Mini V-8 Engine Runs Like The Real Thing

Mini V-8 Engine Runs Like The Real Thing AG WORLD 34-4-22 "It took more than 5,000 hours over 7 years, and a lot of that time went into making the tooling," says Jim Moyer about the creation of his working 1/6th-scale Chevy 327 cu. in. V-8 engine. "For example, I had to build dies to draw (like stamping, but deeper) the oil pan, timing cover and rocker arms. I also had to make molds to cast the water pump housing, valve covers, flywheel housing and pistons. We also hand-cast porcelain to make the scaled-down spark plugs." Even the castings required multiple crafts, starting with mold making on his 12-in. lathe and Bridgeport-style mill. The water pump and flywheel housing were sand castings. Pistons were made by vacuum casting, which he did with a yard-sale vacuum pump and jury-rigged vibrating table made from an old etching machine. Valve covers were made with a "lost wax" casting process, which Moyer had never done before. After making the molds for the wax, he had to make a pump to force the wax into the molds. A local second hand store gave him a broken ceramic kiln that he used for a furnace. "I could have spent $5,000 to 6,000 in tooling, but I didn't have the money, so I made what I needed instead," says Moyer. Making a camshaft was a special challenge. Full-size ones are made on camshaft grinders. Rather than build a mini-grinder, Moyer built a duplicator for his lathe and used a full size cam shaft as a pattern, turning it in unison with the blank being machined for the mini V8. The duplicator was also a reducer, so a 1-in. move on the original translated into a 1/6-in. cut on the blank. Not everything is what it appears. Moyer admits that while the carburetor looks like a four barrel, it is actually a twin with two 7.9/1,000-in. jets. Also, the coil and the battery can be found under the wood base of the engine. Fuel is a 50-50 mix of unleaded gas and Coleman lantern fuel with a little lead replacer mixed in. Oil is a 5-20 synthetic. To start it, he turns a coupling with a one-way clutch on the end of the flywheel. Moyer's finished engine has a 1.1 cu. in. or 18 cc displacement, a 0.006-in. bore and 0.487-in. stroke. "I don't know the horsepower the engine produces, but it's actually a pretty powerful little engine," says Moyer. Moyer has made several other mini engines, including a single cylinder, overhead valve model with 0.0560 cu. in. displacement. "I'm retired and like working on small engines," says Moyer. He says he's available for consulting or even building an engine or components. His website has detailed photos and videos. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Moyer, P.O. Box 45, Boyds, Wash. 99107 (ph 509 738-2855; jim@moyermade.com; www.moyermade.com).

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