AV-108-4 Engine History

1959 - 1962, Mighty Mite, M422, Wanted, USED PARTS FOR SALE, and Knowledge Base
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ArmySailor
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AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by ArmySailor » Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:43 am

Working on a piece on the M-M for the "Backwards Glances" column of Four Wheeler magazine. I wanted to delve into the background of the engine but have found little about it. I can’t find much about how it came to be, only that the project to develop it came about the same time the M-M project started and that the V4 and the M-M kinda found each other when MARCO was casting about for an engine to replace the Porsche. Of course, AMC then bought MARCO out of the project. There is some references to Romney mentioning a V4 project in ’54 and that it had been going a while. I see some tantalizing references to some die cast engines Doeler-Jarvis was working on for Kaiser-Frazer in 1951. I know the engine started off as a 95 ci unit but at some point near 1959 ended up at 108 ci. I am very curious as to what purpose the engine was originally intended.
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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by mspeters » Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:00 pm

Jim,

You may already have read it, but there is some AMC V4 development info in a Feb 1959 Popular Science on the ‘Detroit’s V4 engine’. It was the cover story.

A copy is available on ebay. I have misplaced my copy.

Good luck on completing the ‘backward glance’


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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by ArmySailor » Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:07 pm

Thanks Mark,

Yeah I got that PopSci article. Interesting but doesn't go into the past much
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Bill H.
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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by Bill H. » Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:58 pm

The AV108 kind of resembles the air cooled V4 Wisconsin that was used in R&R cabooses as generator engines.
Bill H.

"Each shall seek his own kind, in other words, a bird may love a fish but where would they build a home together?" Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by Wolfman » Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:28 am

Only have had one Mighty Mite go through the shop. When I first raised the hood, I thought it was a V-4 Wisconsin engine.
One of the reasons they were engine choosen, as I was told , was to save weight.
The Mity Might, again as I was told, was to be air dropped by parachute, ahead of a Marine squad, in this case. Once all were on the ground, the Marines mounted up and were off to where ever they were headed. The MM that went through the shop had lift eyes on the front and back.
One of the issues with the engine was, the cylinders were chromed in the bore and if the engine over heated, which was quite likely in a combat situation, the chrome flaked off, locking up the engine. It was air cooled. Not good !! What I found when I diassembled the engine I worked on.
One thing that makes me think this is so, is, there was a large supply of them at one time through Army Surplus stores.
A farmer came into my shop while I was working on the engine and ask where I got the Mighty Mite engine. I was surprised he knew what it was. Seems he and some of his buddies were buying the engines, new in crates, from Army Surplus and putting them in, what he called " oversized go carts. The engines were light, small and had more power than some of the other engines he had tried. At the time, they were cheap and plentiful. They ran them until they blew up and then put in another one.
Wouldn,t you like like to find some of those now, still in crates !
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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by rob w » Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:17 am

http://m422a1.com/fun%20mite%20stuff.html

Another article on the engine....

Rgds,

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by rob w » Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:33 am

Jim,

there is a lot of misinformation already published about the mite, be careful in your research... they were air transportable (does not mean they were intended to be air dropped) Early Marine Helicopters were piston powered.....the mite came along before the turbine helicopter was fully implemented, so there was a heavy push for an ultra light weight vehicle for transport. The mite engine has no relation at all to the wisconsin engine that I have found other than they both happen to be air cooled v4's (this seems to another bit of folklore)

One more article below talks about some of the "myths" about the engine....initial development info on that V4 seems quite hard to come by.

The second engine article that I sent in the first link talks about some of amc's discussions about it.

http://m422a1.com/pdf%20docs/Mighty_Mit ... %20RFW.pdf

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rob w
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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by rob w » Fri Apr 20, 2018 4:41 am

I guess the article is already here! Enjoy! (thanks to RADAR for forwarding this a.m.)

http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/180 ... ghty-mite/


Great job, excellent article...thanks Jim Allen! Nice for the Mite to get some national recognition in Four Wheeler!

For those who don't know it Jim Allen is a long time 4x4 writer for Four Wheeler and has written several books on 4x4's! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Allen_(4x4_writer)


Also he credited Tom Price and Jim Gilmore for article contributions, both long time MVPA members and Mite enthusiasts who have done the research..thanks guys! Great stuff!

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by SC397 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:27 am

"Reportedly, this engine was instigated by Nash as an economy car engine."

It has been rumored that the engine was developed for a small car to replace the Metropolitan.

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by rodusmc1962 » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:00 pm

Our 4th Marine out fit used copters to air lift mites in 1963 and 1964 , we didn`t have hueys the, the things looked like grasshoppers, I don`t recall what model they were. The mites were made to be destroyed after a mission if we couldn't get them out. We were trained how to disable them so the enemy couldn't use them , a white phosphorus grenade works best.I have never heard mite engines getting into surplus stores. When Sam Werner bought the entire mite inventory there were no mite engines. He
never heard of it either.
We never had mite engines in the crate,I am respectfully doubtfull of this
story .

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by Wolfman » Sun Apr 29, 2018 6:48 am

Did not say I bought a mite engine in a crate, Rod.
I said a farmer told me he bought a mite engine in a crate. More than one.
He died last fall so can't follow up.
I don't know ??
He did tell me where the surplus store was, and there was a store there at the time.
Just sharing what I was told.
Mike Wolford
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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by Austringer » Sun Apr 29, 2018 2:05 pm

I've seen a mite engine in a crate, but the crate/engine was left out in the elements and was basially a big boat anchor at the time. This was in Albany GA near the USMC base. The guy who had this said he had bought several in the 1980s and sold all but this one. It was def NOS or rebuilt as it had the plugs and seals on it as were found on NOS or rebuilt engines.

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by lawverdict » Wed May 02, 2018 1:46 pm

Regarding MM crate engines, about 10 years ago a note was left on my MM windshield at a car show "I have 8 of these engines." I called the number, and skeptically told the fellow that I think he might be wrong. He described the engines to me and sure enough, they were MM engines, all on pallets. He had purchased the engines from a depot in Barstow, CA and only removed one of the distributors to use for mud bogging/tractor pulling. He delivered the engines for an agreed upon price of $50 per engine. The engines arrived complete on pallets unused. Not having room to store the engines, I put them on this site and the internet and the entire lot sold within an hour. The engines appeared to be NOS. What I wouldn't give to turn back time.

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by rodusmc1962 » Thu May 03, 2018 12:53 pm

Barstow was where most of the mite inventory was held, plus one other depot in Calif. can`t recall which one.

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Re: AV-108-4 Engine History

Post by Bill H. » Sat May 12, 2018 9:13 pm

Mine came from Barstow.
Bill H.

"Each shall seek his own kind, in other words, a bird may love a fish but where would they build a home together?" Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof

1952 Dunbar Kapple M100
1953 Willys M38A1
1962 AMC M422A1
1965 Stevens M416B1 X 2
1967 Kaiser M715

2 Timothy 3:1-5


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