Les:

A friend of mine gathered up old plans and iron and built a full sized Pietenpol about three years ago. Although he knows how to build an engine for an auto, for the airplane you must first be certified. He gave (and grudgingly paid) a fellow in central Arizona to build his engine.

For the others, according to the Arizonian, only the side drive magneto is approved by the F.A.A. for this particular aircraft. You cannot use Ford ignition what so ever. And thus the hole in the cylinder head just (used to) get plugged with a thermos cork. The tall Wico magnetos are not approved, but were used. They tend to wear out the helical camshaft gear too quickly.

Instead of using the Ford water pump, he also installed a sidedrive water pump, for it drains the block and pushes water up to the small radiator better than original.

Many other things get altered in order to attach a propeller on to where the flywheel used to be. However, interesting, was that the overall noise of the engine was subdued by the propwash. Those open exhaust stacks are only heard when cranking over the engine. No electric start remember.

Wm.