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Driven5
Driven5 SuperDork
7/13/18 11:01 a.m.

I'm partial to the Dyna-Cam engine...

 

hhaase
hhaase HalfDork
7/13/18 12:07 p.m.

The Chrysler A57 multibank.

Taker 5 engines, each an inline 6 on its own crank,  joined together to a common central shaft, making a 30 cylinder non-radial piston engine.  Then build about 10,000 of these and send 'em to war.

http://www.enginehistory.org/Piston/AcftInArmor/Chrysler_23.jpg

 

Or the Pratt and Whitney R4360 'Wasp Major'.

28 cylinder 4-bank radial with up to 4,300 hp.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney_R-4360_Wasp_Major#/media/File:Pratt_%26_Whitney_R-4360_Wasp_Major_1.jpg

 

Then there's Smokey Yunick's 'Hot Vapor' engine.    Not long before he died,  he put one of these in his DeLoreon.   That was an interesting car to poke around under the hood.  Somewhere I still have pictures of it maybe.

https://schou.dk/hvce/dia1.png

 

DrBoost
DrBoost MegaDork
7/13/18 12:36 p.m.

"Unusual Engines" huh?  

I was going to win the internet prize for today and simply put a video of a running Mazeratti Biturbo engine here. 

Apparently there are none. 

 

Yeah I know, there are. I was trying to be funny. 

Ransom
Ransom PowerDork
7/13/18 12:40 p.m.
Adrian_Thompson said:

A mad German tween-war thing using a five-cylinder sidevalve rotary engine mounted within the front wheel of an otherwise wholly unconventional motorcycle. The engine rotated in opposition to the wheel at six times wheel speed, so at 3600rpm the wheel turned at roughly 60mph. Carburation was obviously an utter nightmare... and so was steering. Ever heard of gyroscopic precession? It's what keeps two-wheeled vehicles from falling over (and also steers spaceships and stops tall buildings bending). essentially, it means a spinny thing wants to keep going in a straight line. Try holding a bicycle wheel by the spindle. Give it a spin. Now try to turn it side to side. Feeling the lactic burn in your forearms yet? Tough, isn't it? And that weighs essentially nada. The faster it spins, the more it doesn't want to let you steer

Now try that with cast-iron engine architecture in the centre of the wheel, plus carburettor, saddle fuel tank and associated gubbins. Now wonder why your Megola will... not... turn. For anything

I imagine it's even weirder than that sums up; although according to Tony Foale, gyroscopic forces are only a very small portion of what leans a motorcycle into a turn, at least they're trying to "help" conventionally. If the engine is turning the opposite direction, the torque reaction will be the opposite direction! (Trying to lean the bike outward when you countersteer to tip in; if your handheld bicycle wheel is spinning forward and you try to "steer left" it will tip right at the top; if it's spinning backward, it'll tip left). Some folks have played with geared, counterrotating brake rotors in order to cancel the wheel's gyroscopic forces, and of course light wheels to take the simplest route to minimizing them...

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia Reader
7/13/18 12:52 p.m.

after looking at these motors you wonder how many  never  got finished , 

and then twin engine dragsters  etc

You have to give the engineers  their due for these great designs 

Matthew Kennedy
Matthew Kennedy Reader
7/13/18 12:56 p.m.

Oh boy am I a sucker for weird engines.

This may be the best sound ever made by an engine.  It's just so.  smooth.

 

aircooled
aircooled MegaDork
7/13/18 1:22 p.m.

How about the Napier Sabre?  24 cylinders, two cranks, double row horizontally opposed sleave valve (used in service in the Hawker Tempest):

 

 

 

Adrian_Thompson
Adrian_Thompson MegaDork
7/13/18 1:29 p.m.
californiamilleghia said:

after looking at these motors ........You have to giveLSD it's due for these great designs 

Fixorated that for you wink

GIRTHQUAKE
GIRTHQUAKE Reader
7/13/18 5:53 p.m.
hhaase said:

Then there's Smokey Yunick's 'Hot Vapor' engine.    Not long before he died,  he put one of these in his DeLoreon.   That was an interesting car to poke around under the hood.  Somewhere I still have pictures of it maybe.

https://schou.dk/hvce/dia1.png

 

What the hell fuel did he run that didn't detonate when it hit ~300 degree temps in the intake?

8valve
8valve Reader
7/13/18 6:02 p.m.

I think rotary valve 2t's are unusual.  Rotary valve 4t's even moreso.

buzzboy
buzzboy Reader
7/14/18 6:44 a.m.

The Adams-Farwell has an external rotary. Might be the only one in a car.
 

 

iceracer
iceracer UltimaDork
7/14/18 10:05 a.m.

Rotary engines running  and in flying airplanes can be seen at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome.

iceracer
iceracer UltimaDork
7/14/18 10:20 a.m.

I think it is the rotary that has no throttle.  Engine speed is controlled by turning the ignition off and on.   

kb58
kb58 SuperDork
7/14/18 10:42 a.m.
hhaase said:

Then there's Smokey Yunick's 'Hot Vapor' engine.    Not long before he died,  he put one of these in his DeLoreon.   That was an interesting car to poke around under the hood.  Somewhere I still have pictures of it maybe.

https://schou.dk/hvce/dia1.png

As a teenager at the time, I was fascinated by this engine, so much so that I screwed up the courage and called his shop to ask some questions. I was rather stunned when the person answering the phone said, "Here, ask him yourself," and put him on the phone.

dunruhroy
dunruhroy New Reader
7/14/18 1:41 p.m.

In reply to kb58 :

And?????

thats all the info?

Matthew Kennedy
Matthew Kennedy Reader
7/14/18 2:03 p.m.

In reply to buzzboy :

The crankcase is the distributor! That's awesome!

In reply to iceracer :

I think it does have a throttle.  It looks like the throttle/carburetor are upstream of the intake manifold like a normal engine, except that the intake manifold spins.

djsilver
djsilver Reader
7/14/18 9:58 p.m.

Gas Powered Pogo stick

I worked in a motorcycle accessory mail-order business one summer in high school and got to ride a pogo that was powered with model airplane fuel.  Not exactly like the linked video, but similar. The foot was the piston and the body was the cylinder.  It had a carburetor and glow plug from a model airplane engine.  You just had to jump once to get it started and it would do the rest.  If you wanted to stop, just get off and it would stop.

 

MadScientistMatt
MadScientistMatt PowerDork
7/16/18 10:56 a.m.
GIRTHQUAKE said:
hhaase said:

Then there's Smokey Yunick's 'Hot Vapor' engine.    Not long before he died,  he put one of these in his DeLoreon.   That was an interesting car to poke around under the hood.  Somewhere I still have pictures of it maybe.

https://schou.dk/hvce/dia1.png

 

What the hell fuel did he run that didn't detonate when it hit ~300 degree temps in the intake?

I presume, if it wasn't a hoax, that it's a homogenous charge compression ignition setup and it ran on detonation.

MadScientistMatt
MadScientistMatt PowerDork
7/16/18 11:01 a.m.

And here's my contribution for oddball engines: Liquid Piston's rotary, a tie for the strangest successful customer project I've been called to provide EFI support for.

http://liquidpiston.com/technology/how-it-works/

fidelity101
fidelity101 UltraDork
7/16/18 2:56 p.m.

^ that is pretty cool. 

 

 

also nobody mentioned this group S rally engine? for shame...

 

 

also looks like johnny 5 alive

 

1,759 cc and 600hp

 

 

 

 

lancia triflux!

hhaase
hhaase HalfDork
7/16/18 5:43 p.m.
MadScientistMatt said:
GIRTHQUAKE said:
hhaase said:

Then there's Smokey Yunick's 'Hot Vapor' engine.    Not long before he died,  he put one of these in his DeLoreon.   That was an interesting car to poke around under the hood.  Somewhere I still have pictures of it maybe.

https://schou.dk/hvce/dia1.png

 

What the hell fuel did he run that didn't detonate when it hit ~300 degree temps in the intake?

I presume, if it wasn't a hoax, that it's a homogenous charge compression ignition setup and it ran on detonation.

Definitely wasn't a hoax, was pretty well documented at the time and was getting a lot of industry attention.   But while it's a neat concept it wasn't something readily applicable to mass production.   Then EFI hit big-time and interest lagged away.   

LanEvo
LanEvo HalfDork
7/16/18 8:30 p.m.

What about the V4 engine from the Lancia Fulvia?

They sound glorious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGiZR23VyhQ

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