[William]

Dear Lufbery,
It's just meant to be a fun way to learn more about the rotary. It's still cheaper to restore an original than remake one (I recently bought a 110 Le Rhone for less than the folks in Indiana want for an oil pump). When that changes more people will make them from scratch. There are some logistical problems in remaking one also. The crankcase, cylinders, conrods, nosepiece, etc... are turned from hot forged blanks. Forging startup is a very expensive process. To bypass this step requires non-original alloys for strength and may alter cooling properties etc... this requires altering dimensions to maintain strength. Basically will need to redesign the engine, if so why not try to improve it? The bottom line is, I prefer original but thought this might be fun and educational.