Does anyone else like cutaways?

[KeithB]

One of the things I've always been fascinated with is cutaways. I can remember as a child going to the library and checking out various gun books that had pictures of cutaway Lugers, Winchesters, etc. Nowadays you can see how parts interact and function via computer simulations but in an earlier day cutaways were used as teaching and sales tools.

Is anyone else as fascinated with cutaways as I am? Any thoughts, musings, or memories you care to share?

 

[Brad]

Not just cutaways but any way of showing how a mechanism functions. To me seeing how all those parts interact to make a machine work is fascinating.

 

[Ian]

Two cutaways that have forever fascinated me are one of a Rolls Royce Merlin V-12, and of an R-3350, both with the edges painted various colors to indicate systems.

 

[smokeywolf]

Two cutaways that have forever fascinated me are one of a Rolls Royce Merlin V-12, and of an R-3350, both with the edges painted various colors to indicate systems.

Ah, the engine that made the North American Mustang a success and the power plant (R-3350) that made the B-29, Lockheed P2V and a few other aircraft fly.

Always like playing with cutaway views in AutoCAD.

 

[fiver]

oh yeah.

I remember seeing a cutaway of a ford flathead engine years back.

 

[freebullet]

Yes, I've always enjoyed cutaways. Exploded view parts diagrams get me too.

When I was still a lil tike we found an ancient old timer race engine builder. My father coaxed him into stopping by. The fellow lived out of the back of an old f150 because he "liked to live wherever the fish were biting". That old fella taught me a great deal about rebuilding flathead Ford's. He even left some original old school books from his racing days. At the time we were building some 8ba flatheads to run triple dueces on in the old man's 51' convertible.

Every time I tune multi carb engines(just my outboard these days) I think of him.

Sad to think such will be a lost art someday.

 

[KHornet]

It is truly sad Bruce, when old knowledge is lost due to the advancement of Technology.

Paul

 

[Brad]

It is truly sad Bruce, when old knowledge is lost due to the advancement of Technology.

Paul

Only so much room in the old noggin.

 

[Pistolero]

Ian,
We have the Super Constellation here in KC, and in their museum they have a cutaway of a turbo-compound
Wright 3350. Wow! Three exhaust turbines putting shaft horsepower back into the crank, supercharged monster.
It was the highest BSFC spark ignition engine every made, IIRC. Very interesting to see all
the internals, supercharger, turbos, gearboxes, huge carb, crank, valve train and wild
ring cams of a radial.

Yes, cutaways are cool. I have some cutaway reloading dies, have used them in a class on reloading I taught
once.

Bill

 

[Pistolero]

Freebullet - "someday"? Lotta stuff about gone right now.

How many people can rebuild any carb, even a lawn mower, let along synchronize
multicarb setups. I used to synch the carbs for my brother's XKE, triple SUs. Too many Americans were
afraid of SU carbs. Really, once you understand them, simple as a wedge. Setting up multi carbs can take
a Unisyn (one in my toolbox) or you can do triple SUs by eye, checking the piston levels.

How many know to check the oil level in an SU carb?

How many can pour and scrape babbit engine bearings - I have done it. Or hand grind an out of round crankshaft
with a babbit lap? That, too. I was pretty darned poor once, learned to fix a whole lot of old junk stuff because it
was what I had. And I did work on flatheads, too. My brother got a box of flathead racing parts in '67 and we
put it in an old Ford. Offy aluminum heads, Edelbrock triple duce manifold, Isky high lift cam, and headers.
Yahoo! We never did get the brakes working right on that old beast. But that engine ran great.

 

[smokeywolf]

Edelbrock triple duce manifold

The '50s and '60s were good for muscle cars. In the early '60s Dad bought my mother a used, '58 Buick Roadmaster 78. It was a COPO car, ordered by some bank president. Had a 430 big block with a special order intake that accommodated four 2 barrel carbs. Had every other option known to man kind too. Got 7 miles to gallon when Dad drove it. 6 miles to the gallon when Mom drove it.
My friend's mother had a mid '60s Chrysler station wagon with a big block and a "6 pack" in it.

 

[462]

Ah, yes, SU carburetors and Uni-Syns.

SU made quite a variety of needles, depending on the application, and each had a passel of specific diameters along its length, not just what appeared to be a gentle taper. I topped up the dampers with 30-weight oil.

I owned four cars that had side draft carburetors, two with SU and two with Hitachi knock-offs. I bought a year-old '68 Midget when I got back from Viet Nam. A lady driving a T-bird killed it. Later, I bought a '71 Midget, installed shortened front coil springs and lowering blocks for the rear ellipticals, and did the occasional auto-cross. After the MG's, it was a '70 240 Z and a bastard 260 Z that was as much a 240 as it was a 260, and both were auto-crossed. Never had the money to go fast in a straight line, just enough to corner fast.

Tuning six dual-throat, down-draft Webers has to be a real talent.

 

[Reed]

Freebullet - "someday"? Lotta stuff about gone right now.
... Setting up multi carbs can take a Unisyn (one in my toolbox) ...

Yup, still have my Unisyn left over from my young and free Porsche days. Have no clue what I'll ever do with it, other than evoke memories.

 

[Intheshop]

I've done technical drawing/photo realism cutaways of a few race cars and bikes.It's OK money.Got to really buckle down to keep the process going.Portrait work is a lot easier.Been years since messing with it.Nowadays,it's either old scool drafting machine "prints" or conceptual art for our millwork stuff.

Gone toe to toe arguing with cad jockeys about processing....I gave up.For 90% of customers,they'll accept computer generated "art".But to really savy clients,where money isn't the driver,the conceptual,hand done art is mucho appreciated.

We (family) just got back from a big traditional bow shoot.The "oldest" made a side trip to deliver 3 of his paintings (pro art,$$$).

 

[Pistolero]

Still have a book with the dimensions of all the needles SU used to make. Need to fatten up that
mixture in the midrange.....look at your needle and then in the book, find one the same above and
below where you need more and get the needle with a big smaller diam where you need more
fuel. Never actually needed it, though. All the SU cars I worked on - MGB, Volvo B18, and XKE
had stock motors and stock needles worked perfectly well.

 

[popper]

A60 block was fun to work on. Johnson/evinrude used a vibrator to set the carbs. SU are easy to work on, weber - not so much. At least they don't have the leaky power valve of the US 60/70 carbs. That narrow V of buick didn't run too well but used motors were cheap so you saw a lot of them at the dirt tracks. I think they reved faster than the 45 deg. of the chevy. Capri used the narrow too but just to get it under the hood. Super Constellation here in KC Where is that museum? IIRC I saw the cutaway someplace, just don't remember. I did see the first 707 takeoff from Municipal & first Connie too. The recovered cargo ship museum is neat too. Might be passing through KC again in the fall.

 

[Pistolero]

Downtown KC airport, but I haven't checked to see if it is still open. They struggle financially, but
I hope they are still flying. Online check should tell.

Bill