VERY RARE 1930's Miller V-16 Engine fired today, PICTURES!!!

Do they still have the original carbs?

 

damn it was three years ago when they first had those motors up on that dyno... I still have the pics...

that place rocks... so much cool shit going on its crazy, and the guys that work and run the place are as nice as can be.

josh if you get a chance email me.

Thom

 

Awesome. Thanks for the treat.

 

Very cool thanks

 

I want to hear that engine run in person,I supose you get that feeling in your gut when its running,like a drag car engine.

 

I will tonight thom..

The engine you saw a while back was the first one. It was fired, tested and shipped back to the boat restorers.. I was out of town when they fired that one.

Zakiras MAKES the downdraft Miller carbs in house!!

 

Wow! What a great engine. It is a thing of beauty. Can't wait to hear it run.

 

Amazing, absolutely amazing..........

 

The "sister" boat engine was in a shop in Laconia several years ago. It had two Latham type front mounted centrifugal blowers. It was a real work of art.

 

geezzzuzzz im drooling and the hair on my arms is standing up .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that thing is a work of art .

 

Only two roots blowers originally? Jeez, time to step up the pace. How about four gigantic turbos and really big blue bottle of nitrous. To paraphrase that old saw about restoring cars -- anybody (yeah, right!) can restore an engine; it takes a real man to melt one down! Just kidding, it's a work of art; I'd pay to hear it run.

 

Here's a pretty related link.

 

I can't imagine what that thing would sound like straight out of the motor.... thanks for sharing.

 

Killer pic's Josh, thanks for posting..I'd love to see this place in person some time...Ryan

 

I would love to see and here this thing

 

Nice pics, would love to hear it run.

 

I was lucky enough to see that shop in person and I think even that same engine. Its definately a super cool place to check out.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93640&highlight=zakiras

 

I've never been around aircraft engines, but what is the friction starter you mention? Just going from the sound they make, it seems like its an electric motor spinning up some heavy flywheel and then clutched to the engine so that once it has its momentum from spinning, its engaged and spins the engine. Is that how it works?

 

Yep, that's how they work. Most have a hand crank backup to
spin the flywheel up after you've killed the battery trying to start
the whore...

 

Now thats a work of art.

 

Miller's are sweat. Here's some sounds from that link someone posted. Thanks btw!

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Ballot 1919 Indy (307k - 30 sec) - idling in the pits[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Ballot 1919 Indy (176k - 17 sec) - three passes[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Ballot 1919 Indy cockpit, on the track (790k - 77 sec) - starting, up through the gears[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller Golden Sub starting up, cold idling, and driving away (396k - 39 sec)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller Golden Sub warm idling, and driving away (209k - 20 sec)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller Golden Sub on track, 2 passes (143k - 14 sec)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller 122 front-drive (508k - 50 sec) - two passes, a great engine[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller 122 rear-drive (172k - 17 sec) - shifting at high revs coming out of the turn, great burbles on deceleration[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller 91 rear-drive (345k - 34 sec) - startup, warming idle[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller 91 rear-drive (290k - 28 sec) - two passes, in first gear for high revs[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Derby-Miller starting and warming up on the lawn at Pebble Beach (517k - 51 sec) - miked at engine and then at exhaust[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller V16 (165k - 16 sec) - a unique sound because this engine simultaneously fires two cylinders on opposite banks[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller V16 cockpit, on the track (305k - 30 sec) - hear the whole powertrain and engine clearly[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller V16 and Bowes Seal Fast (102k - 10 sec) - the V16 is followed closely by the Bowes - very smooth[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller V16 and Miller 122 rear-drive (199k - 20 sec) - the V16 is passed by the 122 right in front of the stands[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller-Ford (104k - 10 sec) - smooth[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Miller-Ford cockpit, on the track (643k - 1 min) - starting, up through the gears, up to about 110mph[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Sparks Big Six (146k - 14 sec) - a completely different sound[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Offy (368k - 36 sec) - startup and huge revs, awesome & incredible - do it justice and use a surround sound system[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Novi (154k - 7 sec) - The Hotel Tropicana Special Novi driven by Bobby Unser during qualifying for the 1963 Indianapolis 500[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica] From the RaceZine website - 8 bit mono wav file[/FONT]
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somethin wicked this way come's or what?

 

That is sooo fuckin' cool.

Thanks to the Blastolene boys, I have a new appreciation for large, old, odd engines.

 

Thanks for the interest and feed back y'all.

Nick, The engine you and Kulture Pimp saw was the first one..

I had never seen a starter work like that either.. It was killer! There was a round shaft out the side for a hand crank like mentioned above.. When this thing was spinning it started out like a low growl then slowly built up to a high pitch whirl.. (took about 30 to 40 sec.) Theres a flywheel inside that is between 30 lbs to 50 lbs depending on engine.. When spinning as fast as it will go, the hand crank shaft was spinning only about one revolution a second.. BIG gear reduction!! Then an actuator engaged the internal clutch and the Engine would crank.. At one point the engine ran out of fuel and they tried starting it four or five times.. During these trys the starter would spin the engine for 3 to 5 sec. which I thought was pretty good.

Some of you may remeber.. for a long time, through the 80's and 90's at Hershey Swap meet every year they would fire a V-16 engine for the crowd.. That was the other (first) engine, that was NOT blown up. If you saw it, now you have seen it long lost twin brother..

Good to know they will be back together raising hell and scaring aquatic life again!!!

Joshua Shaw

 

Here is a picture of the Miller Carbs they make... They are works of art.