Chrysler A57 Multibank

Rmoore45

Well-known member
Started this thread to not go off topic anymore on Mydogishaggys thread.

What's better than one inline six? 5 of them bolted together!

For those unfamiliar with this engine, it is a 30 cylinder engine made from five individual Chrysler 251 cubic inch flat head inline sixes. Mounted in a pseudo-radial formation. The bottom 2 banks are angled up 15 degrees. Engines like these have always fascinated me so I made a thread where we can talk about it. Another interesting Sherman tank engine is that GM6046 Twin Diesel.

Chrysler A57 Multibank.jpg

Here's a good video with lots of information


A quote from FTF
I listened to your posted video. It got me to thinking - how was each bank of cylinders timed WRT all the other banks? Did #1 cylinder of each bank fire simultaneously with the #1 cylinder of all the other banks? Or was each bank staggeret WRT all the other banks? With 30 cylinders would the #1 cylinder be offset 360/30 = 12 degrees from the next bank? Or 24 degrees since it was a 4-cycle? Or something else entirely? The banks don't even appear to be evenly spaced around the common crankcase. What gives?


I'd love to adapt one of those distributors with the lay-down caps to a 300 Ford.

Found the firing order and phasing information here
Chrysler A57 Firing Order.jpg.png
FTF - Saw your right angle drive magneto in one of your videos so I have no doubt that you can make a front mount horizontal drive distributor. What about the oil pump though?
 
Thanks for the additional info.
I wondered about the six firing order since every six I can remember has a firing order of 153624...

...until I reasized the 142635 order is just a reversed connotation.

I saw one of those engines many years ago when the Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills MI was open to the public. Pity the new corporation closed it.
 
This sort of combination thing was done quite a bit years ago. Detroits did it a lot by bolting blocks together, eg two 6v-92s to become a 12v, 149 series, even EMDs. Foden did it to make a 12 cylinder engine for british mine sweepers. The russian did it with some of their stuff as well.
 
It was also done with aircraft engines, Daimler did some coupled twin V-12's and Rolls Royce and Allison did some X 24's by coupling 2 of their V 12's into a common crankcase.
 
I like Chrysler's FrankenSix ersatz radial for disposaTanks.
It has that ''quantity is a quality of it's own" vibe down pat.

But the most beautiful piston engine ever made has to be the Bristol Centaurus.
It's core is a giant Swiss watch geartrain. The supercharger looks like some Cyborg Ammonite fossil. Even the exhaust piping looks like something straight out of the Matrix.
 
That is a true shame. That is one jewel of a model!

Was this to be a running engine? For RC planes?

I bet the secret was the sleeve metallurgy.
Bristol commissioned a study of 1100 different alloys to find the right one.
Sir Ricardo himself was in the development.
 
That is a true shame. That is one jewel of a model!

Was this to be a running engine? For RC planes?

I bet the secret was the sleeve metallurgy.
Bristol commissioned a study of 1100 different alloys to find the right one.
Sir Ricardo himself was in the development.

Yes it was supposed to be a running engine, just for static display though. You could put it in a model aircraft I suppose. There are several other amazing model engines on his website that he has built and they all run. He made a single cylinder test rig as a proof of concept for the sleeve valve engine. There's a video of it running on his site.
 
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