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Hi guys,
In a recent thread there were claims made about engines being converted to run without any oil using ceramics. There is very little providence to such claims, however there was an engine developed years ago that was made mostly from reinforced plastic, it was called the 'Polimotor'
The engine had metal cylinder sleeves, metal combustion chamber tops, metal piston CROWNs (composite pistons!), bearings, valves and seats, and a stock 2.3L Pinto crankshaft. Nearly everything else in the engine, including the block, rods and piston skirts, were made of Torlon thermoplastic.
It was also noted that the crankshaft could have been made of fiber-reinforced polymer with thin metal journal inserts, which would have upped rpms/hp even more and saved a bunch more weight, but they stuck with the stock metal crank because of budget & time limitations.
It was based around the Chevrolet Cosworth 16v engine, used in the Vega -
It was a 2.3L 320hp engine weighing only 153lbs (69kg!) -
The engine was put into a Lola chassis and preformed very well, although suffered from temperature control issues due to the lack of conductivity of the plastics compared to cast iron or aluminium -
Turns out that Polimotor are still developing the thermoplastic engine, and a duratec based engine has been put into the Deltawing racecar -
In a recent thread there were claims made about engines being converted to run without any oil using ceramics. There is very little providence to such claims, however there was an engine developed years ago that was made mostly from reinforced plastic, it was called the 'Polimotor'
The engine had metal cylinder sleeves, metal combustion chamber tops, metal piston CROWNs (composite pistons!), bearings, valves and seats, and a stock 2.3L Pinto crankshaft. Nearly everything else in the engine, including the block, rods and piston skirts, were made of Torlon thermoplastic.
It was also noted that the crankshaft could have been made of fiber-reinforced polymer with thin metal journal inserts, which would have upped rpms/hp even more and saved a bunch more weight, but they stuck with the stock metal crank because of budget & time limitations.
It was based around the Chevrolet Cosworth 16v engine, used in the Vega -
It was a 2.3L 320hp engine weighing only 153lbs (69kg!) -
The engine was put into a Lola chassis and preformed very well, although suffered from temperature control issues due to the lack of conductivity of the plastics compared to cast iron or aluminium -
Turns out that Polimotor are still developing the thermoplastic engine, and a duratec based engine has been put into the Deltawing racecar -
