Haynes engine kit

Sorry if this one's been done before, but I don't remember seeing it. Thought I'd do a quick build thread since me and the li'l un spent a few evenings building up the Haynes working car engine model (sorta joint Christmas present... not that I'm childish, y'understand OK, OK, I am childish but that's not the point ;D)

Anyway, for those who are still reading and interested, lol, you get a humongous box (I was expecting like a Tamiya-size one and it's three times that)...


...containing sprues and components that add up to over a hundred parts. So the literature says, I didn't count them


Best press on then Straight in with making up the pistons. It's all either clip-together or screw-together (li'l cute magnetic screwdriver provided) so even if you've no experience making model kits it's a piece of proverbial


the manual (just like a little mini Haynes manual although without scandalous text along the lines of "gearbox removed from picture for clarity" like many of the real ones!) recommends oiling the bearing surfaces, though not with engine oil as that presumably would melt the plastic. We used cooking oil. Olive, since it smells nice. And I'm Greek. And it makes me think of Nigella Lawson. Mmmmmm ;D


Four of them and the crank's all built up;


and then you slide it into the block and screw the block to the sump and the sump to the engine stand;


Here's Conrad checking the pistons all move freely. He's only five, and this is recommended for ten and over so he found some of it a bit fiddly and frustrating, and some of the tech went over his head but I was proud of how well he managed. Maybe the fact I've been brainwashing him into petrolheadism since he could speak helps


Next step is the valves (20p included for scale). The springs aren't even as robust as biro springs, they're more like a dusky Arabian princesses' gossamer hairs plucked from her alluring head and wound round a hookah pipe-stem redolent of exotic spices to coil them. In my world anyway. In yours they can be thin biro springs if you like


You put the stem through from the top, compress the spring so the stem pokes out into the combustion chamber underneath...


...and then the valve head just clips onto the end. Bit of a fiddle! I had visions of these coming off and dropping a valve when it was all together but they're very stiff to clip on. Even so, I put a tiny bit of glue just in case. Careful not to glue the valve head to the seat though, lol


when they're in place you end up with this in the top of the head;


Next is to make up the rocker shaft. The rocker arms are all separate and it's simply a case of slotting them onto the metal shaft and spreading them to the correct position in the rocker box structure


Held in place with little bearing caps and lots of screws


So that's the valve head and rocker box all made up and ready to go on the block then


You get a proper head gasket that looks and feels like it's made from an old Kelloggs box, like all the best gaskets lol (other breakfast cereals are available). Here's C-man bolting it down


there's the head on, with all the valvestems sticking out. Eight valve head, proper oldskool... none of this newfangled multi-valve malarkey here!


Here we are threading all the cam lobes onto the shaft. It's splined so they all align correctly, bit fiddly but you just have to make sure they all go on in the correct order


and there it all is on top of the engine and screwed down


Mr C checking the rockers align correctly with the valvestems and it all actuates as it should do


Next step is to put the sprockets for the cambelt onto the cam and crankshafts. You get a nifty little tool to check the alignment and hold the sprockets correctly while threading the belt on, taking TDC from piston #4


and then the rocker box cover and the cambelt cover go on and stop anything coming loose, falling in, or generally stuffing the works up. Go on, ask me how I know that if you turn the motor without the cambelt cover on, the belt pops off and you lose the idler pulley under the sideboard


Next on is the waterpump. Non-functional, for obvious reasons. Such as the block having no waterways and not being watertight, lol


Then the pulleys, fanbelt and fan. Turns at engine speed, not even a viscous coupling lol


Next is the distributor. Which actually works. You can see the slotted mounts, so you can adjust the timing correctly for pot #4 ad then lock the dizzy into place


and the motor that connects to the crank and actually runs the model, fitted in place of the flywheel and gearbox assembly. Wiring a bit of a rat's nest, just like all the best engines


Checking the timing's still right, plug #4 firing when it ought to


then all that's left is a few cosmetic bits. The intake manifold, throttle body and dipstick;


... and exhaust manifold;


One least check... phew! It all still works and nothing's fallen off


And that's it! Sit back and bask in wonder at how clever you are. Add small children for extra awesome points as they spend ages watching all the bits whizz round


...and make themselves dizzy and slightly hyptontised for a while. Shortly before they start fighting over who gets to press the red button that starts it all going over again ;D


and some videos of it in action because after all, it's essentially a moving thing and pictures don't quite do it justice;







Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed it. Next up, a proper engine, lol. There's a similar rotary one available, though it's more than twice the price of the Haynes piston one. But then, rotaries are twice as righteous ;D Maybe next payday....