Chamber construction for internal combustion engine

Claim 1

A method of assembling an internal combustion engine, comprising: (a) defining a three piece construction to define the combustion chambers, camshaft case, water jacket, and crankshaft case of the internal combustion engine, said three pieces consisting of a cast metal monoblock defining a plurality of combustion chambers aligned along a central plane, the monoblock containing wear resistant surfaces comprising cylinder bores, valve seats and valve guides, a pair of cast metal complementary clamshell housing sections having margins mateable along said central plane and effective to support and envelope said monoblock in spaced relationship therein to define a water jacket chamber about said combustion chambers, said sections each containing peripheral grooves in said margins about said water jacket perimeter for reception of means to seal said chamber and to join said sections together in a fixed relationship; (b) laying one of said clamshell housing sections in a horizontal position so that the margins of the mating plane is in a horizontal position; (c) inserting functional subassemblies into and onto said monoblock, said subassemblies comprising the camshaft, cam followers, springs and valve trains to constitute a valve train, piston, sealing members, and connecting rod assembly, and a crankshaft assembly; (d) laying said monoblock containing said subassemblies into said horizontally prone clamshell section in a manner so that the facing surfaces on said monoblock oppose the grooves in said margins; (e) interposing sealing means into the groove of said one section; and (f) placing the other clamshell section over and onto said first clamshell section to close the construction in such a manner that the groove and lip surface between said monoblock and second clamshell section are opposing each other, said closed sections then being fixedly joined to complete the engine construction.

Claim 2

A method of assembling an internal combustion engine, comprising: (a) defining a three piece construction to define the combustion chambers, camshaft case, water jacket, and crankshaft case of the internal combustion engine, said three pieces consisting of a cast metal monoblock defining a plurality of combustion chambers aligned along a central plane, the monoblock containing wear resistant surfaces comprising cylinder bores, valve seats and valve guides, a pair of cast metal complementary clamshell housing sections having margins mateable along said central plane and effective to support and envelope said monoblock in spaced relationship therein to define a water jacket chamber about said combustion chambers, said sections each containing peripheral grooves in said margins about said water jacket perimeter for reception of means to seal said chamber and to join said sections together in a fixed relationship; (b) laying one of said clamshell housing sections in a horizontal position so that the margins of the mating plane is in a horizontal position; (c) inserting functional subassemblies into and onto said monoblock, said subassemblies comprising the camshaft, cam followers, springs and valve trains to constitute a valve train, piston, sealing members, and connecting rod assembly, and a crankshaft assembly; (d) laying said monoblock containing said subassemblies into said horizontally prone clamshell section in a manner so that the facing surfaces on said monoblock oppose the grooves in said margins; (e) interposing sealing means into the groove of said one section; and (f) placing the other clamshell section over and onto said first clamshell section to close the construction in such a manner that the groove and lip surface between said monoblock and second clamshell section are opposing each other, said closed sections then being fixedly joined to complete the engine construction.