First Run of Lou Chenot's 1/6 scale Duesenberg engine

Louis Chenot of Carl Junction, Missouri has been working on a spectacular model of a Duesenberg automobile for a number of years. His goal was always to have everything function on the model car including the engine. That has finally been achieved. The first run on March 15th was accomplished using propane for fuel and a model airplane carburetor. Now that ignition is confirmed to be working, Lou is changing back to a scale carburetor and gas for fuel to see if it will run that way too, but just getting a 1/6 scale straight eight with 4 valves per cylinder to run at all on any fuel is quite an accomplishment. All of us in the model engine community congratulate Lou Chenot on this great achievement in model engineering. Watch, listen and enjoy--you won't see another engine like this. To learn more about Lou and the model car, visit Lou's page in the On-line Museum of Craftsmanship at www.CraftsmanshipMuseum.com/Chenot.htm.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Duesenberg
• model engine
• model engineering

[Mechknight73]

There is only one other car I've ever seen with this much detail, ad it was of a classic Ferrari race car. He pointed out that if you could get a driver tiny enough, i.e. 1/8 scale, it could be driven like a real car. Everything on it worked like a real one. This car is in exactly the same league

[craiglibuse]

@Mechknight73 Pierre Scerri's Ferrari is another masterpiece that took 15 years to complete. Keep in mind, though, that Lou's Duesenberg was done at 1/6 scale and Pierre's Ferrari was built in a relatively large 1/3 scale, not 1/8 scale. The smaller you go, the harder it gets. Like Lou, Pierre is also one of the Joe Martin Foundation's Metalworking Craftsmen of the Year award winners. You can see more about Pierre and the Ferrari at the Craftsmanship Museum's web site.

[Seattlecarnut]

I couldn't believe it when I first heard about this. I remember thinking "bullshit! A miniature engine running?" But after watching this video, I'm amazed! Sweet! I'd love to see the engine in the car running.

[craiglibuse]

@Seattlecarnut Video of the last run of the engine before it is reinstalled in the car has also been posted to YouTube. Lou has proven his point about the engine, running it over 400 times (without coolant) for spectators in the past year and a half. That is amazing durability for such a small, complicated engine. Once back in the car it would be too hard to maintain and keep clean, so it probably won't be run again. However, we at least have these videos to show it can be done.

[Seattlecarnut]

@craiglibuse Incredible would be putting it mildly. I can't imagine an engine being able to run without coolant. Still, it's fun to see whether something like that is possible.

[craiglibuse]

@Seattlecarnut The crankcase oil will absorb some of the heat generated, and when the head started to feel hot Lou would shut it down. It would take a minute or two to heat up, which is plenty long for a demo.

[craiglibuse]

@jukebox750c The song is "Blackie's Other Boogie" by Blues Bar-BQ. I play piano for that band and the song is just me and the drummer, Jojo Hughes. I used it because we own the copyright to our own music and I didn't have to worry about infringement. You can find more by searching Google for "BluesBarBQ". There are 12 free MP3 songs from our 3 CD's posted on our site if you like blues.

[lykelec1]

In a word...genius!

[charger19691]

You deserve some kind of award for this incredible work and engineering. Beautiful craftsmanship! Incredible!

[GRUHN21]

unbelievable. you, sir, are a true craftsman.

[Emporator]

Brilliant!