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One of the questions that we're facing is how authentic should the rebuild be?
The issue came up when we started debating the clearance between the pistons and the cylinders. Right now, the clearance looks like it'll be about .010, which is somewhat large. We're not going to chrome the cylinders, but replacing the original cast-iron pistons with aluminum ones is a possibility.
There will be other decisions to make down the road regarding safety and reliability versus originality. You can imagine them easily : dual ignition, a return oil system replacing the dead-loss oil system, carburetor heat, things like that.
We'd like to know what you think about the general question of originality versus safety. Care to chime in?
Here's what we're thinking now. We anticipate that we'll run the engine and tear it down more than once. It seems to make sense therefore to at least start with a purely authentic configuration and use the disassemblies and inspections as guides to changes. If it should develop that the engine will be used in a flying airplane, as opposed to one in a museum, we'll reassess what we've learned at that time.
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