Firm goes large to reveal the inner workings of F1 engine

AN innovative exhibit designed and built by EDM — allowing visitors to walk through a Formula 1 racing car engine — has been on display at the legendary Nurburgring motor-racing circuit in Germany.

Built by engineers at EDM Ltd, which was founded in Hollinwood, the see-through engine measures a massive seven metres by six metres by five and is completed in parts to the finest detail.

A highlight of the RingWerk action museum at the track, it leaves visitors in no doubt about the extreme forces and complex mechanics inside a Formula 1 engine as they walk through the components.

EDM, an interactive exhibits and training simulation specialist, won a competitive bid to supply a range of exhibits for the action museum. All of the exhibits were delivered to Germany this summer.

The walk-through engine is one of the largest exhibits ever produced by EDM, which has relocated to a modern base in Newton Heath.

The firm drew on 38 years of experience designing, producing and installing innovative interactive exhibits to create not just the oversized F1 engine, but also three wind-tunnel interactive models and an historic driver’s cockpit.

After entering the engine underneath its two-metre diameter cooling fan, visitors can take a close-up look at the internal workings as they pass along a slowly moving piston, crankshaft, valves and camshaft demonstrating how the four-stroke combustion cycle works.

The company’s workshop team admitted that one of the major challenges had been the sheer size and scale of the exhibit.

EDM craftsmen even had to make custom-built platforms to allow access in and around the engine framework.

Components such as the pistons – which one person would find virtually impossible to lift – were moulded from multiple layers of fibre glass.

Visitors to the three wind-tunnel models can manipulate the profile and angle of front and rear wing to witness the effect these subtle changes of car body shape have on an F1 car.

The final interactive exhibit allows visitors to climb into the seat of a 1950s Alfa Romeo F1 motor car that raced around such famous tracks as the Brooklands circuit in the UK.

EDM’s team utilised skills ranging from traditional hand crafts to the very latest in computer-aided design technology to bring the exhibits to life.

EDM began business operations in 1972 in Hollinwood and now employs a highly-skilled workforce numbering 125.