Merlin XX Rebuild Near Ground-running! (1 Viewer)

[Engineman]

Hi everyone!

Just to note that Peter Grieve is getting close to running his rebuild of the genuine shot-down Merlin XX from an HP Halifax. This rebuild is almost 100%
original parts from that one engine that lay in a German peat bog for 60+ years!
In this latest episode EP 19, he shows the basics of the original Rotol prop and blade fitting, the special trailer for transportation and running and the fitting of the engine into the trailer.
This series of video's is very detailed and possibly the most comprehensive video's of Merlin engine construction available anywhere, IMO.
Have a look at Peter's video's at www.youtube.com/@FlightEngineering1
I think this series of videos about the Merlin are great!

Cheers

Eng

 

[Engineman]

Hi everyone,

Peter Grieve has now just run his rebuild of the Merlin XX from the Halifax that was shot down and broke-up in flight in 1942 with the loss of all the crew.
This was the first time that this engine has run since crashing. This is quite an achievement, I know of no other engines that have been shot down in a crash where the aircraft broke-up in the air and lay in the ground for 50+ years, then stripped and rebuilt to run!
I was very pleased to see it fire-up so well, a tribute to its former crew.
See the latest on, www.youtube.com/@FlightEngineering1

Cheers

Eng

 

[Engineman]

Hi Crew!

Peter grieve has now put out a new video about his rebuilt Merlin XX on his channel at www.youtube.com/@FlightEngineering1 ! He shows some further running that the engine has done and it seems to be going well, worth noting that when running at about 2200 rpm, it is only getting about -4 psi Boost which is expected with such a cut down prop. Also, he covers some interesting details of the few parts he has had to replace on that engine. Overall, the engine had very little corrosion considering its history of being shot down and laying in a peat bog for 50+ years. However, in a few particular places, things did suffer. He points out some steel components and one spark plug that had corroded badly at the electrode end, That plug was also bent so it was u/s anyway. The main propeller shaft thrust and location bearings had some corrosion pits on the rolling elements and races, so they were replaced. The valve springs were mostly ok, but some were troubled with pitting on the coils. The pits will cause valve spring failure due to acting as stress raisers, so the pitted ones were replaced. This problem occurred during WW2, Rolls Royce found that minor nicks or pits on the valve springs were the problem, so they introduced shot-peening of the springs to smooth and stress relieve, then the springs were enamel coated to protect from corrosion pits.
Peter also shows a generator drive gear that had some damage, but that appears to have been in modern handling, possibly during the discovery and digging-up.
Overall, another great Merlin video, well worth watching!

Cheers

Eng

 

[Crimea_River]

Our team had a long road to bringing our Packard Merlin 29 to running form for a ground-runner Hurricane Mk. XII. Unfortunately, we now have a leaky 85 year old rad to deal with.