Just about finished the Merlin into Spitfire conversion. I never
would have thought of this engine swap if I hadn't seen it mentioned
on the list- I decided I had to have one too.
Picked up a junk motor out of a crashed P-51 a couple of years
back hoping I'd find some use for it and along came this idea. Of
course it's not an easy installation what with the body widening and
lengthening; and I can get by without a passenger seat. Then again I
thought this thing would be a real babe magnet with six straight pipes
out the right side and another six through the bonnet and hood (I had
to cant the thing over 60 degrees to keep the exhaust out of my
face).
I had to run the flywheel through an upside-down and backwards
John Deere hydrostatic drive before coupling it to a reversed GT6
rear (after all, the stock Mk I Spit rear is wayyyy too weak for this
application). Since the car was now weighted so much towards the
right side I used long studs (all-thread rod actually) and spacers
(eighteen total) to get the track out to where the left/right balance is
now a manageable 40/60 instead of 25/75.
I now have two pressing needs: a fuel tank good for more than 50
miles or so; a muffler system (6-2-1/side seems to be the accepted
practice); and a hood that won't melt with three exhaust pipes
through it.
Larry Bickel
ljbtvr@aol.com
PS- If any of you see me driving this thing and wave at me don't be
put off if I don't wave back. I've found that one does not remove a
hand from the wheel for any reason.
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