Master craftsman George Britnell created this working model of the legendary Ford 300 cubic-inch inline six. See it rumble and roar just like its full-sized cousin here.
A patternmaker by trade, George Britnell is also an accomplished model builder whose other miniature creations include fully functional firearms, steam engines, and a 1:3 scale Ford small-block V8. (You can read more about his work at his Craftsmanship Museum biography page.) For this project, Britnell chose an engine man’s engine: the Ford 300 cubic-inch inline six, a truck powerplant introduced in 1965 and legendary for its ruggedness and reliability. It’s been said that with oil, water, and gasoline, a Ford Big Six will keep running until the end of time.
Bore and stroke on this desk-sized version of the Ford Big Six are .75 inch by .875 inch, respectively, for an actual displacement of 2.32 cubic inches or 38 cubic centimeters. Details include full coolant jacketing and a Hall-switch ignition system. Britnell constructed all the components, including the tiny spark plugs with 8-36 threads, using basic machine tools: an Enco drill-mill and a 6-inch Craftsman lathe. Here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, we never cease to be impressed and amazed by the skill, patience, and passion of artists such as these. Video below.
That is pretty cool. The 300 was one of the more dependable motors out there, but most in-line 6’s were pretty good ( I sat behind an i6 motor for 35 years) To this day, for me, a carb. 300 six in a 1980 Bronco has the distinction of having the worst gas mileage ever. ( between 5-7 mpg) but couldn’t kill them. Funny, as mighty as that motor was, it was stopped one day, by a 15 cent roll pin on the distributor gear. It’s amazing this thing runs ( looks like #1 spark plug was arcing) and I hope it didn’t stick at 2:10. Seemed to stop abruptly. Thanks, MCG.
My grandfather and uncle were design engineers on this engine and they were quite proud of it.
Oops not to scale. the 300 is square at 4×4″ . You can use 327 Chev pistons in them for a race engine. Yes a couple were used as speedway engines with McGee injection. Run all night at 5000 rpm! Others used 292 Chevs too.
Not sure what the 240 bore/ stroke was.
Why do all these mini engines sound like a mad bumblebee in a jug? Seems like they all sound the same regardless of how many cylinders they have. Kudos to the guy that built it, I never would have the patience to design and manufacture all those small parts, much less assemble them into a running engine.