Torpedo Special

[Dalton Hammett]

After reading the thread on the Sportsman .29 I got motivated to dig a bit in my old engine barrel .  I have two old engines marked Torpedo Special I am going to clean up.  They look a bit like the old K&B torps except they have a double stack kind of angled back and the front shaft looks like they might have been originally designed for ignation but these are both set up with glow plugs.  I was wondering if anyone of the engine experts here might know a bit more about them.  They appear to be about a .29 in size.

Dalton H.

[Tim Wescott]

Is this it?  http://www.modelenginenews.org/collecto/engines/Shilen_Torp29.jpg.
This page mentions a "Torpedo Special" in passing: http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Brodbeck.htm
Or this? http://www.mecoa.com/museum/cadus60/torpspec.jpg?  From this page -- http://www.mecoa.com/museum/archive1.html.

Google is your friend.

[tom hampshire]

Hi Dalton - It was marketed as a 'Torpedo", but not by K&B.  It was built by Miniature Motors of NYC.  Low nitro and low RPM if you run it - the crankshaft is weak.  Tom Hampshire

[W.D. Roland]

Hi Dalton
Was going to post what Tom posted
I believe that is the case with your engine based on description with out visual aid.

Use a lot of oil, guessing 30+ % castor.

Tom, thanks for adding to my Ed with the crank info.

[Jim Oliver]

Maybe it shoulda been marked "Torpedoed".......

[Tim Wescott]

Maybe it shoulda been marked "Torpedoed"

Running glow is a lot harder on engines than ignition with gasoline.  One of the reasons that there was a shakeout in the engine manufacturer's after WW II was because a lot of gas engines couldn't survive glow operation, and resources (and probably knowledge) for redesign were hard to come by.

[Dalton Hammett]

Thanks a lot guys for the information.  The engines are not the one pictured in Tim's first link but could be the one from Mineature Motors of NYC.  One of the two is pretty worn out but the other still has good compression.  I will try to take a picture of it tonight and update here tomorrow.  Thanks again....

Dalton H.

[Bill Gruby]

 Pix, bottom center #2 Info top right.

 "Billy G"   
 

[Randy Ryan]

Dalton,

If you ever become interested with parting with one or both of these, I'd be interested at the right price.

[Garf]

This one? They made 2 models. One steel fin, one sleeved.

[Bill Gruby]

 Steel was 1946 -- 1949 had shrunk on Aluminum Fins and the case was not machined for a Timer.

  "Billy G" 

[Dalton Hammett]

OK, Bill and Garf have found it.......

Dalton H.

[Dalton Hammett]

From the front

DH

[david beazley]

Dalton,
Let us know how it runs.  I have one that I have been thinking about running.

[Bill Gruby]

 The pix was fuzzy but it looks like the fins are shrunk on. That would make it a 1949. The only way to really tell is to remove the head. If the sleeve and fins are one piece it is a "Steel 1946" If two pieces it is a 1949.

  "Billy G"