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THREE MILES PER POLAR BEAR
The great Coop forwards news of a fellow who’s building the greatest vehicle on earth:
Just thought I’d share some before and after pictures of my Ford GAA tank engine. All aluminum 1100 cubic inch V8 used in WWII Sherman Tanks. These were gas burners rated at 500 HP and 1050 Ft. Lbs. of torque for military service, but are capable of much much more using mostly stock parts. They feature a 60 degree vee, 5.4 bore x 6.0 stroke, 180 degree factory billet cranks, pent roof combustion chambers, shaft driven DOHC’s, 4 valves per cylinder, and dual mags.
They are pretty high tech. engines, especially considering they were built in the early 40’s. I’ve been working on getting one of mine going for the last couple of years, and should be cranking it within a week or so. It’s setting in my 70 Mustang right now ...
Further details and images here. Of course, Iowahawk had something to do with this ...
http://www.rodshop.com.au/project55.htm
http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/richardscorner/05hadfield/Amazing? Yes. The best? No. You’re forgetting about another WW2 engined Wunderwagen that was built right here in Australia! It’s the most powerful road legal car in the world with over 3000bhp!
Reading the Daily Mail yesterday and I saw a story about a guy who has built a race-ready and roadworthy armchair. He is auctioning off the first ride in the chair - equipped with TV table, pot plants, beer can brake and pizza tray steering wheel - for charity and the winner of the auction will go into the Guiness Book of Records.
Chair is roadworthy in the UK and is expected to go 100mph (breaking the guys own record of 80-odd mph). It has a 1300cc engine under the bonnet…er…cushion.
Current bid is only £104…..Tim?
Posted by Villeurbanne on 2007 02 05 at 11:59 AM • permalinkI’ve been battling a severe case of priapism ever since I saw this car last week. Even better is the picture with the fiberglass Mustang front clip on, and that behemoth motor exploding out the top. It’s like an Ed Roth T-shirt made flesh. If only they made refrigerator-sized blowers to put on top.
Still, for flat-out automotive insanity, the standard remains the Banks-twin-turboed V-12 tank engine car of Jay Leno…
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/08/this_just_in.html
AussieJim: You beat me to it. There’s a Canadian car show called Dream Car Garage that did a segment on that car. Peter Klutt took it for a spin around the block (episode 11).
Nobody hoons like Austrailians hoon.
Posted by Mike Beversluis on 2007 02 05 at 12:54 PM • permalinkWell done sir, well done.
Baby Jesus is smiling.
Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2007 02 05 at 02:36 PM • permalink1,050 pounds of torque could push a drill bit through the Earth to Saudi Arabia, then draw crude directly to Gulf Coast refineries.
Posted by Rittenhouse on 2007 02 05 at 04:03 PM • permalinkA 60 degree V-8 with a flat crankshaft. I do hope that installation features flexible motor mounts because that thing has to have a syncopated shake to it.
Don’t judge the tank motor on the horsepower rating, look at the torque. That is what you need for busting thru hedgerows and the number is ginormous. If modern bearings and valve springs would allow the engine to rev to where modern engines do, the horsepower number could be close to that.
More stuff on Jay Leno’s runabout.
Another engine/tranny combination.
Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2007 02 05 at 05:43 PM • permalinkWhat a beautiful thing - and a great use for a Sherman tank engine.
It’s far better, actually, than putting it, or any gasoline engine, into a tank. There’s a reason why the Sherman was nicknamed “the Zippo”.
The Sherman was easy to build, which is a good thing, because they were so badly armored and undergunned that we needed lots and lots of them.
Posted by Urbs in Horto on 2007 02 05 at 06:15 PM • permalinkYou guys realize that there are greenies out there monitoring these sites and when they take over the car police will know whose garages to look into.
Posted by Pat Patterson on 2007 02 05 at 09:03 PM • permalink........
I got a manual typewriter today from a coworker for my collection. This one still had the owner’s manual, and it had a script typeset.
What?
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 02 05 at 10:51 PM • permalinkPretty snazzy, but what about a 27 litre Capri?
#16 Urbs in Horto,
I believe the nickname was “Ronson”, a lighter similar to a Zippo. The ads said it “lights first time”.Posted by Daniel San on 2007 02 06 at 09:41 AM • permalinkBrento,
Your limb snapped off.
The hydramatic wouldn’t have been available until many years after WWII.
I’m surprised though that he didn’t go for an Allison transmission. The powerglide is capable of handling a good deal of HP, but the amount of torque that tank motor puts out is ungodly.
Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2007 02 06 at 10:24 AM • permalinkYou’d be surprised how much a two-speed powerglide can take, especially with the right torque converter mods. Very popular among ‘60s drag racers.
The early 4 speed hydromatics (as opposed to the beefier modern 200R4 and 700R4) were dogs. I harvested a 331 Cadillac / 4 speed hydro from a ‘49 Caddy coupe this summer to use on my next hot rod project. The motor will be used, but I am tossing the trans in favor of a T45 5 speed manual.
Iowahawk,
Sweet.
When I’m not working on my 48 Dodge Power Wagon Woodie project (trying to engineer a port injection system for the 230ci flathead) I can usually be found behind the wheel of my mid-80’s Jaguar that I stuffed a Northstar and 700R4 into. Sometime in that next couple of years I’m going to try make the Jaguar into a convertible.
Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2007 02 06 at 02:20 PM • permalink#24 Joe,
This is from Wikipedia:
The result, dubbed “Hydra-Matic Drive,” went into production in May 1939 for the 1940 model year. The first Oldsmobiles so equipped were shipped in October 1939. Advertising proclaimed it “the greatest advance since the self-starter.”
In 1940 the Hydra-Matic added 57 dollars to the car’s price, rising to 100 dollars for 1941. In 1941 it also became an option on Cadillacs for 125 dollars. Almost 200,000 had been sold by the time passenger car production was halted for wartime production in February 1942.
During the war the Hydramatic (mated to a Cadillac V8 engine) was used in a variety of military vehicles, including the M5 Stuart tank and the M24 Chaffee light tank. The extensive wartime service greatly improved the postwar engineering of the transmission, which was subsequently advertised as “battle-tested.”
On the other hand, I recall that Powergilde was the automatic offered with the Chevrolet 409.
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Please come to NJ and drive that around; it’s too dang cold here this morning.