (Pponk) and they are definitely worth the cost of admission. Beyond that, the O-470-50 that Kenny built, including port and polish work, was an honest 300 hp.engine, and turbine smooth to boot.

Having said all that, I couldn't afford the waiting time to have Kenny do the Lycon touch to my 180's engine when it was time, so I had Steve Knopp build me up this engine, and it is equally impressive....

There is no doubt in my mind that porting, polishing, and balancing, done by someone who knows that particular engine well will pay back in performance and longevity ...

[Glidergeek]

From what I understand the ports are polished only to take the rough spots off not enlarged any. They should also be "flow" balanced that in combination with balancing the moving parts makes one hella of a motor. Rob got a quick turn around from Pponk with reasonable freight each way to Yuma. I had mine done locally and the builder took 10 weeks 200 hours on it now i am still very pleased.

[gbflyer]

The engine shop I have used in ANC and their FAA representatives there have a hard time comprehending the legality of making high performance modifications such as cylinder port and polish, matching weights on connecting rods etc. on a certified engine as they say no such procedure is listed in the factory overhaul manual.

I know it is regularly being done and really works. I wonder if anybody's put the paperwork to the test?

Thanks in advance.

[Glidergeek]

The engine shop I have used in ANC and their FAA representatives there have a hard time comprehending the legality of making high performance modifications such as cylinder port and polish, matching weights on connecting rods etc. on a certified engine as they say no such procedure is listed in the factory overhaul manual.

I know it is regularly being done and really works. I wonder if anybody's put the paperwork to the test?

Thanks in advance.

I don't know that I've seen those terms used in my logbook

[PilotRPI]

If you have access to Kitplanes, they just did an article on power and efficiency on engines. Part of it was on porting and polishing. Haven't read it in detail yet, so can't summarize for you.

[dogpilot]

I quick thought on the FAA and performance modifications. Polishing a port is no different from removing carbon from a cylinder. Removing material to balance flow is a modification of a factory or PMA part and would be subject to their raised eyebrows. Matching up parts by weight is done at the factory and so is matching the flow of injectors (Continental has been doing that for the last few years now, so GAMI is becoming redundant). As long as you are using factory or PMA parts, the order you put them in is of no concern to the FAA. If you want to go through a pile of parts to match them in weight, it is fine. If you start modifying them in any way, you step over the line.

Flowing an engine is a nice touch, but if you do not flow the entire induction system, you may be wasting your time. Lots of mods are excellent at the start, but as you operate they loose their effectiveness. Intakes do get quite grimy, how often do you clean it out? K&N has jumped into the aircraft market. They have excellent flow numbers when they are new or clean. However they clog and loose flow logarithmically when they get dirty. Paper filters, while not as easy flowing when new, loose their flow in a linear fashion. K&N can be cleaned and re-coated, but you have to pay attention or it may be a flow reducer.

Balancing your prop and engine dynamically is one way to get a smooth engine. You do need to repeat it at least annually, props erode and engines wear. so keeping that up is important if you want smooth. Lots of folks run their props over the overhaul times. Not really a good idea. You want to check for corrosion, get new seals and ensure the profiles of the blades are matching. If they don't, they do not track in the same plane. This can cause roughness and lessened performance. Like tires, props are where the metal meets the air. Make it all it can be.

[Cary]

When I had my Lycoming 360 built, I asked if there was anything that could be done to give it more umph. My engine guy said that since it was for a certificated airplane, he was limited, but he could port, polish, and balance, which he did. Now at about 460 hours, it's still one of the sweetest and smoothest engines around. The big thing was balancing, which is nothing more than weighing all of the reciprocating parts and matching them as closely as possible.

Cary