DIY Internal Combustion Engine

Product Description

I couldn't feature the time lapse video of a guy constructing this Haynes DIY internal combustion engine because the 225 bpm Looney Tunes music playing throughout his process started giving me heart palpitations after... [Read more]

Features

• Construct a fully working model of a car engine
• Features electric motor with over 100 parts, and illuminating spark plugs
• On/off controller has built-in sound chip that reproduces the sound of an engine starting
• Challenging and fun for the budding mechanic
• For ages 12 and up

Top Reviews

Fun fun fun and a great gift for a mechanical man in your life!
by Hvns2Betse (5 out of 5 stars)
August 8, 2018

I read a TON of the reviews and decided to buy this one as a gift for my husband and my brother (ages 41 and 51). I bought extra stuff like screws and lubes and a file because several reviewers said the parts that it came with weren't top notch and needed a little tweaking to fit correctly. I wanted my husband and brother to enjoy the experience so I went to all that trouble (but didn't need to) and got extra screws and stuff. The reviews said this would take a several days to complete, but (ha ha) my husband and brother completed it in about 2.5 hours! My brother is a professional mechanic, so he has a huge aptitude for this kind of thing. I felt let down that the experience wasn't longer lasting for them, but they assured me they had a blast doing it. AND... I could tell they really enjoyed working on it together. They were laughing and having a great time figuring everything out. My sister-in-law and I just sat in the other room drinking wine and enjoying watching them have so much fun. It's like Lego's for adult men. So, in summary, I would definitely recommend this product "as is" and I don't think you need to go out and buy anything extra to make it work. Everything they needed was in our kit and we are very pleased. I just wish I could find a more complex model to "up" the challenge next time! Thanks so much for a great product and experience!
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Timing is a nightmare
by Robert R. Gardner (2 out of 5 stars)
November 24, 2018

I had previous written a 5 star review for this product, until I now have learned better, after working it for a while. It is fun and easy to put together, that much I'll say. I had seen somewhere (can't find it in the instructions), not to use lubricants, so I did not. I later ordered the 4 cylinder model and it suggests vegetable oil lubricant. Anyway, the V-8 constantly had slippage on the timing belt, so I dismantled the whole thing (easy enough) and used small amount of vegetable oil to lubricant all parts. Why? The timing belt kept slipping and thought maybe easier movements would improve the situation. It did not. Finally added a larger home-made pulley to assure contact with the belt at all times. That did work, but still slips at the fan, although that does not affect the timing. Put a little clip on the fan belt to reduce this effect and does help, some. Didn't know what a problem this was until I ordered and built the 4-cylinder engine. It works like a charm and never gets out of timing and belts are fine. If I hadn't seen how hassle-free the 4 cylinder model was, I never would have known what a hassle the V-8 is. Point is....if you are undecided, get the 4 cylinder model. Maybe not as "exciting" as the V-8, but sure does work better, and is much easier to see the sparks, the valves and just how an internal combustion engine does work and it is just as fun. I tried to contact Haynes and got a voice message and never got a return call. Haynes is in the manual business for real engines and I think may not care too much about mundane models. Anyway, bottom line, get the 4-cylinder model.
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Decent
by Ahren C. Reinhardt (3 out of 5 stars)
December 31, 2014

The engine is awesome. Tons of moving and intricate parts to assemble. Probably the most detailed model engine that I have seen. The issue is in both the quality of plastic a well as the instructions. Some of the steps were missing. I have lots of experience building engines so it was a breeze for me but I bought this for my son to assemble and would have rather had him be able to do it all on his own. The steps for the ignition timing say to mount the distributor with the wires facing up after you reach top dead center at the #4 cylinder. The object is to base your ignition spark to hit just a split second before top dead center as in a real engine. The problem is, when assembled like that, there is no way to adjust to do it. No matter how far left or right you turn the distributor, it only fires near bottom dead center. I had to remove the distributor and flip it over to where the wires faced down. After a slight adjustment, the timing was perfect. Initially having timing off that much in a real engine would cause the engine to backfire through the intake. Not a good lesson to teach. I also have a stuck valve because the plastic mounting plate is warped. Even more crazy is this company makes some of the best auto repair manuals in the world so I expected top-notch instructions. The plastic that they use is pretty cheap and warped. The manifolds fall off easily. I would still buy it again but just be aware of some of those things.
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The model went together beautifully. One little hitch with a tight piston and ...
by Tim Williams (5 out of 5 stars)
October 30, 2017

I don't usually write reviews but I read them before I purchased this item and found them somewhat mixed so I was compelled to write. My 8 year old grandson and I assembled this over a 2 day period. We took our time, had a file close by and made sure all plastic nubs were removed before we attempted to assemble each section. The model went together beautifully. One little hitch with a tight piston and one hitch with the valve springs that was our fault (with a little help from the instructions not being real clear), but it went together nicely and runs great with the push of a button. My grandson can't wait to take it to "show and tell" at school. No missing parts. Just have to take your time and enjoy the build.
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Great model, but broken electronics.
by citygirl (4 out of 5 stars)
September 3, 2017

Great model. All the parts were included, and the instructions were clear. Having a clear engine block and clear heads allows for you to see all the moving parts. However, the electronic control to send electricity to the motor to spin the crankshaft did not work. It was BROKEN. When the button was pressed, the speaker would make noise, and that was it. Had to take apart the electronics, test each connection, and then custom solder a wire and switch (which is pictured), to allow the electric motor to run.
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Good for visuals but does have some fitting problems
by ELM (3 out of 5 stars)
March 17, 2017

It's a relatively simple model but it does have some fitting issues especially where the cylinders were involved. The see through block and electrical motor moving the parts in real time was great for visualization but cylinder fitting issues did not allow for completely smooth movements and so the engine would skip where a cylinder would get stuck and unstuck.

However, even with that it was a great visualization for how the engine internals work. Obviously it's simplified with only the major parts being given attention and if you had enough time and sandpaper you could smooth the cylinders out but this really is only a day or two project and probably doesn't merit the work.
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Didn't work as advertized.
by MDS Patient (1 out of 5 stars)
August 31, 2016

I am recovering from cancer and bought this model to have something to do. I wanted to use it when it was complete to teach my grandkids about internal combustion engines. I decided to be very meticulous about assembling it and would do one page of instructions a day. This would stretch out the time it took me to assemble the model and give me plenty of time to be very careful about following the instructions.

I was disappointed in the kit and would not recommend it. For one thing the instruction manual does not match the model. It references (page 24) a red button on the battery box. The model does not have a battery box - the batteries are inside the base of the model and there is no red button. Secondly, when trying to adjust the timing as described on page 24, the bulb which represent the #4 spark plug does not light up consistently when the # 4 cylinder is at top dead center (TDC) and the timing mechanism is adjusted. If any of the bulbs do light up, they are so faint that you would never be able to see them once they have been inserted into the appropriate cylinder head. The screw hole in the crankshaft that is used to mount the crankshaft pulley was too big to use the supplied screw. I had to find a slightly larger screw to use to secure the pulley to the crankshaft.

Again I would not recommend the kit to someone who wants to use it as a teaching tool.

UPDATE:

After I discovered the timing mechanism didn't work correctly I decided to continue building the model and just live with the fact that the spark plug light would not work correctly. When I mounted the motor (that turns the crankshaft) I discovered it did not work either. I replaced the switch with a momentary Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) and wired the battery to the motor and the timing mechanism. The motor now runs and the spark plug lights illuminate at the correct time. The only thing that is not functional is the starting sound the model is supposed to make when you press the original button.

I think it is obvious the quality control is lacking. I am even more emphatically recommending this kit not be purchased.
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Pick-A-Part(s)
by Paul M. Britz (3 out of 5 stars)
February 17, 2016

I bought this model for a display that I'm going to use in an ICE class that I'm teaching at work. It took about four-hours to build and wasn't bad to build, however, the screws that secure the rocker cover to the upper head busted-out the bosses that they screw down into, all the other screws went in fine fine. One of my colleagues came into my office and picked-up the engine by the rocker cover and the remaining two screws and bosses broke. I'd like to get a new lower head and drill the bosses out some and try to fix it, but I don't know how big of a hassle it would be. Also, when I installed the lower crank pulley it pressed against the timing belt cover and locked-up the model. After removing the lower pulley a couple of times trying to fix this problem the screw stripped the crankshaft boss, so now I need to find a shim and a longer screw to fix that problem; at this time the engine has only the timing cover on it, no water pump, fan, etc.. And speaking of locked-up, the distributor's rotation was so tight the little motor and the flywheel would start to jump. I took the switch apart and filed down the switch's input shaft and lubricated it with vegetable oil and it's good now. Everyone that has played with the model thinks it's cool and I do too, but it's a plastic model that costs less then fifty-bucks, so buyer beware. All in all it will do what I wanted it to do, it'll just be missing a few parts.
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It's a lemon. Directions are poor, and electric motor doesn't work.
by Amazon Customer (2 out of 5 stars)
May 5, 2019

The model went together pretty well despite the spotty instruction manual. The manual itself is inconsistent - it uses illustrations for some steps, and not for others where it'd be just as helpful. It uses metric measurements for some items on one page and then imperial measurements for the same item on another page. It references parts by names sometimes, and by part number at others, again confusing or unhelpful.

Despite this, my nine year old son soldiered through and with a little help here and there figured it out, as well as identified a misstep (again not prevented by bad directions) and fixed it.

But in the end, the worst part is that the electric motor and the "distributor" that are supposed to demonstrate the engine's motion and spark plug timing don't work. So when you press the power button (red according to the manual, black in the actual kit), it makes a fake engine sound, but doesn't power the motor or the distributor. So the electronics weren't made right at the factory.
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Needs knowledge of engines to assemble
by Geoffrey Tanner (3 out of 5 stars)
July 2, 2019

I bought this product for my 16 year old grandson to teach him about car engines. Reading through the instructions there are many important points not mentioned.

It mentions to turn the distributor until the number 4 spark plug lights then lock the distributor in that position.

But where is the crankshaft, number 4 piston and the valves at this point?

Not mentioned is that number 4 piston should be at the top in its compression stroke and both valves be closed.

Only then should that number 4 plug light.....

For the record, this kit was supplied by Amazon with no protective outer box and postal labels stuck all over the box. Not a nice image as a present and risking the thin cardboard box splitting and losing contents.

One star for that!

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