The Mad Scientist Crossflow

[ando76 4,354]

 

the only way to truly know your chamber volume.

[ando76 4,354]

That is about all I have for today.  I have been flat out on the panel side of the shop ute but I am aiming to get the short motor together on Saturday. 

 

Does anyone want to see a shot of the sump I will be using?

[slydog 7,873]

Like you need to ask

[ando76 4,354]

OK - I'll take a picture tomorrow. 

[Ando81 2,949]

Loving this build mate. I was thinking of going for a 4lt conversion for my ute but have a soft spot for crossies. Wish I lived closer to you mate, I'd just stand around in your workshop dribbling all over the floor.

[ando76 4,354]

Then these might push you over the edge;

 

 

and

 

 

and

 

 

if that doesn't do it for you - My two miss Aprils will. Man I am having trouble concentrating at the bench this month.

 

[wagoon 2,429]

Wish I lived closer to you mate, I'd just stand around in your workshop dribbling all over the floor.

+1

[Ando81 2,949]

Dude..... Those last 4 pics have all of the curves in the right places

[Lord_fahrquhar 2,580]

Thats a lot of flammable materials close together.

[ando76 4,354]

yeah mate I keep them all together in the back 50 sq. metres of the shed.  I weld cut and grind in the first 50sp. metres of the shed.  way way away from the bench.

 

Oh and there is 400litres of methanol just off to the left of those bottles.  Oh and a 3kg extinguisher...

[Lord_fahrquhar 2,580]

Nice work.  I thought the posters would cause more heat to be built up in certain spots.

[ando76 4,354]

Well finally with all the stuffing around with the .030 block we have a short motor coming along

 

 

 

The crank spins nice and freely and I have nice loose clearances. 2thou on the mains and 1.5 and 1.7 on the 2 big ends I have installed. Should be able to give this a good rev straight up.

 

 

Roughly CC'd up the pistons and they are 8.5cc units. Re-checked the deck height with these pistons and I have .031. All this is important as it is very easy to get compression into these motors. As is sits with these measurements and the D head I am at 11.06:1. A little bit too high.

 

So the plan is to do a bit of relieving of the chamber on the D head so that I can get the comp back down around the 10.6ish region. The cam is pretty decent but I still would like the comp bellow 11 so that I can get some timing into it. Side benefit of this is I will probably pick up a bit more flow from the head with the re-shape of the chamber.

 

Where is that die grinder.....

[Outback Jack 6,352]

Nice work Ando, on the calenders and the Mad Crossy. haha

I bet you here that crossy revving in ya sleep.................

 

Jack.

[ando76 4,354]

Yeah mate - lots of work to do before then but I think it will be very interesting.  should make some numbers as well

[Valvebouncer 2,389]

Nice build Ando!

I can't wait to see this thing fire up!

[gerg 10,871]

After much talk and conjecture on here on how to build a crossy, it's nice to finally see someone actually screwing bits together to make a real one. Nice one Ando

[slydog 7,873]

Is refreshing to see a doer not a talker though today he had other things on his mind.

[ando76 4,354]

Yep family time. 

 

Thanks for the kind words men.  This crossy will be number 4 in my crossy family.  I have the burnout car (old flat tappet speedway motor), the plan B speedway flat tappet 2 barrel meth motor - currently on loan to Brenton,  THOR the roller cam (gee I must get that one pieced together) and now the Mad scientist. 

 

Do I have a crossy addiction - YES!!!  Oh and that's not including the customer engines and engine parts I've done.  I really should move on but I just love them so much.

 

Like last night at 9.30pm when I got on top of a couple of carb issues on the burnout ute and I did a test skid in front of work.  My tenant in my other shed was there.  He is a massive Holden fan and he was looking at the ute when I was fixing it.  He was a bit impressed when I started it and when I did the 1st,2nd, 3rd static test skid his jaw dropped.  He just stood there, mouth wide open.  Bloody classic.  he said "look at the smoke - its just compound smoke - so thick",  then just back to stunned silence. 

 

Gotta love the underdog engine.  Anyway back on track.  Here is the sump I am going to use on the mad scientist engine.  It is not one of my own designs and could be a lot better - BUT it came with the carton of beer motor so it's getting used.  I has increased capacity and a basic crank scraper and half a tray so it will do for the shop ute.  Anyway here it is - apologies for the crap photo -

 

[ando76 4,354]

Burnout comp. got postponed due to rain.  Bit of a bummer but gave me some unexpected time, so off to the shed I went for a bit of work on the Mad Scientist Crossflow (MSC).  Got the cam dialled in;

 

 

DOT to DOT the cam was 4 degrees advanced. This highlights to me the need to dial each and every camshaft in. It allows you to know exactly where the camshaft is and then make a decision as to where you want to run the cam. The cam notes from CROW show that this camshaft should make power between 2600 &5500. So at DOT to DOT, this would have shifted the power range down to approximately 2200-5100.

 

Now if that is what you wanted, DOT to DOT would be cool, but if you bought the camshaft to run in the 2600-5500 zone it would not be ideal. I decided that I would not mind the power coming on a bit earlier than 2600 so I installed the cam with 2 degrees advance. This meant putting the bottom gear at the 2 degrees retarded position to achieve that.

 

After that it was just a matter of pulling the camshaft out and giving the lobes a good coat of assembly lube, slip it back in and Loctite the thrust plate and camshaft retaining bolts. I've always done this cause I have seen them come loose. Mainly on engines that run straight cut gears but also on others. Also checked cam chain deflection as the cam gear and chain I am using did a season on the race car.

 

 

If you look closely you can see the white dot between the two gears. turn the engine clockwise so that the left side chain goes tight. measure the distance between the dot and the chain and write it down. Now turn the engine anti clockwise about half a turn to release the tension on the left side of the chain. Now grab the chain on the left side and pull it out towards the DOT. Measure the distance and write down the measurement. subtract that from your first measurement and that is you cam chain deflection. 13mm is limit. This chain was at 6mm so I should be good for a while in this motor.

 

Cleaned up the rest of the pistons, fitted the new rings and then slipped them into bed. Checked all the big end clearances and they are all fine at around the 1.5-2 thou region. perfect for a rev.

 

 

 

I will do an oil pump for the MSC this week and clean up a timing chain cover so that I can zip up the bottom end.

 

I re-did the deck height with the aid of the dial indicator and actual deck height is .038 so comp is down to 10.8. I'll still take a fraction out of the chamber, just because. Should be all together this time next week. I will say that the camshaft showed signs of wear (down on peak lift) but to hell with it - I'm using it because I have it and I'm sick of it lying around.

[deankxf 20,286]

very informative.

I'm enjoying watching this come together

[ando76 4,354]

Thanks mate - keeps me motivated knowing that people are reading the thread. 

 

I'm enjoying this build.  Mainly because it is re-using parts that were just cluttering up the bench.  This engine will not be a world beater but should be good fun.  With all fresh bearings, rings etc etc. it should last for awhile as well. 

 

Just need to get the body work finished so that I can put the MSC in its new home. 

[wagoon 2,429]

Haha I only just realised this would suit my wagon down to the ground, purely cause this engine is really just a slapper engine with no money spent on it.Apart from man hours put in how much have you spent on parts you didnt have to bolt this engine together?

Love the "cam is down on lift but dont care as its in my way" approach.

[ando76 4,354]

Block $20 used very dirty short motor. 

Bearings $110 delivered

Rings $65 from memory - bought them a long time ago

Head gasket $35

Lifters $100 brand new old stock lying around mates workshop from a customer that didn't pick them up.

 

Probably $100 on consumables. 

 

Not much really.  But I am fortunate to have a pile of good x-flow parts lying around. 

[blu xe 825]

You look like you been busy. Really need to call round to your work and say hello one of these days. 

[ando76 4,354]

Your welcome anytime mate.