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ENGINE

I was able to source the engine free of charge from McKeown's Car Dismantlers Downpatrick. It is taken from 1360cc pugeot 206 2002 model and has inline cylinder arrangement. It was in bad condition and was almost completely ceased, however I was confident that with the modifications I would make it would operate as required. 

 

The first task was removing all parts of the engine that would not feature in the final piece. This included the rocker cover, exhaust manifold, clutch and pressure plate, sparkplugs, starter motor, oil filter, water pump and all piping and electrical wiring. My aim was to revert the engine back to its most basic i.e. the block and head and focus on the movemets involved directly with these parts. The principles of automotive engines have not changed in over a hundred years. As we enter into an age of hybrid and electric power it is interesting to explore what may not play such a big role in society in the future.

 

The block as shown (below left) contains the crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons. The flywheel is connected at one end of the crankshaft and the timing belt and fan belt drive is connected at the other end. In order to free these parts sufficently, and in order to be hand cranked, I removed all metal sleeves along the crankshaft and the piston rings sealing the pistons inside the cylinders. The block and head are kept in sync via the timing belt. Normally an engine can only be turned over a quarter turn at a time due to the resistance of the rockers on the camshaft contained within the head as shown (below right). I added spacers between the rockers and camshaft to ease this resistance. With the changes the engine could be turned over easily and continually with much less resistance. This is important for the purpose of creating a steady rhythm. With these modifications complete I was able to move on to attaching the engine to the frame. Images from howstuffworks.com

Above - The engine as I recieved it from Mckeowns Car Dismantlers. I had to be careful moving it as it was 50kg+ 

Below - Parts I removed from the engine to leave only the block and head remaining and able to hand crank the engine smoothly

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