Aircraft engine manufacturing

[PWR4360-59B]

In the days of recip engines, the manufactures first ran them after initial build up, then after the tests were done, they got tore apart and checked. Okay this seems a bit costly, nowadays anyway. So after that tear down and checking, they of course were put back together, then what? Run or sent out the door?
I'm wondering if this proceedure lasted even into the 60's when the Pratt Whitney R-2800's were still being built?
It seems funny this tear down proceedure was done on new engines, yet one that is overhauled with new parts is not? It would surely raise the cost of overhauls, especially on something like an R-4360.

As a side note, I wonder why I have never seen a thing written on the internet by someone that is in the large radial engine overhaul business?

 

[robwkamm]

i cant see them doing a full tear down. maybe if the motor was making chips. a full teardown would be the same as a overhaul. its a never ending cycle. i know a guy whos dad worked at wright building radials in patterson nj.(the building is still there and you can see the test cells in the building from rt 80. its a storage place now) he said they would put them up in the cell and run them up. if they blow up it obviously didnt get sent . if not they were good to go. i heard pratt did a 5 hour run up and checked out the filter and shipped if it was good. thats what i remember and and was told. the cost and labor involved would be crazy! a r-4360 over haul in the late 40s was 21000$. more than most houses of the era.

 

[dairwin]

I can't comment for radial engines, but I have viewed a war time information film called 'Contribution to Victory' that covered Merlin production at Rolls Royce during the war. The film covered manufacture from stock metals through to the finished and tested engine.

To paraphrase the accompanying commentary, '... each engine is tested for several hours at rated performance, with occasional bursts at full power ... that on completion of successful engine runs, a certain proportion of engines are stripped down for a full inspection to determine that the design of each component is performing ok.'