Miniature car engine kits

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OP123

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Little bit of a strange question, but does anyone know if mini car engine kits exist? I'm wanting to try and get a more in-depth understanding of internal combustion engines and feel that being able to look at the workings would be helpful. However, I don't have the space, tools, money or required expertise to take apart a full-sized engine.

I saw a video of a guy who had machined and assembled his own little engine kit, it was a brilliant little compressed air-powered working model V12. I was wondering if anyone was aware of something similar that is available commercially?

Thanks in advance.
 
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I saw that video - brilliant. You used to be able to nose round a garage and see engines that had been taken apart but it doesn't happen so much now as generally they last the life of the car. Working on them is the real education. They are not basically all that complicated but what has made them so is all the electronic gadgetry.

Have a look on YouTube you will likely find some help there.

Peter
 
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Failing that, what about buying a knackered petrol frame generator or somthing simluar. Get one with a working engine but burn out electrics for not a lot of cash and you have a small single cylinder engine in a nice frame.

Or even just but a £100 car of the local scrapyard and have him put in on your drive for a few months!

Ive always had 10-20 yo cars, and done my own work, learning on a need to know basis!


Daniel
 
I cut my teeth on knackered old Suffolk side valve mower engines, and took it from there......garden machines may have OHV or OHC engines now, and some are OHC vee twins.
The most memorable developments were actually in two stroke engines
(Rotax in particular) but of course pollution dictates their absence now.
I was very happy to be involved in the development of the expansion chamber...part of the engineering degree process.
John :)
 
I've got one of those plastic Haynes engine kits. It's quite good for a basic starter - the valvetrain works, the pistons go up and down and the spark plugs light up in the correct sequence. It's a slightly odd setup in that it has a belt driven cam but the cam still acts on rockers to open and close the valves, but it's basically there! My only other criticism is that the plastics from which it is made make lousy bearing surfaces so you have to be careful to get it all moving very freely at each assembly stage. Airfix do a similar one.
 
Avocet said:
Forgot about that one! Still, never could quite understand why they did it that way - seemed to combine most of the disadvantages of an overhead valve engine with the inconvenience and fragility of a belt driven cam!
Click to expand...
There are plenty of single overhead cam engines out there and if you want compound valve angle you need (long) rockers!


Daniel
 
The Haynes one is pretty dire, the electric motor struggles to overcome the internal friction and the poor thing lurches round in fits and starts making a horrible noise, while the wiring to the plugs and motor is a mess.
 
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