Seems a long time agao, I seen a thread, where a guy built an air compressor out of a v8 engine. Anyone know how to do it or have a link? My compressor shot ****s on me, now i want to build or if I have to buy one...
I have seen them usually an old setup on a industrial v8 they turn it into a inline 4 gas and an inline 4 comressor. the one I saw was an industrial ford with a weird intake on gas side with a one barrel carb. the compressor side had a manifold that drew air into the outer two cylinders then took that exhaust and put it into the middle two. the exhaust of the middle two went to the tank.. it was on an old tire service truck and looked like it had been arround a while.... I am sure there are some pix out there somewhere...
Ive seen the V8s but I used to build Model A air compressors years back for tire stores. Special head that ran on 2 and pumped air on 2 cylinders
4-7 pistons firing, 1-4 pistons running airlines to the sparkplug holes... Remove lifter/pushrod from the exhaust valve on 'dead' cylenders. What I would do is run a generator off the motor at the same time to help power the shop... Maybe even run the hot water for the house through it????
FFS...now thats some thinking!!! Put a turbo on the exhaust and blow fresh hot air to keep the place warm in the winter!!!
Or put a large electric motor on the crank and pump air with all eight. We build large hermetic electric compressor motors and that's basically how they work
Most of the ones I've seen were made out of old Ford or Chevy sixes. They are easier to manifold than a V-8 if you are going to turn it with an electric motor or a PTO drive from and old 8N Ford tractor. They make one hell of a sand blaster compressor.
http://www.grimmerschmidt.com/pdf/MonoBlock%20SS%20lowres_0107.pdf these are similar to what we are discussing... I like the spark plug idea but you need the compressor to be 2 stage... so you would have to pump it back on it's self, and some sort of one way pressure valve for the tank feed...
You can go ahead and do it this way if you want. But before you spend too much time making a compressor this way give it oh, I don't know, maybe about 5 seconds of thought. See what you're doing? Unless this is a direct-injection diesel engine you're modifying (and it obviously isn't due to your mention of spark plug holes) that mixture you're blowing out the "compressor cylinder" spark plug holes is the same air/fuel mixture that is being burned in the "engine" cylinders. Blow a few dozen CFM of this mixture into your shop and see how long you stay awake/alive. That said, it would be cool to point your blowgun at the cat and hold a lighter under the vapor stream......
Easy there Captain Obvious... I'm not creating a users-manual for the 'Kilroy Special A-#1 Compressor' here... (Runs Okey-Dokey, Ricky-Tick) I'm just telling a guy briefly how it could be done... But how hard would it be to port that chamber(s) to the outside instead of taking in mixture... A hole saw and and a freeze plug could git-r-done... This is obviously not the most efficient design in the world... Dude just asked how it could be done...
Hey Guys, Smith Compressors Have Used V8 Fords For Years. They Use 4 Cylinders For Power And 4 As A Compressor. They Are The Orange Units Pulled Behind Almost Every State Road Vehicle Pulling A Compressor.
I've seen kits to convert volkswagen engins. The two cyl. on the left compress air the other two fire normal. Thought about building one just never could get a price on one.
Not me. I am mounting my compressor on a pole and bolting a propellor to it. Then I just run the line to my shop and i dont have to listen to that noisy thing bangen away all day. Lots of storage and a blow of valve if we get to much wind or a brake or swing arm ,air operated. Pressure reaches max arm swing compressor and a prop sideways out ofthe winds effect. Pressure drops swings back in on spring pressure . Why ? cause its time to do this kind of stuff. It wil drive the neigbours nuts.
it won't need to be 2 stage. generally, whatever cranking pressure the engine will create, should be what pressure you can put into the tank, so if you have 175psi of cranking pressure, you should be able to get close to 175 in the tank. if you're engine doesn't make that much pressure, mill the head or deck and bump up the compression on the compressor side to get what you want. it's not like detonation is gonna be a problem!
When I had my engine shop I rebuilt a Schramm (sp) compressor that was a Ford flathead v8. It ran on 4 cylinders and pumped on 4 cylinders. The heads were special and directed the compressed air into the tank via special manifolding. It was govenor controled for speed, air pressure down the carb opened to build up pressure. Pressure built it would slow the engine to idle until demand (low pressure) reved up the engine again. Frank
Yes,they used a cam with double lobes on the compressor cylinders. Only need two strokes on those cylinders.Intake and exhaust. Easy enough to make it a two stage. Or run the cam 1:1 with the crank,and make a 4 cyl compressor, driven by another motor.
OK, heres what I found in a stack of 10-15 year old literature in the garage: It is a book called"Build your own sandblaster",from"Design Publications,manual#3697". I do not know if they exist anymore. It shows trailer construction and engine modifications,and it uses half of a Ford F E engine. I do not have access to a scanner,but will touch on some high points: They fabricate a "pumping head",(sounds perverted,huh?),for the compressor bank of the engine,consisting of 3/4 inch steel plate. Shows how to make "poppet valves" for the pumping head. How to fabricate a discharge manifold for the pumping element. Also shows how to modify the oil system after removing the lifters from the cylinder bank that is no longer an " engine". Another that I had looked at years ago was a design by "Dunn-Right" or "Dunn-Wright" manufacturing,not sure,as my forgetful *** can no longer locate the info! It used a VW Beetle engine,dedicating one half to compressing air,and the other half to powering the rig. It too,had fabricated "pumping heads" for the compressor element,and I believe it had "reed" style valves,same as most run of the mill air compressors. Happy searching!
I put a lot of mufflers on the engine side of these for our county work crews. I want to say they that were 351Ws but I could be wrong.
Did some quick "Googling" since my last post. Stumbled across "build your own shop equipment" at: oupower.com
Schramm engine spotted at Early Ford V-8 Club meet in Batavia last year: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2006/07/12/schramm-you-kids/ More info: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2006/07/31/less-vacation-more-schramm/ dan
And to go completely opposite, I've heard of guys taking a Chrysler V twin ac compressor and making a small engine out of it.
I have a old Smith i use for work. Has a inline 6 chrysler in it. Runs on the front 3 and pumps with the back three. With out the right parts it would be very hard to build one, bad enough just to rebuild the pumping side. Smoothest running 3 banger i ever heard, just purrs like a kitten.
A different twist A guy i know used GM air conditioning compressors. Had 3 of the old type, that look like generators. He fab'ed up brackets, using a fan belt powered by a electric motor on the bench. You could go portable using electric or small gas engine & wheels. The thing really put out the air
Somewhat OT but... Back in the '70's I worked for a pollution control company. We had 5000 gallon trailers with 454 chevy blocks with compressor heads. They were powered by little 3 cyl. Lister diesels. By turning a valve you could either create a vacuum in the tank or pressurize it. You could pull more than 20 inches of vacuum on a 4 inch hose. Which, I might add, is enough to **** up a dead pigeon.
i have an old model a ford cut in half with a special head runs on the outer two cylenders and has one way valves on the inner that pumps to a tank. It will run a jack hammer, blaster what ever you want. I actually have an extra head to make another one. Old timer construction guys Love seeing it pulled around. might sell the extra head if someone wanted it or may TRADE? Good luck
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