Short Lady FWE Build!

[Jmitchell]

Hi guys, I decided I'd build a short lady today.

I got the combustion cone and rear plate done, I'll have some pictures for you guys later tonight.

I had a question about the tailpipe, I bought some "1 & 1/4" conduit" and it's really 35mm ID and I'm wondering if this is going to cause problems?

Larry, got any advice? Steve?

I'm using 3/4" conduit for the intake.

[steve]

another member had the same problem, he simply cut a srtip of the pipe out, squeezed the pipe back together and welded the seam. you could probably get it to run with the 35mm pipe though. (the original used 32mm)

[Jmitchell]

Should I just make a coupler then to fit the cone to the pipe?

[Jmitchell]

Pics!

The spark plug nut I made a bit more complicated than it needed to be. I took a nut with an unknown size and thread pitch, turned off the threads, tapped it for the plug, then turned the nut so that it was half it's original thickness (just so the plug would protrude a bit into the CC) and welded it on.

Everything's hand formed with a slip roll and hammering.

[Jmitchell]

ARGH I CAN'T UPLOAD THE REST OF THE PICTURES

[larry cottrill]

Looks like a VERY nice build. I especially like your last shot, which looks like a hand mysteriously emerging through the tabletop from another dimension.

In my opinion, the slightly larger pipe should be no problem at all. Theoretically, it would shorten the overall length just a hair because of the "end correction", but we're talking a small fraction of an inch! In reality, it won't matter.

Be sure you put the fuel feed point right in the center of the intake, just inside the flare, not the lateral feed used in the original prototype. And, remember that Eric claims it is better NOT to put any pinch in the intake pipe - keep it a full circular section over its whole length for best results.

L Cottrill

[Bruno Ogorelec]

Nice work! Keep us posted. make sure you have a camera (and a camera man) at hand when the thing roars first, too.

[Jmitchell]

IT RUNS! But I fked it all up while welding :(

Oh well, better luck next time.

It started on the first try, to my amazement. It has very good throttleability too, to my amazement.

I'll take some better videos later, my memory stick was full so I had to use the crappy quality.

[Jmitchell]

Here's a MUCH BETTER video.


oops, I can't post it, it's too large, and my server will die if I try to host it there. It's 7mb can anyone host it for me?

[steve]

Yeah, welding that intake on is real tricky, and damn near impossible with a MIG welder. It's good to see that it runs though! have you tried using an oxy-torch to weld? I think you would appreciate the precision that it allows when compared to the MIG.

[Jmitchell]

I had an oxy propane, but I burned a hole thru the hose... I'm thinking of getting an oxy acetylene though. Oh well, I can always do better!

EDIT: Here's a video http://www.kc0udt.com/jim/pulse.mpg

[Bruno Ogorelec]

The video doesn't quite work for me -- I managed to see just the first part, but it's still nice. Congratulations!

The FWE is obviously a benign , easy machine to live with. Larry did a good job. It is likely to be a popular machine. There are already several in existence.

[larry cottrill]

J, congratulations!

Yes, it looks a little rough, but it obviously runs just like a Short Lady should!

Thanks for trying it - good video of her running!

L Cottrill