While building our engine thus far we have not followed the instructions exactly as they are written. We have come up with some helpful nuances that could aid others this year, as well as future students, in building their engines. I would like to open up this post as a sort of running dialogue for the new ideas we come up with.
So far we have made some adjustments:
- Instead of worrying about the exact center for the pressure vessel top and displacer top, guesstimate on one. What really matters, and why the instructions seem to call for "exact center" is so the two line up. But if you put a hole in one first and then use that hole to line up your next hole, you have the two lined up for a guaranteed match so as to avoid friction.
- The needles are hard to bend, so JB weld your needle inside the bottom of the displacer top with the eye of the needle underneath but with the whole needle vertical. The width of this is greater than the rest of the needle so it shouldn't puncture through all the way and the JB weld shouldn't break.
- Drilling and welding both the crankshaft support and the pressure vessel to the elbow joint increases the space for a leak and error. If you cut one of the crankshaft supports shorter you can mount it above the elbow joint and then you only have to worry about sealing it to one surface.
Feel free to point out any flaws with these adjustments. I just see this as a running list of ideas that we can bounce off of one another. Let me know your thoughts.
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