Greetings . . .

All this talk about 180 degree cranks got me thinking about flat layout engines.

Like the flat 8 engine in the Porsche 908 - basically two I4 blocks with a 180 degree 'flat' crank:

and two pistons on each crank arm.

With this setup there are two cylinders firing together - so the engine acts like a 'big 4' (as was pointed out in the h-pipe x-pipe post).

I guess this would require two distributors and two coils?

I thought a little about this (it's raining here in Ohio - so I am not out cutting grass).

If we number the cylinders
7 8
5 6
3 4
1 2
Then the firing order would be 1&8, 5&4, 7&2, 3&6?

Which could be accomplished with two dizzies:
/..1..\./..8..\
|3+5|.|6+4.|
\..7../.\..2../

Someone in the other thread suggested that 180 degree cranks create vibration. Is that only in a V configuration? In a flat layout it looks as naturally balanced as any inliner . . .

Rainy day musings.

regards,
stock49

PS. Just found a pic. Looks like two plugs per cylinder - but I can't see if it is one dizzy or two:

looks like two coil wires along the front.

[Linked Image from 49fastback.com]