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O-360 Overhaul: Need advice on machining and parts suppilers

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hosspowerinc

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Hi all. I've finally gotten a Pitts project and am working on getting the engine squared away. It only has 180 hours since major but sat for 18 years and picked up some corrosion. This is probably going to be a long read so bear with me:

The cylinders have some pitting and will need to go 10 over. Ive found 3 companies that do cylinder work so far and am open to suggestions and recommendations on others. The 3 Ive found are J&J Airparts, Don George, and Chuck Nye. Im just looking for the boring only, not an overhaul, since the valvetrain only has 180 hours.

For pistons I have been looking at the 9:1 from Combustion Technologies. They are the same price as the 8.5:1 factory pistons and are forged but experimental only. The 9:1 from ECI are only $80 more of the set. Should I just stay with Lycoming on these?

The crankshaft has enough wear on the mains to catch a fingernail on and will probably need to go to .003. The bearings look OK but have what appears to be foreign material in them from dirt during assembly or possibly low oil pressure from acro. It might also just be staining from sitting. Ill have to post some pictures of them later. The crank is rust free.

Two connecting rods have a touch of rust and light rust on another. It easily wiped off with a towel leaving some staining behind. The 2 with a touch of rust have it on the cap only with the other having in extend up the big end slightly. This is something I can easily buff out with rouge but is there any reason I shouldn't? They will be sent out to be rebushed, resized, and balanced and I dont see why polishing would hurt but want to make sure Im not hurting anything.

Along with the crank and rods I will be sending out the cam and lifters to be reground. I havent measured the case yet but with the low time since major I expect it to check out. The 3 companies Ive found for machining are J&J Airparts, ECI, and Aircraft Specialties. Open to opinions on these as well but it seems most use Aircraft Specialties with J&J having the better prices.

For parts, ECI seems to have the better prices I've seen. Ill be doing all new bearings, rod bolts, gaskets, oil pump gears, pistons, rings, ect. I like the idea of using ECI for the machining and the parts but I imagine the other 2 companies could set me up as well. Am a missing another retailer with better prices?

Finally how should I go about shipping the crank and other parts? Is building a wood crate excessive? I'd hate to get this far and have something damaged in shipping.

Thanks for reading this far and for any advice on the subject. Im really interested to hear thoughts on polishing the connecting rods. Ive built engines before but this is the first time Ive dealt with a Lycoming and its a bit of a learning curve.
 

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