The International Cessna 170 Association

I had a broken lifter back in May when I bought my 170. Consequently tore it down and reassembled after specing everything out. Luckily crank and cam were within new spec.

Nobody had a new cam in stock so had to send mine out. Cylinders were a little easier to find but still had to order them from out of state. Oil pan was nonexistent and had to buy a couple until I found one with no corrosion.

Still cheaper then a 180hp conversion, since I stick fairly close to home it’s not really needed for my uses. If I need a bigger motor I switch to a different plane. Wondering who is still using the older C145, other then the broken lifter the inside of the motor looked mint.

I am. 2700 TT. 250 SMOH. 1952 C170B

Lots and lots of C-145’s still in-use. The O-300 is basically only a redesignation. (Some very minor changes but even those have been mostly adapted to C145’s at rebuilds/repairs. One change involved the swap of steel cam with iron lifters vs iron cam and steel lifters. Another change made was the lobes to provide longer overlap of valves. Many changes are invisible to the end-user because superseded part numbers took care of revisions. Much of this is anecdotal.

I just did a field overhaul on my 1800hr c-145. 70 year old crank was in near perfect condition. Case failed overhaul, though, with a crack. Even at 1800 hours it ran fine - just leaked a good amount of oil and looked old. I can't notice a difference in power between the old and now overhauled engine. Amazing technology that lasts !

Still running the original C-145 in my 1950 A Model. Due to low hours, it's only been overhauled once. Cylinders were honed and the pistons knurled, so those are original. Cam and lifters were scored, so those were replaced. As said, a great engine. Maybe older technology, but works for me.