Fantastic Projects- Neil Hintz
"I’m not a fan of Rotax and having built many two-stroke dirt bike engines and parts over the years, I thought I would build my own engine. How hard could it be? As it turned out, quite difficult... " Neil Hintz
(Randy talking now)
Years ago, I came across a photo of an absolutely ingenious sliding mechanism to alter disc port timing. I have kept that like my own little holy grail.
In an odd twist, recently I stumbled across the guy who made it!
I don't want to make Neil Hintz uncomfortable. So without any special fanfare, I'll just say that he is one of the most creative, capable, genius-caliber 2-stroke craftsmen I have ever run across.
I can't say he's just a tuner. That would imply that he takes things that other people have made, and improves them.
I can't say that he's an engine builder, because that makes it sound like he combines off-the-shelf parts along with his own special sauce to make a unique product.
I'll just lay this on you. He designed and built his own parallel-twin two-stroke engine, FROM SCRATCH, including casting the cases and cylinders. He makes his own fuel injection system. You know that thing, when you put a hole in a piston, and then you throw it away? HE WELDS THE HOLE BACK UP AND PUTS IT IN AN AUTOGYRO
And then he flies around in it, as one does.
He has developed a shutter system that retards the opening edge of the disc port and advances the closing edge - sort of like an eyelid that blinks, rotated 90 degrees. AND THEN HE USES THAT ASSEMBLY TO ACT AS THE THROTTLE VALVE.
And those are like THE FIRST FIVE THINGS I LEARNED!!
You know all those little things that stop the rest of us from advancing a project? NO PROBLEM HERE
I'm sorry, my caps lock button is protesting in exhaustion...
Neil has some videos on YouTube, which I will link to. He has written some articles on his efforts thus far, and I'll post those PDFs as well. Check it out! I hope to convince this (apparently standard-issue) New Zealander to use this space to show us what else he's up to.
Here is Neil's YouTube channel, Gerbilgronk
Somehow, another version of Gerbilgronk
Here's a YouTube of the disc-shutter throttle valve
Here's a PDF article that Neil wrote about building, from scratch, the engine for his Autogyro.
I can be contacted at rg500delta@mac.com
Below are a few pix of the business of making cylinders from scratch:
cases, ready for machining
freshly-cast cylinders