QuestionQUESTION: Hello there, I have a neat idea for a new engine and I want to know do you know where I can get blueprints and engineering draws of car engines? I would like to design my car engine,transmission and suspension the same way todays engineers do it but I dont know how they do it or do they use computer. Where can I look to find engineering blueprints, drawings concerning car parts and engines?
ANSWER: That's a big job. You'll need to learn the details of internal combustion design, or whatever type of engine you are anticipating. Suspension is simple; Len Terry wrote a wonderful book that pretty much covers the whole subject. A gearbox is a gearbox, you get that in basic 2nd year mechanical engineering. The biggest issue is metallurgy: selecting, casting, and machining all the bits. It is not unusual for someone like GM to spend $50,000,000 on a new engine design. So, basically, you're looking at a minimum of a degree in mechanical engineering. Designing a new and never-before-used design will require a doctorate and at least ten years experience working in the industry. All design drafting today is done on computers, which is nice because you can do a lot of the testing on the virtual engine before you start cutting metal.
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QUESTION: Thanks! However I do have two years of automotive technology training under belt although I am not ASE certified but I have done some engine and transmission rebuilding work. I have been to ITT Technical Institute and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale to learn how to use a computer under that application. I have attended the nations best Lincoln Electric welding school where I learned a little metallurgy and graduated from the Cleveland Industrial Training Center where I was certified to operate a CNC lathe, turning and milling precision machines, all of this was years ago but for this project I can get a refresher.
I do believe you when you say that this is a big job, no doubt! The engine I plan to design will be an unique design unlike anything else, basically the same concept, same mechanical make but different. Now can you tell me the name of the book by Len Terry? Do you know what software program engineers use for design and virtual engine testing? When designing anything I like to draw it by hand first, since they use computer to draw today, can you tell me where I can find a hand drawn or printed out blueprint of an engine?
ANSWER: I don't remember the name of Len Terry's book, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find on Amazon. I don't know much about CAD/CAM software, but it shouldn't be hard to find. My technical background is from the '70s, so I wouldn't be much help with the computer. There are a lot of very peculiar engine designs out there. Some look silly and work great, such as a sleeve-valve engine. Some make a lot of sense, like the Stirling, but never really caught on. I don't know of any books covering all these types, but someone ought to write one.
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QUESTION: The cars of the 70's,what material was used for the cars body, frame and bumpers?Is it the same for the cars of the 60's and 50's?
Answer Everything on almost all cars is made from sheet steel. The exception would be plastic bumpers (any bumper painted the same color as the body). Some european cars will have doors or hoods made from aluminum (land rovers, and Jags from the new century, will have bodies made entirely from aluminum).
