Building "Thor"

[Storer]

e600 said:

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for 271313315610 (e bay item number)

I spotted that earlier this evening but thanks for the heads-up. I think I would need to stretch that chassis quite a bit and remove a fair amount of unwanted steel.

I have now secured a 1930's Rolls Royce Phantom II chassis that I collect this week.

Also collecting a vertical industrial band saw, 40t box pan folder and big hydraulic guillotine so things are starting to fall into place (slowly).


Paul

[Storer]

Collected the RR Phantom II chassis today. It is almost 17ft long and in great condition so should be a great starting point.

7 hours driving in horrible conditions on very busy roads means you will have to wait for pictures.

Hope to have a bit more to report at the weekend.......all a bit hush-hush at the moment though!!!!


Paul

[Storer]

This is how much longer the Phantom chassis is over the length of an Ultima!!!!!

Great condition so a good starting point. More to come.


Paul

[Storer]

Some days will lodge in the memory for life. I think today was one of those days!

The weather (from lunchtime onwards at least!) was dire but the day was a bright one for "Thor".

With the help of a friend (thanks Charlie) I secured a nice new component.





It is a refurbished zero hours complete engine.



But that is only part of the story........

There were two of them!



Plus two very used engines and lots of parts in a crate.




So I now have 6 Rolls Royce/Rover/Nuffield 27 litre V12 Meteor engines!



Yes, you could say I am greedy but others will get a chance to own one as some will be for sale at a later date.

At the moment I will use one new engine pretty much in standard form and probably modify one of my earlier engines with throttle bodies, etc. etc. What it will go in I don't know yet.


The next challenge is to have one of the new engines running for New Year's Day at our local classic car meeting!! Bring on the flames, smoke and a rather loud noise..


Paul

[Storer]

ivanhoew said:

wut!! where !! how !!? where's the story of where they came from and how you found them,and what were they doing just lying around brand spanking gleamingly new !!

paul you big tease .


robert

Once upon a time there was a man who wanted to build a boat with two damn great engines in the spirit of the Gar Wood record breaking water speed boats.
He managed to obtain 2 newly refurbished V12 Meteor engines and 2 used engines cut straight from the scrap Centurion tanks complete with the chassis members they were mounted on.
These engines were put in a shed to await the time to build said boat.
As is often the case, time passed and the owner became ill and unfortunately died before he could build what would have been a special craft.
The family were left with the engines but were unable to continue the project and needed the space as they had been moved to a friends industrial unit.

The owner's son contacted someone who knew his father and has a Meteor engine in a car to get advice on what the engines are worth. The son had received an offer way below what he thought they would be worth and was advised not to sell. Dealers in the field were contacted but were reluctant to buy them as a job lot and their need to make a return on any deal ensured their price was still lower than the seller wanted.

At this point I had a phone call from the Meteor engine car owner asking what I thought the engines were worth as he knew I was the most recent purchaser of one of these engines. I told him what I thought the retail value of the two different condition motors were worth IMO. He then asked what I would be prepared pay for the lot! I hesitated (briefly) before I asked for more info and pictures, still not planning to add them to my existing pair.

When the pictures arrived and I realised there were two very fresh complete engines, one still in it's MOD boxed crate complete with the paperwork, plus the two scrap ones with a stillage of parts, I got tempted and made an offer.

We (Charlie and I) arranged a date to go and "look" at the engines but went armed with a large wad of cash and trailers attached. The engines were as described and a deal was struck, engines loaded, strapped down and sheeted. 3.5 hours later I arrived home with the addition to my toy collection!



4 Meteor engines behind my Discovery after a very steady journey home.



Hopefully they all lived happily ever after.


The End


Paul

[Storer]

Baron Greenback said:

Thought your idea of plane engine in car was nuts/awesome until found this beast
1,005 cubic inch (16.3L) V8 naturally aspirated motor called “The Godfather” outputs 2,150 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 1,550 lb-ft of torque at 6,200 rpm on 112-octane fuel! Yours for only $109k!

That is some engine.
However, you could have 14 x 27 litre V12 Meteor engines with 378 litres, 9100Hp and 21000ftlbs of torque for that money. And those figures are on 82 octane fuel......


Paul

Edited by Storer on Sunday 17th November 00:34

[Storer]

davepoth said:

UltimaCH said:

I would certainly like to see THAT...

Here you go.

They were the outgunned Cromwell tanks that the British army faced the Panzer 4 with.

This is the later Centurion



All 52 tonnes of it!!!!


Paul

[Storer]

Lefty said:

Is that where the Meteor was originally used? I had assumed most tank engines back then would have been diesel?

Remember that the Centurion was designed in 1944 and came into service in early 1945. All British army vehicles at that time ran on a relatively low octane Petrol (easily refined) so only one fuel (no mistakes) and easier logistics.

Diesel was much less common in those days and NATO forces didn't adapt to it until the 1960's/70's.

Most of the Centurions sold to Israel were converted to diesel at the same time as the gun was uprated to 105mm. The heat and dust of the desert were too much for the Meteor engine.


Paul

[Storer]

davepoth said:

Back then pretty much everything the UK armed forces were using on land ran on petrol so it made sense to have petrol tanks too, to avoid a whole diesel supply chain.

Dave
You beat me to it..


Paul

[Storer]

Knowing how canny the Israelis are financially I suspect we bought them all back for twice what they paid for them...............


Paul

[Storer]

Update

Lots going on out of the workshop so progress has been a bit slow.

Still acquiring a few extra tools to make metalworking easier. A 40 tonne box pan folder and a 2.0m x 4mm sheet metal guillotine both purchased for scrap money (each weigh about 3 tonnes!). A few hours fiddling and they are both working. Very pleased.

Today saw a plasma cutter added too. I have been a bit slow adopting this technology but I needed some tidy large holes in the chassis for the fitment of coolant pipes (the chassis is part of the cooling system). Oxy/propane would not fit the bill. So £380.00 inc VAT later and I have this which will cut up to 25mm thick steel.



Used it to cut this (my first attempt freehand)



The engine test bed chassis is now solid but a few welds to complete.



Don't fret about the engine on there. It will need a complete rebuild so contamination is not a worry.

These engines were not as crude as many think. They were single overhead camshaft with 4 sodium filled valves per cylinder! The design dates from the 1930's so only 40 years after the petrol engine first surfaced!!!

Tomorrow will see a few more parts fitted to the chassis and the start of the dry sump tank (only 20 litres of oil instead of the tank's 65 litres!)

Paul

[Storer]

Hi All

I am building an engine chassis which will enable me to run each engine out of the car.

It will have dry-sump tank, radiator, fuel tank and batteries (24volt). It is equipped so that I can forklift it onto a trailer.

The hole, as said, is in new box section. Not neat yet but that will come with practice.

A bit more progress today but not quite as much as I had hoped. The guillotine has been useful and I must find the time to complete the refurbishment of it as it will speed everything up when fabricating.

Cut the sheet for the dry sump tank this afternoon. Bit of bending to do and then the welding.

Like most that do these crazy things, I find dedicating uninterrupted time to the project quite hard. There are many other demands on my time and most have a slightly higher priority.

However, I find it a very enjoyable experience and I am learning something new every day.

Paul

PS. Had a Rover 827 many year ago and not somewhere I wish to go again......

[Storer]

Sorry, but it does nothing for me. Wooden wheels and about 10 years older than my Phantom. There were big changes going on each year back then.


Paul

PS. Are you the seller????????

[Storer]

vincegail said:

Storer said:

shoestring7 said:

That's grim. Surely the Bob Peterson car is the sort of thing you're trying to achieve?



SS7

You are right.

The Petersen Supercharged Road Racer is as close as I have seen so far but without the "side pods" and with straight pipes for show but with a silencer system if I want to drive to Le Mans..,,

Paul

Storer said:

I like the look of this.......



but I bet the budget was somewhat larger than what I am hoping to get away with spending.

Shame they didn't use the V16 supercharged engine but it is only make believe and special effects can make it sound right for the film.

Can you imagine driving that down to Le Mans!!!!!

Paul

Well, I sure hope to see 'Thor' at the Pistonheads meet, Saint Saturnin and the Le Mans campsites! Looking forward to it!

I hope you will see it at St Saturnin (eventually, but not next year!!!) but you will never see it at a camp site. At my age I like my creature comforts and a proper bed and en-suit facilities are one of the essentials!!

Paul

[Storer]

Today found me buying a tractor radiator for the test rig cooling. Not as big as I would have liked but the engine will not be under load and I may fit a buffer tank with 3 or 4 gallons of coolant that will probably give me 8 to 10 gallons of coolant to absorb the heat from a test run.

Need to get a 24 volt fan - should get that sorted later tonight.

2 Scania truck batteries should sort the staring out.

Dry sump tank well under way.

Should make my Christmas deadline with ease at this rate (what could go wrong!!!!!!!!). Famous last words....

Pictures to follow in the next day or two.


Paul

[Storer]

AlVal said:

Look forward to the pics! or better, try and grab a vid of the first startup

There will be a vid......


Paul

[Storer]

Bit more progress today with the dry sump tank almost finished. Tomorrow I will sand blast the inside, flush and then weld the bottom on. Just needs a ventilated filler cap now.

Cut the brackets for the radiator this evening.

I am planning to use an old gas bottle as the fuel tank, so took the top off and filled it with water to flush the gas out. I need to put a filler cap on the top and an outlet on the bottom. I will do this with water in the tank. Then I can pressure wash any gas sludge out.

Risky I know, but life needs a few risks.......famous last words.....possibly.

Hopefully I will be in a position to paint it after next weekend, then it's electrics time.

I will try to get some pics tomorrow.


Paul

[Storer]

A little progress today

Cut the hole in the bottom of the gas cylinder. Used the plasma cutter with the cylinder full of water. Quite surreal watching the arc with water pouring everywhere!!!!

Also cut some plates that will need bending as brackets for the batteries and fuel tank. I will get them bent tomorrow.

Sand blasted the dry sump and then washed in the parts washer. Need a breather/filler cap and then it is ready.





You can see the inlet tube to create the swirl to allow the air in the oil to escape. The breather tube starts slightly below the inlet tube.
The reason for the strange shaped box below the tube is that the height difference between the inlet of the pump and the top is not very great and if the oil level is much higher it will drain back into the engine creating starting issues.

Also made a pipe for the coolant outlet to the bottom of the radiator.



Hopefully I can progress a good bit further this week.


Paul

[Storer]

Ayahuasca said:

[url]

|http://thumbsnap.com/PTWHfizL[/url]

Thor's cousin Mavis.

42litre Packard Bentley powered by an old PT boat engine.

Don't you just love the heat haze............

If Thor looks half as good as Mavis I will be very chuffed.


Paul

[Storer]

It should be illegal to post metal working auctions/sales on a forum that I frequent.

I find temptation hard to resist at the best of times. Ebay has a lot to answer for!!

Thanks for the link but fortunately there is nothing there I need.


Paul