Identity of Glow Engine.

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

 

Recently I was given this engine. It has been in an open box under a bench in a friends shed for 40 plus years and was in a very dirty state. It cleaned up very well and after a strip down and rebuild it is in very nice condition. Surprisingly there was no corrosion inside.I have searched various engine galleries without finding any engine that looks the same. The crankcase has been machined from solid and there is no backplate,so all assembly is through the front..The thin walled steel cylinder has integral cooling fins and two inlet ports plus a boost port through the piston Front bearing is plain but is a light alloy bush not bronze. The prop retaining flange is very unusual in having a series of drilled holes that look as though they have been drilled free hand. The plastic bodied carb has a brass disc with + / – engraved ,to alter slow running, something I have not seen before. Other than the curious prop driver all machining is first class and I wonder if it was a prototype, or a short run manufacture. I will be interested in anyones thoughts and opinions if your memory goes back far enough.

Keith

Edited By KEITH BEAUMONT on 24/09/2018 17:11:39

Edited By JasonB on 24/09/2018 17:25:14

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

Help Jason ! I thought I was loading four photos of this engine.

Keith

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I can see 4 pictures. Have put the first one into the thread with the others.

The plastic carb is a commercial Veco one will have to think about the engine, looks like someone wanted a light weight prop driver.

Edited By JasonB on 24/09/2018 17:25:52

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Looks like an Irvine carb, looking at prop driver could it be a home made job?

[RevStewParticipant @revstew]

The carburettor is actually a Perry carburettor. Veco engines came with them. 'Mit Perry Vergasser' !! it says on my Veco 19 box.

The engine looks like a home brew of some description. There are some very knowledgeable model engine guys to ask, but the best and most knowledgeable of them avoid the internet like the plague.

[Adrian Parker 1Participant @adrianparker1]

I do not recognise it as a commercial engine that I have seen in the last 45 years or so. The Perry carburettor was used by Veco and HB, both distributed in the UK by Irvine Engines who held good stocks of spares. The castings and Cylinder look professional to me but the use of cheesehead screws very unprofessional. I wonder if it is something built up by somebody from spare parts? Also the way that the rear of the crankcase is cut back maybe to minimise crankcase volume seems rather unusual and distinctive. It could be a prototype of some sort.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Adrian Parker 1 on 24/09/2018 17:57:02:

the use of cheesehead screws very unprofessional.

Plenty of old engines used cheese or round-head screws.

N.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Certainly an HB carb, but the rest of the engine is a mystery. Looks like a good home build.

Andrew.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Neil I think the preferred head on old engines was the "Fillister" Head – parallel sides like a cheese head but a slightly domed top, slotted. Well that's what Ramon says

[Tim Rowe 1Participant @timrowe1]

Keith

I am sure someone on a sister forum modelflying will know. You can find them here
Looks a nice engine.
I have some engines where the prop driver has been drilled but only a few holes and probably for balancing. Lightening would seem a bit of s waste of time but most prop drivers have knurled contact faces arranged radially to grip the prop. The holes would do the same I think but a bit OTT.

Tim

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by JasonB on 24/09/2018 18:29:58:

Neil I think the preferred head on old engines was the "Fillister" Head – parallel sides like a cheese head but a slightly domed top, slotted. Well that's what Ramon says

All my Davies Charlton engines have plain cheese head and the Circle K round head Phllips I can't imagine they have all been replaced. The GP has slotted dome heads, but it's only about 25 years old.

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Just had a look at my old Veco21 and that has Fillaster head but cross point as does a OS 20, both about 35yrs old

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

It looks to me, that it is someones home made engine case, and has used commercial piston liner assembly and carb. They may have made the crank and prop driver as well. But there were several makers who used the flat on the crank for the prop driver, instead of the tapered collet.

Neil L

[KEITH BEAUMONTParticipant @keithbeaumont45476]

I have a British designed and made Merco 61 mark 2 engine of 1965 vintage. It was the stunt engine to have in those days, powering the first three planes in the world championships of that year and that has cheese head fixings identical to my mystery engine.

Keith

Edited By KEITH BEAUMONT on 24/09/2018 20:30:47

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Jason,

You are quite correct about the Phillister head bolts they are common on old US spark ignition engines. I wished I could source some, but no luck even in the USA! Some of my old O&R engines could do with new phillister head screws!

Andrew.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Before anyone writes in about a source of Phillister head (or Fillister!). The modern ones are quite unlike the old American screws. The modern ones are more or less slotted cheesheads without the slightly domed heads and indeed curved sides.

Andrew.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

slightly off topic but whilst an apprentice the whole department of apprentices were given the task of building ten model aircraft engines, this involved making the engines and all of the jigs and fixtures, we had drawings and castings etc and we got to visit a company in Essex near the Thames who made model engines, ironically our training manager was into radio control so its fairly certain where the engines went and I could assume that they all ended on the open market at some point.

Martin P

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Martin, sounds like a visit to ED workshop, made a large range of diesel engines from 0.5cc upwards over many years.

Emgee

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Emgee,

The cylinder head and barrel look similar but then it was 45 years ago

Martin P

[Trevor Crossman 1Participant @trevorcrossman1]

Couldn't have been a visit to E.D. because their factory was in Kingston-on-Thames, or at least Surrey not Essex.

The crankcase of this engine seems to be modelled on some of the Fuji which had removeable front end, though this ones from solid instead of cast. I think that the carb is either Perry or Kavan, I've had both on the dozens of engines I've flown/crashed! but can't remember the differences. Head looks similar to K&B or 1960's style OS Max. but I can't remember an engine that had circular exhaust ports, so I think that it's 'home designed' based on general '60's features. Does it run well enough to fly? that's the important question!

Trevor.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I always associate fillisters (I don't know what is the right spelling) with America. All the ones I have are in UNF/UNC sizes.

Neil

[Ramon WilsonParticipant @ramonwilson3]

Posted by JasonB on 24/09/2018 18:29:58:

Neil I think the preferred head on old engines was the "Fillister" Head – parallel sides like a cheese head but a slightly domed top, slotted. Well that's what Ramon says

 

Did I really say that Jason ???

Whilst I modified some Pan Head Philips screws to represent the Round Head Philips as used on the original range of Eta diesels on those I scaled up, all the other engines built have cheese head screws as per most original engines handled over the years. As already said there are exceptions – OS used a metric cross point throughout but most used plain BA cheese head.

I've tried to put a pic up of the latest – 5cc Ed Hunters but the preview shows the image distorted after resizing.

 

Whatever – they will be running at this years Forncett Model Engineers day on October the 7th which is why I looked in in the first place

 

Regards – Ramon

 

PS Like others I'm convinced the engine in the original post is a home made special and very much based on the Enya style of crankcase. 

 

Edited By Ramon Wilson on 25/09/2018 21:41:52

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Sorry must have got confused with someone else or other engines, thought it was in one of your threads.

I assume the BA threads would mostly apply to UK made engines with ones from Europe using metric and those from the US having UNC/F threads and as Neil says the Fillaster is more common over there and what I have used on several of the American engine models I have built.

Edited By JasonB on 26/09/2018 07:59:50

[EmgeeParticipant @emgee]

Found this pic in my albums when searching for some model engine related shots.
Not a glow engine but a DC Wildcat (Davies Charlton) diesel, head and cylinder look home made and not original but crankcase design matches the OP engine.

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