Guest oldgascar Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Hello newbie here. I have a love of vintage cars. I built a (loosly based) replica of a 1906 Oldsmobile. I now want to make a copy of a 1902 De Dion Bouton auto. It has been used in the london to Brighton run in recent years. I am looking for a set of drawings of the De Dion Bouton single cylinder 8 hp engine so I can make my own replica. I am hoping someone in this group could give me a lead to a set of drawings. Or if I could borrow an engine (that I could disassemble) for 2-3 weeks, I could reverse engineer it. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Moskowitz Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 The De Dion is from here in PA. Fabulous car and the owner knows it inside and out. Send me a PM and I will put him in contact with you or just email me at aaca1@aaca.org. He may know if there are any drawings of the engine. However, I would not get your hopes up at all in borrowing an engine for disassembly!! I would give you 0% chance of anyone doing that to such a valuable engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldenguy Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Oldgascar--I think you would have a better chance of buying an original on E-Bay than having someone loan you one to disect. But stranger things have happened, you just never know. Good luck! --Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 In their heyday DeDion Bouton sold over 5OOO single cylinder engines a year to other manufacturers, not counting those they used in their own cars and tricycles. Even pierce Arrow used DeDion engines in their first car.Then there were other firms that copied them like Aster.Seldenguy has a good point. It may be easier to find a repairable original engine than to make one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Banupa Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 There's a hotel in Paris, France that has an engine on show in their reception area. The hotel's name is the De Dion Boulton... You never know, they may sell it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldenguy Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I just got another thought(rare), there is a web site called 'smokestack' or 'smokestak' that is devoted to old engines among other mechanical things. They should come up on a Google search. I think they are in Maine. They have message boards and classifed ad's, You may have some luck there, a friend of mine has one but no way he will allow the dismantling of it, even in his shop ! Good luck again. --Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU22 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I have an early De Dion 4 cylinder engine and gearbox 56x196 and lots of new parts for it I was thinking coffee table..... It's an early bus motor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldgascar Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) I don't know about trying to get an engine from a French hotel, but I am still looking. I would love to see one of the many copies made of the engine in the early 1900's. I will contact the Smokestack group soon also. I have been in contact with a man in Austria who makes working scale models of the orig. Bouton engine & he has a set of drawings for building his casting kits. His engine kits are 1/4 scale. I thought I could scale up the drawings he has to full scale. I don't think it would be difficult to scale up to full size since I have data on the stroke,bore, piston size, overall width & height etc. that would help me prove out that my scaled up full scale dimensions are correct. I would love go to Hershey, Pa. this fall, to check out all the cars & engines there, but I don't think I will be able to attend.Bob Edited July 13, 2011 by oldgascar incorrect grammer (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cben09 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Why not look for Orient buckboard engine,C,Metz and Ken Skinner had the distrubt'orship for DeDion,,,,thats how the madrid racer got to Woburn,,,haha,,Ben,,,can you decypher this??grin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 The man in Austria may have full size drawings or blueprints that he scaled his down from. As patents expire after 17 years there should be no problem making a copy. But copyrights and trademarks are different. Even so you should be in the clear as long as you don't put the DeDion Bouton name on your engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Al Brass Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 These engines were also sold as industrial engines and many a car has been replicated using an industrial De Dion as a base.Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Gillingham Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) I was looking for a De Dion Bouton engine for a project (didn't go ahead with it), and thought a single cylinder De Dion Bouton engine would be hard to find. But, when you look, I came across a few. Yesterdays.nl have three at the moment, between 1500euro-1950euro,YesterdaysYesterdaysYesterdaysAnd I have seen a couple for sale on prewarcar.com occasionally, for about the same money. I thought these were cheap, considering they are originals and their condition. Like a previous poster said, they must have been one of the biggest engine builders. Edited July 17, 2011 by Craig Gillingham grammar, spelling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRENT in 10-uh-C Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Don't know if OldGasCar is still actively pursuing find one of these engines but here is one: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldgascar Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Been out of touch lately but still looking for an engine. I think I will purchase a 8hp cylinder ( un machined )block from the man in the uk along with con rods and a piston and make my own case. I Need a water cooled engine and I don't want to pay super high price for an engine. At $6,900 that a lot of dough for a single cylinder engine. I know I can build it from scratch if I simply had one to reverse engineer fo a week or two. Still open to any offers. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I would think it would cost more than $6900 to build one from scratch, unless you own a foundry and a machine shop. If you're just doing a weldment replica that's more or less like it, you could do it for less, but an exact replica I think would cost more..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU22 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 You should contact Yesterdays. They are honest and speak very good English. They also ship all over the worldSee the link above in Craigs post above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldgascar Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I have my own machine shop, and I can make all my own patterns. I find adversity and opstacles in my way only make me stronger. I have found owners of some cars will not share information . Maybe they feel that a replica of a car is not as good as the original. But if we fail to inspire our younger generations to join the car enthusiast group, with originals or replicas, soon the group will not exist. And that would be truly sad.When I was young , my father taught me to work with my mind and with my hands. I only hope that I can excite others to the gratification and pride we have when we create works of art with our on hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU22 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 3D printers are replacing skill. And honestly there are many historical objects out there that need saving. Why not work on real history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldgascar Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Making my own casting patterns is as just about as old school as it gets. How many others in the car enthusiast hobby would do this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU22 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I am making a HAL two cam head now.Almost all the originals are cracked or will crack again soonI think there are more guys working on things than we can guessDid you look at Yesterday's engines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldgascar Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Yesterdays has some great engines, but I want a water cooled engine. I will send them an email to see about getting a 1 cylinder 8 hp water cooled engine. The air cooled engines they have would be great for my 1920 replicaversion of a Norton Racing motorcycle.Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Gillingham Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) There are two air cooled De Dion engines for sale, that appeared a couple of days ago, on prewarcar for 1000euro and 1100euro. Apart from the top end, how much different are the cases? or are these engines smaller than 8hp? (they look around 1-2hp) I think there was also a version made for the tricycles that had a water cooled head, and with fins on the barrel.De Dion Bouton engine-s (and parts) for sale for De Dion-Bouton - PreWarCarDe Dion Bouton engine-s (and parts) for sale for De Dion-Bouton - PreWarCar Edited September 29, 2011 by Craig Gillingham (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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