This is a
Three Cylinder
Fairbanks Morse
Castings by Pacific Model Design
1.375 " bore and 1.500" stroke.
Fuel; gas or propane, the carburetors have two
needle valves, one for gas and one for propane. Ignition; Ignitor
fired
This engine first ran in February 2003. It is
the first proto type with all aluminum castings. with the
exception of flywheels, cylinder liners and valve cages. It is
also 19 lbs lighter than the cast iron engine. It is as close as
we can get it to the full size engine. It has air start with all
the oilers. All the oilers work except the ones on the side of
the engine. These were to lubricate all the internal and external
bearings, because the big engine had a dry sump, the model has oil
in the base with slingers on the rods to lubricate all the
internal parts. This is a exceptional good running engine, I have
tached this engine at under 200 rpms. But it will need to run
faster so the slingers on the rods can lubricate the top end.
This engine is not that hard to build, it has a lot of castings
and you need to make a lot of parts. But it is all worth it in
the end when you fire it up for the first time and you hear that
wonderful sound. This engine started and ran on the sixth flip of
the flywheel.
These are some in progress pictures. First posting 2/8/2003
The crank throws are 120 degrees apart,
which makes it well balanced. It is ignitor fired, fuel is propane or
gas. This engine is quite different from most engines, it has air
start. If some of you are not familiar with this there is a shifting
mechanism when shifted that stops the intake valve from working, and
shifts a cam that operates an air valve putting air in the rear
cylinder only on the power stroke. The compression is released on
number two cylinder, and it starts on number one. Once it is running
close the compression release on number two, move the shifter on three
and all three are firing, the firing order is 1 2 3.
For those of you that like drilling and
tapping holes this is the engine for you. It has 172 holes just in
the engine block, and 124 bolts. This engine has 253 parts not
counting bolts and nuts, and 54 castings. Will send a picture later
when it is all done. I am also building a two cylinder at the same
time, they share the same parts, other than the cam, crank, and block.
