My Current Cylinder Count: 21

A couple years ago Peter Egan at Road & Track Magazine wrote a column where he presented the idea of cylinder count. This is where you keep a running total of how many cylinders you currently own. I forget the rest of the details from the column, but I think the author suggested using the number to tell when you have too many cars. I've kept an informal mental count ever since. I finally got around to formalizing it on this page.

I think that another useful number would be a displacement count. That way if you have say four six-cylinder cars, you'd have a low cylinder count of 24, but a high displacement of perhaps 1000 cubic inches, which would be a tipoff that it was time to get rid of some cars. Or if you had 40 or 50 single-cylinder model airplane engines, your count would seem high, but the displacement would be around 40 cubic inches.

Anyway, here's my current count, along with some retired cylinders.

The Players

Cylinders	Name	Description
6	1994 Jeep Cherokee	My daily driver. Inline six-cylinder 4.0L engine. Don't tell it, but its days are numbered. I'm thinking Toyota RAV4, or maybe Subaru Outback.
8	1976 Wellcraft Jet Boat	455 Oldsmobile big-block in a 21' fiberglass hull. Another ebay purchase. Read the whole story here.
2	1991 Seadoo SP	580cc Rotax two-stroke. This is a project that Mark gave me. It's running now, but there's still some work to do. Full story here.
2	1990 Sidewinder	Formula 500 single-seater race car. Runs in F-Mod if you race it in Solo like we do sometimes. I own this with a partner, so should I only count one of the two cylinders? We have a couple spare engines, so I'll count two cylinders here. See the pictures here.
1	Weedeater	two-stroke weed whacker
1	Lawnmower	Brand new lawnmower from Home Depot. I finally replaced the old one, and this is a whole lot better.
1	Coleman Pressure Washer	I got this from some friends, and replaced the pump with one I got off ebay. It worked great for a while, but I think I lent it to too many people, because it's not putting out much pressure now.

Former members of the cylinder count

Cylinders	Name	Description
4	1989 Chrysler Lebaron Convertible	Ex-beater. 2.5L turbo with 217k miles. I wanted to change the wastegate and bump up the boost, but I thought the engine might just come apart because it was so old. Never drove it anymore. Sold it when Linda sold her S-10 truck, to a woman who had just written "Black Butterflies." Look for it in a bookstore near you.
4	1985 Toyota MR2	My long-term driver. I put 75,000 miles on this car. It has a 1.8 (or maybe a 1.6( liter engine. Double overhead cam, 16 valves. Lots of fun to drive in town, but on the highway you have to run 4000rpm to hold 70mph, and the engine is whining away right behind your head. Plus it doesn't have a lot of trunk space, and it's a two-seater. Traded it for a 1982 Chrysler Lebaron Convertible. Here's a little more info.
1	Lawnmower	I got this 10 years ago as a rebuild from Slim's Lawnmower service. It's cut grass at my last four houses. The recoil starter doesn't work, so you have to rewind it after each pull. One of the engine mounting holes has cracked, so there's lots of vibration. I've sharpened the blade so many times it's getting worn away. I finally replaced it with a new one.