Another 1/4 scale V-8...........

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El Vago
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Joined: January 4th, 2015, 7:09 pm

Another 1/4 scale V-8...........

Post by El Vago »

or thereabouts. I came across this little gem when I went to pinstripe a customer's 3/4 scale 1903 Curved Dash Oldsmobile. It was sitting on his work bench and was the first thing that caught my eye when I walked through the door.
After doing what I had come to do we sat around talking for awhile and naturally I had to ask about the engine.
As the story goes Bob is a 42 year veteran of working as a product development engineer for Oldsmobile in Lansing Michigan. When he first went to work for them he attended General Motors Institute(GMI) which is an in-house school for people aspiring to executive positions with the company.
One of the criteria for graduating successfully was that he had to produce something automotive related essentially from scratch. The engine was the result.
I believe the crankcase was machined form a block of aluminum as was the oil pan and intake manifold. The crankshaft I believe is a built up unit;that is:it was made from multiple pieces pressed together similar to a Hirth roller bearing crank on a Porsche 904s Carrera.
The cylinders and heads were adapted from 8 KB model airplane engines as were the pistons and connecting rods.I'm not sure what was used for a carburetor(Bob doesn't recall offhand) but he assured me that it did run. Unfortunately 2 stroke engines depend on lubrication from the fuel used and while running it at rather high speed one time the crankshaft seized and broke from lack of lubrication. So it now is a beautiful paperweight.
Truth be told; I tried to con him out of it to use in my New Era Corvette but was unsuccessful.Maybe someday.
The replica Olds is another story:
They were originally built back in the 1950's and were a little less than successful;the company going belly up before too many were built. The owners of the company(as the story goes)offered to sell Oldsmobile the remaining stock of cars which they in fact did and offered them to their employees. Bob got the last one.
He drove it around for many years and eventually tired of it and gave it to his daughter. He also gave up cars for awhile(he was a pretty prolific drag racer).
Several years ago after he had retired he decided to get back into cars. He retrieved the car from a barn where his daughter had stored it and it was in pretty sad shape. He spent the last few years restoring it and updating it as needed with a newer engine(a single cylinder Kohler)and upgraded lamps to make night driving easier and safer. The striping of the body,fenders,and wheels was the last thing to do before final assembly.
Strangely enough I had just completed striping an original 1903 Olds the previous month and this one was a lot easier. Striping was confined to the body and wheels and not the extensive striping on the frame and running gear of the original car.
Anyway that is the story. If anyone would care to see the pictures of the car I will post them but for now here are the engine pics.
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BobSmallsMiniatureV8 001.jpg
CALracing
1/4 scale guru
Posts: 371
Joined: August 16th, 2009, 2:49 am

Re: Another 1/4 scale V-8...........

Post by CALracing »

Very cool!
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Mike Casey
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Joined: December 28th, 2004, 9:28 pm
Location: Corona, CA
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Re: Another 1/4 scale V-8...........

Post by Mike Casey »

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing!
www.quarterscalelegends.com The Awesome history of 1/4 scale!!
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