Posted on Sunday, March 19, 2017 - 11:13 am:

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quote:

Hello.

I am looking into the Van Auken two-stroke petrol engine produced by the
Van Auken Motor and Machine Works, Bridgeport, Connecticut from about
1906 to about 1927.

I understand the company went into liquidation quite early in that time
frame, but the production of these engines continued on under a new
manufacturer(s) until about 1927.

This being the case, it would seem quite a few were manufactured,
however I am unable to locate any manufacturing data and beyond a
partially complete 3 cylinder / 6 piston engine in a US maritime museum,
I'm unable to locate any others.

The engines were made predominantly for boats and were an advanced,
compact design featuring opposed piston (no cylinder heads, camshaft,
valves etc), twin crankshaft, 2-stroke design, using crankcase
compression for inlet and exhaust scavenging.

They were available it 1 cylinder up to 6 cylinder configurations and
had remarkably good power density for their era - up to 100HP in the
case of the 6 cylinder / 12 piston engine.

The twin crank design enabled the engine to have a very low profile and
when fitted with forward - neutral - reverse marine gearboxes to the
ends of each crankshaft, they were an ideal design for twin propeller
shaft configurations.

I am particularly interested in the 3 and the 6 cylinder versions and
was keen to know if your organization has any on display or in storage
or any information on the engines that I may acquire.

If not, are you aware of any museum collection or antique marine engine
enthusiast group that may have these engines.

Thank you.

Kind Regards, Mark Erskine.

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