100+ Year Old 4 Stroke Engine Design
- Thread starter dippschtick
- Start date
I have always been fascinated by the Knight engine, so much that there is now a Willys Knight project car in the garage. Most of my antique engine collection is air cooled so one of these light plants would definitely be a welcome addition. Check out the RR Cressy aircraft engine, impressive. Now if I can only find an opposed piston engine that isn't enormous.
Cool video. Sleeve valve engines are certainly interesting!
It is easy to dismiss some of these older engines as being rather inferior. Sure, the earliest engines were incredibly low compression and were not well refined. But move forward a few years and it was not long before engines were capable of accumulating a large number of hours without wearing out or failing. As many here know, I have two Lister Cold Start clone diesel engines that were originally designed in 1929. They are 44% Thermally efficient when operated at about 70% load, and while the clones are poor copies of the original, they do last many thousands of hours before needing rings or bearings.
It is easy to dismiss some of these older engines as being rather inferior. Sure, the earliest engines were incredibly low compression and were not well refined. But move forward a few years and it was not long before engines were capable of accumulating a large number of hours without wearing out or failing. As many here know, I have two Lister Cold Start clone diesel engines that were originally designed in 1929. They are 44% Thermally efficient when operated at about 70% load, and while the clones are poor copies of the original, they do last many thousands of hours before needing rings or bearings.
I've got a similar story, except this was actually a Willys-Knight car. There was a local banker who got married around 1925. He bought a brand new Willys-Knight car to give to his wife as a wedding present. Fast-forward to a few years before 1975 (his 50th wedding anniversary), and he decided to get his old Willys-Knight restored and overhauled to give to his wife as her wedding anniversary. So around 1973, he enlisted the help of a local mechanic to get his car running again. You must remember that at this time, there was no internet available to help find parts, but he managed to find two other Willys-Knight cars from around the country to use as spare parts. The mechanic overhauled this car and the banker presented the restored Willys-Knight car to his wife. This would have been before the time I was in high school, but my dad kept up with this restoration and kept the local newspaper that ran this story.
The banker, his wife and the mechanic are long deceased, but the last I heard about this car was that it was sold somewhere to the east coast and was shipped there to a new owner sometime during the mid-80s.
The banker, his wife and the mechanic are long deceased, but the last I heard about this car was that it was sold somewhere to the east coast and was shipped there to a new owner sometime during the mid-80s.
