Glens Machine Shop

Building a 4 stroke model engine

 This page is to describe the model engine that I am in process of building.

I purchased Smithy 1220XL Lathe/Mill/Drill a couple of years ago and began my machining career. I have no training nor instruction in any type of machining, and have never touched a lathe until I bought the Smithy. I also have recently purchased a couple of books on metal casting and have built a small furnace that I use to melt aluminum.

I am not an engineer nor even a college graduate. What I am trying to say is - I am trying to build an engine with a very basic knowledge of how it works, and the techniques that I will use are very likely to be born out of ignorance. I don't claim to know what I am doing, but I am doing it for the fun of it, and maybe in the process I can learn something.
Click for pictures and construction tips

Parts made to date
PartMaterial
Front Gear Cover Cast aluminum
Crankcase Cast aluminum
Crankshaft 1.5" Stainless steel bar
Cam Shaft CoverCast aluminum
Cam Shaft 0.5" drill rod
Pistons 1.5" aluminum bar
Piston Rods 3/8" aluminum plate
Rings 1.25" drill rod
Valves and Keepers 0.5" stainless steel bar
Valve seats Brass rod
Cylinder Liners 1" steel water pipe
Cylinders cast aluminum
Cylinder Headscast aluminum
Rocker ArmSupportsaluminum plate
Rocker Arms1/4 inch steel plate
Push Rods1/8 inch aluminum tubing
Rear cover w/mountcast aluminum
 I am building a small (1.85 C.I.) two cylinder horizontal opposed 4 stroke gasoline engine. I drew the plans for this engine using xfig on a Linux system. The plans are not yet complete. I build and then draw. I think it should be draw then build, but I am better at building than drawing. I also don't include a lot of details in the drawings because I know what I am going to do with the minor things. (some things I don't know what to do with them and I just work out something as I build it!!)

The engine is approx. 12 inches wide over all.
You can see in the pictures above that I split the cam shaft housing right in the center of the cam shaft. That put it right in the center of lifters also!! This really was not a good idea, it makes for lots of extra work on the alignment of the cover. It also makes using a gasket impractical. I changed the drawings to have the cam shaft totally in the lower castings.

Many of the engine parts are made from cast aluminum, and are cast in my shop. To date I have the following parts (Shown in table on left). You can get the plans that I have drawn so far.

This page is no longer under construction
Last updated 11-25-00
These pages copyright (c) 2000
by Glen Bond
Send me Email

Feb. 1, 2000 updates
Feb. 13, 2000 updates
April 8, 2000 The new camshaft
September, 2000 Update --> The Verdict: Re-design it!