flying bee

When we bought our 1957 Tri-pacer in 2010 the engine had just under 1700 hrs since OH on an O-320 150hp narrow deck. We knew an OH was eventually coming some day and started preparing ourselves. A couple weeks ago during our annual we found that "THE DAY" is here. While bore scoping the cylinders we found that #4 was cracked and needed to be replaced. After removing the cracked cylinder we were exploring inside and found a crack in the case that extended from an oil hole in the cam bore thru the case web. So the engine was taken off and as we disassembled it we also found that the #1 rod bearing had spun. No apparent damage to the crank, no excessive clearance between the rod and crank, no loss in oil pressure, nothing in pressure or suction screens and no, I am not making this up. It appeared that the event was fairly recent. The steel parts are getting inspected as we speak and waiting to hear if the crank makes it or not before i decide which direction to go. Thought i would share my experience with the group. Pictures of the project will be coming shortly.

1 Thanks, 0 Likes

1 0