So I'm hanging out on a beach in Costa Rica this afternoon, and as we take a break from the ocean and get some shade, I look behind us to spy a large flat 6 engine in the brush. Weird, right? Any ideas what it might be from?
EDIT - In the amount of time it took to upload the pictures on this somewhat slow connection, I figured it out. I'm going to post the pics anyway, just to see how long it takes for someone else to figure it out.
Enjoy!
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I guessing it is an aircraft engine. I have no idea which specific one.
It's a Teledyne Continental aircraft engine. That's the Teledyne trademark there.
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Teledyne bought Continental around 1969, then sold it to someone else.
http://www.teledyne.com/news/tdy_12142010.asp
http://www.continentalmotors.aero/
Continental used to make flathead engines for forklifts etc and that's how I got familiar with them, I think they are now out of that end and are concentrating on aircraft stuff. Yeah, I'm full of useless crap. 
Definitely an aircraft engine. Something like this (IO-550):
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The one in the pictures does have a gear reduction in the nose case.
Edit: Probably a GO-300:
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Used in the Cessna 175. But might be from the impressive bush plane, the Helio Courier. (considering it's in Costa Rica)
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I like the way we sneak up on it in the photos.
SVreX
MegaDork
7/29/13 8:58 p.m.
Cory found Amelia Earhardt!!
EvanR
HalfDork
7/29/13 10:09 p.m.
Is that the same engine from a Tucker Torpedo?
It's a Continental 0-520 from the crankcase casting #.
0-520!
Curmudgeon wrote:
HA!
Everywhere you look is right. Even under a tree in costa rica.
In reply to EvanR:
Nope, Tuckers used Franklin engines.
Congrats on knowing they used aircraft engines though!
So that's all that's left of the plane...
It probably got there from somebody using it as a ghetto boat anchor.
It's defiantly geared. Look at the nose casting. That make it a GO-520 engine.
Probably a GTSIO-520 (turbo and FI), or GIO-520 (FI) to be specific (I don't think they made a GO-520)
Probably a Cessna 404:
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or Cessna 421:
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You can see they are using geared engines because the prop is off center from the cylinder cooling intakes.
Why they left the engine there? Who knows. Pretty strange though considering even just the heads are likely worth pretty good money (probably not any more though).
Drug smugglers left it behind?
kcbhiw
HalfDork
7/30/13 1:59 p.m.
GameboyRMH wrote:
It probably got there from somebody using it as a ghetto boat anchor.
That's what I was thinking. While snorkeling in the Bahamas years ago, I saw several engines used as moorings.