Oddly enough I think I do know how a gasket works. The grooves would not suit a solid copper flat sheet head gasket - not all gaskets have rings around the various holes.
I don't have specialist knowledge - but making cams, buckets. followers etc. of nitrided 4140 is as good as any a method. A lot of the odd materials and manufacturing methods used by the car makers is to save money. Although not expensive for "one-offs" etc. - it is expensive if you are making...
Without researching on the internet etc. I seem to remember reading that some cars from the pre-1910 era like some Napiers and Rollers were started like this.
How does this fuel system work? - it doesn't seem to be a common rail type? Like an old diesel injector with a separate cam and piston for each cylinder?
A wise old cam grinder once told that there really was nothing better than nitrided 4140 for the cam and follower. But people do use...
What sort of "fuel pump cam" is this? Why does it need to be so tough? If you are using a roller tappet I don't think you will have much choice of material.
Car companies and research places refer to "strong" and "weak" patent protection. A clearly novel and unique idea or principle is "strong" - anything based on a known principle is the opposite. Clearly an engine that is cam-based and uses pistons etc. can never be absolutely water-tight or...
I am not an expert on engine design but I would imagine that these days very little engine designing is done from first principles. A company would probably rely for the basics on an existing design (their own or a competitor's) and the only really in-depth designing would be done on some new...
The engine in question was on a DC-3/C-47 during the war. The 'plane had a non-operating starter motor on one engine and it was travelling around remote bases for a few weeks. The starting involved 4 or 5 tubes (presumably from aircraft or truck etc.) linked together with the end looped around...
On the subject of odd ways to start a big radial plane engine - it was apparently not unheard of when the starter motor (or battery etc.) was not working to loosely connect a few tyre tubes to the restrained prop - stretch the tubes - then let the prop go. Some planes relied on this starting...
If a conventional diesel engine had an expansion ratio of 20.88:1 (to the point when the exhaust valve opened) it would mean that the geometrical compression/expansion ratio would be about (at a guess) 40:1. You get the same effect with a conventional petrol/ICE engine - if the CR is 9:1 and...
