i have seen several cars in person and many more on film, with multiple engine configurations. i have two questions: 1--when running two engines, one in front of the other, what would be considered the best method for connecting the two? 2--how should the engines be timed? the same or 180 out or some other way?
Some have been built with the cranks welded together (Chet Herbert's dual 400 SBC). Some use "greek" couplers with a spline (like to a pinion) between the flange and nose. Neither of these allows any misalignment at all,high-$ custom part. Easiest: dual-row #50 or 60 chain, with a splined or bolted hub on each end mounting a sprocket. The chain goes over both. Accepts slight angle changes, can be greased or sprayed for each run, costs and weighs almost nothing, can be very short and small diameter - but needs a strong safety guard. Phasing is a tough one. The obvious is split the firing order in half by rotating 1 crank 45° to give a power stroke every 45°, but this causes load reversals in the coupler and both engines. Next is keep the same timing (TDC to TDC) but use TDC #1 front + TDC #8 rear etc. as firing (opposite sides). Obvious: make them match, TDC #1 for both. Weight distribution is terrible, so engine set-back has to be extreme, traction limited etc.
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