A pair of Bugatti Type 50B engines

[Pete J.]

Stunning Pete.  I love how they turned out & as importantly, the time you took to post pics and the method you went about making them.  I truly appreciate what you did there & my hat is off to you sir!   cheers

Thank you Tim!  You and Randy give me the drive to keep after it.  Much appreciated!

[Pete J.]

Ok, after some massaging, this is what the clips will look like when they are glued in place.  I had to file them with a needle file to final shape and length.  This is a test fit to make sure the holes in the valve covers are properly centers.  It is really a small detail. 

[Codi]

Love em' Pete.  Cool detail that will certainly add to the competed engine.  What's next?   cheers, tim

[Pete J.]

Thanks Tim.  Next is holes for the spark plugs.  The hole is a little over half the depth of the plug with a rounded bottom. I have a ball end end mill to do that.  Then add the various nuts to the head. Next big pieces are the engine end plates with all the fittings for oil.  Then the part that is really a challenge.  The super charger.  The real issue with the super charger is they are on different sides on each engine. 

[Twokidsnosleep]

Stumbled onto this gorgeous bit of machine work......very impressed. You have some serious talent and patience 

You know it is something special when Randy, the master of brass work and detail, is telling you how much this blows him away

 

[Pete J.]

Thanks Scott.  Randy and Tim are still the masters at this.  It is fun to watch them work.  It really ups my game to see how they do what they do.  Two great friends.  I hope to meet them at a show some day.  

[Twokidsnosleep]

Your skills are nothing to sniff at, but I do admire the humility.

If you get a chance, would love to see the milling set up you are using....no rush.

Say, one of those Bugatti planes crashed last summer and killed the pilot I do believe

[Pete J.]

Scott, thanks again.  Yes, back in August, Scotty Wilson was killed on the third flight of a recreation of the Bugatti.  That was the only 100P that ever flew.  The original never got off the ground because of the German invasion of France.  The original is preserved at the Oshkosh Wisconsin EAA museum.  I was lucky enough to have made contact with Scotty before the aircraft was flown.  I has some questions about the original and he was kind enough to not only answer them for me, but he sent me some original drawings of the part I needed to make.  He and I were both pilots in the Air Force at the same time, though we never met.  I was really saddened when he crashed, though I have to say he died doing what he loved.  

[Pete J.]

Hi guys!  Sorry for the update, if you were expecting to see new work.  I have been restoring the original photos to the post.  THANKS PHOTOBUCKET!!  It is really tedious when you have multiple photos with narative between!  I will be right back with more work!

[Scale-Master]

I don't know how I missed this, but wow Pete.  Great work!

[Super28]

All I can say is "Wow"!!! Amazing!

[John Goschke]

Uh.  Wow.   Such beautiful work.  Love seeing such meticulous craftsmanship being employed to depict in miniature a beautiful, meticulously crafted original.

[Pete J.]

I don't know how I missed this, but wow Pete.  Great work!

Mark, thank you.  It means a lot comming from a friend who has done far more machining and scratch building than I have.  

[Pete J.]

John and Terry, thanks for looking in.  This is kind of a long term project and the work doesn't seem to progress very fast. 

 

[DumpyDan]

Um wow, this stuff is amazing

[Pete J.]

Ok, back on the bench again making little bitty parts.  These are the seals that run the length of the valve covers.  They are used where two pieces of sheet metal join on the real car.  The brass strips are .030" wide and the holes are made with #79 wire gauge bits.  The bolts are from RB Motion, and yes, I could make them but as Robert makes such wonderful parts at a reasonable price(well that is a mater of perspective) why would I spend my time making them.  

 

For those who were wondering where i have been for months, here is a photo of my other project.  I have been working with wood for 40 years and still tackle large projects like this built in desk.   

Thanks for looking.

[Randy D]

Great to see an update on this one Pete !!!!!!

The desk looks terrific !!!

Randy

[Codi]

Hey there Pete, nice to see an update.  To be fair though, even though I admire the build in desk (of which I wouldn't ever contemplate making) I really like the engine parts you're doing.  Don't forget to post pics of your "in progress" pics too.  Cheers, Tim

[Pete J.]

Thank you Randy.  It is great to be back at the bench again.  It took a little time to blow the cobwebs out of the brain to get it thinking in terms of machining again.  The one thing I am not fond of with Shereline is that it is .050 per turn and I have to keep track of the turns.  It would be far easier if it was .100 per turn but then it wouldn't be as precise.  Two models you are doing.  They keep me motivated to stretch my limits. 

[Pete J.]

Tim, Thank you.  It is good to be back on the bench.  You and Randy's posts kept me interested though the wood project.  It is quite a stretch for me to see what you do.  Thanks for being here and showing the way! 

 I have two more strips to do so I will shoot the "in progress" part tonight or tomorrow.  As to the desk, it is exactly the same challenges as model building.  You are just working in a different material. The mental gymnastics are the same.  Oh, and bigger tools.  Much bigger tools. 

[Pete J.]

Started work on the superchargers.  This is the second crack at it.  Not good enough yet and I have to make two of them.  Still learning a lot about using a four jaw chuck and rotary table to make the piece and get the grooves evenly spaced.  Back to the bench!

[Mooneyzs]

I just found this build and I am blown away by your skills. I see you are another Tim on here.... Man do you guy have some serious Machining Skills. Love the work you have done and will be following along on this build.

[Pete J.]

Chris, thanks for the complement but frankly, I use Tim and Randy as a resource.  They are way ahead of me, but they are really great at sharing and giving solid advise.  It is just great to even be mentioned in the same sentence with them.  Thanks.

[Codi]

Pete, you've gotta be kidding me.  That's looking very cool already.  When you have it to your satisfaction, be sure to share maybe the setup and steps you performed, I'm always interested in learning something.  So far as machining or modeling abilities go, I just stare at the engine turning you did on the engine already and just drool.  That's why I've been buggin' you to start this thread back up as I know we'll be treated to a whole lot more.   Cheers, Sir!

[Pete J.]

Thanks Tim!  I will do that.  The four jaw is really taking some thinking time to make it work the way I want too.  A lot of time roaming the internet and YouTube.  I am getting closer, but it is going to take some work.