Here's one for the curious minds out there.
The mad mechanics from the Russia-based Youtube channel Garage 54 are at it again with their mechanical shenanigans. This time around, they have attempted to make a transparent engine block.
Last year, the Garage 54 guys experimented with a transparent plastic cylinder head. Getting to see the inner workings of a combustion engine as it works was awesome.
From the video above, we can see that the transparent engine block was based on an inline-4 engine used by the Lada brand of cars. They formed the block out of resin using silicone molds and polished it as best they could to flatten its deck.
The transparent block was then mated to a resin oil pan. However, its head and other components were made out of regular steel. The same goes for its pistons, though these came with rubber O-rings as steel ones would've scratched up the resin cylinders. It is also noticeable from the video that they didn't use a head gasket.
After installing a proper starter motor and flywheel (following a failed first attempt without them), the engine worked. They managed to get the see-through engine to engage its first power stroke... only for it to immediately disintegrate in a spectacular fashion.
According to the host, the failure could be attributed to a number of factors. For one thing, they might have used too much starter fluid. He also pointed out that they might have failed to detect gas vapor accumulation inside the block, and there's also the engine's lack of a head gasket.
Meanwhile, the video's commenters pointed out that the explosion started from the exact same crack that popped up during the drill-start attempt. The Garage 54 team failed to notice the crack the first time around.
Vlad himself said that the project is only "60 percent successful." We're inclined to agree since it managed to start after all.
But what do you think? Would this have worked better with thicker material, a lower compression, and a head gasket perhaps? Maybe even base it on a smaller three-cylinder engine like the one on a Mitsubishi Mirage?
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