[Jeroen]

First of all, I don’t name my engines, (or cars for that matter). But when showing this to my wife I was explaining that it was a V8. Originally found in the Good Ol’ US of A and many other (muscle) cars. She told me this was Betty. So there we are, meet Betty the formidable V8 Folks!

Those of you interested in scale model (building) are well served here on TeamBHP. We have several outstanding threads where members show their models. From tanks to cars, to plane and boats and anything in between.

I have started building little engines from metal, all home made on my lathe and mini mill. I recently completed a very simple two Stroke Engine, who was named Debbie by her designer. So now we have a Debbie and a Betty in the family it seems.

I have been looking at these model engine kits for many years. I am not sure how easy they are to procure from India. But here in Europe a well stocked model build shop is likely to have several in stock. The other day an add for a 1:3 scale V8 popped up in my Facebook feed.

It was made by a German company called Franzis and they do quite an interesting range of various engines, have a look:

https://www.louis.eu/katalog/marken/...ts/784/720/601

I was interested in the V8 though, going by the add it featured:

- over 250 parts
- extensive manual
- original V8 sound
- Simulated Spark
- Functional model
- 1:3 scale

Build you own legendary V8 engine and experience what is behind the technology


I do own a real 4.0L, 400BHP, turbo charged V8. Would be great to see what is inside a typical V8!

So I decided to have a go at it. I ordered it, it arrived about a week ago. Last weekend I spend about 5-6 hours in total putting it together. Which is saying something on the level of expertise required.

I used to build a lot of airplane models in my teens. I was pretty good at it too. This model does not require any previous model building skills.

This is what the box looked like:



Opening it up:



It has a very extensive manual. 72 pages. Not only does it describe, in detail with excellent drawing how to build the model, it also has a wealth of other information on the V8.







It has stories about the development of the V8, cars that used the V8 (AC Cobra, BMW M3 and lots of colour photographs to go with it.

All unpacked and ready for assembly:



This is what the real McCoy looks like:



This is what my 1:3 V8 with simulated spark and original V8 sound will look like!



It has some very good material in the manual. Good in the sense that it helps you find parts during the build. But also it provides you with all the appropriate names for all parts! The complete manual is written in German (on the left) and English (on the right). I was happy to see that the manufacturer actually went through the trouble of providing a decent English translation.



Also shows you the real BMW M3 V8 taken to bits in a similar fashion:



So finding the parts is very straight forward. No glueing is required. Just cut the parts of the frames, remove any excess plastic.

First parts made, 8 pistons with their piston pins and connecting rods



Next step is fitting them to the crankshaft, one at the time, each with its own bearing cap.



Done!!





The fit of the various parts is not that great, but it is sufficient for the purpose of this kit. Once assembled it has a small battery driven e-motor so you can see it turn. So all fittings and clearances are very ample. Just so nothing gets stuck.

Here’s the thing with building a V8. You are going to be handling the same parts a lot. There are 8 pistons, 8 connecting rods, 8 inlet valves, 8 outlet valves, 16 valve springs, 16 rockers etc. etc.

It is one of the reason when it comes to metal model building, I prefer a single cilinder engine. So much easier. If you want to see somebody building a real working metal V8 have a look here on my Dutch Modelbuild forum. All in Dutch, just look at the images. The difference between this kind of model building and this kit is huge, of course!

https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/threads/v8-83-cc.276397/

We continue the build by attaching the engine case to the sump. No glue is used on this model. It all clicks together or is held together by tiny screws.



Next the piston and crankshaft assembly is lowered into the cylinderblock



Another way of illustrating the difference between “plastic Betty” and "metal Debbie”

The piston-cylinder clearance of Betty is several millimeters.



The piston-cylinder clearance of Debbie is less than 0,03mm. Less than the accuracy of my lathe. Took many, many, many, many hours of honing the cylinder wall to get that sort of precision.

Already beginning to look like an engine, our Betty is:



Next it was time for the valves to be inserted into the cylinder heads



All the valve springs were provided on these little metal rods. Very convenient and handy. The rods themselves will be used later for the camshafts!



A valves assembly consists of the tappet, the spring and the valve. The exhaust valves are noticeably bigger then the inlet valves.



With 8 outlet valves assemblies and 8 inlet valves assemblies ready in parts you insert them in the respective hole of the cylinder head and use your fingers to squeeze the valve onto the tappet.



Repeat 15 more times:



Here you can see what the inlet and outlet valves look like once mounted



Onto the rocker levers and the rocker shafts.



Each rocker lever assembly fits into its own upper cylinder head. You do need to be careful. Some parts are interchangeable, e.g. pistons. Some parts have left / right orientation and can only be used in one specific location. But all the parts are clearly numbers in the frame and also on the part itself. So when relevant each parts will have an A or B added to it, meaning which side (bank) of the engine it is meant for.





Two cylinder head gaskets are provided. They are not interchangeable either, so make sure you fit the right one to the right cylinder block!!

[Jeroen]

We continue the build; attaching the lower cylinder heads onto the cylinder block. Ensuring everything has the correct orientation. The cylinder head have numbers imprinted on them, 1 to 4 and 5 to 8.



Onto the cam shafts. There are two cam shaft (those metal rods that were also used to hold the valve springs together prior assembly) and there are 16 cams!.

You can see on the drawing that the shaft has a flat side to it, each cam has an unique orientation on the shaft. So each cam (or rather pair) has an unique letter to identify it. And they must be slid on the shaft in a particular order. This will ensure that each valves opens and closes at the correct time.





The camshaft is then positioned into the lower cylinder head and the respective rocker assembly is mounted on top.



Subsequently the rocker lever covers are attached





Here you see the front view of the engine. I have already mounted the crankshaft sprocket and the two camshaft sprockets.



Now for the tricky bit!! On a real engine this is always an important step. You get this wrong, you might ruin the engine on start up!! The camshafts need to positioned correctly, so they run in synch with the rotation of the camshaft and thus the movement of the pistons.

As with many real engines, this one came equipped with a special synchronisation tool:



Piston number 4 needs to be put in the top dead position, then the tool is mounted. you need to turn the camshafts so that the little pins of the sync tool line up with the holes on the camshaft sprockets.



According to the manual:

The easiest way to perform the next step is to hold the engine between your legs with the front side facing upwards

So here you see the engine between my legs, facing upwards in order to install the toothed timing belt.



The manual describes in detail on how to get the timing belt onto the various sprockets and various idler pulleys. Went very smoothly!!





Timing belt cover, waterpump and fan installed, with the pulley in place too!



About the last phase of the build is to install the distributors, one on each bank. Now, the idea is that you just slide them onto the camshafts which are sticking out on the rear of the engine.

This was the first and only problem I had with this build. I found these camshafts were sticking out too much. I had to shorten them a bit in order to correctly install the distributor. Dremel to the rescue!!



You can see I have sawed through with my Dremel about half way. It took me quite a while. The reason, when sawing with a circular saw blade (diamond), it generates a lot of heat. I was afraid the shaft would get so hot, it might start to melt the plastic. So I sawed for only 15 seconds at at time and then let it cool down for a minute or two.

Eventually, the sawing was done and I could mount both distributors.



As with most real distributors, they can actually rotate a bit. Again, the manual has a neat procedure to adjust the ignition timing very similar to how its done on real engines. With the same number 4 piston in top dead centre, rotate the distributor, with the ignition on, until spark 4 lights up!!




On this model the spark plugs are equipped with little lamps. So ze Germans are very apologetic in the manual about having two wires running to each spark plug, instead of just the one!

Finally the little e-motor is mounted on the rear and the clutch cover hides it. Final step is to insert the oil dipstick!!



With the build done, I was left with a few spare parts, notably lots of little screws, the synchronisation tool and two spare valve springs. As with all my spare parts, they go in my spare parts cupboard. All my parts are sorted per car. I decided to add these to the Jaguar shelve as it also has a V8. I hope I don’t mix up the parts!!

[Jeroen]

With the build done, time to admire our work. I put Betty on my work bench and took some more photographs of her, in all her glory!!

Looks really nice I think



Front view, normal there would be a radiator (big one too) in front of the fan of course.



close up of the fan and the waterpump.





The front pulley that drives the waterpump and fan.



Some details on the toothed timing belt



Seen from the rear. I tidied up the wires a bit with some small tie-wraps





Functional oil dip stick (in so much as that you can pull it out!)





Rockers and valves







Distributor details, you can see the cilinder numbering on each wire pair



I have put together a video on Betty. Towards the end you will see and hear her run. Observed the movement of the piston, the valves and the spark plugs igniting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9C2d6WiVvc&t=22s

Let me end with a little bit of a summary/review of this particular model kit:

If you would go searching for this kit on the Internet you would find it priced between Euro 80 - 170 (INR 7000 - 15000). I ordered it via a Dutch company who deals primarily in motor bikes and biking accessoires, but also carried most of the Franzis models. I paid Euro 80 and that was including packaging and delivered at our home within two days of ordering.

When it comes to the finish of the individual parts, don’t expect too much. Your typical little Airfix model is likely to have better parts, better fit. But in all fairness, once everything is fitted together, it is not very noticeable at all.

The kit is very well thought through in in terms of the manual and the building instructions. As I mentioned earlier the manual shows a lot of other stuff related to the technical aspects of the V8 and its motoring history. So all very informative.

Putting this together is a lot simpler that the real deal. At the same time, you do go through a lot of the same steps. With the elaborate manual it can be a real learning experience. As you saw towards the end of the video, the running of the V8 is not as smooth as you might hope. It’s a bit jerky, but it still allows you to observe the movement of the pistons, opening and closing of the valves and the ignition. And if you followed instructions on the synchronisation of the timing belt and the setting of the distributors, it should all happen in the correct sequence too.

Again, it took me no more than 6 hours to build. And I took about hundred photographs during that time too! No special tools or glue required. A good hobby knife and a screwdriver is just about it. The kit does come equipped with a tiny and useless screw driver.

All in all, I enjoyed building this engine. And I might have a go at another one in the not so distant future.

For now I will be concentrating on finding another metal engine to build.

For reference:

- Debbie first run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xIYvYhY77U

- My first steam engine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AOOzyGWwzk

I will be doing an extensive video on Debbie too. Maybe not so much on how she was build, but more on the technical aspects of her design.
You can read all about her full build process here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...page-16-a.html (DIY: Metal model engine building UPDATE: build complete (page 16)!)

Enjoy

Jeroen

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[speedmiester]

Thanks for sharing Jeroen.

Looks like a good start for kids to understand the inner workings of an IC engine.
Will see if this could be shipped to India, a great way to keep my son engaged and away from this tabs and video games.

[batish]

Amazing attention to detail! With the current car prices I guess this is the only V8 I'll be able to afford.

[V.Narayan]

OMG! This is just so cute and so lovable. This kind of toy used to be my dream as a 15 year old. Congratulations. Betty is beautiful. Thank you for sharing all those detailed photos and the video. The credits in the end had me in splits.

[RedTerrano]

Amazing post. That too such a detailed one. Thank you for introducing me to the fun world of scaled workable engines.

Now that you have confirmed the engine works as expected what will you do with it? Will it live on a shelf where you might crank it up once a while? Or do you have plans to put it to some work?

Recently I watched Tucker the man and his dream and I learnt he used a helicopter engine in the car. Perhaps you will give Betty wings and make her fly a mini helicopter. The circle of life would be then complete.

Then you can even put on your best. Arnie voice and tell your wife "Get to the Choppa"

[kondath]

Hi Jeoren,

I have been looking for building Engine specific scale models but have never managed to find the right kit, can you help with some lead on from where this can be ordered/purchased.

Regards

Kailash

[fluidicjoy]

Wow! This was beautiful. I must say I've never seen anything like this before. You have documented this very intricately. Must have been a lot of fun building the engine! I'm definitely gonna find myself one of these.

[v1p3r]

Brilliant thread! The credits at the end of the video deserve a separate Academy Award nomination in themselves.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Now that you have confirmed the engine works as expected what will you do with it? Will it live on a shelf where you might crank it up once a while? Or do you have plans to put it to some work?

It does not work as such, it is driven by a tiny e-motor of 3 penlight AA batteries. So it is not as if it can drive anything. It will sit on a shelve. I have not decided where yet. Maybe I will put it in my garage, maybe my office. We will see.

Originally Posted by kondath

Hi Jeoren,

I have been looking for building Engine specific scale models but have never managed to find the right kit, can you help with some lead on from where this can be ordered/purchased.

I am not sure what will work best from India. But it is available from Amazon.com: (check the link for all kinds of cool kit!)

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=franzis+v...s_ts-doa-p_8_8

you might also come across them on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/p/11034844316

Just one small worth of caution. I understand this particular model was updated/revised not too long ago. Looks like the one on Ebay might be an earlier version.

But apart from this particular kit made by Franzis there are quite a number of different model kits available from at least 3-6 different manufacturers. Just google for (V8) model engine kit

Good luck

Jeroen

[rpads1]

If you are on a budget and a non motorised assembly would do just to understand how things work, one could also try the toys at mi.com site.
I got both the dumper truck and the dune buggy for my son (9+).
As you build it, the dumper truck is good to explain how a differential works, universal joints, steering mechanism, dumper tipping mechanism and how to drive the axle via the drive shaft even with something in between.
The dune buggy, is not that strong a build but, can be used to explain the basic parts of an engine (piston, crankshaft, connecting rod), suspension in addition to the differential workings.

https://www.mi.com/in/toys . If its a first buy, buy the dumper.

[kondath]

Thanks for the details that was helpful.

Regards
Kailash

[PratikPatel]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

It does not work as such, it is driven by a tiny e-motor of 3 penlight AA batteries. So it is not as if it can drive anything. It will sit on a shelve. I have not decided where yet. Maybe I will put it in my garage, maybe my office. We will see.



I am not sure what will work best from India. But it is available from Amazon.com: (check the link for all kinds of cool kit!)

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=franzis+v...s_ts-doa-p_8_8

you might also come across them on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/p/11034844316

Just one small worth of caution. I understand this particular model was updated/revised not too long ago. Looks like the one on Ebay might be an earlier version.

But apart from this particular kit made by Franzis there are quite a number of different model kits available from at least 3-6 different manufacturers. Just google for (V8) model engine kit

Good luck

Jeroen

First of all, thank you for putting up this very interesting thread. You have just given me the perfect idea for my son’s birthday gift. As he is doing his Mechanical Engineering with Automobile, this fits right in like a glove. Scale model builds are amazing and fulfilling as a hobby.

Now, it’s time for me to go bonkers all get the ones available and wait for the other shoe to drop when wife gets the next months credit card statements .