Longevity of flat plane crank engine?

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frnkeore
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Re: Longevity of flat plane crank engine?

Post by frnkeore »

CamKing wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2022 2:47 pm
frnkeore wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2022 2:31 pm A successful 180°, V8 engine, was designed over 80 years ago, the Novi. It ran at Indy, for 23 years, with only three engine related failures. Magneto, one broken crank and one piston. Excellent record, I would say.

It was a 181 CID engine, three main bearings, with a large centrifugal, crank driven supercharger. It started out at 450 HP and ended, with 742 HP.

Maybe 3 mains are a advantage for 180° V8 cranks?
The Cosworth, and Ilmor engines were also 180 cranks.
The Turbo AMC V8, and Turbo SBC my dad developed for Indy were also 180 cranks.
A certain IRL team made a 180 crank(and cams) for one of their N.A. GM engines. They ran it during practice, and the sound was so different, everybody at the track knew something wasn't right, so they didn't try to race it.
My point, regarding 180 cranks is, will a 3 main crank, possibly offset some of the vibration and harmonics that the 180° crank generates?

It seems like it would make it worst but, the Novi, didn't seem to have any problems.
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Re: Longevity of flat plane crank engine?

Post by Schurkey »

frnkeore wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:02 pm My point, regarding 180 cranks is, will a 3 main crank, possibly offset some of the vibration and harmonics that the 180° crank generates?

It seems like it would make it worst but, the Novi, didn't seem to have any problems.
How big were the journals, and how much overlap between mains and rods?

How much run-time did those engines typically receive before the crank was replaced?
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frnkeore
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Re: Longevity of flat plane crank engine?

Post by frnkeore »

I'd have to look it up but, the mains and rods were about 2.375 x 2.0 and the stroke was 2.84.
How much run-time did those engines typically receive before the crank was replaced?
In my research, it wasn't stated.
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Re: Longevity of flat plane crank engine?

Post by pamotorman »

back in the day 180 degree cranks in flat head fords were raced with 2 cylinders firing at the same time and made lots of torque but the drivers hands would fall asleep from the vibrations. gm racing built a few 180 degree crank BBC but they kept cracking the welds on the oil pans.
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Re: Longevity of flat plane crank engine?

Post by Racer71 »

Since we’re on the subject, I had heard of oil consumption issues with the ford voodoo flat plane engine. I wonder if it was ever confirmed or researched and discovered cause. I haven’t looked into them much, I also feel like I remember those engines had the plasma sprayed cylinders or maybe it was then newer Shelby’s.
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