Engine blocks

This is Noah Armistead (B.S.’22). And this is the replica Ferrari 158 engine he’s been constructing almost entirely of Lego bricks the past two years, first as a project for his engineering degree and now because it’s just too fun to stop. The pictured motor consists of about 4,000 plastic pieces and one 3D-printed part (sleeves to size cylinders for their pistons), and its components properly push and pull when Armistead hand-turns the crankshaft. The engine eventually will include about 10,000 pieces and run when connected to a shop-vac-style vacuum. In February, Armistead began a job in the engine department at Hendrick Motorsports in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before he left Richmond, he gave the magazine’s video team a tour of his creation.