# The Pioneer Engine



## Harold Lee (Feb 2, 2012)

After completing my Topsy Turvy engine last month I wanted to build something that was relatively simple and would still be somewhat of a challenge. Since I am a huge fan of both Phillip Duclos and Rudy Kouhoupt in their designs I decided upon the Pioneer Engine designed by Rudy Kouhoupt. This engine is a bit unusual in that it is is a two cycle, non compression engine. The intake and exhaust valves run directly off the crankshaft. The timing of the engine is as follows. The intake timing is from 6 degrees ATDC to 78 degrees. At 79 degrees the ignition points open and the ignition/power stroke is from 79 ATDC to 179 degrees. The exhaust cycle is from 180 to 360 degrees. 

Here are a series of pictures of the completed engine.



























This was Rudy's final engine design before he died in 2004 and in my opinion was different than any other engines/designs that he had done. Rudy had an artistic flair to him and his engines were always very aesthetically pleasing as well as very functional. I believe this was a functional proof of concept engine in that he was trying to develop a concept and this engine was like an engineering prototype and as such had a few shortcomings. Since it fired on every revolution, it ran hot enough to produce a burn if the head was touched. I found that after 5 - 10 minutes of running I would have to put a fan in place to cool it. When I was building the engine I noticed he made a one inch spacer between the intake valve body and the carburettor. I did not originally put this on the engine and quickly realized the engine would vapor lock after a short run. The two gaskets between the spacer block ( as can be seen in the next picture) also acts as a thermal barrier and should be used instead of a silicon based gasket material.






Also there was no provision or mention of upper cylinder lubrication in the construction detail. I mixed in a few drops of 2 cycle oil to the Coleman fuel to provide this lubrication. Due to the very close timing required, the cams have a very fast lift and I found that if the valve springs were not strong enough, they would tend to float and the engine would run very rough. Additionally, I found it a bit fussy to get running since the intake cycle was very short and it could be flooded very easily. That being said it was a very sweet running engine once it was warmed up and the mixture was correctly adjusted, it was enjoyable to watch...

I will post a video of it running later today...


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## Nickademusss (Feb 2, 2012)

Looks great! Interesting story as well. 

Looks like a modernized hit n' miss !


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## IronHorse (Feb 2, 2012)

Nice job on the engine, this is the first one I have seen built.



IronHorse.


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## lazylathe (Feb 2, 2012)

Great engine!!!
Do you have any pics of the build?

Waiting for a video of it running!
This is one of those engines you have to see and hear running!!!

Andrew


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## b.lindsey (Feb 2, 2012)

Beautiful work Harold. Looking forward to the video also !! 

Bill


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## Harold Lee (Feb 2, 2012)

Thank all of your for your comments. I am sorry that I did not post any progress pictures. 

As promised earlier, here are two links to the engine running. The first one is taken in my shop during the initial run and set up of the engine. There is no narration during this clip.
I wanted to demonstrate how easy it is to start since there is no compression. 

[ame]http://youtu.be/Cfbtf7XOmOw[/ame]

This link is for the official run outside in the sun.... YES ;D it is February the second and it was almost 70 degrees outside about 30 miles Northeast from St. Louis. After this was completed I pressure washed my deck in a tee shirt. 


[ame]http://youtu.be/fiVbeyoUmuA[/ame]


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## rudydubya (Feb 3, 2012)

Fantastic runner Harold. Very nice indeed.  :bow:

Regards,
Rudy


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## lazylathe (Feb 3, 2012)

Thank you for uploading the videos Harold!! ;D

Excellent runner, very smooth!!!
Congratulations again!!!

Andrew


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## b.lindsey (Feb 3, 2012)

Very impressive Harold and obviously a fine runner too. Thanks for the videos!! Looks like it was a beautiful day outide too.

Bill


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## metalmad (Feb 3, 2012)

How nice is that :bow:
Great runner too
Pete


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## danstir (Feb 3, 2012)

Great engine. And thanks for explaining some of the issues it has.


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## bearcar1 (Feb 3, 2012)

S-M-O-O-T-H  runner Harold. Very Nice. Sounds a lot like the JD model 'D' we used to have, just chugging along. Did you encounter anything "fiddly" or a PIA during the build sequence? I also am a fan of Rudy and Phil D's work but do not as yet own any of their published books. I assume this engine was covered in one of them. Great job and thanks for sharing with us.

BC1
Jim


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## ShopShoe (Feb 3, 2012)

Very nice. Very good writeup. I also thank you for the comments.

--ShopShoe


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## Harold Lee (Feb 3, 2012)

bearcar1  said:
			
		

> S-M-O-O-T-H  runner Harold. Very Nice. Sounds a lot like the JD model 'D' we used to have, just chugging along. Did you encounter anything "fiddly" or a PIA during the build sequence? I also am a fan of Rudy and Phil D's work but do not as yet own any of their published books. I assume this engine was covered in one of them. Great job and thanks for sharing with us.
> 
> BC1
> Jim



Jim - I really like the smooth running of the engine as it was almost hypnotic to watch it chugging along. Reminded me of my time in the shop with a cup of Earl Grey watching my beloved shaper peel off a few thousandths of material on each pass... This particular engine was not in any of the published books by Village Press. It was available as a 2 DVD set and a set of plans (12 C size drawings). The two DVDs were not a detailed description of the construction, rather they were a discussion of some of the techniques and pitfalls. I have to say I enjoyed watching them very much. While Rudy is not a very dynamic speaker, It allowed me to "get into his head" a bit and understand some of his thinking. 

The only thing I found "fiddly" was the crankshaft. I have never made a "built up" crankshaft before and the first try at this one was a disaster with the silver soldering. I started a thread on getting help with it:

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=17213.0

I finally made one by making everything a press fit and drilling, reaming, and pressing in taper pins. Due to this, you will notice I made a journal on each of the crankwebs which I made as a place to install the taper pins.




			
				b.lindsey  said:
			
		

> Very impressive Harold and obviously a fine runner too. Thanks for the videos!! Looks like it was a beautiful day outide too.
> 
> Bill



Bill - Thanks for your comments as well... I was a VERY beautiful day outside. As I said previously, I decided to pressure wash the deck in the 60 degree weather and the tee shirt felt very adequate. I do know however that winter is not over and despite what my tulip bulbs are doing by sprouting early, I think it is a mistake and I have told them so


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## bronson (Feb 3, 2012)

Congrats on the engine looks great and runs very well. :bow: :bow:


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