On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:48:42 -0600, "SteveB" wrote:
"Andy Dingley" wrote...
On Thu, 9 Aug 2007 09:10:17 -0700, "SteveB" wrote:

The P51 engine (if that's what it is) would be almost priceless. Heads or
not.

Oh come off it! They're not cheap, but they're hardly "priceless". A
few tens of thousand, depending on model and condition.

If you want a Merlin (Hey, I'm a Brit), there are two dealers for them
and their spares within an hour's drive of my house. And that's not
counting R-R themselves, who are just down the road.

Then, as you say, let's pop down there and pick up a set. I'm sure there
are different grades. Some in original cosmoline. Some in original boxes.
Others reworked several times.

Oh, come on! They're valuable. Quit nit picking. It's not something the
average "bloke" would have laying around their garage, or even have a need
for in their lifetime.

If they were still readily available /at/ /a/ /reasonable/ /price/
on the surplus market I can think of lots of fun reasons to have a
Merlin motor or two laying around the garage waiting for a project...

They'd make good large spark-ignition emergency generator plant,
probably good for 100KW continuous (not overstressed) and 150KW surge.
Which would be plenty for any light industrial setting where you don't
want to deal with the noise and smoke of a Diesel, since a gasoline
engine is inherently easier to silence. Easy enough to set-up as
multi-fuel on natural gas or LPG or gasoline.

And it would be fun to build your own Monster Truck without having
to spend big bucks for high-deck racing blocks with Superchargers and
Nitromethane to get the power you need. Or they're just the right
size for a larger single-engine ski boat with the power to tow
multiple skiers at once - look out, Lake Mead.

It's been said before, there is no substitute for Cubic Inches.

-- Bruce --