Graham, you could put quite a large radiator behind the engine mount , as you have no super charger to get in the way, it could be cooled with an electric fan ,and the carb intake in the btm cowling could be opened up to duct prop wash to the rad; the advantage of this location is that it is only just forward of the CofG, and a short pipe run would help reduce airlocks in the coolant system.

The carb situation could be over come by using Merlin intake manifolds and induction tube, and fixing a plate on the end of the induction tube (at the back) to which you could mount either a pair of dcoe 40, webber side draught carbs or 1 single dcoe48 webber, again the advantage, is that a wide variation of jets and choke tubes are available for these carbs.

thanks sounds like a great idea, will those webbers supply enough fuel? can i use any Mk of Merlin intake manifold? its a Meteor 4B

Cooling.

Could you not run it as a total loss system?

Hefty hose pouring cold mains water in at the top, drain hose letting the hot water run down a drain, fill your swimming pool, water your rain-forest garden?

Moggy

could be a bit tricky when we are taxiing down the runway:) could have the wife on the top with a 50 gallon oil drum i suppose, funny but my missis isn a great fan of my Spit R, we nearly got divorsed when i bought the shell, didnt even have a shed to put it in then. Luckily Rented it to the Pearl harbour people and it nearly covered the purchase price, wouldnt do it again they wrecked it, took months to put it right, anyway the wife calmed down after she saw thier check. 😀

Graham, if you fill the engine with coolant you will get about 5 minutes running, provided it is not under a lot of load, before it boils.
If you want radiators which are small cross-section but deep, you could mount a bank of car radiators one behind the other. If you end up with something the same dimensions as the Spitfire original, then it should cool pretty well.

You will only need an oil cooler if you`re going to run it under power for extended periods, oil temp on Merlins comes up very slowly. If the engine is running off load it never comes up!

About instruments, you will need to fit a B-bank Merlin rocker cover to drive the rev counter, or fit a non-geared Smiths tacho generator to a point running at crankshaft speed.

Finally, if your Watts prop has the same diameter and pitch as the original, bear in mind that it reaches take-off boost in a Spitfire at only about 2300 engine rpm, which equates to 1100 prop rpm. This may not be a problem if you want to low-speed taxi it with your 3:1 ratio and an engine speed of, say, under 2000 rpm.

Pete

Thanks Pete

This is all good stuff, thankyou, I thought i spotted the drive for the mecanical rev counter already there on my old MK4B?? maybe i was mistaken, I have brand new (original) drive cables,will have another look at this engine, I havent had this one that long,I dont want to use an electrical RPM gauge, All the instruments fitted are the correct War time ones. Thats the great thing about a non flying replica, most flying Spits I have seen have had to compromise some of their instruments, I assume to meet present day standards. I want to get some Merlin rocker’s don’t suppose anyone knows for some?
What do you think of the intercooler idea for cooling??
Good news about the oil cooler, I am going to have a big oil tank in the tail section, will this cause circulation problems? being so far from the engine, I dont want the oil tank under the engine mount because of heat problems on the skin.
We make our props from original blanks but I think the one we have is a cut down version, its about 8Ft, by the way thats not me in the picture. The torque hub will limit the prop RPMs to 800, don’t ask me why thats what the manufacturer told, definately don’t want to take off.;)

Well, completely wrong about that! :rolleyes:

Looked it up for the Cromwell / Meteor and the tank gearbox is connected to the front of the engine not the back.

The capacity of the coolant system is 14 gallons by the way (but the Cromwell was notorious for overheating in its earlier marks).

WA$.

14 gallons, thats not too bad, I was planning a header tank of about 20 gallons. I will be searching for lorry intercoolers apparently they are alot more efficient than normal rads? Obviously shes going to burn allot of fuel so i doulbt she will be run for more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time. I know a merlin burns between 1 to 2 gallons a minute?? does anyone have fuel figures for a Meteor, they also run happily without a load, unlike the merlin and use lower grade petrol, the old four star leaded is OK.

Is it possible to convert a Meteor engine into a Merlin? I mean fitting a Merlin reduction gear to drive the propeller etc.?

Cheers

Cees

I believe this could be done? but it would require allot of welding and cutting be very difficult to get it aligned right. The prop reduction gear is part of the engine casting on a Merlin its not just a bolt on.

Graham, in all seriousness, running it with the wings off could be a bit dangerous, especially with a 2 blade prop, which, on low rpm produces an irregular torque action; the carb is going to stick out the top cowling, if you mount the engine in the correct position ,but if you don’t the exhausts wont line up with the cowlings.

Thanks Stuart , I hadnt considering the dampening effect of the wings, will have to be extremely cautious and tie her down when i run the engine in situ the first time. The carb isnt too much of an issue, the water cooling pipe sticking out the top is, i am going to modify this and may have to have a small bulge, a bit like a small cannon cowling if needed, will have to see, The stubs will be in the right position or it will ruin the look.

Is your Meteor sump ‘dry’ like the Merlin?

Another way to extend ‘short period’ cooling would be a big oil reservoir in the fuselage (in addition to the fuselage ‘coolant reservoir’), or failing that an oil cooler of course.

Is there no coolant in it or are you re-circulating coolant without a radiator?

The coolant system should be set up to circulate coolant only around the block until the engine reaches operating temperature and then start circulating it through the radiators (or other coolant reservoir) also.

Accurate temperature gauges will give you an idea how long you can run it without radiators.

You’re planning to run the prop hydraulically to taxi. How are you going to cool the hydraulic oil?

WA$.

I just fill the engine up with water, and run it for a short time so it doesnt have a chance to warm up. The oil tank will be in the rear fuselarge, I havent thought about cooling the oil, I will have it rigged up to the instruments in the cockpit so i will monitor to see if i need additional cooling, sounds like I will?. The engine is now being fitted tomorrow Friday, hope to post some pics tomorrow night. Have a complete set of stubs made and hope to fit Merlin rocker covers if i can find a decent set.