Michael McGee wrote:

Doing some dreaming..

What do you guys think of the viability of a front cover cast into the form
of a standard Lycoming dynafocal-1 mount?

A loose collection of my thoughts so far:

I think it would sell well enough to get the price under $500 for the
kit.  I was bs-ing with the local rotary engine builder the other day and
he showed me a very nice third-gen oil pan that was cast as a replacement
for the stamped steel original.  The reason behind the pan is another story
but the casting work looked great (from this engineer/ non-casting expert's
perspective anyway).  He insists that he has a casting guy that is capable
of making what we need if I can get him a proto type part.

The idea behind this is fairly sound since it would eliminate some of the
engineering rotary conversion folks go through. You need to control the price
as much as possible to keep it attractive. Would this be an addition to a
traditional dynafocal mount that basically adapts the Mazda engine to it, or a
dynafocal-like mount with multiple pieces, that could support either engine?
Would your front plate be enough to mount the engine with, or would we still
need to fabricate additional support members to the far side of the engine?

Brock's Lycoming mount for the Cozy is $625. If your item is an adapter to a
dynafocal, it would cost me, as a builder, $1125 for this combination. The
Conversion Concepts mount (if you set aside Paul's issues with it for the time
being) is $1098. That's not unattractive for a mount that does more (by
allowing the use of either engine, making the plane easier to sell, or making
retrofits easier). However, if the cost climbed much above your estimate or if
additional engineering was still required, it would be harder to compete.

With respect to the water pump, should I tease Paul and suggest an electric
water pump? =)

How serious are you about creating this? If you started and then changed your
mind after making a few, would you publish the specifications and a
dimensional drawing? Knowing that a part will be available when I'm ready to
actually mount the engine is one of the factors a builder has to consider.

Regards,
Chad

 
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