Claton,
These engines were used in light homebuilts before the 1300cc and up engines
were available. I am talking light weight single seaters. i.e., Tipsey
Nipper.
I built a 1200 cc VW which I think is a 36 horsepower. I happened to have
two of these in my backyard so I just wanted to see if one could be
converted after an A&P advised me to use one on my small Supercat airplane.
I don't remember the year of the engine. It has oversized jugs making it a
1385cc. Jugs went from 77 to 83mm. Stock crank is 61mm opposed to a 69mm for
a 1600cc. It is installed on the Supercat homebuilt but has not been flown.
Test runs indicated 3250 rpms using a 54X24 wideblade Tennesee prop, which
is too big for the engine. Old modifications back in the 60s for a 1200cc
engine included installing Corvair cylinders which increased the
displacement some more. (lot of machine work)
Great Plains Aircraft does not carry a full line of replacement parts for a
36 horse engine. Cylinders, pistons, rods, and heads from a 1600 won't fit.
Not very many of the parts are interchangable. Crank and rod bearings will
fit. Cam will fit. Flywheel endpiece is different. A 1600cc flywheel won't
seal at the case because the rear of the crank is different. Heads are
different - smaller valves - single port. Rods are shorter therefore the
case is narrower. I liked to have never found four rebuilt rods for my
rebuild. No cam bearings are used in the 36 horse engine. The only place I
know to get a rebuild kit is J. C Whitney. It cost more than a 1600 kit. The
larger jugs came from Larry's Offroad Supply. He just happened to have a
set. I would use a 1600 if I were to do it over. But I sucessfully converted
the engine. I did use a Great Plains hub. See some pics at
http://www.geocities.com/tomlc1/Volks.html
and at http://www.geocities.com/tomlc1/volks2.html
Tom Cummings
"Claton Cadmus" wrote in message
om...
(Corky Scott) wrote in message
...

Claton, are you just stepping into this world for the first time
without knowing what history has gone by about this engine as used for
an aircraft engine?

Thanks, Corky Scott

Yes, if I knew the history of the engine as it pertains to homebuilt
aircraft I wouldn't need to ask the question. I do know that the
horespower rating on an engine is not at important as it's torque.

Do you have anything constructive to add?

Claton