When I was an apprentice we went for a visit to some other trade sections of the large training centre I was being trained at and when we got to the Fitters there was an old guy who's hobby it was to make cutaways of cool things such as bearings, small engines and a few other things I can't remember but I can remember I was impressed. He said he patiently cut everything with the machines at his disposal (he was a fitter's instructor with the entire training centre at his disposal) and used Araldite epoxy which dries clear and just glued it all back together. I spotted this cool 1937 Ford engine and gearbox cutaway online (didn't buy it) about a year ago and thought it was cool enough to save the pics. I think I even enquired about having it shipped and the seller was willing to help. In the end it was too much of a "luxury" to justify (when there are cars to be built) so I didn't buy it but it sure is cool. Unfortunately, I can find the details (someone may remember?) but I'm pretty sure it was a rotating assembly used for education. I hope the current owner doesn't mind but I did search and couldn't find a thread about this cutaway and though it might be of interest to H.A.M.B.ers If you're into cutaways or have cutaway stories you want to share, you're not alone. I think cutaways are cool!
I remember as a kid I went to the Powerhouse Museum in Brisbane and remember engine cutaways and even a complete drivetrain cutaway, very cool. They always had a electric motor slowly rotating the engines to show how the internal combustion engine worked. Thank you for posting that cutaway Bill!
Reminds me of when I took machanics. They had an old 289 cutaway hooked up to an electric motor. Flip a switch and see how everything worked. I think they should make a cutaway of a woman. I bet you still wouldn't be able to figure out how she worked.
cutaways are great...you get to see how the thing works before you screw it up and great pics of this cutaway!
that is one sweet piece. I had about a dozen diff. cutaways of car parts at the drivin school where i took my license, sum intresting stuff, there was an entire diesel engine, a petrol engine, gearboxes, differentials, and other stuff i dont remember, it was quite some time ago, but i remember talk of them wantin to throw'em in tha bin! A-holes.
Bin! I bet more than a few got thrown away. Such a shame when they are so cool. Your Welcome Jimmy. If I come across any more I'll be sure to post them.
This one is in the Ford Discovery Center here in Geelong, Australia. 1965 XP Falcon sedan that was cut-away by the apprentices at Ford way back when the car was new...
you must be shittin me! that cut up falcon is way cool. check the paint process by layers on th trunk!
here a two more Ford cut-aways a flathead V8 from Niehl plant in Cologne Germany: http://www.fomcc.de/gallery/niederkassel2008/niederkassel200804.html and a XB Fairmont from Geelong down-under: http://www.fomcc.de/gallery/geelong/geelong10.html actually we do collect original Ford cutaways in our club and have a lot of transmissions, carbs, steering gears, axles etc.
The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit has a cutaway T chassis. It even appears to be a powered one as there seems to be a drive chain running into the base of the stand it is on. You can see it on the front snout of the crank. It was not running while I was there ans I could not find anyone to ask it it ran. Unfortunately, it was behind a barrier so I could not get very close to it. They also have a pretty cool exploded T as well. It is difficult to take a good picture of because the lighting in the Henry is kind of funky & not conductive to taking good pictures with and you cannot get too far away from the T or other displays start to block your shot.
The Falcon reminded me that Ford is showing a brand new Explorer cutaway at car shows. Saw it at the San Diego car show in December. For those into trivia, Bill Thomas of Cheeta fame used to do cutaways for GM.
Not quite the same quality, but the local trade school auto shop has a cutaway Saturn sedan. I was told it was given to them by the local Saturn dealer (before Saturn went "belly-up"). Jim
My high school auto shop had a few cut away manual trans and differentials. They were great learning tools!
Awesome! I love them too! I've been trying to do a feature on my blog every Friday, in case anyone is interested. http://scootermcrad.blogspot.com/2011/04/friday-cutaways_29.html
Here's a video I ran across awhile back of a Pratt & Whitney R-4360. Not automotive, but a VERY cool cut-away! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lz-TWscwIA Mind boggling radial engine!!
The narrator is a little wrong..Engine rpm tops maybe 2600..6 or 7 thou never happen..I had a book of P&WA Engines that listed specs, memory [what I have left, duh!] is some wheres around 2000hp, might have been a supercharged version...I used to work at P&WA, to go to their museum and see all the engines was fasinating to me, experimental stuff was neat..They made a Flat Head Radial somewheres in the 1700 cu in for small overall dia but didn't list a hp...Wish i had had a camera then...
That cutaway radial is at the same museum that the Spruce goose is at in Mcminnville Oregon. It is supposed to be the same type of radial as used on the Spruce Goose.
First time I toured Tinker Airforce Base I was amazed at the jet engine that is a cut -away. It is right there when you first walk in. I can not remimber what engine it is
When I was in college in the early 90's our auto shop had a cut away of a nascar 426 hemi. Single 4bbl and the ultra rare air cleaner. It was tucked away in the corner with 40 layers of dust on it. Quite shameful treatment for such a special piece of history. I did a little reading on these several years ago and there were only 3 or 4 made. I spent many days dreaming up a way to get that fucker out of that class room! I always wondered what happened to it.
The guy who said that Ford must have given them away to E Schools is probably right. When I went to The University of Minnesota in the very early '60's, they had a real nice cutaway V8-60 in a hall at the main engineering building.
I have always found those cutaways fascinating. I recall at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry they had a cut away Olds Toronado on display. This was in the mid 70's. Very cool stuff!
For over 15 years I was in the cutaway business. In the beginning we did some training level cutaways. We ended up specializing in cutaways(and the occasional non-cutaway) for shows, introductions, advertising, etc. Engines were the most common item, but we did all sorts of things, transmissions, drive axles, pumps, compressors, turbos, radiators/oil coolers/intercoolers, fuel injectors, ignition coils, heating/cooling systems, axillary heaters, hydraulic cylinders, tires, seats, etc, etc. Most were static, but some ran and had lights, lighted signs, sound, and motion sensors. The 7.3L Ford(Navistar) pic is one of those. The biggest thing we ever did was the 12,500 pound wheel loader axle. I included a pic of it. We had good customers; Ford, Lincoln, Cadillac, Saturn, Pontiac, Mitsubishi, Jeep-Eagle, Caterpillar, Navistar, John Deere, Holset/Cummins, Cloyes, and lots more. We did pretty much everything in-house; machining, hand forming and shaping, metal finishing, polishing & buffing, prep & paint, metal fab, welding, woodwork, display stands, enclosures, shipping boxes. Plating, signs and some ocasional specialty machining were done outside, but that was about it. All my most skilled guys were free-spirit type individuals. I was lucky to have them, but they were a handful. We always had more work available than I could find people to do it. As people got bored and wandered off it got harder and harder to find good replacements. I ended up closing the shop rather than lower the quality of our work. I liked the work, and in some ways I miss it, but there was generally barely enough time to get things done. For 15+ years my life was a real world version of those hurry-up-and-get-this-done reality TV show projects. The Model-T cutaway at the Ford Museum was at one time moveable. As is the case with most animated cutaways it wasn't made well enough for continuous use. The cutaway was old. They refurbished it and ran it constantly until it was worn out and messed up, then used it as a static display. Near the "T" cutaway in the Ford Museum is a '40 Olds display chassis hanging from the ceiling. We made that. It is a replica of a display made in 1940 to showcase the first fully automatic transmission. I included a pic of it before it was delivered. I also attached a few other pics below.
The Jalopy Journal
