Getting This Ancient Sleeve-Valve Engine to Run After 60 Years Was a Labor of Love

I’m not sure if any engine built today will still be salvageable 100 years from now. Not to sound like a grump, but so much relies on computers that will surely be obsolete by then. And let’s not get started on the quality of materials being used nowadays in manufacturing. While that makes me a little sad, it helps me appreciate the revival of this ancient Willys-Knight sleeve valve engine all the more as this guy in 2025 got it going after it had sat for more than 60 years.

Nobody could blame you if you aren’t familiar with these, so let me give a quick rundown. Charles Yale Knight invented the sleeve valve engine in the early 1900s, and within the next two decades, it became somewhat popular in contemporary luxury cars like those made by Willys. Y’know, before jeeps were a thing.

They’re almost like valveless four-strokes in the sense that there is no traditional valvetrain with camshafts, rocker arms, pushrods, and the like. Rather, there are two cylinder sleeves—an inner and an outer—that move by way of individual connecting rods. As they move up and down, they uncover an intake port and exhaust port in sequence for air to go in and out. Additionally, there is no head gasket as the seal is made by the sleeves sliding into the uniquely designed head. It’s almost like an inverted piston with rings fitting inside the inner sleeve. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry. It kind of is.

Fortunately, the man behind the cruddycornstalks YouTube channel is good at what he does, so you can see the sleeve valve engine going at the end of the video. But skipping to that part would be rude because he put a lot of care into getting this thing running after more than six decades of disuse. Not only did he take it apart and clean everything, but he also rebuilt the points for the ignition system, adjusted the timing, and replaced the unusable oil pressure gauge with a foolproof piston plunger device that rises to show when there’s flow and falls to show when there’s not.

The video is shot cleanly, and there’s no annoying background music, which means it’s easy to watch. He alternates between slightly sped-up wrenching and helpful commentary as he disassembles the engine and pieces it back together.

It’s a wonder to watch it run at such low rpm on his first try. And to show how reliable this design was, it ran for 10 minutes at a crazy-low idle with the side covers off, even though that totally killed the vacuum inside the engine. Once he realized what he’d done wrong, he reinstalled those side covers, cleaned everything up with WD-40 and a rag, and cranked it by hand. Wouldn’t you know it, the darn thing started like a charm.

Because there’s no traditional valvetrain click-clacking away inside, the sleeve valve engine is incredibly quiet. The host shows that off by covering the exhaust with a rag so you can hear just how little noise it makes apart from that. Also, in a super interesting look inside, he pointed the camera inside the exhaust port so you can see the combustion chamber as it runs. Be sure to check that out at the very end, and mind the epilepsy warning, as it does feature frequent flashes.

I’m happy to have watched this, and I’m glad I got to share it with you. Again, I’m not sure we’ll see anything from today pop up in a similar video 100 years from now, but my fingers are crossed.

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