It's one thing to build a scale model of a car. It's another to power it with a working quarter-scale V-8 engine. That is exactly what the engineer Gary Conley did at the recent International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. He showed off the supercharged Stinger 609, which is said to be the smallest four-cycle production V-8 in the world.
The engine might never have made it to the IMTS without the outside manufacturing expertise of engineers from Sunnen Products Co., who worked with Conley to make the engine's cylinder liners. Using a Sunnen hone to produce the cross-hatchings inside the liners, along with a separate process to "plateau hone" them, Conley was able to provide adequate lubrication for the engine at speeds of more than 10,000rpm.
"The problem is that the molecular size of oil doesn't scale down," Conley told us. "We found that out when we ran the engine. You couldn't stay in the room with it, because there was too much smoke."
Conley worked with Sunnen to develop a two-step solution to the problem. First, the engineering team used a coarse stone on the honing machine to create cross-hatched "valleys" that allowed the inside walls of the liners to retain oil. Then, they used a finer stone to shave off the "peaks" of the cross-hatchings, enabling the piston rings to seat more efficiently.
"The smaller the displacement of the engine, the more critical it is to control the oil," Conley said. "That's why you need the cross-hatch -- it helps retain the oil."
Conley's Stinger 609 engine, which packed the aisles at the IMTS, is named for its 6.09-cubic-inch displacement. With a one-inch bore and a 0.952-inch stroke, the engine puts out 9.5HP and 13 pounds of supercharged boost at 10,000rpm. It is designed to provide power for scale-model cars.
Production runs of the Stinger 609 are small. Conley's company, Conley Precision Engines Inc., built 40 on the first run and is producing 70 on the second. Eventually, he hopes to scale up his runs to between 150 and 180 of the units, which cost between $5,600 and $7,500 each.
The production runs could have easily been zero without Sunnen's help. "We worked nine months, 12 hours a day to solve the oil problem before we finally talked to Sunnen," he said. "Without them, this engine would not be available right now."
Ditto that Xjandin. I thank the Thor daily that RF scales down nicely. Forget what the naysayers think. Another 'for what purpose' is I had a Vette that would do 120mph and live in an area where the max speed limit is 55mph. For what purpose? No purpose, I just loved a car that would slam me into the seat from a dead stop. Today I drive a 'mild' Mustang GT convertible. Old age is setting in.
But his engine is indeed awesome. An engineering WOW.
This is TOTALLY AWESOME! Engineering at it's best. Find a difficult challenge and then find an innovative solution. The idea of putting valleys on the cylinder walls is genious. I wouldn't have thought that the molecular size of oil would matter or that oil would be the limiting factor.
WELL DONE!
As for the detractors, time to start living again and seeing the beauty in the world around us and the fun and excitement of exploration. I have no doubt that this innovative design will be used in many more 'lubrication intensive' designs.
I bought my 91 Honda CRX for 5 grand a decade ago. Spent a couple of grand on over the years, great car. Something like this looks like throwing good time after bad, unless you happen to be Jay Leno. Now if he owns one that is a different story...
I agree, we never know at first where our ideas will lead. I think it is a good strategy to "waste" a certain amount of time just exploring mentally and building a few prototypes. It's also a lot of fun and you never know where the ideas and techniques you find will be useful.
As for applications, I would think that improving battery technology especially energy density would make electric motors a better choice since they are so much simpler mechanically. The complexity of a single cylinder/piston subassembly in any internal combustion engine is greater than the entire electric motor of similar size.
The power curve is much flatter with loads of torque immediately. The Tesla cars have only one gear, and reach 60 in 3.9, 5.9 or 6.5 seconds depending on how much money you put into the battery size.
This reminds me of the change from steam to diesel in locomotives. Newer tech is simpler and costs less, but the old school stuff is more fun to work with, and easier to understand because you can see different parts pushing and pulling.
It's a cute project, and I understand perfectly how he must have felt when it worked. I wondered how a teflon engine coating such as Slick 50 would work here? I put that into the 1.8 liter motor in my Pontiac Firebird and got 15% better mileage and drove that car well into the 200k range, 230 IIRC,
>> he hopes to scale up his runs to between 150 and 180 of the units, which cost between $5,600 and $7,500 each.
This gives a hint into the purpose of the effort. A lot of us think it's worthwhile simply because it's cool, but there appear to be people that think it's cool enough to trade their money to own one. This makes the effort both a cool and practical use of time/resources.
Sometimes going one way with research or development ends up nowhere near the expected destination, and that can be a good thing. Not always, to be sure, but sometimes it can change the world. Years ago there were a couple of books that explored the phenonmenon: James Burke's Connections and Joel Barkers book on future (I forged the exact name). Also, there can be a time lag in the time it takes to get from the original thought to a useful application, not to mention an optimized solution of that application: to wit see link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohner-Porsche . 1901 idea coming around again.
Personally, I think it's great. I'd bet some application will be found, though it may be at a less than 8 cylinder size, and maybe not used in a "vehicle" as we know it.
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