Chevy V-6

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jdainen
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Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 3:19 pm

Chevy V-6

Post by jdainen »

Has anyone put a Chevy V6 in a vision?
g obrien
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Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:32 am

Re: Chevy V-6

Post by g obrien »

I have not personally put a Chevy V6 in a vision but the Chevy 3.1L or the 3.4L from a Lumina or a Malibu is about the same weight with PSRU rad and coolant as the Lyc 0320 and it is 70+lbs less than the Chev 4.3. they are also 60 degree V engines like the P51s and are smooth without shakes at certain rpms as the 90 degree 4.3L GM and Ford V6s and they have aluminum heads and intake manifolds with one cam and rocker-pushrods for lighter weight. They put out 170 and 185 hp. For about 15 lbs more the 3.8 Chrysler puts out 215hp out of 2001-2007 Town and Country- Dodge Grand caravan mini-vans, also 60 degree aluminum heads pushrod engines. The nice thing about glass airplanes is that another layer or two of glass on the wings, fuselage ,tail and engine attach areas add considerable strength to an aircraft, at the cost of weight of course. There are builders out there constructing 4 place Visions and some of the highest VNE speeds are on glass airplanes ie, Legends, Thunder Mustangs, Glasairs,Lancairs ect. I would not take this to far without a consideration of many more things, spar strength, flutter, stall speed, weight and balance ect. For the weight of a Lyc 180 hp engine about 360 lbs, a GM 4.2 all aluminum inline 6 cylinder engine with 70lbs of PSRU, rad and coolant puts out 270 hp, 90 more hp than the Lyc 180. They come out of Chev 2002 up Trailblasers, GMC Envoys ect. I saw one used on Car-Part.com with 70,000 miles for $355, new at GMPP.com for $3440. They are a little tall, but a winged out oil pan like on a Corvette could be welded up modifying the present oil pan saving 4 or 5 inches of height. Some of the automotive engines are leaving aircraft engines behind as regards power to weight, strength, cost ect.
g obrien
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Re: Chevy V-6

Post by g obrien »

There are two lower weight type auto engines with a little more hp than the stratus Subaru E81, and probably a little heaver. They are a saturn 1.9L inline 4 cylinder of 125hp and if done the way Steve Parkman of Swag Aeromotive of Tucson Az did his[as reported in Contact magazines vol2]the weight totaled 235lbs with a hi-vo PSRU,engine mount, rad and fluids, about 10 lbs heavier than a C-85. The other engine is a Toyota MR2 inline 4 cylinder of 138hp and weighs 190lbs bare. So to put a similar PSRU, rad and coolant would total about 245lbs, some very nice innexpensive engines.
g obrien
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Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:32 am

Re: Chevy V-6

Post by g obrien »

There is a new GM v6 that has come on to the stage- a GM v6 again but with some very desireable features for homebuilts. #1, quite a jump in power to weight ratio leaving way behind air cooled aircraft engines. It is a 3.0 liter, I believe 60 degree V6, all aluminum block-heads, over head variable cams, 11/1 compression ratio on regular gas, a single exhaust outlet, 260 horsepower weighting with PSRU about what a 160 hp Lycoming weights, fantastic. I think it comes in a Chevy Equinox, should be able to find a low milage used engine out of a wreck for $1,000 or less. This is truly a quantum leap in power to weight ratio, and so cheap. Imagine 260 hp in a Vision, RV4 or a Tailwind for the weight of a Lycoming 160!
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