I also thought she didn't get to see the static engine until the third part too.
Who are you to want to escape a thugs bullet? That is only a personal prejudice, ( Atlas Shrugged)
"Those that don't watch the old media are uninformed, those that do watch the old media are misinformed." - Mark Twain
They found it in part 2 (of the book not the movie) but before Quentin Daniels could get it to work The Destroyer came for him. She was chasing him in her plan when she few into the valley at the end of part 2. There is a lot of stuff in the movie that is different then the book, at least in part one.