The Story Behind Pete Aardema and Kevin Braun's 920 HP - V12 Engine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- Automotive legend and Land Speed Racer, Pete Aardema, and his Master Machinist/Engineer, Kevin Braun, build some of the most bizarre internal combustion performance motors on this planet. The most recent creation is the Aardema/Braun naturally aspirated 920 HP-V12 engine which took three years to complete. This motor and design is a great example of Pete Aardema’s accomplishments that produced record winning results. This short video will take you behind the scenes in Pete’s shop so you can see and hear first hand how Pete and Kevin built this beautiful V12 machine.
Filmed using a GoPro Hero 9
I met Pete 35 years ago in San Diego at a car show. He had at the time a white 34 ford rear engine car its was Magnificent. He had a coolant leak and was far from home I asked him if he wanted to use my garage to fix the car. I lived in Santee in a condo and had just moved my 56 Buick out to make room. He and his wife drove very slow over to my place. We had to take out the back seat to access the engine since its rear design. The radiator was in the front but the lines went through the frame then to the engine in the back. We got the hoses out and repaired the leak. Both my young sons helped and we got him sorted out and back on the road. I have pictures of the car and us working on it. It was a Blast to work along side Pete and get to help him fix this Wonderful car. Great Memories in Deed.
That's Awesome Dave! Pete still has the 34 rear engine vehicle here is San Diego. I will mention this to him and see if he remembers. Pete has many irons in the fire, he builds a car or motor, drives it, then starts something new. He always has something new and mind blowing going on. This week the V12 is going back together, the week before was Bonneville and set a new record. The week before that was a new venture in building a 2 liter motor. Always something going on. I'm will do a new feature soon highlighting yet another gem which is his 4 cam SB 350 very soon. Stay tuned you will like what is to coming.
@@GregQuirin I still have an original t shirt he gave me back in 96 I Cherish it. I'll look up those pictures and drop them to you. Haveca Great Weekend.
Great story!
Their patience is in another realm.
"Lets order a custom 12 cylinder crank, gonna take a couple years". Not a CNC in sight! They built an entire block with metal stock and welding! Hand made Billet! Thanks this brought my patience back.
Patience, persistence, and vision from dreams😉🙂👍👍
they mentioned plenty of CNC parts.
People overthink stuff. The block does not need to be perfect square, only your crank, cam and cylinder bores (and even there there is some give!).
One of my sketchiest rebuilds involving: brazing of the head, jb-welding of the block (where it lost a rod), angle-grinder "machine work", bench ground pistons, hand drill re-angled valves, and sandpaper mated surfaces is still running 20 years later with over 300k and nearly double it's stock power. Just be aware of critical clearances (oil bearing surfaces) and use some plastigauge to be sure.
the block & heads aren't the hard part.
Men who do what others can't even dream of: Mr. Aardema, and Allen Millyard, his British brother from another mother. Plus multiple Australian cousins.
Just think if you locked them 🤔 in a room full of machining tools what they could Achieve 🤔 I have an Idea 💡 😉
@@andyplage6590 I have no idea what they'd come up with, but it would probably have three wheels. That being because Millyard does motorcycles, Aardema does cars,
and they'd have find a project they could agree on. I'm going to guess something that would look like an enlarged Morgan three-wheeler powered by a home-brewed
DOHC V-12, seating four, and with all three wheels driven.
@@Baribrotzer 🤔😉🙂👍👍
These man are from another breed, engineering from scratch is something many talent engineers can do… re-engineering the way they do, is something absolutely insane. Allen Millyard is an absolute legend also who does things with engines no one can.
@@lodo75 And the key piece of information for such wizardry is Imagination, vision and the ability to show those that say it can't be done, the Exact opposite ( it can be done if you can see it done in your mind).
These men and others stand out in human history.
For example Allexander Graham Bell ( invented the phone) people of the time wanted to lock him up in an asylum for the insane.
Alexander Is probably turning in his gray saying I should of shown them a wireless phone and really freaked them out giggle.
Thank you for putting these men on cyberspace. They may have gone unnoticed by the world outside of the US.
absolute legends here folks, we really NEED talent like this to keep us inspired with skills and passion for the IC engine passed onto to the younger generations. This is how things were done from the very beginning.
2 of the coolest old dudes I’ve ever seen! Wow! What I wouldn’t give to be a “floor sweeper” in that shop!
It is pretty cool to see what they have achieve.
These guys are doing what I dream about day and night. I have my designs in my head.
😆
The Allen Millyard of car engines! I love it, wish this guy was my grandfather, I'd be in the shop learning and building with him everyday!
Sometimes I watch videos on TH-cam and feel pretty good about myself, maybe I’m smarter than I thought.
Then I watch this one……
These guys are incredible. Skills, forethought and knowledge that is off the charts.
They seem so proud of their work. And they should. Amazing stuff
I have made my own car, but making your own engine..... what a bunch of heroes!!!! I love it! Just like Allen Millyard.
This is just AWESOME! One of the reasons I so enjoyed going to Bonneville was seeing all the ingenuity and craftsmanship. This exemplifies that. Thank you for sharing and explaining how you built this.
That's some incredible talent and dedication.
These geniuses have created a masterpiece!
Finding these videos are amazing
Pure genius I hope they both live to 100+ and keep doing this forever . Humans are amazing
We should cryogenically freeze them both to bring them back imo....
Please keep it comin.. these are the type of guys for a newb like me, you just sit and watch quietly. 🙏🏾
I will hopefully do another one soon on Pete’s 4 cam SB 350 it’s very impressive.
THESE ARE LEGENDS!!!
I remember reading about Pete’s “sheet metal” four cylinder in Hot Rod Mag. It blew my mind! What they’re doing seems impossible but here it is. Inspiring. Building a motor like this is would be an experience of a lifetime!
Truly amazing work by Kevin and Pete. Astonishing video Greg, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it I'm new to the video world so I'm slowing improving as I go. Thank for watching and stay tuned I will upload more cool stuff pretty soon. Greg
brilliant piece of machinery i hops it is well documented
Thank you !
Amazing!! Two absolutely beautiful minds! Amazing!!!
I can only shake my head in amazement. I thought building my engine run stand was an accomplishment. Incredible.
Thank you! Pete and Kevin are currently building a new V12. Hope to have it posted soon. Stay Tuned
What a Machine! More of this please!
I planning on putting together a video on one of his quad cam Chevy small blocks he is building right now. It's impressive!
Yes these men are artists in they craft of machines true craftsmen i need this dude for my grand dad
With main bearing every journal the bottom of the engine with bearing guttural should b strong stuff ! It really take two years get crank made ? Those belt drive oil pumps are they extra or the only oil pump on Engine
@@GregQuirin what a gorgeous looking Engine the two Engine Builders are amazing i follow you 💯 from 🇨🇦 #YSW
I think it's amazing they built a 900hp motor out of extruded aluminium tube!
There are other 6 liter V12s in the world, but I can't imagine any have heads that flow anything close to the IRL Aurora heads. What a coup those heads are! Lots of hard work to get it all into a working engine.
mans that is COOL!! you 2 can cobble together an absolute masterpiece of an engine! you guys are freaking awesome
Thank you! Check out some of Pete and Kevin's other videos.
Speed is one thing, but I would love to see these guys switch gears and get into efficiency engine designs like the thermally isolated split cycle engine, wobble plate, orbital, etc. I am convinced they could make it work.
Yeah, that would be exciting.🙄
Amazing amazing amazing!!!! My dream would be work work under those guys and simply absorb experience!!!
Yes I would love to b just floor sweeper for these craftsmen
These guys are brilliant!
The construction methods used reminds me of very early race car engines at the dawn of motoring and early aero engines for that matter. Benz used a fabricated cylinder block and wet liners. I’ve come across crankshaft construction which were built up using ‘Hirth coupling’ roller bearing crankshafts which were built up. The last engine to use this crankshaft construction I know was the Porsche Type 547 engine, which became known as the "Fuhrmann engine".
I was saving up for his Cosworth reworked double overhead cam small block chevy kit and when I had enough I called and Cosworth had quit making the heads so he couldn't make his kit anymore. Pete is an incredibly ingenious guy massive respect for what he and Kevin have accomplished. Still would love a double overhead 4 valve SBC of his.
Wow I so find guys like this so cool!
Thanks for Watching!
Man, to be a fly on the wall in that shop! What wonderful things to be learned!!!
These guys are on another plane of thought. I always wo Derek if it could be done like that, they answered that.
It's going to be a sad day when there's no more guys like this around to do this kind of work.
These two remind me very much of Allen Millyard.
Just amazing, old school machinist engineers making beautiful machinery.
I would rather pay these guys a million to build me a car over just about any of the modern hyper car manufacturers.
If you guys are still reading comments just know you're appreciated and irreplaceable.
Cool, the valve covers are held down like the valve covers on a Daimler 2.5 V8.
Man what a gem of a chanel to find
Wow, these guys take "custom build" to a whole different level.
Incredibly inspiring!
Thank you !
I love watching these videos. I really appreciate that they let you film their work!
Amazing creation, by amazing men!
Fantastic work!
I have never seen a hollow block like that!!! insane!
Well done Gentlemen!!!! Unfortunately we are losing these brilliant minds and not replacing them. Hopefully this type of fabrication will not be lost. All the best!!!
I love this stuff it’s becoming a truly lost art…. Truly beautiful minds! Thank you for sharing! God bless!
These guys are in a league of there own. I love seeing their creations.
Such a brilliant dude
There is no doubt that this is a great motor to see, however, I might say hearing this V12 scream at the top of its lungs at 10,000 RPM is even better!
Always loved the musical tones of high revving engine's!
Poetry for the ears, for this 3rd gen Engineer 😉🙂👍👍
Let's hear...please
th-cam.com/video/K9Xf6uCPY_0/w-d-xo.html
These videos are so interesting it's amazing the work they are doing themselves without a full team backing them.
Man what creative solutions to the problem at hand. I have so much respect and appreciation for this kind of problem solving. Even more so the willingness to share the journey with others.
The amount of money I would pay to have a month long Job with these guys just to learn how they come up with this stuff. This is a dying art these days. And a lifestyle that doesn't exist for many. The amount of knowledge and skill here is beyond any scale.
Thank you Theodore! The skilled work and technical knowledge from Pete and Kevin is truly out of this world. Not only do they make their own engines they also accomplish setting new land speed records. They hold a total of 33 land speed records in the books now.
Amazing work
Thanks for sharing the genius and ingenuity of these two incredible gentlemen.
Fantastic engineering and skills! I love it:)
Lot of knowledge and skill in this room.
Awesome Stuff Guys. Imagine it twin turbo'ed 1500hp easy
Impressive, only one dry sump oil pump. 911s have four return pumps and one pressure pump with some models having 8 return pumps. The R8 as well features 4 return pumps. Although a Bonneville racer does not experience cornering, so they don't need that. Nice craftsmanship!
I love these videos. I've only built a couple of engines, but I want to try this so badly.
Thanks for watching, I will post more video's soon. Greg Q
That's a labor of love. I know may way around a machine shop, and yet, to produce this is a project that is way out of my league. Very, very nice. Thank you for this video.
These guys are amazing! Hand crafted V-12 jewels, looks pretty like the old 20`s engines Rolls Royce and Duesy`s. Unbelievable!
I love how enthusiastic they are to share their work. Someone send ur kids to hang out there and learn before they’re gone and the knowledge goes with them!
I have an Aurora; fantastic engine. Shelby used them in the Series 1.
Series 1 wow haven’t heard that name in ages. Was my dream car as a teen. Too bad our government is always in the way b
To any young people watching, if you are interested in these kinds of things, go find people like this and learn. This sort of thing is dying as technology progresses. Learn how to do it the old school way. I worked for a vintage F1 engine builder for a bit when I was younger and learned so god damned much in a short period of time. My career took a different direction but the number of people who have a brain like this with this much real world experience is dwindling quickly. Go learn, keep the torch ablaze!
amazing work! Good luck on your next speed run.
Love this.
Incredible 🤩
outstanding !
How absolutely impressive!
As a Chevy freak, man, I lament the loss of Mickey Thompson. All my heroes are gone.
I would LOVE to see an unedited version of this. at least 5 times he started to say something interesting and you cut him off mid sentence to another shot. Regardless, thank you for documenting what you have.
I read all the comments and take everything into consideration to improve the videos. This is a new venture for me so the process of documenting and editing videos has improved over the last couple months. Please understand I'm learning as I go, I'm not a pro, I'm just a guy who is trying to share this unique content so everyone can see the cool stuff Pete and Kevin are capable of building. Greg Q
Make it with pride.
continuing their air supply and usage discussion;
1) make the top of the scoop higher in the front to equalize pressure. the bigger volume in front will decrease air speed, thereby increasing pressure in the front. Bernoulli's equation is counter-intuitive.
or
2) put a vertical divider in the scoop; one side goes to the front 6, other side to the rear six. you'll need horizontal dividers in there, too.
or
3) build an air box with velocity stacks on each cylinder and a scoop on each side of the air box, front/rear again.
don't waste that pressure by venting!!
3d printer can make this easier.
Impressive!
Fabulous project but that music was an unnecessary distraction
How about this beautiful v12 music fb.watch/9r0G-HPb30/
My kind of guys from San Antonio Texas
Hi Pete love your Videos
Nice shop
This is really flipping cool
DAMN INTERESTING STUFF !!!!!!!!!
Amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Why do we discriminate against older employees, these old guys would collectively have over 100 years of experiance and enough determination to attempt the unheard of and succeed, well done.
If I met you at some gearhead event and you started telling me half the stuff you've showed that these two have done ( I have no doubt there's a LOT more) I would probably think you were making it up........
Top ring notch is pretty deep! Shallower will strengthen & allow less gas/heat there & move more heat away! Also, do LSR records care whether it is one or twelve cylinders, displacement & fuel & blown or not is their thing isn't it? Beautiful work, good luck!
Legends 👏👏👏
Great work!
Who needs a bullet block when you can just weld some box section together 👌
I'd love to meet Pete if ever were to get the change. I've planned to build a V12 after retirement when I would have the time, which is now. I've looked at a lot of possibilities of engines to hack up. I am focusing on starting with 2 GM 4.2 Atlas straight 6's. There are lots to find at the wrecking yards for cheap. They have DOHC 4 valve/cylinder heads. Aluminum heads & block so easy to weld, if I am not mistaken. I would cut/weld blocks at 60 degree offset. Would need to 'mirror image' one of the heads. And have a custom crank made. Also custom intake. All this would probably be elementary for Pete. Imagine the power potential of an 8.4 V12 48 valve 4 OHC engine with boost ( twin mirror image turbos ).
There's a bit of knowledge standing around engine stand. Pretty slick how the block was assembled. I've really enjoyed watching. Thanks Fellas
I don't know if anyone has suggested this, but why not build scoop that is ducted to individual throttle bodies.
To get equal runners you'd have to do one half to the front, and one half to the back cylinders, but to opposite sides of intake manifold staggered.
But then that brings up the question of does the front scoop cause turbulence to the one for the back cylinders.
Nothing says that you can't extend the back on to come up besides the front scoop, because you wouldn't be changing the runner length by doing that, and by tapering the plenum down progressively as you get to the back cylinders you can maintain equal length runners.
Which should in theory give you equal amounts of flow per throttle body.
As for calibrating them, a magnetometer, and a wind tunnel would be the ideal way to verify the flow rates per cylinder.
Then you can restrict the ones that may flow better than the others.
Then build to whatever size inlet per cylinder you need to get the accurate air flow per cylinder.
I'm not a engineer or anything like that, but I have worked over 40 years with air flow in commercial industrial HVAC sheet metal trouble shooting large systems, and fixing the problems associated with this.
It's no different except on a much larger scale than what you're dealing with, but whether it's supplying air flow to a throttle body or a grille opening requiring a certain amount of CFM's .
It's still moving air where you want it with as little turbulence as possible with the required CFM'S.
Based on what I seen, ya'll are more than capable machinist, and should be able to accomplish this easily enough if you've got the correct information to work with.
Also someone skilled in CAD, should be able to do a simulation of what your wanting to do, and give you 3D drawings to work from, or I would think so anyways.
Yet wind tunnel with the actual air velocity and static pressure created by the wind entering the scoops would be the ultimate way to achieve what you're looking for.
Just a thought, that may have not been thought of yet, and good luck whichever way you go about solving the problem.
Superb craftsmanship and a good result.
From my past experience I would have made wooden patterns and cast the scantlings of the engine.
A basic foundry could then make as many castings as you may need at a relatively small cost.
Then machining a set of castings would be fairly quick.
Making the crankshaft is a specialist job and needs heat treatment precision grinding etc which you do not have.
However you have made a superb engine .
Interesting work kudoos to you!
I love these videos old school. Can someone help me out is he talking about welding the heads to the block or am i confused
Not to imply that welding a pair of heads together isn't a "sure, and then I had breakfast" activity for these guys, but it seems like it might have been a lot easier to just have 4 separate heads. I've long had daydreams of building an engine from scratch some day, and with inspiration like this, that day might be coming sooner and sooner.
@@CallMePseudonymous Rock on! Yeah, I'd also really like to build cars from scratch, myself. I hope you are wildly successful. :)
@@CallMePseudonymous If I build one, I'll try and TH-cam it (I'm not always the best about remembering to take pictures or video of stuff) and you should feel free. I'm only going to be doing it for the fun, really, so if some other crazy hot rodder gets some inspiration, so much the better!
Head walk would cause a problem with the overhead cams.
Love everything about this 💪💪🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🙏🙏🙏
Wow ! It takes crankshaft company a couple years to make a crankshaft. Billet a couple weeks. Cutting and welding one might take couple months. Thanks guys
This is amazing and a lot of money, easily north of 300
Amazing men
Thank you 🔥
Nothin but COOOOOOOOOOOOL!
Thank you !
AMAZING!