V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

[Propellerhead]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

Jay Leno has a street legal tank engined powered car that was on My Classic Car awhile back. True monster to see. I believe he mentioned it came out of one of the tanks Patton campaigned back in the day.

Jay Leno's car is powered by a Continental engine from an M-47 Patton tank.

Page down or search for "HEAP OF THE WEEK":

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/week29/index.html

More of Jay Leno's tank car and a cool L.A. photojournal for the motorheads (L.A. Confidential). Includes shots of Burt Munro's Indian!

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/week31/index.html

Iowahawk is primarily a political blog run by a serious gearhead. You've been warned.

[440_Magnum]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

Didn't one of our early tanks run a radial laid flat?

There were a lot of things used. Automotive engines (Cadillac V8s), smallish radials, diesels, and of course the A-57 30-cylinder "tank power unit" made from 5 inline-6 flathead Chrysler engines on a common gearcase:

http://shopswarf.orcon.net.nz/chrypen.html

Now THAT must have been a torque monster. I'd love to hear that thing run, too.

[jarrodeu]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/8789/tank-vs-crank.html

Jarrod

[BadIdea]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

There were a lot of things used. Automotive engines (Cadillac V8s), smallish radials, diesels, and of course the A-57 30-cylinder "tank power unit" made from 5 inline-6 flathead Chrysler engines on a common gearcase:

http://shopswarf.orcon.net.nz/chrypen.html

Now THAT must have been a torque monster. I'd love to hear that thing run, too.

From what I have read the Chrysler Multibank engine was a bit of a nightmare with five seperate carbs and ignition systems to try to keep in sync.

[BadIdea]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

Now THAT must have been a torque monster. I'd love to hear that thing run, too.

Here you go.

Sound of the Ford GAA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K9C8TkU4Urs&mode=related&search=

Sound of the R-975

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n100GpJ7UB4&mode=related&search=

Sound of the Chrysler Multibank

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lrqqi6OJv4c&mode=related&search=

[440_Magnum]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

Here you go.

Sound of the Ford GAA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K9C8TkU4Urs&mode=related&search=

Sound of the R-975

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n100GpJ7UB4&mode=related&search=

Sound of the Chrysler Multibank
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lrqqi6OJv...elated&search=

Cool stuff, thanks for posting (Youtube is a wonderful thing)! But headphones don't do any of them justice...

[440_Magnum]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

From what I have read the Chrysler Multibank engine was a bit of a nightmare with five seperate carbs and ignition systems to try to keep in sync.

I'm sure it was. On the other hand, if one carb swallowed a piece of grit in some bad fuel, or one ignition system crapped out, the rest of the engine would still run. So long as the dead bank of 6 wasn't mechanically seized, the other 4 could keep on churning. With 4 separate oiling systems, even if one did grind itself to bits it wouldn't contaminate the other 4 and wreck them too (but mechanical failure of those old Chrysler flatheads was extremely rare anyway).

They did switch to a single water pump for the whole assembly at some point early in production. The first ones had 5 separate cooling systems, too! A classic case of "there's a war on, what can we do to get this working FAST."

[Propellerhead]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

I'll second that. Pretty cool. Anyone else out there ever visit Jacque Littlefield's collection out in Portola Valley, CA?

Lots of cool toys out there (including the Geman half-track from "The Dirty Dozen." A mind blowing experience. One of the sheds has quite a few tank engines on display. There were a number of V-12 looking engines, but I didn't have time to really give them a good look with the tour going on.

The current project is a Panther that will be a runner with the original engine. A surprisingly compact V-12.

[5kevin5]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

I have visited the Littlefield Collection up in Portola Valley. It is an amazing personal collection of tanks and associated military hardware. It is actually the biggest collection of tanks that rivals the Patton Museum at Fort Knox. Every one of the tanks in his collection ran at the time they were parked in the storage buildings (they are not run on any routine basis). In my mind, the collection will be unrivaled when he completes the Panther and can locate a Tiger.

It is unfortunate that the collection is not open to the public; however, that is the plan someday. I hope to get another showing and not be hurried along by my wife or kids who don't appreciate the time it takes to fully comprehend the some of the subtle engineering (its all big metal to them).

Kevin G

[440_Magnum]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

Another video of a Merlin running on a simple stand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fSEeu0hzLo&NR

Somehow, that stand doesn't look substatial enough to me...

[Propellerhead]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

I have visited the Littlefield Collection up in Portola Valley. It is an amazing personal collection of tanks and associated military hardware. It is actually the biggest collection of tanks that rivals the Patton Museum at Fort Knox. Every one of the tanks in his collection ran at the time they were parked in the storage buildings (they are not run on any routine basis). In my mind, the collection will be unrivaled when he completes the Panther and can locate a Tiger.

It is unfortunate that the collection is not open to the public; however, that is the plan someday. I hope to get another showing and not be hurried along by my wife or kids who don't appreciate the time it takes to fully comprehend the some of the subtle engineering (its all big metal to them).

Kevin G

We used up all of our available time on our club's tour, but for the first visit there's just too much stuff! We'll probably be able to concentrate on more specific things next time. The docents had to keep around 20 modelers herded together and moving.

I'm not an armor modeler, but the collection is flipping awesome!

[AirDOGGe]

Re: V-12 MERLIN ROCKS

Jay Leno's car is powered by a Continental engine from an M-47 Patton tank.

Page down or search for "HEAP OF THE WEEK":

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/week29/index.html

More of Jay Leno's tank car and a cool L.A. photojournal for the motorheads (L.A. Confidential). Includes shots of Burt Munro's Indian!

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/week31/index.html

Iowahawk is primarily a political blog run by a serious gearhead. You've been warned.

Here's the home page for the guy that built Leno's tank-powered car. The page includes assembly photos and video of the "Blastolene Special" being started up.

http://www.blastolene.com/The_Special/index.htm

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