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#Post#: 101127--------------------------------------------------
Project Thunder
By: Matthew Date: March 27, 2016, 5:10 pm
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So, in light of not much happening on the Series LR front
(waiting for a gap in the schedule of my good friend who is
going to restore it for me), flush with the money from selling
my steam engine, and wanting to scratch a 15-year itch, I went
and bought a Meteor.
For the uninitiated, the Meteor is a 27 litre V12 engine
produced by Rolls-Royce as a land-based development of the
legendary Merlin aero engine. Stripped of the supercharger,
propellor reduction gear and other aviation-related
paraphernalia, Meteors were used to power every British heavy
tank from the WW2 Cromwell up to the Centurion/Conqueror family
that was replaced by Chieftain and its all-new Leyland Diesel
running gear. They were still in use with the Swedish Army up
until the mid 90s, so availability of parts and even entire
engines is still relatively decent if one knows where to look.
In naturally aspirated form, a Meteor knocks out around 650bhp
and 1600lb-ft of torque. Most importantly for WW2 tank crews, it
was the first heavy tank engine to make anywhere near such
power, and to make it reliably - a function of its very
understressed nature from being designed for forced induction.
With weight-saving no longer important, and with cost in mind, a
lot of the forged internals of the Merlin became cast for use in
Meteors, and whenever possible the production used obsolete
and/or quality-rejected Merlin parts to avoid waste.
Meteor engines were built not only by Rolls Royce, but also by
Rover, Bedford, Meadows and other manufacturers under license as
part of the war effort. Rover continued making the engines up
until the late 60s, having done a deal in wartime to take over
the majority of production for RR in a swap for their gas
turbine technology, which they were struggling to develop - but
which RR, under legendary jet engineer Stanley Hooker, soon
turned around.
So. This particular Meteor, number R47735, was purchased in
running form about 10 years ago by an aircraft-restoring friend
of mine, who intended to use it for parts to rebuild a damaged
Merlin, which would be worth about 10x the price. However, a
change in circumstances meant that shorty after stripping it
down, he sold it to a elderly collector who intended to rebuild
it "one day". This never happened, and the various parts
languished under a tarp in his garden for 9 years until I
arrived on the scene. Having expressed my desire to one day own
an aero-type engine, aero-restorer friend duly put me in touch
with collector and a deal was struck.
So, then came the day of collection! 4 of us just about managed
to manhandle the major components into the back of a van without
killing ourselves, and so began the trek to the workshop of the
aero-friend, who is going to help me stick it back together.
Unloading was a lot easier at this end with the help of a 5-ton
forklift truck!
Here are some snaps of the engine as it arrived. For some idea
of scale, that is full-size pallet it is sitting on!
HTML http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag227/cheshirecowboy/Meteor/DSC_0891_zps2nblo0kw.jpg
HTML http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag227/cheshirecowboy/Meteor/DSC_0892_zpsquryqzfl.jpg
Instructions not included!
HTML http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag227/cheshirecowboy/Meteor/DSC_0895_zpsaqgxxqik.jpg
I currently only have the sellers' word that it is indeed all
there - time will tell as I come to reassemble it!
I already know that a few things will need to go on the shopping
list. Firstly, some ham-fisted ape (most probably at the MOD
disposal contractor where the engine will originally have come
from) has completely butchered the intake manifold with an angle
grinder to circumvent some seized nuts and studs that would have
held the airbox assembly to the top of the engine in the tank's
engine bay. A lovely-looking aluminium casting, this sits in the
Vee of the engine and directs air down into carburettors
nestling in this warm spot to avoid icing, before bringing it
back up to the intake ports at the top edges of the Vee.
Secondly, whilst Merlin engines had lovely smooth cam covers
with the RR name engraved into them like so:
HTML http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Rolls-Royce/31-Rolls_PII_Wilkinsons_DHC_DV_08_PBC_e01.jpg
... the Meteor had various ancillary parts mounted to the top of
it in a tank installation, so has nasty, ugly covers like this:
HTML https://img.mecum.com/auctions/MO1010/MO1010-99852/images/MO1010-99852_1.jpg
There is but one snag - warbird parts websites are asking £1500
for a pair of Merlin covers. They can keep on asking at that
price!
Similarly for exhaust stubs - a single Spitfire exhaust stub, of
which there are 6 per side, retails for around £200. Methinks I
will be getting a nice custom set of stubs welded up for me out
of some tube!
Problem 3 is what to put on the end of the crankshaft to give
them engine a bit of weight to turn against. Obviously, if I
were running a Merlin, them I would have a propellor on the end
of the reduction gear. Due to the re-engineering of the Merlin
into the Meteor, Meteors do not have a conventional flywheel -
rather, they retain the splined female end of the crankshaft
which then drives a separate clutch pack for use in tanks. This
is a Centurion clutch pack - it is about 2 and a half feet
across, and a foot deep. Guess how much it weighs?
HTML http://www.cheffins.co.uk/assets/catalogues/lots/381/84.jpg
Nope, you're wrong - 300kg, give or take (most of which is the
casing, to be fair - though the plates inside are still pretty
hefty!). Needless to say, I will be looking at having a somewhat
smaller, lighter flywheel machined to fit my engine.
And that is currently where I'm up to, really. Due to being very
busy with other hobbies and interests, the engine has sat
untouched in my bit of the workshop. Due to the previous tenant
of my area being a carpenter/boat builder with no regard for
anyone else, the place was an utter tip when I took over, and
everything is covered in sawdust and cement dust from the floor.
I've therefore been very busy tidying up, clearing things, and
turning a filthy and bodged bare wood workbench into a surgical
engine reassembly area sealed with copious amounts of white
paint - as PHer Vocht will attest having popped in for a visit
today!
Things will really begin to get cracking when I manage to sell
on a pile of 100 or so airline seats currently occupying most of
my floor space (PM me if you're interested in some!), giving me
room to bring in my engine trailer and start building up the
block in situ once cleaned and oiled.
#Post#: 101128--------------------------------------------------
Re: Project Thunder
By: Matthew Date: March 27, 2016, 5:15 pm
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For the time being, the engine will reside in a show trailer.
Here is an example of a very nice show trailer. This one was
built from scratch around a genuine Spitfire engine-bearer and
belongs to Peter Grieve of Flight Engineering Ltd, a company
that restores Merlins to airworthy spec.
HTML http://i.imgur.com/QJKy9nP.png
This trailer is actually the Mk2 version. What happened to the
Mk1 version? Well, by a great coincidence, it was purchased by
the same aircraft-restoring friend who is doing my engine, and
had resided in an outbuilding at his workshop for about 20
years. This version was based on the heavily modified chassis of
a Sankey 3/4ton British Army trailer, so had weathered the years
well, although looks rather worse for wear! A few weeks ago,
some notes changed hands and I set about disinterring it
(apologies for the, ahem, non-Series vehicle in the shot):
HTML http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag227/cheshirecowboy/Meteor/DSC_1002_zpsxlqcuuoq.jpg
HTML http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag227/cheshirecowboy/Meteor/DSC_1000_zpsieaprn1c.jpg
The ex-military people among you will notice that the hitch has
been cleverly moved from its usual perch with an underslung
adaptor that bolts up to the existing through-chassis holes, to
bring it down to the level of a civilian towbar - though the
nato ring hitch itself has been retained. This is now sold, to
be replaced with a normal socket hitch when I find one to fit
the adaptor plate.
I know it looks a mess now, but I'm confident that a lick of
paint will do wonders! I also have some new wheels that I'm
currently refurbishing to go on, as the original ones pictured
are tubed and I really can't be fucked going down that road,
having had to do it once before when I put some 1-ton rims on
the Series.
And that is where I am currently up to!
On a related note, I would be very grateful if anyone who ever
saw and photographed the previously installed engine running on
this trailer at shows would be able to send me some pictures - I
currently cannot find any on the internet, and have nothing to
go on reference-wise for location and plumbing of fluid tanks,
electrics and the instrument panel![/quote]
My ultimate ambition, and I'm talking probably a good 10-15
years into the future here, is to create a road going 2-seat
approximation of the marvellously ludicrous Napier-Railton:
HTML http://i.pbase.com/o6/73/235673/1/80865630.WQHeWckf.D2X_6883.jpg
Not that this hasn't been done before - most notably with this,
the Hadleye (sp?) Special which has been around a few years.
This is brilliant feat of very neat engineering and I gather has
been well-executed. To my knowledge, it is based on a suitably
beefy vintage Rolls Royce chassis. However, beauty is in the eye
of the beholder and designer, and to me it looks bloated with
the proportions all wrong - too small a grille and too-large
headlamps, for a kickoff, and to my mind the fairing-in of the
lower chassis with the heavily scalloped louvred bits only adds
to the odd look.
HTML http://ringmershow.co.uk/resources/Ringmer%20Show%202011%20152s.jpg
One can but dream, and keep sketching further iterations of what
it will look like in my mind once finished......
#Post#: 101147--------------------------------------------------
Re: Project Thunder
By: rowehillmaster Date: March 29, 2016, 11:02 am
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... have fun ! :thumbs: -: some interesting reading here ?
HTML http://www.rrec.org.uk/History/Clan_Foundry_Belper.php
HTML http://www.rrec.org.uk/History/Clan_Foundry_Belper.php
... my father-in-law worked there for a while,
#Post#: 101148--------------------------------------------------
Re: Project Thunder
By: kev Date: March 29, 2016, 11:15 am
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Well, that's certainly different. 8)
That Merlin on the trailer looks like it could take off if you
over-revved it! :o
#Post#: 101149--------------------------------------------------
Re: Project Thunder
By: Doug_T Date: March 29, 2016, 2:11 pm
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As one of them has already been shoehorned into an SD1, I'm sure
you could get it into a 109 in the interim?
#Post#: 101162--------------------------------------------------
Re: Project Thunder
By: samc88 Date: March 29, 2016, 3:58 pm
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There is only one question which needs asking......
....why not combine two projects and stick it in the series ;D
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