I'm also considering doing a conversion of a 4 cylinder gasoline engine into a high volume medium-pressure air compressor. That process dates back to the days when the entire front end of a Model A Ford was used to power jackhammers, etc. by cutting the front of the car off at the cowling area, and modifying the engine to run on two cylinders and compress air on two. A large air tank was bracketed to the frame, and the front axle, radiator, and cowl-mounted fuel tank and a tow bar completed the setup. The engine was modified so that the #1 and #4 cylinders ran on gasoline, and the #2 and 3 cylinders would ingest fresh air, compress it, and push it into the tank through a one-way check valve. The engine speed was controlled by a governor, which was conveniently able to be installed by removing a bolt-on piece of the timing cover that exposed the camshaft gear. Something similar could be built by using a Chevy II or Mercruiser 4 cylinder engine set up to run on 2 cylinders. Pressures of 100 PSI or a little more could be expected, or more if higher-compression pistons or modified combustion chambers were incorporated into the "compressor" cylinders.
Jerry
