Interesting that the bearings are just copper exposed , vs a Babette coating. Engine bearings are very complicated mixtures of metals tailored to engines, racing applications and apparently aircraft engines.
The Packard built v1650 series of engines use silver at the primary bearing material with a very thin coating of lead Indium over the top. You can see some of the remaining lead Indium on the bearings he is showing you. Rolls Royce used lead bronze as the primary bearing material on a steel shell. Rolls Royce Process Specification 41 details the plating of these bearings.
This is a great series! Thanks for all the interesting insights and anecdotes about how they got more power. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment (if you'll excuse the pun ;) )
You can prevent the bearing shell from falling out of the bearing cap by smearing grease on the back of the shell. Adhesive force will make it stick strongly.
Much better than watching crap TV programs unless it is one of the UK productions. A very interesting series, I have watched a factory produced video tape on the Jaguar Mark 2, nice to see how things were quality made and we could once say Great Britain. I still drive my 1966 Jaguar Mark 2, or my ‘chick magnet’ as my wife calls it. Great to follow your Merlin rebuild from that interesting era. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 👍😁🇦🇺🦘
Although the journals are actually hollow for weight reduction primarily, the proper answer is that they are not made for -1g extended inverted flight, it’s not necessary. The Daimler-Benz had direct fuel injection, but the lubrication system was no different to the Merlin in this respect.
Was any effort made to balance the weights of the connecting rods for the rods that were the same style of rod in an engine? I didn't notice any balancing pads on the two styles of connecting rods.
In his book "Not much of an engineer" Stanley Hooker talked about a famous dispute between the RR and Ford. Having been assigned production of the Merlin, Ford motor company were sent the engineering blue prints which caused Ford a lot of consternation. So they rang up Lord Hives, boss of RR and protested that the incredibly generous tolerances of the Merlin were outrageous and would cause premature failure. Lord Hives was not impressed, and bluntly told them to just get on build them, and let RR worry about the longevity. They had a problem keeping the main or conrod caps tight, so they found a crashed german bf-109 and copied what the Germans did.
Ford UK at Trafford Park did indeed redraw the Merlin drawings to Ford's production standards following a conversation with Cyril Lovesey (not Hives). However, can you provide a reference to your comment regarding the Bf-109?
@@HistoricAeroEngines Not an official reference, from someone during the war in the UK that was sent out to inspect German V12 engines. Its no secret that during the war, the Allies used many german patents and even paid for their use after the war.
Certainly, both sides analysed all crashed aeroplanes in detail. Avionics, radar, radio direction finding, beams, jamming, as well as airframe and engine details. Used to determine performance limitations, strategic weaknesses which could be exploited in combat. However, you cited that Rolls-Royce copied the Bf-109 main or conrod caps. The engine designs differ significantly in these areas.
@@HistoricAeroEngines my source told me, its not the caps, its the fastener hardware that was changed very slightly, its probably difficult to detect the change that was made.
It is true that the conrod bolts did evolve. The Merlin received more than 4,000 modifications to improve the overall design and reliability. Regarding the conrod bolts, A.C. Lovesey (Merlin Development Manager, 1940 onwards) wrote that extensive photo-elastic tests were carried out on the bolts fitment and stress concentrations identified. Radiusing the fitment, polishing the bolt finish, and blending the bolt and the rod lug were the areas of change.
The crankpins are hollow to save weight, but the oil drillings have to pass through the hollowed out part to get to the journals. So they sealed up the hollows with aluminium plugs that are held in place by a bolt through the middle. When the engine is running the entire hollow crankpin will be filled with oil.
I'm thorougherly enjoying this series, Peter. (Charlotte Jet)
My first ever look at the insides of a Merlin. Thank you!
Absolutely fascinating, many thanks for posting.
Interesting that the bearings are just copper exposed , vs a Babette coating. Engine bearings are very complicated mixtures of metals tailored to engines, racing applications and apparently aircraft engines.
The Packard built v1650 series of engines use silver at the primary bearing material with a very thin coating of lead Indium over the top. You can see some of the remaining lead Indium on the bearings he is showing you. Rolls Royce used lead bronze as the primary bearing material on a steel shell. Rolls Royce Process Specification 41 details the plating of these bearings.
Nice real nice. Love your work Peter.😊
How fascinating! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
😳... Knive & fork rod set... unbelievable.
Very elegant. Also very expensive to make.
This is a great series! Thanks for all the interesting insights and anecdotes about how they got more power. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment (if you'll excuse the pun ;) )
Most interesting project well done and explained. Thanks for posting. Go well
You can prevent the bearing shell from falling out of the bearing cap by smearing grease on the back of the shell.
Adhesive force will make it stick strongly.
Much better than watching crap TV programs unless it is one of the UK productions. A very interesting series, I have watched a factory produced video tape on the Jaguar Mark 2, nice to see how things were quality made and we could once say Great Britain. I still drive my 1966 Jaguar Mark 2, or my ‘chick magnet’ as my wife calls it. Great to follow your Merlin rebuild from that interesting era. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 👍😁🇦🇺🦘
Bril!. An education as always!. Nice one!. 🙂
Fascinating. 👍🏻
It would be very easy to make a spreader for that crankcase so that the main bearing caps would slide in easily.
Is there a piston on a spring in the rod journal thats compressed with oil pressure for rod bearing lubrication during inverted flight?
Very good.
Are the rod journals hollow to store oil to be centrificaly fed to rod bearings during inverted flight?
Although the journals are actually hollow for weight reduction primarily, the proper answer is that they are not made for -1g extended inverted flight, it’s not necessary. The Daimler-Benz had direct fuel injection, but the lubrication system was no different to the Merlin in this respect.
Interesting. I would have guessed the con rod arrangement would have alternated from front to rear.
Was any effort made to balance the weights of the connecting rods for the rods that were the same style of rod in an engine? I didn't notice any balancing pads on the two styles of connecting rods.
They are factory balanced, and each piston has its weight stamped into the forging on completion.
Reno unlimited air racers used Allison rods in some cases as well.
No assembly lube going on the bearings or crankshaft journals-???!!!!
This wasn't shown in the video, but I confirm assembly oil was used.
In his book "Not much of an engineer" Stanley Hooker talked about a famous dispute between the RR and Ford. Having been assigned production of the Merlin, Ford motor company were sent the engineering blue prints which caused Ford a lot of consternation. So they rang up Lord Hives, boss of RR and protested that the incredibly generous tolerances of the Merlin were outrageous and would cause premature failure. Lord Hives was not impressed, and bluntly told them to just get on build them, and let RR worry about the longevity. They had a problem keeping the main or conrod caps tight, so they found a crashed german bf-109 and copied what the Germans did.
Ford UK at Trafford Park did indeed redraw the Merlin drawings to Ford's production standards following a conversation with Cyril Lovesey (not Hives). However, can you provide a reference to your comment regarding the Bf-109?
@@HistoricAeroEngines Not an official reference, from someone during the war in the UK that was sent out to inspect German V12 engines. Its no secret that during the war, the Allies used many german patents and even paid for their use after the war.
Certainly, both sides analysed all crashed aeroplanes in detail. Avionics, radar, radio direction finding, beams, jamming, as well as airframe and engine details. Used to determine performance limitations, strategic weaknesses which could be exploited in combat. However, you cited that Rolls-Royce copied the Bf-109 main or conrod caps. The engine designs differ significantly in these areas.
@@HistoricAeroEngines my source told me, its not the caps, its the fastener hardware that was changed very slightly, its probably difficult to detect the change that was made.
It is true that the conrod bolts did evolve. The Merlin received more than 4,000 modifications to improve the overall design and reliability. Regarding the conrod bolts, A.C. Lovesey (Merlin Development Manager, 1940 onwards) wrote that extensive photo-elastic tests were carried out on the bolts fitment and stress concentrations identified. Radiusing the fitment, polishing the bolt finish, and blending the bolt and the rod lug were the areas of change.
What is the idea for bolts in the crank pins
The crankpins are hollow to save weight, but the oil drillings have to pass through the hollowed out part to get to the journals. So they sealed up the hollows with aluminium plugs that are held in place by a bolt through the middle. When the engine is running the entire hollow crankpin will be filled with oil.
Выполняя работу с таким монстром , мог бы и ложемент- подставку под блок изготовить , чтобы не упираться такой массой на шпильки блока......
Why is the copper showing on the shell bearings faces???? Also no assembly lube???
Rolls Royce used centrifugally cast copper-lead as the bearing surface, so there was never any tin over the copper.