I spoke with Bart Lalonde at Aerosport Power on Monday - he agreed with me that the engine should be opened up and inspected. He will magnaflux the significant components, and replace the connecting rod bolts and crank counterweight bushings. I was happy with the ballpark price that he quoted. Obviously the cost will go up if he finds other components that need replacing.

As far as the root cause of the event goes, Bart is familiar with other events where angle-valve IO-360s with Christen inverted oil systems. The angle-valve IO-360s have very long, flat, oil sumps, and the oil moves towards the front in steep descents. The Christen oil pickup is at the back of the sump. He suggested I replace my current oil pickup with one made by Raven Aircraft. They apparently make one that is longer, which puts the pickup more towards the middle of the oil sump. I may also add an accumulator in the oil system. And, I’ll experiment with running more oil in the sump. I had 8.5 quarts in the whole system, but I don’t know how much of that was in the sump.

Another local RV guy has offered me engine and prop crates. I’ll remove the prop this weekend, and start pulling all the stuff off the engine. If things go very smoothly, I might be able to get the engine in the crate by Sunday night. If not, I should be able to finish it up by next weekend.

I’m still working on the plan for the prop. It certainly will not fly again without an inspection by a qualified prop shop. I may replace it with an "aerobatic" prop, that moves towards the coarse position if oil pressure is lost. That would lead to an engine underspeed, which is a lot nicer than an overspeed. I'm communicating with Hartzell and MT to get the details on their respective offerings.