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R985 radial engine Pratt Whitney

SETOYOTA

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While not an airplane I thought this may be the best place for this.

This has been a side project I’ve been working for while. A friend of mine is a full time picker for his occupation and from time to time I’ll tag along . Last fall on one of the trips I came across some radial engine parts after digging through multiple buildings on the property I had most of a r985 radial engine . Now what to do. Build up a display engine of course to go with the prop I already had finished.

I didn’t take any pics of the before but all cylinders were bead blasted and slightly polished then the fins painted.
 

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SETOYOTA

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I had no internals for the motor . No connecting rods, pistons or crank shaft. and no rear case which was actually a plus. A whole light lighter. Had to come up with a way to mount on a stand. A few pieces of 1/4 inch plate and a 2 inch steel pipe did the trick.
 

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SETOYOTA

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Here is the pipe cut down. Shaft welded to a round plate bolted to the front case to mimick a crank shaft. Turned on a lathe to match the crank shaft dimensions.(A friend did this for me) The pipe is also welded to the back of the plate and passes through to the engine stand where it is also bolted to plate on the stand
 

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SETOYOTA

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I made the plug wires using old m37 and m151 leads . They screwed to the r985 spark plugs The base screws had to be drilled out to fit the r985 wiring manifold. Added the push rods and it started to look like a motor
 

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Tracer

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All finished. Now I have a real WWII aircraft engine in the house and the wife actually likes it. Mostly made from discarded parts
lamp.jpg That looks great. A nice conversation piece for the man cave. If you come across any more scrap cylinder and head assembly's, they make nice reading lamps.
 

SETOYOTA

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I’ve got 3 more. And was planning to make a lamp. Have 2 for a r985 and 1 for a r1800
 

Barrman

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You did a great job on that. I agree with everyone else. Radial air cooled engines are the top of the art world for me. Nothing is better.
 

tobyS

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I’ve got 3 more. And was planning to make a lamp. Have 2 for a r985 and 1 for a r1800
Is the 1800 what would have been in a B-17? My dad would like a lamp made from one like he flew in. Wanna sell one?
 

tobyS

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Tinstar

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That is awesome!
Looks great.

Happy to see the parts saved instead of going to the scrap pile.


Big Radials are the best sounding engines ever!!
 
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