Pelican Parts Forums - Homemade radial VW engine , beyond cool!!

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Homemade radial VW engine , beyond cool!!

I estimated once that there is about 25 HP per VW/356 cylinder, that would make it roughly 175 HP (25 X 7) for the 2.1 L displacement, right?

Does that check out with what they claim?

That propeller would not even clear a cowling cover, I'm guessing they will use something larger in diameter and this one was for static testing/display for start up.

Very cool, very cool.

The design, the engineering, the milling.............quite the accomplishment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kach22i (Post 8221178)

I estimated once that there is about 25 HP per VW/356 cylinder

Where did you get that number?

How do they lube the valve train?

Very cool. It's amazing what skilled people with too much time on their hands can do.
I suspect the valve train is lubed through the pushrods like a VW.
I think 25 hp per cylinder is an over estimate. A 912 only makes a little over 100 hp, and this engine isn't tuned like a 912. Oops. 912 has 90 SAE hp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdfifteen (Post 8221256)

I suspect the valve train is lubed through the pushrods like a VW.

The rocker shaft assemblies are splash-oiled in a VW engine; the pushrods only supply a tiny amount of oil.

Quote:

Originally Posted by widebody911 (Post 8221266)

The rocker shaft assemblies are splash-oiled in a VW engine; the pushrods only supply a tiny amount of oil.

Where does the "splash oil" come from? The pushrods. The rockers are drilled so the oil flows from the cup the pushrod rides in to the rocker shaft.

Quote:

Originally Posted by widebody911 (Post 8221240)

Where did you get that number?

I based it on the later and higher powered 356's which are just tweaked VW's anyway, sort of.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdfifteen (Post 8221256)

A 912 only makes a little over 100 hp,

Right, 4 cylinders X 25 hp ea. = 100 HP total.

Same for a 911 engine more or less, 6 x 25 = 150 hp, similar to as early 2.7's

I did this simplified math for the reason of trying to figure out exhaust muffling, breaking it down per pipe.

Later 911's might be +30 HP per cylinder, early VW's only 10-20 hp.

That's quite a range, but like I said it was for gauging straight through muffler exhaust lengths.
.................................................. ..

EDIT:

Not the same engine, but interesting.

220 Hp Radial Engine Powered VW Beetle
http://americaloveshorsepower.com/radial-engine-powered-volkswagen-bug/
http://americaloveshorsepower.com/wp...red-vw-bug.jpg

Quote:

Built by Continental, the W670-9A engine is rated at 220 horsepower. The engine was used in a variety of applications, and this 1941 model was pulled from an M2 tank. Bore is 5.125 inches with a 4.625-inch stroke, giving the engine total displacement of 668ci. - See more at: http://americaloveshorsepower.com/radial-engine-powered-volkswagen-bug/#sthash.buL80rjL.dpuf

Article on the engine which opened this thread:
http://www.enginelabs.com/news/homegrown-horsepower-radial-engine-constructed-from-vw-parts/

This estimate seems pretty low:
http://jalopnik.com/amazing-loon-built-a-radial-engine-from-vw-parts-1608661285

Quote:

It seems to be a pretty compact power plant, and if I had to guess I'd say it may make between 80-100 HP? Maybe?

That's freakin' amazing.

Builder: Arnold de Man.

De Man indeed!

The end of the video states it's 2086cc, so it seems like each cylinder displaces quite a bit less than your average VW. Maybe the stroke is shorter?

really cool!

Found this thread, many of the same questions being asked: not sure if it is the same engine

TheSamba.com :: View topic - Built: a VW 7 cylinder radial engine!
Beetle1950

Quote:

Hello,

I made a 7 cylinder radial engine, using the cylinder heads, pistons, cylinders and several other parts of a VW 1200.

Quote:

Way cool, but how are the heads/valvetrain oiled?

Beetle1950

Quote:

About the rockers: indeed they don`t get oil, just like the very early radials.
I put the holes full of grease.

Quote:

Is your engine 100hp to 150hp?

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1188204.jpg

Tough to say how long the stroke is in the vw jugged engine, here's a vid of a different cutaway radial in action:

(which is pretty cool in it's own right!)

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HGKXdYCksAQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte (Post 8221275)

That's freakin' amazing.

Builder: Arnold de Man.

De Man indeed!

Exactly so, coolest thing I have seen in a while.

I bet that is a pretty short stroke.

Old school radials had valve trains that needed to be greased every few hours.
Question-
I forgot the reason why -
Why can a radial have only Odd numbers for cylinders ? 3 but not 4, or 7 but not 6 ETC

Here it is:

Four-stroke radials always have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that a consistent every-other-piston firing order can be maintained, providing smooth operation.

Found it here:

https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Radial_engine.html

Interesting question.