Unfortunately the one that was run by the South African guy has gone belly up. It seems that providing the best service doesn't guarantee you success.
I did not want Lyco. Cyl. due to rust issues
Not heard of those - has anyone?
I disagree. DHL, FedEx are not shipping companies, they are couriers and they will use their aircraft to deliver your engine to the o/h shop within 3-4 days. A shipping company will use whatever airline is available and will deliver within 7 days. I used Menzies and the cost was about £1000 both ways.
There are other differences; for example the "couriers" generally have well sorted procedures for getting stuff through Customs, and quickly. A shipper is quite capable of getting a pallet stuck in Customs and it will just sit there until you sort it out. Been there, done that, many times, including with an engine. They email/fax the "incomplete" paperwork to you and forget the shipment until you sort it out. I am sure there are ones that are ok, but the time to find out is not when it's your engine.
There are good reasons why the courier firms have cornered the market for packages, despite their totally outrageous ripoff rates which are often higher than it would cost to send a young student on an airline flight with the parcel as checked baggage 
Unfortunately the one that was run by the South African guy has gone belly up. It seems that providing the best service doesn't guarantee you success.
I meant this company. Have they closed down?
I did not want Lyco. Cyl. due to rust issues
Not heard of those - has anyone?
When the engine was o/h for the first time the cyl. were Lyco. These cyl. are made of Steel while the barrel is nitrated. The area below the piston's reach was corroded while the area that saw piston movment had very small size pitting due to lack of action and oilrunning of the metal.
Have they closed down?
Yes.
What was the name of that company?
The area below the piston's reach was corroded while the area that saw piston movment had very small size pitting due to lack of action and oilrunning of the metal.
I think that is just a sign of the engine sitting around for some months, at some stage. You should not get corroded cylinder surfaces if you fly say every 1 or 2 weeks.
It's not a fault of the cylinder - unless one believes they should be made of some different material altogether.
I have never said that it is the fault of the cylinder, however, with short days and bad weather during the winter you just don't know when you fly again so the aircraft can be parked for weeks without moving. As Sod Law goes, when there is a nice day you are at work and when you have the time to fly it is rubbish day.
I don't disagree, but I would not think that after any particular period of non-use the cylinder bores are likely to corrode ahead of any other bits.
In fact corrosion below the pistons is not really affecting anything - until it gets so bad it weakens the cylinder.
What will happen with non-use is camshaft corrosion, which trashes the cam followers, etc.
So it does seem an unusual reason to not choose Lyco cylinders.
The South African chap was/is Neil Andrews. I was going to send my engine to him back in May for shock load check but I was told by others at that time that he had just gone into administration. However, I see that the web site is still up:
I did hear that Neil had gone to work elsewhere so maybe the company is still running but with a different man at the helm.
