3000bhp street legal aircraft engine bel air

pawan · 23rd November 2007, 13:02

This car is a 1955 Chevrolet BelAir Sports Coupe powered by a V12 Rolls Royce Merlin Aircraft Engine as used by P51 Mustang Aircraft. There have been some detail changes from the original artists concept, making the car stand out more. See the pictures below of the car at the Melbourne Hot Rod Show 2003 showing some of the display items as well. This car is finished and fully street registered and was shown at the Summernats in 2003 and also at the Perth and Melbourne Hot Rod Shows.

After road testing in August 2001, our 55 Chev was completely pulled apart again and some minor adjustments made and most of the mechanical components stripped and rebuilt ready for final assembly. The engine and gearbox were completely detailed and are shown on a frame ready for final fitting to the car. See the pictures below. The body came back from the painters, where six months work had gone into the detailed paint work, including the murals and graphics. The entire car was painted in a P51 Mustang theme and you really need to see the car to appreciate the amount of detail touches, such as bullet holes, rivets, exhaust smoke etc. We have included a couple of close up pictures below to give you some idea. The body was removed from the chassis again and the chassis was stripped for the last time and all chassis components powder coated and reassembled. The chassis was then fully detailed for the last time and the engine and gearbox refitted. All the final work involving cabling, hydraulics etc, was finished and the car made ready in a week for the body to be refitted for final test driving and registration before being seen at some shows. Early October 2002 saw the car's debut.

The Castlemaine Rod Shop Latest Projects

im_srini · 23rd November 2007, 14:58

Wow ! That's an awesome engine

The paint job on the car's cool, but I'm not sure of it's accuracy though - I remember "Final Objective" being associated with a B-24 rather than a P-51. The alternators too look pretty modern right ? The original engine had magnetos. Not taking anything away from the work put into this beauty - I can't help but feel that this engine would be happier at 20,000 feet rather than in the Chevy. This engine is epic...

I remember reading an interesting anecdote regarding this engine though, seems connecting rods were showing up with cracks during inspection & Rolls Royce was hard-pressed to identify the reason. Turned out that workers were dumping their left-over coke (as in Cocoa Cola) into the cooling oil used for machining ! I just vaguely remember reading this somewhere, a very very long time ago, not even sure of the source now...

Modern car engines are cool & all, but they can't hold a candle to a WWII legend like this !

rocksterraghu · 23rd November 2007, 15:49

Jeizuz! For a second I thought that was a typo.

Great find Pawan!

Quote:

Originally Posted by im_srini

Wow ! That's an awesome engine

The paint job on the car's cool, but I'm not sure of it's accuracy though - I remember "Final Objective" being associated with a B-24 rather than a P-51.

No prizes for guessing what the actual 'final objective' means there.

Just kidding srini.

IronWolf · 23rd November 2007, 16:11

Super find. It would be awesome to see a video of this in action.

Steering is a nice touch. I hope they are not running it on those tires.

23rd November 2007, 13:02	#1
pawan BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: auckland, new zealand Posts: 868 Thanked: 4 Times	3000bhp street legal aircraft engine bel air This car is a 1955 Chevrolet BelAir Sports Coupe powered by a V12 Rolls Royce Merlin Aircraft Engine as used by P51 Mustang Aircraft. There have been some detail changes from the original artists concept, making the car stand out more. See the pictures below of the car at the Melbourne Hot Rod Show 2003 showing some of the display items as well. This car is finished and fully street registered and was shown at the Summernats in 2003 and also at the Perth and Melbourne Hot Rod Shows. After road testing in August 2001, our 55 Chev was completely pulled apart again and some minor adjustments made and most of the mechanical components stripped and rebuilt ready for final assembly. The engine and gearbox were completely detailed and are shown on a frame ready for final fitting to the car. See the pictures below. The body came back from the painters, where six months work had gone into the detailed paint work, including the murals and graphics. The entire car was painted in a P51 Mustang theme and you really need to see the car to appreciate the amount of detail touches, such as bullet holes, rivets, exhaust smoke etc. We have included a couple of close up pictures below to give you some idea. The body was removed from the chassis again and the chassis was stripped for the last time and all chassis components powder coated and reassembled. The chassis was then fully detailed for the last time and the engine and gearbox refitted. All the final work involving cabling, hydraulics etc, was finished and the car made ready in a week for the body to be refitted for final test driving and registration before being seen at some shows. Early October 2002 saw the car's debut. The Castlemaine Rod Shop Latest Projects
	() Thanks

23rd November 2007, 14:58	#2
im_srini BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Portland Posts: 1,010 Thanked: 490 Times View My Garage	Wow ! That's an awesome engine The paint job on the car's cool, but I'm not sure of it's accuracy though - I remember "Final Objective" being associated with a B-24 rather than a P-51. The alternators too look pretty modern right ? The original engine had magnetos. Not taking anything away from the work put into this beauty - I can't help but feel that this engine would be happier at 20,000 feet rather than in the Chevy. This engine is epic... I remember reading an interesting anecdote regarding this engine though, seems connecting rods were showing up with cracks during inspection & Rolls Royce was hard-pressed to identify the reason. Turned out that workers were dumping their left-over coke (as in Cocoa Cola) into the cooling oil used for machining ! I just vaguely remember reading this somewhere, a very very long time ago, not even sure of the source now... Modern car engines are cool & all, but they can't hold a candle to a WWII legend like this !
	() Thanks

23rd November 2007, 16:11	#4
IronWolf Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Benga-loo-ru Posts: 1,569 Thanked: 45 Times View My Garage	Super find. It would be awesome to see a video of this in action. Steering is a nice touch. I hope they are not running it on those tires.
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