In the land of "Weird events in the living room": Rotary engine teardown party. I had a blown rotary engine (rear rotor let go) from the parts car, and a bunch of people I know have been expressing curiosity about what a rotary engine actually looks like inside. So...
Around 3 PM, UniqueTII helped me move the engine from the back of my Subaru into my living room. So much fun, carting an engine around with 2 people. It's really not that heavy. We proceeded to rapidly tear it down to the short block... at which point it became really obvious that the flywheel was next. Earlier, much effort had been spent trying to free it. The nut was off, but the flywheel was clinging to the eccentric shaft. Just before heading out to the store to get a small sledgehammer, I decided to search the 'net. A minute or two later, I stuck a crowbar under one side, pried up, and tapped the opposite side a few times. Boing! Flywheel off.
Ripping the engine apart went fairly smoothly from there, though the tension bolts (that hold the whole thing together) were a pain to remove. The rear rotor was, as observed through the exhaust port, badly chewed up. It's actually one of the most damaged housings I've had a chance to see. Most of the time there are just scrapes & such... this one had gouges taken out of it (by the apex seal bit embedded in the rotor). It was quite toast. Maybe a fish tank...
The front rotor & housing are still in good shape. A good idea was suggested... turn the front part of the engine into a see-through rotary engine coffee table. Build a stand, put a motor on it to turn it, and put a glass top over the open side of the housing. Have a slow turning motor (with a button to make it fast), and just a slow turning rotor inside a housing. Great conversation piece, and more practical than the demo rotary engine I was planning (that would just be visible, not functional).
After moving the parts into the garage, and pulling up the tarp, it didn't even make a mess. Very nice.
-=Russ=-
Posted by rgraves at December 19, 2004 11:23 PMNice work :)
Posted by: Matt at December 20, 2004 09:01 AMHere is my challenge to you: make a coffee table, but also combine the engine with parts to a fridge, so that you can use the engine to bring a cooled soda from the fridge below to a convenient place, such as the top of the table. Extra points if you can see most of the moving parts. Ready... GO!
Posted by: Pat at December 20, 2004 08:18 PMMan! You had the rotary tear-down party and I didn't even know about it? I'm furious!
OK. I'm fine now.
It sounds like it was a lot of fun.
Posted by: Tony at December 21, 2004 11:16 AM