Thorp Air Command - T18.net

I am considering buying a Thorp T-18 now for sale. The engine was originally an O-290 GPU. John Thorp rebuilt the engine into what is said to be essentially an O-290 D with a different crank, cam, and other things. My concern is the availability of parts today and the best guess of how long these parts will be available. Thanks, Ken

I have seen a couple of posts recently about pistons and rings becoming available. As for the rest I found this: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6756

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Thorp T18
O-320-B3B (160 HP)
68x74 Sterba Propeller

"The joke in aviation is, 'If you want to make a million, you'd better start with £10m.' " -Bruce Dickinson

DanaL has new piston and ring sets for cheap. I have the rings when I did the top end of my 290 in August. Stock are 6.5:1 and he has 8:1 or 10:1. They weren't available when I did mine and the Pistons looked good so I just used rings.

As for other parts they are becoming scarce although they can be found. Gibson in Oklahoma rebuilds parts from them such as cams, cranks and cylinders. As long as it's an experimental engine you should be able to find parts for it. Getting tagged parts for certified might be tricky although the 1set of cast rings I have are pma and from eci.

For experimental internals from O-320 will work in the O-290. I have all the pistons, pins, buttons and rings available. $1295/set of 4 cylinders.

Lou from Dixie Fried Fabricators has a complete overhauled 0290G for sale.

Phil
118BC