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Dropping a big V8 engine into a riding lawnmower isn’t exactly anything new. There are enthusiasts all over the country that fit mowers with all sorts of hilariously large engines. However, this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone actually make that V8 from scratch. And not only did this creative mower enthusiast make the V8 from scratch, he made it out of other lawnmowers.
The process is broken down into six videos and the first one shows how he started out with a bunch of old, rusty lawnmowers. He then stripped them for their spare aluminum and used that to melt and cast all of the parts for the new engine. Wooden models packed with sand were used to create moulds in which to pour the aluminum castings. Then the crankshaft and camshaft were milled by hand, the cylinders were machined and fitted, and he even made an oil pump, alternator, and flywheel. In fact, the only part that he bought for the entire engine was a distributor, which came from a Ford 460 V8.
While the engine started and ran on its first bench test, it didn’t run perfectly and it had some oil pressure issues. So he fabricated all of the parts needed to fix the oil pressure and get it running smoothly.
After the V8 was done and successfully bench tested, he stripped an old riding mower down to its bare chassis and modified it to fit the massive V8. Naturally, the V8 was far bigger than the mower’s original engine, so the old hood didn’t cover it. So not only is it a V8-powered mower, it’s a hotrod mower with a massive exposed engine. It’s quite the sight gag to see the comically large V8 sitting on the front of a riding mower that’s barely any bigger than its own engine.
He doesn’t have a way to test its power levels but it’s certainly a heckuva lot more powerful than the mower’s original engine. It would be interesting to see how quick it is, now that it’s a proper muscle mower with a power-to-weight ratio that’s probably off the charts.
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