47cc displacement, 2,500 work hours, 850 pieces, and 650 screws. That is what Motores Patelo put int constructing this amazing W-32 engine that we think could be the greatest miniature ever built. This film shows the engine “running” on compressed air and it also shows the assembly of the machine and we cannot decide which is more stunning. The thing is so smooth we initially thought that there were no pistons in it because as you’ll see, the guy who built the thing stands four coins up on end atop the engine while it is “running”. They do no budge. A little later in the video you will watch the thing get assembled and it shows him sliding the pistons in an cinching down the tiny screws that secure the rod caps on. This is incredible stuff.
From the gears that turn the cams to the brass cylinder jugs being screwed to the block, it will take your breath away. This isn’t so shocking because of the physical size but it is shocking because of how intricate and downright complex the thing is. This dude could make a V8 in his sleep after doing this one, right? Perhaps our favorite part of the entire thing is the fact that the engine has no valve covers so we get to see the cam followers (of course this thing is OHC!) work and make the little tapping noise as they do. It sounds almost like an old typewriter clacking away and doing its thing. The exhaust pipes are cool and they come up in a stack like formation at the rear of the engine. Ultimately you heat more of the valvetrain than the “exhaust” but it is all there and working.
This guy has incredible skills, patience, and engineering acumen to do this stuff. It is one thing to make the parts, it is another to assemble the engine, but it is on a whole different level to do the design work for all the components and have it come out as tight as a Swiss watch like this W-32 is. Mind. Flipping. Blown.
Amazing craftsmanship, but HUGE let down that it doesn’t actually RUN!!
@Tubbed Pacecar- a while back I met and talked to the man that built a scale Duesenberg car. It did run, but not at slower RPM’s.
when I asked about it, he said that fuel and air do not “scale” very well.. He was not being a smart ass, but I thought that I would pass this info on. Try to imagine a tiny drop of fuel, and then how much more can you break it down?
Hell of a job. I know I couldn’t do it I would be driven crazy and end up throwing a bunch of those tinny tiny parts against the wall.
It is amazing, but the fact that it doesn’t Actually run is VERY disappointing!
Have a look at this though, this is based off a 10.6cc 12:1 aero engine, around 4.5″ long and can spin to around 7000rpm, all under its own power!
This looks to have around the same size cylinder as the W-32 engine…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-SNDErd1IM