Reply to "347 all aluminum Ford Stroker"

STOL....awesome airplane. What a great project! Funny when you comment the engine doesn't know its in an airplane....imagine if it did and had a mind of its own...after the first take off would it say HOLY SHEEEEET, I'M NOT DOING THAT AGAIN!!! Or this guy Ben better be a good pilot!

I love the engineering to mount it in the airplane. Some of the 1970's vintage CanAm cars used the engine as an actual load bearing member and actually bolted the front half of the motor to a bulk head/firewall, then the transaxle was bolted on behind and the motor and transaxle had suspension pieces mounted directly to it....Bruce McLaren was one of the first to start building his chassis with aircraft monocoque design features, then later versions got rid of the monocoque in the rear part of the car that supported the engine/suspension and just used the engine...it worked really well. Of course you don't have a transaxle, but I was imagining getting rid of the blue tubing that holds the motor in, and just mounting the engine directly to a bulkhead back on your firewall. It's also nice to have some extra insurance without stressing the actual block.

You mention the oil pickup issues in an airplane application and it brings up some very interesting thoughts on wet sump design. I had one of the McLaren CanAm cars...they would generate well over 1.2+ lateral g's and in the early days they used wet sumps because thats all there was, but after lunching plenty of motors due to the lateral G's and oil moving up the side of the pan in corners they went to dry sumps. Do you have a baffled oil pan, I'm guessing yes. That's the usual solution and keeping 8-10 quarts in the engine/sump which keeps more oil available to keep the pickup submerged. He's something that will allow you to test your oiling concerns. On my car (1969 model) there was a 2 to 3 inch red trailer/brake light mounted to the dash board next to the tach, so that if the motor ever lost oil pressure that red light would go on and it wasn't too tough to see....You have your hands full when your flying and watching the gauge for a drop in pressure may or may not be possible. The big red light was connected to the everyday stock idiot light sensor most cars have, you couldn't miss it, it was simple and it worked. Once the dry sumps were invented you saw less oil pickup issues, but having that huge light was a great reminder to turn off the engine quickly before you did major damage even if you had a dry sump.

I have plans of mounting a bright red LED light (1/2" round) just in case the Pantera loses oil pressure. The LED's made today are so bright you can mount it on the top of your instrument panel and if you see a flash or constant red light you'll know if you've lost supply to the pump during turbulence.

Also, you might also consider the Duraspark and DuraSpark II ignitions (I've seen a lot of complaints on this and other forums on the MSD failure rates). Ford made from 1974-78? The Durasparks are exceptionally durable, run for 100,000 miles and can be found in almost any auto parts store in the country pretty much...if you lose a module, you just find yourself a Napa or Kragen near the airport and plug the new module in. There are numerous threads on this site discussing this very issue and installing the DuraSpark systems in Pantera (I have one). George Pence, the moderator of this forum knows this system inside and out and has posted many very technically detailed comments and wiring diagrams on the DuraSpark. Many guys that are not the all out racers go for this just because it dependable and pretty efficient. Just go to the "find" button on the summary page and put in DuraSpark and you will have plenty to read.

Here's one of the forum discussion links
http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/...562/m/6090092394/p/2

Again, KUDO's on your project...wow, must have been fun engineering the whole package. If you post an email I'll send you some pictures of the McLarens with and without the monocoque structure and pictures of the motor being used as a stressed member. You might find them interesting. I couldn't post the pictures to this thread.