Added: 2 years ago
From: ChargerMiles007
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  • Hi !:you point problems in materials choices are the smoke source in your engine. My info on materials is from the 1953 ed of H Ricardo High speed internal combustion engine book. Do you know more recent sources ? 400 hr to build an engine looks a long time. Can you give figures for a more experienced machining team ?. For interested: AEHS: enginehistory org has many good papers on Single Sleeve Valve engines.H Ricardo said SSVs have better mechanical efficiency than poppet valve ones.Salut

  • @grosaymerich

    Hi there.

    A machinist could cut the time down a lot, we were all just beginners, and made some mistakes. A stainless steel sleeve should be used, as the expansion rate is closer to that of the aluminum block. H Ricardo was a very knowledgable man, I have great respect for him!

  • i would remove the engine from the lawnmower and put it in a go-cart!

  • @whatsdare

    My son suggested that.

    I would do it, but I would be very ticked off if we blew it up on a go-kart. Since I don't have access to a machine shop to build another one!

  • not bad for a sleeve valve? haha not bad for a briggs lawnmower, designed with a plastic carb and to grenade at anything over 3600 rpm...lol that thing picks up FAST! no lag at all, sweet mower! how much effot/cash did you invest in this project?

  • @ismokewead420

    I think I spent about $100 on metal, but I got it all for a good price, as we built this as a university senior project. I estimate about 400 hours of machining, for us inexperienced amateurs :) We then ran it on a dyno a lot testing various manifolds etc.

  • damn they even removed the cancel thing on the comment...

  • @pcblah

    It may be easier to find a comment to respond to now, hopefully! But I will have to wait and see.

  • I understand pretty much nothing of it but it's clearly a hell of a machine.

  • @TheMrbum

    Cool comment!

    Not understanding it is OK, I have learned over the years that most people aren't Motorheads, like me :)

    I make another vid of my various engines, where I take it apart, to help show how I built it.

  • @ChargerMiles007 how practical is this engine for everyday use

  • verry nice made,,bravo

    anyway i think it takes a lot of energy to move all those parts

    in the 1920's car engines where made like this

  • @engineprof

    Yes, it does take some power to move the sleeve, but the engines builders back in the 20s did studies on that, and it wasn't much different than a poppet valve engine.

    Things must have worked out OK for the sleeve valve, since they did very well in England during WW2. The Napier Sabre flat H24 being quite a screamer, and the various Bristol radial engines proved that this type of engine could go a long time between overhauls. This engine revs 6300rpm, a poppet mower won't do that.

  • @ChargerMiles007 They did pretty well in the southwest Pacific in Bristol Beaufighters, too. Listening to this motor, you can imagine why the Japanese nicknamed them "Whispering Death."

  • @Jer64ss

    Yes, the Beaufighter was an interesting aircraft, perhaps not the best looking, but very capable!

    They are rebuilding one at the Ottawa Aviation Museum.

  • Do you run pressurized oiling on this engine? I'd think you'd have to to run it at 6,500 RPM, but I could be wrong.

  • @JimPrower

    No. I just use the stock 6 paddled oil splasher, it seems to hold together OK. I don't hold it at the high revs for too long at a time, just a few seconds. The sleeve itself gets more oil than it needs from the splash system.

  • @ChargerMiles007 Okay, fair enough. I only ask because last time I ran a Briggs that fast, the conrod broke at the big end.

  • Wow that sounds awesome. Why not use a bicycle cable and brake lever for a throttle, so you can stand back at the operator handle when revving it up?

  • @yard1sale1dale

    Yes, I could do that, I just have a limited number of working throttle cables. You never quite know what you get from the scrap yard :)

  • just needs a remote control

  • @1MudDobber2

    Yes! That would be sweet, just turn it loose on the yard! :)

  • very fascinating... specially early in the morning

  • lol ya that boiler looks scarry but it has one manual blow off and an automatic rupture plug that rups at 200 the cyl rups at 500 and i run between 15 psi idel and 60 psi is like 150% trotle so i think im with in tolerance i was understandably curiouse cheeck out the heavy mod steam engine its cool but no power

  • whats the point???? =3-

  • @xoxoXoieoxox

    I was interested in sleeve valve engines, I had to do a senior project at university, got this idea approved, and a group of us started designing and machining. It actually started and ran on the very first pull !

    So since I had the engine built and running, I decided to make some vids of it for youtube, to show folks what is possible. Nice job on your Briggs Steam engine, by the way, but your boiler scares the heck out of me!!!! :)

  • All I have to say is Bristol Hercules 14 cyl sleeve valve - good for 2,000Hp backin 1940, with no supercharger

  • @hoppinonabronzeleg

    Yes. notice the cylinder head fins, they are based on the Herc!  :)

  • did you build this yourself ?

  • @coshyno

    I built it as part of a group at university, it was our Senior project. I thought the idea up (converting a lawnmower engine to a sleeve valve), got the idea approved, then a team of us did all the design and fab. We estimated that it took us about 400 hours to build it, of course we were all inexperienced machinists.

  • Sleeve valve type engines subsequently fell from use due to advances in poppet-valve technology and to their tendency to burn a lot of lubricating oil or to seize due to lack of it. That smoke looks like oil to me, I don't see that it would hurt if you ran a premix, like 30:1 and just fill the crank case with 2-cycle oil. That oil is designed to be burnt off anyway. Seems to me these engines may as well be 2-cycle.

  • @UGLandrum

    From what I have read about the sleeve valve aircraft engines, they used about the same amount of lubricating oil as poppet valves did during the same era, such as WW2. As to why they are not used now, I think has just been a choice by engine manufacturures, as a man in England built several in the early 70s that consumed very little oil. Mine uses oil for a few reasons, the sleeve is the wrong material, there is no contracting oil ring on the bottom of the sleeve etc.

  • @UGLandrum

    Advances in materials, tolerances, electronics & oil, means the sleeve valve engine is again feasible. But, the Ecomotors, Bills Gates $, 2-stroke OPOC engine looks likely on the market. Replaces the cyl head with another piston - no poppet valves. Can have an electric clutch to decouple a 2nd engine when low loads -only needs 30hp to push a large car fast down a highway. When decoupled zero drag from 2nd, great for commercials. IC auto engines future is as range extenders in hybrids

  • what made you want to do this?

  • @chevyguy262

    An old family friend mentioned that his father owned a 1920s Willy's Knight double sleeve valve engine. I got looking into the idea, discovered the single sleeve valve, read a lot about engines such as the 24 cylinder Napier Sabre aircraft engine, and decided to see if we could do this conversion as a senior project at university. we got the go ahead, and so about 400 hours of machining later, it started up on the first pull!!!! :)

  • The addition of intake ports and exaust ports makes it wayy more powerful!

  • so its basically a 2-stroker now ?

  • @coolio8444

    No, it is still a 4 stroke. the sleeve is driven at 1/2 crankshaft speed, like a normal camshaft.

    2 stroke sleeve valve engines were built, like the Rolls Royce Crecy V12 aircraft engine, of which 6 were built and tested. I started building one of those, and have a vid here about it, but I need a machine shop, and I got distracted with the Jumo 205 type, and other projects, now I am getting married, so I bet that will REALLY slow down progress on these FrankenBriggs engines! :)

  • @ChargerMiles007 congratulations

    wish u all the best from holland

  • @351ikke

    Hi there, greeting from Canada :)

  • That's right! The old Daimler sleeve valve engined cars would go along the road leaving a light blue haze of oil smoke behind them, even when in new condition. For memory, normal oil consumption was about 1 Imp. gallon per 1000 miles. They were dead reliable, uncannily quiet but quite "aunty" in performance, due to heavy coach building. Thanks for showing your mower engine doing what such an engine does normally - blow smoke!

  • @peteacher52

    Hey Thanks, and I apprecite the info!

    The aircraft engines in WW2 had pretty well solved the oil consumption problem using a type of stainless steel sleeve. That just wasn't an option for me with this engine, guess I will have to SuperCharge it!!! :)

  • @peteacher52

    The old Daimler sleeve valve engined cars were the choice of the UK Royal family pre WW2, because of the smoothness, quietness and reliability. The oil consumption was solved in the aero engines. Mercedes made a sleeve valve engine that never used too much oil. The last car engine was French in 1939, then stopped because of war

  • @NearAbbeyRoad

    Thanks for the info :)

    Yes, it is a pity that the car sleeve valve engines never came back after the war. The only one I have been able to read about was Mike Hewland in the UK, building several single and possible 4 cylinder engines in the 1970s. I actually talked with him on the phone in the 80s, he was very supportive and friendly, he owned Hewland Gearboxes. With his help, and that from many others I was able to achieve the goal of getting this engine running :)

  • whats the benefit of a slide valve engine

    ?

    

  • @pfun41

    This is actually a Sleeve valve. the valve is like a pipe around the piston. In larger engines, like aircraft engines, it offers a larger valve opening area, so the engine could make more power. Plus there are a lot less moving parts. this engine has 5 ports (or valves) using only 1 moving sleeve. a 5 valve poppet type engine would have many parts!

  • @ChargerMiles007 my bad, i meant sleeve. so this sleeve rotates then?

  • @pfun41

    Yes, it rotates about 30 degress, but it also reciprocates up and down at the same time. I will send you a vid of the sleeve moving.

  • And only 1,25 hp more than stock engine?

  • @Topsiekku

    Actualy it would be 1.75 HP more, since an 8cubic inch Briggs was a 3HP. However, this engine did that at only 3000 rpm. I think the ports are too small, not enough duration, and the carb. isn't suited to the engine any more. So the only way is up :)

  • And now its 2 stroke?

  • @Topsiekku

    no, still 4 stroke

  • @Topsiekku

    Sorry, I missed this comment somehow!

    My channel does weird stuff like that, it only shows me about 1 of every 3 comments!

    It is still a 4 stroke engine. Although I am working on a 2 stroke sleeve valve, as a long term project, based on the Rolls Royce Crecy.

  • @ChargerMiles007 thats cool for a 4 stroke but a 2 stroke is pretty much a sleeve valve already. :) unless its gonna end the mixture of gas and oil.

  • @highdeserthater

    The 2 stroke sleeve valve that Rolls Royce built (the Crecy) was quite the Beast, being a supercharged V12.

    Using the sleeve valve lets it be a Uniflow type 2 stroke, and allows more control over the exhaust and inlet timing, than a piston alone allows.

  • @ChargerMiles007 huh! cool cool!! so does it allow for only gas being in the carb or does gas and oil still need be mixed?

  • @highdeserthater

    No, you don't have to mix gas and oil in any of my engines, they all have oil in the crankcase.

  • @ChargerMiles007 hell yeah thats what im talkin about!!! bringing the 2 stroke back on your mind??? its on mine!!! :) WOOT!!!!

  • @highdeserthater

    I am actually thinking of building a poppet valve 2 stroke, like the S2, but using an L head Briggs. I am having a debate if it would even run or not, due to the intake air wanting to head straight out the exhaust valve, instead of scavenging the cylinder. I think a type of fin welded to the head between the 2 valves could help with that problem. Yep, I like 2 strokes also.

  • @ChargerMiles007 You could try direct injection. I read about a kit from a company called "envirofit" but I couldn't find the kit on their website

  • Bet you could mow alot of grass with that thing!

  • @thisismyname1920

    Yes, I used it for that once, it had tons of power! :)

    Lots of bottom end torque from the 9.5:1 compression ratio.

  • @ChargerMiles007 haha thats great!  What size cylinder is that?

  • @thisismyname1920

    It is a stock 3-1/2hp block, so the block bore is 2-9/16"

    However, I am running a 3hp piston, so the effective bore is 2-3/8", so this is an 8cubic inch engine. The stroke is 1-3/4"

  • @ChargerMiles007 ah i see, very nice!

  • Genious !! Make a motorcycle !

  • @canals22

    I will, but first I would have to win a lottary to afford the machine shop equipment! :)

  • my favorite small engine ever.

  • @KrankieV2

    Thanks man!

    It is my favorite also, since a lot of Blood Sweat and Tears went into building this little baby! It took a group of 3 of us about 400 hours to machine it. Then I spend six months dyno tuning and making upgrades. later a friend built a new block and simplified the sleeve drive. It just loves to rev 6400 :)

  • is the upper muffler a fake one? cause nothing is comming out of it

  • @michaelts

    No, both mufflers lead to exhaust ports, the bottom one smokes more, as more oil off the sleeve finds its way into it.

    watch the vids where I take the engine apart, there are indeed 2 exhaust and 3 intake ports operating.

  • That is cool !

  • @1972FordF150

    Thanks :)

    This beast took a group of us about 400 hours to machine! (Of course, we were all beginner machinists, but it was a challenging project!)

    Believe it or not, it started up and ran the first pull (with the help of a little prime down the carb.)

  • @ChargerMiles007 No problem ! and holy crap 400 hours man that's a long time lol

  • @1972FordF150

    Yeah, we are fare from professionals! lol

  • lolz

  • @meri373

    Glad you liked old Sleevie Wonder in action! :)

  • @meri373

    Sorry, I made a typo there!

    We were FAR from professional machinists!

    But we did manage to get the job done, and it did indeed fire up the very first pull! :)

    

  • That is awesome! Very cool design.. I'd love to see your design and model it using Solidworks..

  • @zzzdogutube

    Cool :) That would be great! Unfortunately the CAD files are gone, so I am down to paper sketches, and a couple of drawings, but it could be done!

  • How many rpm do you think the stock 3.5 hp briggs would rev to? I am using one of these on a supermileage car and we have serveral versions, one that is sleeved to about 50cc instead of the stock 148cc. We have rev a stock one to about 4,000, but we were concerned that something would break past that.

  • @MrPizzaman09

    If I recall right, they will rev to about 5300rpm, with no load. Normally they will stay together for a while at that type of revs, as long as the con rod is not a worn out loose one! They are normally pretty hard to blow up. the sleeve vale revs to 6400, so I don't hold it there long! A good flywheel is OK to 7000rpm, with NO cracks in it!!!

  • @ChargerMiles007 Thanks man. I figured that it must of been higher because my supermileage car was driving faster than 4000 rpm ( no tach, just a speedometer ).

  • @ChargerMiles007 I have about 5 or 6 of the engines, and we get a brand new one each year :) So we can do all kinds of testing and experiments.

  • @MrPizzaman09

    You get a new one each year! The old 73 Briggs I show mowing down some Tulips is the one I use all the time to cut my grass, used it today as a matter of fact.

    They are usually about 10 years old before I get my hands on them. Have fun with the tests, that sounds Cool. If you ever try to blow one up, I recommend removing the blade, and using a heavy flywhell off a roto-tiller engine, as it is much safer. Just un-torque the con rod, it will all be over in about 30 seconds!

  • @ChargerMiles007 Our engines come straight from the factory, in a sealed box. I guess they must of been surplus engines. This way, all of the competing teams get the same engine. Tomorrow, I am going to run some dyno tests on a stock engine. I plan on putting an electric supercharger on the intake. :)

  • @MrPizzaman09

    So this is a team event you compete in? Forgive my ignorance, so you are trying to build a "car" for high milage. I would think that you would want high compression for efficiency, and maybe one of those elusive Vaporizor carburators :) Lower rpm will result in less friction I would think. Opening up the exhaust should help also. Run by me again which engine you are using. Later

  • @ChargerMiles007 You are right, we are aiming for high compression, maybe 14:1 b/c we are using isoctane (100). Also we are working on a fuel injection system, and possibly an electric supercharger, but I not sure that will increase the efficiency ( the power for the supercharger does not come from the engine ).

  • @MrPizzaman09

    Sounds like you are almost getting into Diesel territory with that high of compression! I have considered building a Briggs Diesel, but never did anything on it (you just can't do everything!)

    Fuel injection, ever look into a vaporizor type carb, an interesting concept, "Smokey" the Mechanic in Popular Mechanics, I think, tried something like that out, you boil the gas into a vapor, therefore none is waisted, and it burns better. It would be harder to do than EFI though, maybe.

  • Love the color!

  • @AnalogueJosh

    Its "Race Hemi Orange" by Chrysler :)

  • it sounds like a 2 cycle engine, awesome. Do you use any special fuel? I would probably use racing fuel in something like this because of its limited use and racing fuel has no ethanol, i hate ethanol in my fuel

  • amazing like it !

  • @MrSteamdan

    Thanks :)  It was a pain, as well as a rewarding project, at least it runs well :)

  • cool machine you got there

  • Thanks, I like it, it has been a friendly engine, as opposed to a fussy one :)

  • if you can get your hands on say, a second hand genset that has a working generator but a dead engine, I wander how this little unit would cope coupled to the generator unit?

  • It would probably do just fine, although it does leak oil, which the generator might not like! I ran this engine for quite a few hours on a dyno loaded down, granted, it was maybe 1/2 hour at a time. I had to do it that way, as it was indoors, and I was getting complaints, but it didn't seem to overheat or anything, and never tried to seize, and never broke any components, just developed some oil leaks, and intake maifold leaks.

  • for a single cylinder motor, it sounds remarkably smooth, how does it actually compare to the regular unmodified 4-stroke briggs and stratton motors?

  • It shakes a bit more at idle, probably due to the sleeve moving 1" back and forth, as it weighs about a pound. I know there is some vibration, as we had trouble holding the shaft drive Tachometer into the end of the crankshaft to get the full throttle readings. We got approx. the same 6400 rpm reading 3 times, so we knew it was right.

    The engine will idle down fairly slowly, as the vid shows, it must be about 1400 I am guessing, as normal idle is 1750 on a Briggs.

  • would you consider building a twin cylinder version, so that one piston ballances the other?

  • Yes, that is a good idea, that layout works well for a sleeve valve, as it will work with only 1 sleeve drive shaft.

    I have no plans to do that, as this engine took us Rookie machinists about 400 hours to build! I just don't have the time or acess to a machine shop to get into something like that. We built this for a senior project at University, so there was 3 of us machining it. and lots of machine tools :)

  • i take it that the motor was done as some kind of project then?

  • Yes, it was a senior project at university, and took 3 of us 3 extra weeks to finish off the machining in order to get a mark in the class. We got lucky, and it actually started and ran on the first pull of the starter! :)) Later I ran it on a dyno many times.

  • whats it like regards emissions and oil usage?

  • I don't know about emissions, this one uses and leaks some oil, but production engines seem to be similar to a poppet valve for oil consumption. I suspect this engine would run fine on Hydrogen also, as there is no hot exhaust valve.

  • so is it like a 2 stroke?

  • No, it is a 4 stroke.

    The sleeve drive shaft is driven at 1/2 crankshaft speed, just like a regular camshaft.

    Check out my vid with the black plastic sleeve valve model, it shows the sleeve drive shaft.

    Rolls Royce did build 6 V-12 engines that were supercharged 2 stroke sleeve valves, called the Crecy. It was quite the design, direct fuel injection, stratfied charge, even turbo charged, all in the early 1940s. Unfortunately it had a habit of melting pistons, testing ended with WW2 :((

  • @ChargerMiles007

    "Rolls Royce did build 6 V-12 engines that were supercharged 2 stroke sleeve valves, called the Crecy. It was quite the design, direct fuel injection, stratfied charge, even turbo charged, all in the early 1940s. Unfortunately it had a habit of melting pistons, testing ended with WW2 :(("

    It was designed and built IN WW2 to replace the RR Merlin. Jet advances saw that the engine never ran in a plane.

  • I have more engine designs to put onto youtube, such as a piston valve type engine from WW1, and an opposed engine made from 2 engines put together piston to piston, and others.

    I will get them on here as soon as possible. :)

  • i have seen your "turbo"jet walk around, kinda neat that one, and the monosoupape

  • Thanks, glad you found some of them interesting, I started building these things almost 20 years ago, I am glad youtube came along so I could share them easily with people that are interested.

  • @ChargerMiles007

    what was the fate of the lawn mower engine then?

  • Actually, I have kept all of the engines I have built so far, but a few get used different ways more than once. For instance, I built the Monosoupape engine, then modified it into a supercharged 2 stroke, buy using a different camshaft, and adding a piston supercharger. Unfortunately I don't have any video of it running, I will have to put it back together and run it again.

  • i recall you used toolsteel for the sleeve gear on the lawnmower, has that caused any problems like valve seizure, or does she run smooth?

  • @Xantec

    The only problem seems to be wear on the 2 rings in the head, the engine has run probably 30 hours, and I haven't changed them. I know the airplane engines had no problem with that, as I was able to take one apart myself and look at the rings, no wear. No, the sleeve seizing up hasn't been a problem, even with none circular cooling fins on the block, it seems to run smoothly, and I lugged it down on the dyno lots of times back at university.

  • Super interesting! I really want to see what is inside this engine.

  • Check my other vids, I pull the cylinder head off, to show the internals :)

  • Excellent! I've been researching sleeve valve engines for the past couple years. I look forward to more videos of the internals.

  • I will be posting 2 vids with more details tomorrow, I pull the clylinder head off on one vid. I have tons of photocopys about the British aircraft sleeve valves.

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