WIX Archives

Gobsmacked.....

Posted by Tony on Thu Nov 01, 2001 07:13:50 PM

In reply top None of Them! ( Long ) posted by Joseph Scheil on Thu Nov 01, 2001 05:12:12 PM

Mr Scheil Sir

I simply had no idea. Thanks Joe, for a very very interesting, UNPUBLISHED (as far as I am aware) insight into the use of Merlins and Packards.

I think it's time to tell us all, about that undoubted light you've been hiding under a bushel....

Did"They were expendable" affect you deeply too..?

For all of you, who have never heard a Merlin/Packard scream at full Military boost, go watch this film

Tony :0)
(JFK was the man)


: : Which boats used Packard/RR V-1650 series engines?
:
: A. None of them! As the war surplus Merlins were used in
: hydroplane racing, along with the Griffon, and the Boats
: were Packard powered, it was always assumed by most that t
: hey must have been Merlins. Boat racing used up and perha
: ps preserved the Merlin for posterity, but hundreds were d
: estroyed racing.
: Packard Motor Car Company was by the 1920's beginning to a
: dvertise Land, Sea and Air supremacy and had produced engi
: nes and winning records on all fronts. Packard began its
: marine engines for defense in 1939 with a redesign of the
: famous Gar Wood engine they had raced so successfully earl
: ier. It was called the 2M, the 1M reserved for the racing
: mill, but was still too much of a racing design. The nex
: t was the 3M-1500 of 800hp. (1500 cid) a successful desig
: n. It grew to the 4M-2500 a 1200hp engine powering the 85
: ' and 104' boats from Elco, Higgins and Vosper. This beca
: me the standard marine PT engine and grew to 1800hp by war
: s end.
: This prolific engine was a pure Packard design and was con
: sidered "the most perfect marine engine of its type" in of
: ficial communication to Packard. The 4M 2500 was built i
: n 17 different configurations but the standards are below.
: ..
:
: 60 degree V-12, 100 octane gas, rt hand rotation 6 3/8 x 6
: 1/2 inch bore and stroke 2600 fpm piston speed displacing
: 2490ci weighing 2950lbs with 4 valve DOHC heads. As you
: can see, larger that the Griffon and heavy! There was als
: o a Packard 16, the 1M 3300, and had 2500 hp. A few went
: to Navy training craft postwar. All subsequent developmen
: t for surface ships was aimed torward diesels as the 100 o
: ctane gas was considered too dangerous by 1950.
:
: Packard was a precision racing engine builder and this all
: owed them to consider building the Merlin in late 1940. O
: n may 28 1940 Packard agreed to produce the Merlin XX. Th
: e V-1650-1 was a fully interchangeable two piece block des
: ign while the RR factory was still producing the one piece
: Model 28 block. The company regretted taking the job on
: as all the British threads, measures and tooling had to be
: copied in house to assure interchangability. However the
: y began to love the best liquid cooled engine as their own
: . Packard refined the engine in concert with RR and reduc
: ed moving parts, cost and increased horsepower. The super
: charger on the 1650-5 was a Packard refinement and was cal
: led two speed, but was in a sense an overdrive, and approv
: ed by RR. Testing began in August of 1941 and at the end
: Packard constructed 55,523 Merlins.
: As for the PT's there were 808 ordered, 774 delivered, 70
: losses, 219 to Russia, and 481 surplused or scrapped.
:
: A long post, but a subject dear to my heart. Interestingl
: y the Brits were worried of their dependance on Packard at
: wars end and were also leary of the high octane fuel requ
: ired for these boats. The result was the incomparable NAP
: IER DELTIC, a diesel 3 crankshaft 18 cyl, 54 piston engine
: with tremendous power and operational use. See the Napie
: r Deltic Tech page or the ptfnasty page. The ultimate PT?
:
:
: Cheers Boys,
: Joe Scheil
:
:

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