A-707 Ford Turbine Engine

I am not sure how old this kit is. There is no bar code on the box. So that makes it pre 1980. There is no copyright date on the box or instructions.
The kit is made by Entex. Never heard of them either.



It says on the side of the box.

"The Ford Motor Company has now succeeded in overcoming the problems previously experienced in harnessing the jet engine (gas turbine). The Ford A-707 engine in now in use in surface vehicles, land and water,in addition to industrial generator applications. It features a unique regenerative system which recaptures exhaust waste, a variable turbine nozzle and electronic controls. It is predicted that the turbine engine could replace piston and Wankel and, according to The National Research Council, "may appear in production cars as early as 1980" which is not far away considering the normal development of passenger vehicles."

So here it is 30 years later and that never happened. LOL

Looking around on line I found this.

Back in 1978 I took a peek at what was happening with gas turbine engines in heavy trucks and was surprised to learn that most North American manufacturers were running at least one line-haul test bed unit. Ford had their futuristically-styled "Big Red" doubles outfit powered by the 600-hp Ford 705-series GT engine running coast to coast as long ago as 1964 and later, in 1966, used a W-1000 tractor unit to test the low pressure 707 GT. But by the late 1970s, the lack of any real progress meant that Ford's GT engine project had already been relegated to back burner status.

So it looks like the A 705 was out in 1964 and the A 707 in 1966. Anyway on to the kit it's self and the build.

Here is what I saw when I opened the box.



The variable nozzle is glued to a flywheel and then in to the two case halves.





Then two regenerators and installed on to the sides of the case.



This is where I hit my first snag. The rivets they give you to put the regenerators on with are to long. When you put it all together the rivets hit the flywheel binding the whole thing up. Then nothing turns. You have to shorten them up this much. I used a Dermil with a small grinding stone.



When all that is done and you are sure it turns on to step 4. Putting the impeller together and the Diffuser housing.





That's all I got for right now. I will be back later tonight or tomorrow with an update. Thanks for looking in. Any comments or questions are welcome.

John, I never thought about it, but I guess my basement is big. I call it my dungeon my wife calls it my "Man Cave". I have all my toys down here. LOL.

Clay I have three more engines to go after this one. Then they will be all done. I wanted to do them all while I was on a roll.

With the diffuser housing done it on to the gasifier.



Then the gasifier is put onto the diffuser housing. There are two parts to paint in the kit. Both look like impellers. One is painted red the other yellow.



Next is the power turbine.







If this thing works I will be surprised. There are a total of 17 gears the must be aligned and lubed.

Next the Power output housing is put together.



Then the ignition plug (light bulb) is put into the combustion cover and that is installed onto the combustion can.



Test to make sure it works.







So now you have 4 main parts built. The Combustion chamber, power turbine, Gasifier module and the main block.



Time to put them all together.











Then you put the base together. The base holds the batteries and the off/on switch. Pretty simple and flimsy.

switch off.



switch on.



Then everything is mounted on the base.









Well that's it for now. I gave it a little test run and believe it or not everything worked. I will up date more later. It's my Grand daughter's birthday and she is dancing in a Christmas show at the Mall. Big day for a 4 year old. I am going to be there. Probably be Sunday night or Monday before the next update.

Thanks for looking in. All comments and questions are welcome.

Looking this build over it looks like this will be the last update before I go to NMA with this.

Starts with the Gasifier Module Cover.





Then the re-compressor covers





Those air duct looking things on the re-compressor covers are the exhaust manifolds. Reading on line about these engines I found out they had 7 inch exhaust stacks coming up beside the cab. Man that is big.

next is the air compressor. This would be used for the brakes is my only guess.



Attached to the air compressor is the alternator and the freon compressor (AC). Also the fan is driven by the air compressor.





Next it's install the gasifier module cover to the block. Guess what it doesn't fit. After looking it over I found the cover was warped in the middle. So I got out the trusty Dermil tool and ground out the center still won't fit right. So I took some .040 " styrene and made a "Gasket" to go between the cover and the block. It doesn't look bad and solves the problem.

here is the back.



And here it is installed.



Lots of little doda things to glue to the block Fuel pump and filters. Oil pump and filters. Tool box, dip stick. Compressor assemblies and a radiator. I don't see how the engine it's self is water cooled. I mean jet engines are air cooled so the only purpose I can see for the radiator is to work the heater and defroster units in the truck.





I guess that will be it for this one. Only three more engines to go and I will be out of engine kits. I know you guys are thinking Yippy skippy only three more to go. My best bet says you can look all over the net and not find these builds archived anywhere else. Thanks for looking in and see you later on at the NMA.

John I was the same way. Total rookie with turbine engines. I was going to make one more post here. After the model was finished I removed the panels and turned it on to watch it run. It ran for about 15 seconds and then died. You can hear the electric motor run at a vary high speed but nothing turns. I am not going to take it apart and try to fix it. This kit has 17 gears that have to be aligned and cleaned of flash. It is way complicated, more than it needs to be. I figured that it would have a short life before a gear stripped but not that short. LOL Here are some pictures I took during the test run. It shows the combustion chamber all heated up. One with lights on one with lights off.

Lights on.



Lights off.



OK I am off to post a NMA and write a kit review. Thanks for looking in.

Back in the early 70's, Freightliner tried a turbine engine in a prototype test truck. They called it the TurboLiner. Never did work very well, and forget about even attempting to determine what the fuel consumption was :shock: .

Pete, When I was building this I was researching it. This Turbine was used in 18 wheelers, boats and stationary usage. You're right about the fuel it wasn't mentioned anywhere. LOL

If I can remember right Mack did a couple of tests with turbine engines in the late 70,s early 80,s using a Cruiseliner and a R700. Both of them had about 7-8 inch exhaust stacks fitted to them.
Nice build by the way. It,s good to see something different.

Interesting model.
Thanks for refreshing it, Buck !

Hey, I have one of these models w/ 99% of the blister packs together, but I'm unfortunately missing a few parts from it :(

Was wondering if you could help me identify some of the parts including two of the gears (need to know tooth count) and size of the eyelets.

Buck if you get/see this and can help it would be appreciated, please email me.

Thanks,
Jesse

Sometimes its like peering into a treasure chest when you peer into old kits like this. You don't know what to expect. Interesting Buck.