the art of engine

[Olirider]

Last week, when touring the Massif Central area in France, I stopped in a very small village to have a drink and had the surprise to find this fine piece of engine art.
(The left one. The right one is also mechanical art but not very mysterious !)

At first I thought it was 2 enormous twin cylinders engines.
But when looking closer,

I understood that it was a petrol engine coupled to a twin cylinders air compressor.
It will not move again easily because the wheels are encrusted in the tar.


What do you think ? Is this a twin cylinders or a 4 cylinders engine ?
I suppose this is a 4 cylinders when looking at the low part of the 2 cylinders blocks.
I guess we see here the magneto and the water pump.
How big can the displacement be ?

Looking at the cylinders heads we see 4 spark plugs. It must really have 4 cylinders.
On the spark plugs, we can read "Champion Etats Unis d'Amérique".

This must be the clutch between the engine and the compressor.


Do you imagine starting such a big engine by hand crank ?
I googled Ingersoll-Rand and it is indeed a US brand well known for air compressors




The carburetor which I find surprisingly small.
It seems there are 4 exhausts but only 2 inductions ?

The air compressor which shares the same liquid cooling as the engine.

The manometer : up to 12 bar (174 psi)

The pipe from the compressor to the air tank.

I hope these pictures will interest some of you.

Would anyone be able to tell how old this engine may be ?

[Tim McKittrick]

That looks to be about a 1928-9 Type 20 IR compressor.... the engine remains a mystery, but it wasn't uncommon to make 4 and 6 cylinder engines with paired two cylinder banks at that time.

[pierce]

and its probably a flathead, so the one intake port going to two cylinders isn't a surprise either. and yes, those old engines used tiny carbs, they weren't anywhere near the HP per displacement of something more modern. that thing probably turns at some lazy 3 digit RPM so there's just not that many CFM of air going in. its water cooled, so the big cylinder things you see are the jackets, the cylinder barrels inside are probably quite a bit smaller. my guess is, the water pump is that turbine like thing left of the magneto.


edit: that one is in better shape than either of these...





that first one was restored to this!



found something saying that the type 20 was a 100 CFM compressor...

[Olirider]

Originally Posted by pierce

...
found something saying that the type 20 was a 100 CFM compressor...

Thanks for the follow up information. By the way, I had to use wikipedia to find out what CFM could be.
Cubic Feet per Minute instead of the perfectly logical cubic meters per second... how strange are those Imperial units !

Googling with the name type 20, I found this confirmation :

http://www.constructionequipment.com...ingersoll-rand

The Type 20 air compressor was built in 1927. It had an output of 100 cubic feet per minute. The compressor was mounted on a sprung chassis with wooden-spoked wheels and solid rubber tires, and distinct components of the engine and reciprocating compressor could clearly be seen. The lower tank was the air receiver; the upper tank held fuel.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Olirider

Thanks for the follow up information. By the way, I had to use wikipedia to find out what CFM could be.
Cubic Feet per Minute instead of the perfectly logical cubic meters per second... how strange are those Imperial units !

0.05 m^3/s if you prefer. or 2.8 m^3/min. Since its an American compressor, it was rated in CFM...

[Olirider]

Well, it was sold in France : the unit of the manometer was bar not PSI !

[P B G]

Originally Posted by Olirider

Well, it was sold in France : the unit of the manometer was bar not PSI !

Or someone swapped the gauge.

That pipe fitting looks a bit cobbled.

Most of these in the US had a Waukesha engine, from Wisconsin.

That looks very similar to what was known as a Type A engine,

Tidbit of Waukesha engine history, their engines were the backup power generators in the World Trade Center - 3/6 of the engines survived 9/11 and provided power during evacuation... I found that interesting.

[Tripod]

3 bikes in the garage with no desire....obsession this summer is finishing an 18 year old project...'62 f100 styleside...and to hear this 292 rumble! Simplicity squared. Yeah, I know that port side valve cover is backwards...twas the beers.

[12ARX]

Queen street BMW quad rotor...

[dagwood]

:why?

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Tripod

3 bikes in the garage with no desire....obsession this summer is finishing an 18 year old project...'62 f100 styleside...and to hear this 292 rumble! Simplicity squared. Yeah, I know that port side valve cover is backwards...twas the beers.

my kid just got my 1965 F100 240 rat-truck running again. hah hah. just took dropping the carb in some carb cleaner for an hour, some fresh gas in the tank, and a bit of starter fluid. and a new battery.

its been parked for 6-7 years. this one is simplicity (plain). straight 6. single bbl carb.

[California]

Originally Posted by dagwood

:why?

This is a question often asked. Whether you are talking about custom motorcycles, race cars, experimental aircraft, modern art, architecture or fashion, the answer is always the same, because you can!

[Nailhead]

Originally Posted by California

...the answer is always the same, because you can!

The rebuttal is too frequently the same: just because you can doesn't necessarily mean you should.

[pierce]

worse, huge turbocharger, with no intercooler and a tiny radiator?? so its mostly for show, and not for go.

[12ARX]

Originally Posted by pierce

worse, huge turbocharger, with no intercooler and a tiny radiator?? so its mostly for show, and not for go.

It is built for show.. To show off qsr's panel and paint skills, yeah it's over the top with the 24k gold but each to their own. But it is a drag car and runs on methanol so no intercooler needed and small rad is all that needed to keep it cool during staging and not excessive weight. (when or IF they do run it) google queen street BMW quad rotor and see what it was previously..