P4 pics

[Hasse Wind 46]

So does that mean we are now able to manually adjust the radiator shutters? That would add another dimension to engine temperature management. Nice.

[Olham 164]

It most certainly would my friend!....However, would we toast the end of the War?...No more Flying?...hmmmm

Hmmmm - maybe we should settle our toasting in the middle of no man's land; somewhere in 1917;

with both our fighters too crippled to fly on; and after the toast, we walk back each to our own lines,

while all the trench soldiers can't seem to get their food-holes shut again.

(I know, it's a very romanticised version of the war, but hey - we have all the freedom to do so!)

[Lewie 7]

...and the ignition could only be seen, if you took the spark plug out to gaze through that hole - but then it... ah, forget about that.

 

 

Long ago, I used to own a '62 SAAB 96 sedan with the 36 hp two stoke engine. It had these huge spark plugs that needed to be cleaned at 3000 mile intervals. One way you could tell if they needed to be cleaned was by the way the new ones conducted light from the flame of combustion in the cylinders. It was pretty interesting to pop the hood open and watch the light show from revving up the engine on a dark night. It also was a good way to see which plugs were fouled or really dirty with soot.

[Olham 164]

What? Where did the light of the combustion flame come out? No cylinder head seals???

[Lewie 7]

What? Where did the light of the combustion flame come out? No cylinder head seals???

 

 

No, I'm sorry I should have clarified that the light was coming through the spark plug insulators, which are normally a bit translucent, especially the NGK and Bosch, ( the later were particularly hard to find.)

 

The Bosch were more translucent than the NGK's and I kept a clean set in the glove box for checking out my engine's ignition system.

 

 

As you can see the spark plugs are right on top of the engine and are easy to see.

Edited January 27, 2011 by Lewie

[Hasse Wind 46]

Ah, those engines are so wonderfully simple compared to what we have now. I can do almost nothing to my few years old Opel myself, there are so many computers and electronics and stuff that it's more like something out of Star Trek than a normal car. And all the repairs are ridiculously expensive.

[Lewie 7]

Ah, those engines are so wonderfully simple compared to what we have now. I can do almost nothing to my few years old Opel myself, there are so many computers and electronics and stuff that it's more like something out of Star Trek than a normal car. And all the repairs are ridiculously expensive.

 

Yes they were rugged as hell. as long as you made sure the oil content in the fuel was correct, and set the timing every time you cleaned or changed plugs, they would go forever. But the local police did not like my car on cold mornings, they said I was "fogging for mosquitoes". It did smoke a bit when cold. The SAAB engine was based on the old DKW Schnurle ported two stroke car engine, that the Trabant inherited. Long stroke, lots of low end torque for such a little engine.

 

I own a Volvo 740 now and even it seems complex. I sometimes wish I still had my old SAAB.