Art & Inspiration Aero-Engined Vintage Racers

Wow! Got my attention!

 

Duncan Pittaway's V-8 Curtiss powered GN. Fabulous photography by Stefan Marjoram.

 

I'd love to hear that run, it has to rattle like crazy.

 

We all know about the J.A.P. and Curtiss V-8 engines. I never knew Indian built one too.

 

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NO RISK NO FUN!

 

RANGER, Inverted 6 banger in a sprint car.

 

Enjoy the full website! CRAZY
https://blastoland.com/blastoland/RANGER_HISTORY.html

 

Rebuilding a 1918 Hispano-Suiza 8b is the first step in an aero-engined racer project which is being undertaken by Indianapolisracer (my father) and myself. I LOVE early cars and have helped work on a few, but I've never been exposed to any of these early aero-engines until recently. I have to say they are absolutely, incredibly beautiful! Such engineering & craftsmanship in a design that was developed only 13 years after the Wright brothers first flew. And they put out some SERIOUS horsepower for the day! It just boggles the mind!



We're pulling it completely apart, re-babbiting the block, rebuilding the mags, etc., and carefully going through the pile of spare parts that we have. I'm not so sure we'll keep the black paint, as everything you see is aluminum.

This thing is fascinating to me! The internals are amazing; everything is stamped with numbers, all the moving parts are smooth and polished. It has dual "Dixie" 8-cylinder magnetos that are gear-driven, attached to gear-driven overhead cams. Twin plugs per cylinder. The crank is a 3-piece unit, and connecting rods overlap each other in pairs. I would say this is comparable to any exotic engine, even those that are half its age.





Take a look at this crank & the connecting rods.



There are numbers stamped ALL over this thing, inside & out! But IMHO, these connecting rods & caps are the neatest ones. Every nut & bolt is marked. It sure will make it easier to reassemble it exactly as it was.



She's stripped down, ready for new babbits.





I thought this tag was neat.

 

Please......please......please share everything you possibly can on this engine and entire project

 

That is really cool! I noticed there are no counterweights on the crank which is interesting. Back in my mech eng university days, we had a class where we had to calculate all the forces acting on a 6 cyl engine. As you said, it is an incredible engineering feat to think that all kinds of engines were being built so shortly after the Wright brothers made aviation history.

 

Curtiss OX 5 crank

 

Hello, there!​

Magnificent engine indeed and magnificent project, too!
We would like to follow it to the end...

Well, it is proven through the centuries that wars are the best force to influence science, technique, technology and production development and organization (profits, too). Yes, just before a little more than decade, Wrights must constructed their own engine for propelling their Flyers - couldn't find anything proper on the market)! However, in Europe there were tradition in producing aircraft engines much longer and in larger scale, from the end of XIX century... That was at first not for aeroplanes but for lighter than air airships: Anzani (for very light), Daimler (for huge), Antoinette (Levavasseur), JAP (from small to big) and a few less known...

With closing years before the Great War started - production of aero-engines became big business and profitable too. Engineers had to solved problems of serial production, often under licence produced by less experienced companies... Therefore, engines must be easily assembled by less qualified workers, using parts produced somewhere else - so many numbers on all parts! Yes, they were technically and technologically, the same as aesthetic, masterpieces.

For counterweights, I think that cranks had that function in such configurations of two connecting shafts on each crank (of opposed cylinders)?

All the best for finishing your project, with a lot of joy and pleasure in process!

Ciao, Zoran​

 

I see the Curtis crank looks similar in terms of offsets for the pistons, so there must be something inherent to that configuration/ firing order that minimizes or offsets the forces to reduce imbalances. Seems to me folks were either a lot more clever or ingenious back then, or maybe as you imply, necessity is the mother of invention. None the less, it is always a marvel to look at the skills in terms of craftsmanship, design, and manufacture when lots of parts were still all machined by hand (non-CNC).

 

Just googled to see if the JAP V8 crank was the same, and it appears so. I recall someone, somewhere posting about this gentlemen recreating that engine, and he had this pic on his FB page. Again, just absolutely amazing skill!

 

Are the OX5 cranks a single piece? That's one of the things that really surprised me about the HS.
Gotta say that I LOVE your project, and it's been an inspiration for what we're doing. Maybe someday I'll get to look yours over in person!

 

Those connecting rods are pure sex.

 

Just thought I would give you a shot of the inside of the crank case, of a vintage radial engine that is being worked on, and indeed, these type of connecting rods, are works of art!

 

Tubular except the master rod ?

 

Hey @noboD
As you can see, the master rod is solid, and to my eye, the other connecting rods, are solid, but that would impede oil flow, so I will let @warbird1 and other's like @Stogy ,and @Roothawg chime in, because they have the experience to answer that question.
If the connecting rods are tubular, then it would appear that it would be easy to bend one if hydraulic lock is encountered.
That's why on Radial engines, you always have to pull the prop through a few times, if the engine hasn't been run in a few days or weeks, the oil always collects in the bottom cylinders.
It help's to pull the bottom cylinder spark plugs, to let the oil drain out, other wise, its easy to bend a connecting rod, from hydraulic lock !
I will let the experts chime in.
Thanks from Dennis.

 

Not me Dennis, I was a structural assembler on DC9,10, MD80,11...drilling/reaming holes, shimming /fitting parts, installing fasteners etc...no engines in sight...also museum restoration Lancsaster Bomber...but structural as well...

We had a dedicated crew that worked on the Merlins...

That is neat though...I think DC3 were radial...Merlins were V12s...both sound absolutely stunning...

 

I am a corporate jet guy. No round motors or piston poppers for me.

 

I believe the starting procedure on those radial engines after not being run for a while requires the prop to be pulled over by hand so many revolutions with the ignition off to ensure no oil or fuel has collected in the lower cylinders to prevent hydro locking.

 

The tradition of pulling a motor over backwards to clear the cylinders & avoid "Hydro-lock) continues today, or does at least in the fuel injected race cars(especially sprint cars & midgets) to avoid either bending rods or splitting cylinder walls. Thanks to everybody for posting these engines!! PURE MECHANICAL PORN!! LOL!

 

When speaking of radial engines, IIRC didn’t Mark Walker mention that his GN “Thunderbug” was powered by two cylinders from a Tigermoth? Wonder how that feat was accomplished?

 

http://ox5.org/wp-content/uploads/TMV4N4CurtissOX-5.pdf

 

Have you planned to shorten the oil pan to keep the center of gravity of the car as low as possible?

 

here is the link for Pavel's website regarding his recreations....including the J.A.P. V-8 motorcycle.
https://www.pavelmalanik.cz/jap-v8/...P35A_suc-rw-MxZ3yQMLRebCOyHnE7PXVstfurey1NSxs

https://silodrome.com/pavel-malanik-century-old-motorcycles-made-new/