American La France Project - Episode 6 - METEOR ENGINE!

[@Icebuntrucker]

I can recommend Mr Hewes channel if you like tanks and big engines etc . Love what your trying to achieve

[@thebracketfactory]

I will be sure to tune in, thanks!

[@The_Cotswold_Engineer]

Love a big engine! The Meteor is amazing. Have you heard/seen a chap called Charlie Broomfield who has fitted a Meteor to a Rover SD1, utterly bonkers but brilliant too. He's re-engineered it to run on EFI and has upgraded the cams to give a shed load more horse power. He uses to write for Practical Performance Car magazine.

[@thebracketfactory]

Hi there, yes I've heard of Charlie though never met him. I saw a video on his car... very impressive and all built in his garage at home!

[@bodgerpete1]

What a brilliant engine that Meteor is!! Thanks for sharing that with us all. Good luck with your hunt for a chassis🤞👍

[@thebracketfactory]

Cheers Pete.

[@Mopar46]

What a beast of an engine! Loved the mile-wide grin on your face, too. Good luck with the chassis hunt.

[@thebracketfactory]

I'm STILL grinning!

[@BGreat2]

Smiles all around when it fired up!❤

[@thebracketfactory]

I couldn't stop grinning !

[@paulbeckwith5981]

Superb film! When you were grinning like a Cheshire Cat, so was I!

[@thebracketfactory]

I was like that of the rest if the day!±

[@90FF1]

Very informational video. Music to the ears!

[@thebracketfactory]

The sound is just awesome!

[@PaulJames-i1q]

👍awesome,great job,can’t wait for the next chapter,hurry up🤪👍💪

[@thebracketfactory]

I'm on it!!!

[@shaunsheep8252]

In the first Gulf, we had a cent ARV (recovery tank) one of the last two in service. To clean the air filters you remove the kidney plates and wash them with fuel. The soldier was cleaning them so obviously you get a lot of fumes, all hatches open. The other one decided to make a brew, as he ignited the little gas burner the gases caught (the two soldiers got out ok) but it was ablaze and parked next to some other vehicles and some ammo. They tried to push it clear with a chally but it was too late, the whole lot went up! I did have a picture, if you can imaging the people in the image were 4mm high (that’s how far the camera was away) the ball of flames and the engine deck lids were shot up into the sky (about 200mm on the picture) so you can imagine the force of the explosion

[@thebracketfactory]

@@shaunsheep8252 bloody hell!!

[@christianstage1501]

What an awsome engine - hope you will find a good s´chassis, and if not, build one yourself, it will make good videos, and I trust in your craftmanship 👍

[@thebracketfactory]

Thanks for your support Christian !

[@nigeltoon1848]

Excellent stuff!

[@thebracketfactory]

Cheers Nigel !

[@glynluff2595]

In the Cromwell tank which was almost the earliest version of tank run with the Meteor the fan was specially designed to move 8000 cu ft per minute through the radiator to prevent overheating. If the engine is ex Centurion it will be an M4b which is a two block engine. Mag drop not to exceed 400 rpm. The Liberty V12 was in WWI in America using RR cylinder dimensions so similar but different! The information that was interesting is the limitation of revs on a Meteor without load. At what point is the chassis and limited bodywork of a road vehicle heavy enough to become a ‘load’. This is very important as running such an engine with this limitation may well mean the usable rev limit drops from 2400 to say 1500 to 1800. This could also apply to other ex aircraft engines. Slide rules out - well you don’t use those now!

[@thebracketfactory]

That's a very good question! The torque of the meteor is high enough to break traction of any road tyre you can mention, never mind vintage tyres, so it will be very hard to apply a load that even remotely compares to a tank with tracks! So I think a sticker on the dash saying 'be very careful' is probably needed....

[@chrislaunders8283]

One chassis I've never heard of being used but may be reasonably common and big enough is Daimler, I know of someone who until about 5 years ago had a Majestic chassis, engine (the 4.5ltr V8) and gearbox.

[@thebracketfactory]

Good shout Chris - I will investigate !

[@oakswamp]

buy it ! ...what a lush motor ! great stuff mate !

[@thebracketfactory]

oh ok then!!

[@boydsargeant7496]

Great video, Giving you ideas. I guess you have discounted a Vauxhall 30-98 for a good reason.

[@thebracketfactory]

Actually the 30-98 would be great!

[@dennismccarthy7032]

❤great content ❤

[@thebracketfactory]

Thanks Denis.

[@motorlibro]

I have a friend who put a Meteor in a wooden speedboat, it was called "Wild Horses"

[@thebracketfactory]

It must have been pretty wild....!

[@SiteUnscene]

My name is also Chris, and I, too, am an engineaholic!

[@thebracketfactory]

haha... as 'diseases' go, it's pretty cool eh Chris!

[@johndumarney1630]

I also looked at 2025's, good call.

[@thebracketfactory]

Hi John - do you have one?

[@argee55]

Totally awesome.

[@thebracketfactory]

sure is!

[@daleskidmore1685]

What a motor!

[@thebracketfactory]

Quite a think isn't it!

[@MADKIWI]

Hi from NZ, great vid by the way. Just a thought. A Bedford chassis could be called Vauxhall, at a pinch. Keeping it British.....😊

[@thebracketfactory]

Hi, thanks for tuning in. Good shout - chassis choice is still up for grabs!!

[@asciimation]

Very cool! There is an awesome cut away Merlin in the war memorial museum in Auckland, NZ. Driven off an electric motor so you can see it 'working'. What will you do for a clutch/gearbox?

[@thebracketfactory]

Lorry box is used (Sherpa) but an adapter plate/bell housing needs to be made. But were there is a will, there is a way!

[@31wdriley]

Hotchkiss AM80 or Delahaye, strong well designed frames. The Chrysler chassis was strong enough to survive the event at Le Mans. They coped with beach racing in NZ. Daimler or Humber, large formal carriage work was carried, Both companies developed scout cars using the chassis.

[@thebracketfactory]

yes, delahaye also a very good shout ... I'm keeping my eyes peeled!

[@bimmjim]

The "Bell Housing" is the main problem when fitting a big V12 to a car. Jay Leno did this wrong and got his bell housing hanging too low. . Can you take the drive line sideways?

[@thebracketfactory]

Thanks for the comment! I'll take a look at Jay Leno's car and see what not to do!

[@JamesYoung61]

Then of course there is Jay Leno and he has 2 cars with Merlin engines in them, one a Bentley that he had built here in the UK as seen on Top Gear and then one he had built in his own garage in LA, he goes in to great detail about the build and how it is to live with a huge engine car that actually works, once the gearbox and diff got sorted out and it could keep going, then heat, the complete underside of the car is radiators. Enjoy.

[@thebracketfactory]

yes, I need to pop across to Jay's channel and take a look at those!

[@sandymcvicar2325]

Greetings from Canada. I love big engines in big chassis. However I also like small light cars. Do I see a Lotus Europa S1or S2 lurking in the background of your introduction?

[@thebracketfactory]

Hello, and thanks of tuning in. If you like big engines in big cars and small engines in small cars, or just engines (!) then you have come to the right place! Well spotted wit the Lotus - you were closer with S1 but it's actually an original Lotus 47. I may do a 'walk around' video of it soon but I have bit of 'unfinished business' with the big V12 first !!

[@cedhome7945]

Love the big old engine's ...I just hope the car haters in the government don't put an end to all the fun 🤔

[@thebracketfactory]

Old car laws in the UK are like gun laws in the US... very deep rooted and close to our hearts!

[@keithhoughton4308]

There are probably a few Railton chassis out there. Have you looked at those? I know it's originally an imported American chassis but it would be cool to build a Railton special and you do have an American engine for it.

[@Mercmad]

Early 30's Hudson,from memory. Hudsons were a fast car in their day , right into the 50's in fact.

[@thebracketfactory]

That's a good shout Keith, cheers.

[@BenMarchant-hp4be]

you can buy a repro 1932 Ford chassis it can handle a lot of torque and also get superb pre war axles to handle that sort of HP

[@Mercmad]

Not really>I have played with them since the 1970's. They need boxing to contain the torque of anything more powerful than a flathead. A 1938-1940 Chev Chassis would be better because of their box construction,cheapness , easy availability and simplicity.

[@philipdear224]

Try finding a chassis from a RR hearse they are a tad longer than the car may be hard to find but easier than the car

[@thebracketfactory]

Good suggestion, thanks!

[@bma109]

The Centurion is a post WW2 tank.

[@thebracketfactory]

Well spotted, that was a bit of a 'typo' !

[@garypoulton7311]

Rover P4 chassis?

[@slickmouse]

A possible chassis would be something like a Dodge 50

[@thebracketfactory]

I'll check that out, cheers.

[@lanceneuman9528]

The coventry climax water pumper has got nothing on the meteor, at 260 RPM no less.

[@thebracketfactory]

Hmm... an engine I don't have. (Chris goes and checks out marketplace....)

[@lanceneuman9528]

@@thebracketfactory Oh my.....😶kzbin.infogaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f636.png

[@daviddjerassi]

Would you contact Ivan shed racing about a chassis he is on youtube like yourself.

[@thebracketfactory]

Yes, I would like to pay Ivan a visit - he's forgotten more than I know!

[@dogpaw775]

very little apparent vibration/torque twist.

[@thebracketfactory]

It doesn't have a flywheel so the mass of the rotating assembly is only a small fraction of the total mass.. hence negligible 'twitch' when it's blipped (and it wasn't really blipped anyway!)