Finding the right engine - for a hovercraft!

**rickhartland** · February 13th, 2008 05:28 PM

Hi, I am a British doctor working as a volunteer in Zambales. I am working with Aeta tribes many kilometres from the nearest road, and am hoping to be able to build a hovercraft in order to be able to reach them by flying/driving it along a river bed.
At the moment I am trying to find a suitable engine for our craft. We need one that has a power of between 70 - 100hp, but is light in weight, preferably an aluminum block. It also needs to be reliable, and reasonably easy to get parts for in the Philippines.
People from abroad who have worked with hovercraft before have suggested a Subaru engine like the EA82, or perhaps a Suzuki (maybe the G13). Anyway - I have no idea if these engines are available here or not, and as I'm new to the Philippines I also have no idea where to find them.
So firstly, does anyone know if these engines or similar ones are available here?
Secondly, if they are not available - does anyone have any idea of possible replacements? Remember light weight is the most important criteria as it has to fly!
Thirdly - where can I find them - on Luzon if possible?

Advance maraming salamat sa inyong advice, at tumulong sa akin. (Nagtuto ako ng Tagalog, pero hindi pa magaling ako!)
Rick Hartland

**ghosthunter** · February 13th, 2008 05:41 PM

how about a Honda D16 engine? The one that comes with the civic? Or the carburated 1.5L version of the Honda Civic 1.5L?

Anyway, try contacting

SPEEDLAB
376-46-48
376-46-51
Contact person: Ferman
Address: 871 Quezon Ave, Quezon City

**niky** · February 14th, 2008 11:45 AM

Will this engine be running at high rpms all the time? If so, I concur with ghosthunter... the D16 should fit your needs. It doesn't require an overly large radiator, and Hondas are relatively stable at high rpms.

Lots of four cylinder and three cylinder engines are available. It all depends on your needs. Personally, a Nissan GA13DE should fit the bill, too. It doesn't make a lot of power (about 85 hp), but it revs smoothly, is carburated (for easy fuel system maintenance) and has a dual-overhead cam and timing chain construction... which means you almost never have to open the head to replace the timing chain. Very easy engine to own and work on.

**rickhartland** · February 15th, 2008 09:42 AM

Thanks for the replies. I am looking into both kinds of engines now, the Nissan sounds interesting from a low maintenance point of view - but do you know how much it weighs? I notice it has a cast iron block, which often tends to make the engines too heavy to be useful.
Any more suggestions gratefully received - I'll keep you updated on the project progress.
Thanks
Rick

**KBR** · February 15th, 2008 02:00 PM

or if you want an engine that is very light weight and can sustain higher RPM's, then you might wanna try using 4 stroke Motorcyle engines. preferably a 1000cc engine (from a Suzuki GSX-R1000 , Yamaha R1, etc.. or even put two smaller 600cc 4 stroke motorcylce engines).

aite, peace.

**ghosthunter** · February 15th, 2008 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by KBR

or if you want an engine that is very light weight and can sustain higher RPM's, then you might wanna try using 4 stroke Motorcyle engines. preferably a 1000cc engine (from a Suzuki GSX-R1000 , Yamaha R1, etc.. or even put two smaller 600cc 4 stroke motorcylce engines).

aite, peace.

replacement parts might be hard to find.

**KBR** · February 15th, 2008 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

replacement parts might be hard to find.

ohh, that can be a possibility too

but how about a couple of 125cc 2 stroke engines?? (even put 3) like those Honda Wave 125's?? (and I think theres alot of those in the PI), thats probably enough to power-up a decent size Hovercraft.

aite, peace.

**niky** · February 15th, 2008 03:14 PM

125ccs don't make much power. At best, I think it's about 10-12 hp per engine. The most powerful engine in the class is the Suzuki 150cc (used on the Raider) which is DOHC and oil-cooled, and that still only makes 16 bhp.

RE: iron block... yeah, that might be a problem... but most 1300-1600s here are ironblock... the engines with lighter casings (that I know of) are the Honda B16 (the block is hollow) and the Nissan SR20 (2 liter, but it's all aluminum). Unfortunately, the SR20 is still about as heavy as an iron-block 1.6, while the Honda B16 is really expensive (about 65k pesos)... either one would be very complicated in terms of wiring, which probably means you should stick to the smaller carburated engines.

I don't really know the wet weight of an iron-block 1.3, but I'm pretty sure that it's much lighter than the bigger engines available. Even if it shares a head with the higher-displacement model, the block casting of the 1.3 is different, and uses less material.

If you don't mind having a loud exhaust sound, and run the engines with open pipes, I'm pretty sure any carburated 1.3 - 1.5 liter engine (GA13, Toyota 4AFE, Mitsubishi 4G18 (is it?) or the carburated Honda D15B (makes the most top-end power here)) should work. And as long as you know how to change plugs and choke the carb, they should serve you well.

**baludoy** · February 15th, 2008 03:46 PM

nicky: how about the engines of the suzuki fronte (are parts still hard to come by for this?) and the kia pride? will they satisfy the threadstarter's requirements?

**niky** · February 15th, 2008 04:22 PM

Very little power from either of them.

I'm suggesting a more modern 1.3 because, even if they're rated at just 85 hp, once you remove the exhaust restrictions and free up the intake (which you're going to do anyway, if it's going to be installed in a watercraft), it'll be spot on for 100 bhp. Plus they're designed to run stably at high rpms, which I'm not sure the smaller engines can handle. I don't know about the Pride engine, but its successor, the Picanto, has a warning in the manual against revving it at high rpms for long periods of time.

If it's just for a boat, to turn a screw instead of running a lift-fan, heck, even a 50cc scooter engine will do.