What Mark Spitfire is this?

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What are the typical mods necessary for automotive engines like the Jaguar V-12 or the Ford V-6 shown here to be used and/or approved for aero use? If the airplanes are "experimental", is there a lot less "regulatory" (FAA, UK and European aircraft regulators) oversight and permitting? Both of these airplanes are beautiful replicas. There was a smaller-scale P-51 replica being produced that used a scaled-down V-12 engine. Many years ago I read of VW air-cooled flat fours being adapted to aero use.
 
The biggest problem is that auto and aero engines are designed for two radically different use profiles. Auto engines put out their highest power as a burst during acceleration and then back off for cruise to a small percentage of their max output. Aero engines have to deliver 100% power for extended periods and potentially 75% power for all day. Of course modern auto engines can rev up to 5000 RPM for max power but you can't drive a prop that fast, so you need a reduction gear added, but even then the continuous power output is still a problem.
So the engines wear out fast, especially the valves. You do not see replica fighters flying very much.

The 85 HP engine in my Ercoupe is 188 cubic inches at 2500 RPM. The 105 HP engine in my 1997 Celica is 107 Cu and provides that max power at 5200 RPM.

Designing a modern aero engine using modern auto technology to replace a $20,000 aircraft engine tends to result in a $20,000 auto engine. But people still try. The most successful one I have heard of is covered here The $20 an hour Cessna 172 experiment | Air Facts Journal
In that case he used an auto engine that had been adapted for marine use, another application where high power has to be delivered continuously for long periods.
 
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Decades ago I read an article on making a VW "beetle" engine safe for aircraft use, I think it was common at the time. Most of the mods seemed to be about having two of everything on the electrical side including two spark plugs per cylinder. The others that I remember were a bit like converting a road car to racing, with dry sump operation and oil cooling.
 
If that's the type I think it is, one of them had a fatal crash at my local air show, back in 1982, the day I was on fire crew duty.
It appeared to lose power during a turning pass, and started to trail smoke. The pilot rolled it away from the crowd line, but had insufficient height to recover, and "went in" from a fairly steep dive. It made a hole in the ground, with just small bits of wreckage on the surface, and we had to dig down to find the rest of it.
Got some pics of it before this incident somewhere, as well as one shot of it's terminal dive, just before I dropped the camera and got the fire truck rolling.
 
I do not think that the 5151 kit was around in 1982. More like 1992 or later. And it would not leave a hole in the ground but barely even dent it.

There was the Thunder Mustang, which was a pretty high powered subscale P-51 and I think it used an auto engine. There were plans for a full scale composite Mustang using a combination of P-51D and P-51H features but while I saw a picture of the mold for the fuselage I do not think I ever saw one built.

In the movie "Empire of the Sun" there is an attack on the Japanese air base by P-51's and in one scene you can see a Mustang fly by in the background that is certainly is a sub scale homebuilt; it has no doors over the wheels.
 
Probably not the same type then. from memory, this one was around 60% scale, and made of wood, and metal frames.

Sorry, can't remember what engine was used on the War replica FW 190.
 
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