slefain
PowerDork
11/7/19 1:57 p.m.
My eldest son (10 years old) submitted his very reasonable Christmas wish list the other day. On it was a "model engine". I had one of those Revell Visible V8s kit decades ago and I recall it kind of sucking and being a bear to put together. Now there seems to be all kinds of model engines on the market. Anyone tried a newer engine kit?
There are these cool little sterling engines:
Haynes apparently has a good kit:
I also have a vertical shaft 5hp engine with low compression I could tear down and let him reassemble into a working engine. But that could also just be a homeschool project.
I'm trying to find kits that bolt together, not just glue. I remember that Revell kit requiring glue for parts that just were a pain to assemble (like the crankshaft).
ShawnG
PowerDork
11/7/19 2:27 p.m.
Visible V8
Lindberg used to make a couple as well but it looks like they have discontinued them.
RevRico
PowerDork
11/7/19 2:40 p.m.
If you have access to a 3d printer you could make an LS3. Maybe a bit bigger and more time consuming than you have in mind though.
These kits are awesome. I have built a couple of them. They take some fitting and polishing but when they are done they run wonderfully.
Fully Machined Kits.
Woody
MegaDork
11/7/19 2:51 p.m.
In reply to slefain :
My daughter and I built the Haynes kit that you pictured when she was about 8 or 9. It’s okay, but I wouldn’t expect it to have any compression. It’s good to help them understand how things go together, and the valves are pretty good, but it’s certainly not a precision piece.
My kid wanted something similar at the same age and I was disappointed with the model kits too. I did like you're thinking and shopped around for and old B&S horizontal shaft motor for him to take apart and put back together.
To RevRico, looks like you need a big print bed for that kit if done at scale......
-Rob
rob_lewis said:
My kid wanted something similar at the same age and I was disappointed with the model kits too. I did like you're thinking and shopped around for and old B&S horizontal shaft motor for him to take apart and put back together.
To RevRico, looks like you need a big print bed for that kit if done at scale......
-Rob
At 1:1 to a real LS3 you would, but That model seems to be scaled down. In the video the block seems slightly larger than his hand so it should be doable on most prusa I3 sized beds.
For the ultimate in realism, why not bolt together a real engine?
Semi-joking.
D2W
HalfDork
11/7/19 5:29 p.m.
go-cart or minibike restoration.
would be a great father son project.
D2W
HalfDork
11/7/19 5:32 p.m.
Or, a project at a lower cost, go to a bike wrecking yard and just buy an old Honda 90 engine. Get it running again on a bench.
D2W said:
Or, a project at a lower cost, go to a bike wrecking yard and just buy an old Honda 90 engine. Get it running again on a bench.
An old flathead lawn mower engine (Briggs and Stratton, Tecumseh, etc.) wouldn't be a bad idea either, and when you're done you could go on to the next project - building a minibke.
Taking an old B&S engine apart and putting it back together again was how I learned about internal combustion engines. I got another one recently that will be a retirement project. 
CJ
HalfDork
11/7/19 6:38 p.m.
Maybe something like this? 
Put a Dorito in a bowl and swirl it around. Ta dah! You've made a rotary.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:
Put a Dorito in a bowl and swirl it around. Ta dah! You've made a rotary.
Yah, but where are you going to find an epitrochoidal bowl???
Jay_W
Dork
11/8/19 11:30 p.m.
1988RedT2 said:
KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:
Put a Dorito in a bowl and swirl it around. Ta dah! You've made a rotary.
Yah, but where are you going to find an epitrochoidal bowl???
By Jove, it's the next million-buck idea! Watch for me on all the home-shopping channels soon...cuz *everybody* neeeeeeeds an epitochroidal Dorito serving bowl.
Dragging this back up.
I came across this today in my internet wandering. Looks pretty cool. Metal kit. Not super cheap though.
Teching-V4-DM13-Four-Cylinder
