I saw something in one of the Car & Driver magazines that gave me a idea. Their was a old hot rod that had 2 engines connected end to end by a driveshaft that connected to a custom front pulley on the other motor and then the standard drivetrain from there back.

I was wondering if this same concept could be used to make a "poor mans" 4 rotor setup? Two full 13b engines connected from flywheel to the front pulley of the other.

I know it wouldn't make the full power that a real 4 rotor block would. But wouldn't it be more reliable because it wouldn't be affected by the oh so famous e-shaft flex?


Anyone have any experience with something similar? Pros? Cons?

 

theres no reason on earth why it wouldn't work.

 

if i'm not mistaken, at least one of the "known" 4 rotor FD's out there did just that. they used some sort of "adapter-thingy" (i can't remember the name it was given) to basically graft a pair of 13Bs together. it shouldn't be too hard to find if you look for it - it may have been in the 20B section.

as for it being a "poor man's 4 rotor", i highly doubt it. it may indeed cost less that having the engine built with a proper shaft, but i'd bet money and blood that it's still not affordable to average do-it-yourselfer.

i won't speak on reliability because i simply don't know, having never had one to play with. however, i'm not sure if there are that many out there to sample and do a true side-by-side comparison with proper 26Bs.

 

Granny's did it by machining a coupler: http://grannys.tripod.com/4rotorcoupling.html

Still not 100% feasible for most people without the skills or tooling required, and certainly not cheap.

 

Definitely makes for a long engine. probably too long for anything but a Dragster. Or a huge transmission tunnel and funky shifter linkage.