Brought a piston into work
Discussion
So i took a piston i extracted from an old scrap engine into work, mostly as a desk ornament, but i figured id see if my coworkers had any idea what it was.
Two blokes knew what it was, three others knew it was a car part, but not what (answers went from headgasket to cilinder, with the cilinder bloke holding it upside down). The one woman figured it had something to do with coffee (its nicely cleaned but has some brownish traces on the inside).
Found it quite interesting that for something like this (which to us PHers is a very basic component), most people dont really know WTF it is.
(not meant to deride/ridicule non-PHers by the way, i just genuinely found it interesting to see what people would think it is)
Two blokes knew what it was, three others knew it was a car part, but not what (answers went from headgasket to cilinder, with the cilinder bloke holding it upside down). The one woman figured it had something to do with coffee (its nicely cleaned but has some brownish traces on the inside).
Found it quite interesting that for something like this (which to us PHers is a very basic component), most people dont really know WTF it is.
(not meant to deride/ridicule non-PHers by the way, i just genuinely found it interesting to see what people would think it is)
HustleRussell said:
I am surprised by that.
You don't work in a main dealers service department do you?
Nope, IT dept at the national railways here in the NetherlandsYou don't work in a main dealers service department do you?
Europa1 said:
Found it quite interesting that for a thread like this (which to us PHers is a very basic component), people don't know how to spell 'cylinder'. 
Ill blame monday morning and not being a british native for that, point taken thoughbrrapp said:
Years ago I used a piston (with a neat hole burnt through the top courtesy of trying to race a 3l Capri) from my old Vauxhall Chevette as a replacement gearknob (I even flattened the top of the gearstick and connected with a gudgeon pin so it would swivel just like in real life). It was amazing how many people commented on it and didn't know what it was.
Sounds like a painful way to shift gears with the sharp top edge..allegerita said:
This is what I have on my desk. Reminds me every time not to fiddle with the carburettors myself but leave that to the specialists.
For Vitorio: It's from an Alfetta 2000.
Ahh nice!For Vitorio: It's from an Alfetta 2000.
Mine's from a Fiat 1108 FIRE engine from a cinquecento, bought it with a blown headgasket, fixed that, then promptly scrapped the car due to terminal rust...
Fugazi said:
Wonder if anybody here knows what this object sat on my desk at work is?.... It's not a piston but a nice engineering thing I made myself way back when I was a teen, which also gets brought out occasionally to help teach undergrads.
Small turbine engine? I think that is a gas/propane connector at the front.Fugazi said:
Have some internet brownie points! It is a small jet engine, bit archaic by more modern turbine engine standards but still runs perfectly.
Cool, have you used it to actually propel something, or is it just for principal demonstration purposes?If you havent, go check out Colin Furze on youtube
Shakermaker said:
No, but years of poor spelling on the internet means I automatically read it as "Bought" rather than "brought" even though OP got it correct.
That gets on my nerves as well..And no, no workplace shootings here, although i do now have a decent chunk of alu to hit someone with, might bring a conrod tomorrow
defblade said:
2 litre twinspark.
Failure mode was exit block front at about 70mph on a DCway
Or, as no-one troubled to warn me before hand, seems the exhaust on these runs down the front of the engine and backwards through a recess in the sump, putting the hot exhaust just under big end #3. So if the car has ever been run on cheap oil, or run low (not by me in either case, I'd like to point out, I only had it a few weeks!), the oil in #3 gets cooked out...
There was certainly oil in it .2 secs beforehand, a very impressive cloud behind me.
Oh, also turns out to be an effective, albeit expensive, way of getting that Audi tailgater off your arse
Ahhh, the classic 2 litre TS eating its big end. Also related to running on low-oil levels mind you (which is why i keep a really close eye on the oil level of my 1.6 TS)Failure mode was exit block front at about 70mph on a DCway
Or, as no-one troubled to warn me before hand, seems the exhaust on these runs down the front of the engine and backwards through a recess in the sump, putting the hot exhaust just under big end #3. So if the car has ever been run on cheap oil, or run low (not by me in either case, I'd like to point out, I only had it a few weeks!), the oil in #3 gets cooked out...
There was certainly oil in it .2 secs beforehand, a very impressive cloud behind me.
Oh, also turns out to be an effective, albeit expensive, way of getting that Audi tailgater off your arse
That is a big doubt for me though, i'd love an alfa with a 2 litre, but rolling the dice on the big-end lottery is scary.
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