The great engine thread.

[dollywobbler]

Ooh, here's one. Detroit Two-stroke diesel. Cor, an engine that lets you know when it's working hard!

 

Rootes TS3 just because it's bonkers.

[warren t claim]

Didn't two stroke diesels have a habit of starting backwards? If you know what I mean.

[Albert Ross]

Alright... 2 stroke diesels.

Napier Deltic. Best engine ever. Ever. Seriously, ever.

 

 

Also, edited to make sure I record this before they all go west.

Paxman Valenta.

[Jonnyvalenta]

Just beat me to it!

 

Paxman Valenta 12RP200L 2250HP and one HUGE turbocharger. The absolute business.

[dollywobbler]

Didn't two stroke diesels have a habit of starting backwards? If you know what I mean.

 

Yes, this could and did happen apparently. Wouldn't realise until you selected a forwards gear and went backwards!

[scruff]

Some old Gardners were prone to it as well.

[wuvvum]

Presumably that would only happen on engines with compressed air starters though? 'Cos a starter motor is unlikely to suddenly start spinning backwards, and even if it did it wouldn't engage with the flywheel.

[Waderider]

Have to agree with the Deltic. When a British Rail Class 55 goes past my house it sounds amazing (for a diesel).

 

Also, the 8v 2litre OHC engine from a MK2 Cavalier SRi130. Nice spread of useable torque.

[hennabm]

What engine code is the 1.8i in the old E30 Beemers? They were a right old laugh and definately improved with age.

 

The first E30s came with the old M10 chain driven lump in both the 316 and 318i. The F1 engine allegedly used a similar block to the M10.

 

Then came the disaster of the M40 engine that ate cams for breakfast.

 

The M42 was the 16 valve that came in the 318is.

 

The M3s were S14 engines.

[Tonka]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but Nissan's RB-series must be up there. I've only had personal experience of lower-powered NA versions, but clearly they got something right in the ability of this engine to be tuned insanely.

 

You beat me to it, from 130bhp to 1030bhp depending on the depth of your wallet, our lowly non-turbo 2.0 Litre still has that distinctive burble and it's the very reason why I bought my Stagea!

[CreepingJesus]

Can't argue with the Deltics: stunning engineering, the likes of which will never be seen again. At least not while the accountants have the reins .

My personal rail fave is the English Electric 12CSVT in the Class 37. Mostly 'cos I got to drive one across the central yard at St Rollox in Glasgow, as a kid. (It's a long story, involving my grandad, his mate, and the preparations for their annual open day.) Brakes off, power handle eased up, and bingo! sheer mechanical music. I was well aware the pistons were bigger than my head! The Sulzer in the 47 was nice too, but it sounded a bit, well, like a big diesel sewing machine. Despite having nearly twice the power, it lacked the chassis rattling oomph of the EE.

The old Paxman Valenta, with its' lumpy idle sounded like it meant business: sadly it was well known in BR circles as a hand grenade. Or 'that bloody boat engine'.

Coming down the scale somewhat, the old 14L Scanny V8 sounds nicer than the 16L to me. The Mack V8 in the old Renault Maggies sounded friggin' ace - there was an O/D used to come into Somerfield at Pitreavie once in a while with one. I swear his stack pipes had no baffles at all...glorious racket. I like the sound of the Merc 12L V6's; 'tis just a pity they wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.

Down again - the Dodge/Chrysler 440ci 'Wedge' V8 is my Yank of choice. Nothing against the SBC/SBF masses, but that's a monster of an engine. Even with the joke Rochester 2 barrel, like my mate's Chrysler.

I know this is a bit of a mega-post; sorry. It's just the joy of getting AS back. But I'd like to propose one more - the Nissan SR20. Bloody brilliant engine, in my old P10 Primera. Didn't need thrashed to get a move on, but it didn't mind one bit if I did. Utterly reliable - the rest of the car dissolved around it - and it never got more than oil, filters and plugs once in a while. It nearly ended up being replaced with the SR20DET from a rolled-up 200SX tho'...

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

What engine code is the 1.8i in the old E30 Beemers? They were a right old laugh and definately improved with age.

 

The first E30s came with the old M10 chain driven lump in both the 316 and 318i. The F1 engine allegedly used a similar block to the M10.

 

Then came the disaster of the M40 engine that ate cams for breakfast.

 

The M42 was the 16 valve that came in the 318is.

 

The M3s were S14 engines.

 

The M40 wasn't that bad! The cam wear was an issue directly related to maintenance. Too few oil changes and the top end (which ran 'cold' like a Ford CVH) would suffer a blocked spray bar. The cams are dead eay to replace though - 2 hours start to finish. As a new engine they were much better on fuel than the old M10, lighter and more powerful.

 

The seventies Nissan engines were very good - from the 1800 through to the 240 motor they were allegedly rip off's of the Merc silver top engines, only without oil leaks.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

still dunno why the boat anchor pinto was so popular back in the day when the fiat twin cam had more power,more adaptable,stronger,lighter and cheaper!

 

Thing is though, the 131 Sport 2000TC wasn't anywhere near as quick as the RS2000. They did around the same power, 110 bhp ish, both hampered by a small twin choke Weber, but the RS2000 got to 60mph almost 2 seconds faster. According to MOTOR and CAR, the RS2000 did it in 8.5 ans the 131 Sport 2000 10.3.

The Fiat engine was quite good but the Alfa Twin Cam was better still. All alloy, forged steel crank and rods and lots of superb details like studs and nuts for the main bearing caps, conrod caps and head studs. None of your cheap and nasty stretch bolts here. The Alfa twin cams and V6's were so expensively engineered. The later 16v Twin Spark was a load of shit in comparison but to be fair it was a cheap to make volume production engine.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

The Jag V12 is wonderfully smooth and powerful and the original XK was an amazing piece of kit for its time and very advanced. People seem to knock them, but I have always liked the AJ6 in my XJ40. It is smooth and powerful and few engines are longer lived.

 

 

The Jag V8 is a lovely engine; so refined and free revving and in its latest 5 litre supercharged guise quite brutally powerful. It sounds fantastic! I worry about the durability of earlier Jag V8s though, with all those tensioner and water pump issues.

 

Rover V8 - where would the British sports car industry have been without it? Ok, maybe where it is now, but it would have been quicker...

 

I have always liked BMW sixes, they are so refined.

 

David

[Rusty Pelican]

My aged Beemer has an M10 1.8i, Not quick but smooth , reliable and has used NO oil or water this year so far , thats good enough for me

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Agree on Jag engines. The AJ6 and later versions were very good mills. I love the Jaguar V12 - the Kraut V12's might have been 'better', but they never captured the magic of the Jag unit. The XK was a bucket of shit though in the seventies - here's a very good article which is a very good read:

 

http://www.jagweb.com/jagworld/xk-engine/index.html

[hennabm]

I have always liked BMW sixes, they are so refined.

 

me too - large or small - the old M20 or the M30

Here's a pic of both of my current M20s

[Guest]

Hello there,

 

My first post so hello and welcome and all that jazz

 

I'm currently running a Pug 205 GRDT with the 1.8 XUD which is wonderful (when it works, more on that in another thread maybe) but my nomination comes from when I lived in NZ.

 

I had an ex-cop '88 XF Fairmont Falcon with a 4.1 six-pot. The car was knackered, having been in the hands of gangsters who thrashed the shiz out of it and painted it flat-black but the engine was incredible. It had about three moving parts and just seemed bulletproof. It is still used in the current Falcon line-up, the tastiest being the XR6Turbo which comes in sedan and ute flavours with with about 300hp and 400torques on tap, turning an enormous exec-wagon into a sideways monster that bums porsches

 

The NZ cops tune all their cars and have since turned coat and all drive about in Holden Commodores which are tasty in their own way but nothing compared to the guts of the Falcon.

 

Cheers!

 

G

[M'coli]

Greetings!

300hp and 400torques on tap

We understand things like the proper nomenclature for torque on here, so what are the 400 - Nm or lb/ft?

[Pete-M]

Greetings!

300hp and 400torques on tap

We understand things like the proper nomenclature for torque on here, so what are the 400 - Nm or lb/ft?

 

I do hope that the only accepted measure for torques on 'ere is lb/ft.

 

Nm is only for people who like iphones. Having said that, the Jag's 378 lb/ft does sound rather impressive as 512 NM.

[Pillock]

You can't beat a "paaaaand foot"

[dollywobbler]

Ah, hi Glenn. Glad you made it here. I'd put some pics of Doug the Peugeot up if I actually took any the other day...

[Father Ted]

First there was darkness, God saw the darkness and said let there be light.

He saw the light and it was good.

 

 

And on the seventh day after a lot of fannying about with dinosours and shit, God made the A series donkey and saw that it would rattle on until the very end of time itself needing only oil changes every 5000 miles.

 

Yea it would smoke and cough like a 40 a day Capstan full strength man,, but still be capable of propelling cars forwards.

 

And when it finaly threw in the rings God said "Even yokels can repair this using nought but a tub of K seal and stop smoke".

 

Austin A30 Made from 1951 To 1956 803cc

 

Morris Minor Made from 1952 To 1956 803cc

 

Austin A35 Made from 1956 To 1962 948cc

 

Morris Minor 1000 Made from 1956 To 1971 948cc/1098cc

 

Lotus SevenS1/S2 Made from 1957 To 1960 948cc

 

MakeAustin Model A40 Farina Made from 1958 To 1967 948cc

 

AustinHealey Sprite Made from 1958 To 1970 948cc/1098cc

 

Austin/Morris Mini Made from 1959 To 2000 848cc/998cc/ 1275cc

 

Austin/Morris Mini Cooper Made from 1961 To 1969 997cc/998

 

Riley Elf Made from 1961 To 1969 848cc/998cc

 

Wolseley Hornet Made from 1961 To 1969 848cc/998cc

 

MG Midget Made from 1961 To 1979 948cc/1098cc/1275cc

 

Austin/Morris/MG/Vanden Plas Model 1100/1300 Made from 1962 To 1974 1098cc/1275cc

 

Austin/Morris Model Mini CooperS Made from 1963 To 1971 970cc/1071cc/1275cc

 

Riley Model Kestrel Made from 1965 To 1969 1098cc/1275cc

 

Wolseley 1100/1300 Made from 1965 To 1973 1098cc/1275cc

 

Morris Marina Made from 1971 To 1980 1275cc

 

Austin Allegro Made from 1973 To 1982 998cc/1098cc/1275cc

 

Austin Metro Made from 1980 To 1991 998cc/1275cc

 

Morris Ital Made from 1980 To 1984 1275cc

 

MG Metro Made from 1982 To 1990 1275cc/1275cc turbo

 

Austin Maestro Made from 1982 To 1994 1275cc

 

Austin Montego Made from 1984 To 1994 1275cc

[Shep Shepherd]

The Volvo 'redblock', as fitted to many RWD Volvos from the 1960s until the 1990s:

 

 

Not the most technically advanced or economical power unit, but change the oil, coolant and cam belt regularly and it will go on for a very long time - The B200F in The Volvo is coming up for 200,000 miles, and it gives every indication that it will do at least 400,000 without major work

[Minimad5]

G13B - Little 1.3 DOHC and pushing out 100bhp-ish as standard. Can be found in the Swift GTI and soon to be in a certain Rebel Estate

Small, light, powerful and rather easy to tune (Did i mention they are cheap ?)

[forddeliveryboy]

 

Not the best to look at under a bonnet, but the Citroën boxer four is a peach - almost unrecognised outside France. High-revving, long-lasting and so smooth. I could bang on about them for lines, but won't. Half of you wouldn't believe me anyway.

[Asimo]

I would believe you. More 1015cm3 porn.

[willswitchengage]

Ooh, here's one. Detroit Two-stroke diesel. Cor, an engine that lets you know when it's working hard!

 

Rootes TS3 just because it's bonkers.

 

They're fascinating.

 

The GM 567 (567 ci per cylinder) has basically been in production since 1938, albeit now in 645 and 710 forms. 

 

http://utahrails.net/pdf/EMD_567_History_and_Development_1951.pdf

 

The 71, the roadgoing version, only out of production due to (awful!) emissions but still an incredible sound and piece of engineering.

[willswitchengage]

Time for COOL ENGINEERING VIDEOS

 

The engine from the liberty ships - also where the 'Titanic' was filmed (not the sex scenes). Literally a 'mass produced' engine when in the 1940s the Americans produced thousands of these, in addition to Jeeps, tanks, trains, aeroplanes - what an industrial superpower the US was at the time is almost beyond comprehension.

 

 

Wright Cyclone. This is a Russian made version, but still probably the most 'dramatic' engine start i have ever seen!

 

[Ratdat]

The seventies Nissan engines were very good - from the 1800 through to the 240 motor they were allegedly rip off's of the Merc silver top engines, only without oil leaks.

 

Urban myth. Prince Motor Company  drew inspiration from Mercedes as they produced Mercedes engines under licence for a while. Prince merged with Nissan in 1966 but the first L series (L20) arrived in October 1965 so it wasn't a Prince design but Nissan's own. That said, Nissan did use the same kind of valve train arrangement as the Mercedes engine but it certainly was far from a copy. This engine really wan't very succesful and Nissans own design team completely redesigned it to become the L series that they used right through the 70's and into the 80's.

 

The L series is a really tough engine with virtually no weaknesses. They can take serious abuse and neglect and keep on chugging along. They are also capable of well over 100hp/litre when tuned too. In fact both of Nissan's 70's engine, the other being the A-series (no relation to BMC A-series) are tough dependable units.