
Beautiful stop-motion engine rebuild [video] - vitorbaptistaa
http://www.howacarworks.com/blog/stop-motion-engine-rebuild
======
keithflower
Great work that evoked a lot of memories for me.

When I was 15, my dad and I bought an Austin Healey Sprite from a junkyard,
which in addition to the engine under the bonnet also happened to have a
complete spare engine in the passenger seat.

We made a blind guess at which engine was "better", and overhauled that one.
It was a great opportunity to learn practical things about cars, but also
deeper lessons in patience/gumption (Robert Pirsig, in Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance, comes across someone who is purchasing an entire
motorcycle in loose parts. "He'll know something about motorcycles before he
gets those together....and that's the best way to learn, too.").

The only problem was that on reassembly, we couldn't get our newly overhauled
engine to start. We tried everything we could think of. We were unfamiliar
with the peculiarities of British cars of that era, and it took us more than a
few hours to notice and comprehend the words conveniently printed right there
on the speedometer: "Positive Earth".

We switched the battery wiring so that the positive terminal connected to the
car's ground, and she fired right up....at 2 o'clock in the morning in our
suburban garage. What a great memory.

We hadn't yet hooked up the exhaust, so the throaty roar of the engine
awakened more than a few neighbors.

Unlike the video shown, we ended up with more than a few leftover parts.

The little 4-cylinder ran just fine without them.

~~~
bliti
Oh yes, the wonders of British automotive engineering. You haven't felt the
_joy_ of it until an electrical issue appears. Which is often the case. Did
you ever enjoy letting out the Lucas magic smoke? Preferably from behind the
dash area... :)

Do you still have the car?

~~~
keithflower
Sadly, we sold it before I went off to school.

But I later bought a bright orange '64 Triumph Spitfire ($400!), and spent
many interesting hours tweaking the engine (with its infamous twin
carburetors), until an unfortunate failure in judgment occurred on the Potrero
Grade.

We were able to put the engine into a close friend's Triumph, so it's possible
that beautiful little temperamental engine lives on, somewhere.

------
amelius
Nice work. Except I expected the music to stop and to _hear_ that engine run
in the last few seconds of the clip.

------
bradleyland
At 1:56, it appears that the old motor suffered from the infamous valve-in-
piston design flaw :)

If you enjoy hacking, do yourself a favor and get your hands on a small engine
with a horizontal crank. They're harder to find than vertical crank motors,
but much easier to run on a bench and more closely resemble a car engine. Take
it apart and put it back together again. If you're not going to put the engine
back in service, there is very little you can get wrong. Don't worry about
torque specs or gasket quality. Just get your hands dirty! It's great fun.

------
marincounty
I've had too many people ask me, "What's the point to an older automobile?",
or lately, "Why do you like/collect those old watches?"

My answer is usually, "Yea, you're right--I should look into new stuff?"

I then ask about that old Toyota truck with the 22r engine collecting leafs on
the street. "Do you want to sell?" Oh yea, if you have any old watches--I buy
those too?"

Years ago I got tired of trying to explain aesthetics, or the beauty of a well
designed mechanical object.

I tried to put a new stereo in a later model Ford this weekend. I told a
family relative, I need to access one of the computers with a scan tool. I
think I need a bi-directional scan tool--which I don't have. I put a portable
radio on the passenger seat, until I figure how to change the radio?

~~~
th0waway
ugh, would much rather work on an older car - more space, less electronics

------
LoSboccacc
Just when I was thinking, how is it possible there were no leftovers?

Bravo!

~~~
agumonkey
I always laugh when I see the ending. I'm still at the ThinkPad mainboard
screws level. Soon I'll enjoy car engine screws.

~~~
Nexxxeh
We call them "shipping screws", because they're in there when the thing ships,
but clearly aren't required for proper function.

Did the bloke in the video ever find out what the missing bits were for? Or
were they dupes that he got with the replacement assembly, and he'd already
got them from the original assembly (or vice versa)?

~~~
agumonkey
Well depends on what you mean by proper. It rolls but it might break down at
30mph or even explode at 70.

I didn't watch any of his other videos.

------
curiousjorge
Love this car. It's beautiful and reminds me of the jaguar e-type. I wasn't
even born during this time but I always appreciate a good car. Always amazes
me how they were able to build all these things back when they didn't have cad
software.

The comments on youtube from fedoras tho...

~~~
fit2rule
Something I always wonder is just how well they were able to produce symmetry
in their designs, when it was all sculpted (usually out of clay) .. before
CAD, it had to have been done with pure artistic sensibility, and it worked so
well .. I wonder if we've lost something of the minor, subtle imperfections
that are seemingly observed at a subconscious layer, and which seem to imbue a
degree of affinity for those old designs...

~~~
GeoDeV
I was a car nut long before I became a computer guy...I vaguely recollect
something about this. I believe they would have created a series of cardboard
templates, mirror images for left and right, about one inch apart along the
length of the contour, front to back. And then carved the clay to match the
templates. Hope this verbal description is clear enough.

~~~
fit2rule
Thanks - and yes, it does make sense. Amazing that we've come so far to
produce, essentially the same thing, albeit with higher technology ..

