IFolder Five. . . . .Engine and Exhaust.
As you will read. . .this very clever engine was conceived uniquely for the FMDs
This engine is on show in the Science Museum in London. The gold colour could possible be just for the exhibition, but I decided to go that way, as I discovered some gold flakes under the paint on my engine.
and here is my engine , as found in a yard at a house in Kent. The owner , Joe Blake was very straight about it. He told me that it had been removed from a fishing boat, and when last run sounded wonderful and like a V8 racing car !!
Later I found that the oil had probably not been changed since the war !! It weighs 690lbs ( 312kg), so was quite a heavy beast to manoeuvre into and out of our Cherokee for the trip south.
Back home and cleaned, checked through and painted. The exhaust valves were like new, and there is no ridging at the tops of the bores. At this time I came to know a very interesting Dane in Copenhagen- ( also called Erik ! ) who collects old marine engines. He very kindly sent me the complete service and workshop manuals for the KF4, including the Admiralty test data. He also has had new filters made up. which was extremely useful. We are still very much in contact.
Then came the time to install the big engine. I hoped that the engine mounts would line, which, to my great relief they did. . . .and it slid into place as it was made to !
Happy engineer !
This was when I discovered about the alignment of the mechanics in wooden boats. Not only was the prop out of line vertically, but horizontally as well. I later found the reason. She had been badly stored in Ireland, and besides having the holes forced into the bottom of the hull, had then come to rest her whole weight on the rear prop support bracket, which I discovered to be irreparably bent. . . more of that later involving a new bracket. Suffice to say that all that has been solved.
The exhaust manifold is double skinned to allow exhaust cooling. The section between that and the silencer was missing and presented a daunting task to try to manufacture, so I came up with my own solution. . .and . . . "YES " it works a treat !
The exhaust piping is made from thick-wall marine stainless steel, courtesy of the scrap bin of a fabricator for the Cognac distillation industry. The silencer. . . new/old stock of mine from an AC Cobra !
All ready to go !
