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Offering this radial-4 display-engine paperweight made mostly from Kohler Engine components.
What appears to be a 4-cylinder radial aircraft engine is actually two Kohler Engine V-twin overhead-cam Model TH18 engine cylinder-block assemblies fastened together along the crankshaft centerline. The V-twin cylinder assemblies are empty -- there are no pistons or connecting rods inside the cylinders, and the crankshaft is a standard V-twin crankshaft used for mounting the flywheel and the dummy plastic propeller. I call it a "paperweight" as it is not a functioning engine.
When Kohler introduced their horizontal-shaft overhead-cam engine for outdoor power equipment, Kohler distributors held regional one-day field-service schools to teach the dealers how to work on them. As my class was disassembling the engines (two mechanics per engine per table), I was intrigued by the fact that the crankcase-split seam was along the crankshaft centerline. I was also impressed by the fact that, when Kohler designed this engine, they made it so both cylinders, both heads, the upper crankcase half and the intake manifold were all one casting ("lost-foam" casting method), with no bolts to loosen and no gaskets to leak. The only block bolts on the engine held the lower crankcase half (oil pan) to the upper crankcase and cylinders.
After we got the top of the engine disassembled, the engine had to be turned upside-down to remove the lower crankcase half, thereby accessing the crankshaft and connecting rods. When the engines were stripped and break was called, I turned to the fellow at the table behind me and asked him if I could “borrow” his cylinder assembly. He agreed, so I took his cylinder assembly and, turning it right-side up again, set it on top of my upside-down cylinder assembly, producing what you see here (minus the propeller and accessories, of course).
Since I had my camera with me in the car that day, I took a few pictures of this 4-cylinder OHC radial from various angles. After I had the pictures developed, I mailed them to Kohler, suggesting the obvious. My letter and pictures bounced around Kohler for a few months, after which I finally heard from one of my factory contacts who told me, “The Legal Department doesn’t want anything to do with this!” I later learned that Kohler doesn’t want any of their engines to leave the ground due to the potential liability. The Kohler Engines Legal Department subscribes to the kit-plane magazines, and if Kohler learns that someone has used, or is planning to use, a Kohler engine on their ultra-light or similar aircraft, Kohler will send them a Certified letter telling them to remove the engine. After going to all the trouble to research engine possibilities and fit the engine to the aircraft, the owner probably won't, but it protects Kohler in the event of a crash. (Think John Denver.)
Some months after the school, I was able to round up a couple of V-twin cylinder assemblies to make a dummy display engine like the one I had assembled at the school. The plastic wood-grained propeller was supplied by my local flight instructor — it came off a showroom-clock display out of an old Pontiac dealership. This “engine” now uses a plate bolted to the upper carburetor mount to hang above the customer counter in my shop showroom. At one time, I wished I had access to a machine shop in order to engineer and build a proper crankshaft with a master connecting rod and three articulating rods as well as a dry-sump lubrication system so I could actually hear this “engine” run instead of just having a 4-cylinder radial paperweight, but that never happened, so as I'm now semi-retired, I'm offering this for sale. It was a great ice-breaker for new customers here at Rom's Reworks in Butler, MO -- "Oh, you work on airplanes, too?"
The two V-twin cylinder assemblies are held together at the front by the alternator-stator ring and at the back by an old Homelite portable generator end-frame. Some of the components on this engine are still functional, like the flywheel/ignition/charging system, the carburetors, and the camshafts and valve gear.
I would prefer for you to pick this up in person. If you wish to have it shipped, contact me and I will compute shipping. However, Butler, MO, airport ("BUM" in FAA-speak) has an excellent 4,400' concrete runway, so you wouldn't have any problem picking this up.
