Let's start calling discovery channel, I'd watch a tv show in that shop! of course you would have to start bickering and causing a ton of drama to make it on prime time
Yeah, we laugh about those shows. Our shop is boring. No cussing, no hang overs. Also, we actually MAKE our parts by hand without fancy power tools. On so many of those shows they are out-sourcing fabrication. Because of this progress comes slowly. We'd put audiences to sleep... except for when our boss is riding high on a Diet Coke buzz -- he can get really weird. Untame
BTW... my boss is starting to talk about taking a spec car to SEMA in 2012. Maybe a Delahaye Type 165 Figoni et Felaschi or a Mercedes 300 SLR Ulenhaut coupe. Untame
The top end of the Jag V12 would be complete if three of the valve shims hadn't been back-ordered. Here is a pretty good impression of what it is going to look like. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of cleaning, polishing, blasting, coating it has taken to get to this point, but the results are very much worth the efforts of the past 6 weeks or so. The top will sport a line of either Stromberg 97 carbs or Edelbrock 94 carbs (4 in a row). I'm going to run the back carb on each manifold as a primary and the front ones as secondaries. I'm leaning toward the 97s, but the customer really likes Edelbrock products. There are pros and cons to each option. Untame
WOW, great projects. I thought I knew something about metalshaping until I met some members of Metalmeet. After that I vowed to get better. But what you guys are doing is incredible, My hats off you you Mr Metal Shaping Guru and humble underlings! This Buds for you!
Very nice - but you should machine the British Leyland logo off the side of the block - Jaguar's darkest times.
I swear, any time I make even the slightest progress on my stuff and I get to thinking, "You know, I may not be a totally useless hack after all.", I come read something like this on the HAMB, and feel like a total piker once again. Reading this forum is almost as humbling as driving a race car. Almost. It should go without saying at this point, but outstanding work. I find it very heartening that there are still folks who do great things using the old ways. Makes me feel like honestly great craftsmanship will never go totally extinct.
That Delahaye is absolutely gorgeous! I want! Will you take my firstborn son? ;-) And I had never heard of the GMC engine. 2X4 intake, put it in something long and low and really wow the troops! You are one lucky guy, just to be near this stuff and learning this level of craftsmanship. I'm green with envy!
Thanks (from a humble underling). I have assumed the title of "Resident Engine Artist." My welding skills still have a long way to go, but the "master" is always encouraging. LOL -- you are right! The logo is on every cast piece of alluminum. One Jaguar mechanic told me (regarding the client), "Is he looking for a hole to throw money into? If so, he found it!" The tappet shims cost me $6.16 each -- little steel discs! I had to buy a set of minimum shims (A-.085) just to measure the lash after the head job. I'm in over $200 just on tappet shims. Not as long as there are incredibly wealthy people with self-esteem issues. I love my job -- I work with intelligent and honorable craftsmen on things most people don't even see in their lifetime. We have taken delivery of a hand full of Mercedes donor cars for our future 300 SL and 300 SLR gull-wing spec cars. We are getting one in a week or two that is quite exciting for me -- a 300 SEL with the 6.3 liter V8. This engine is legendary and rare. The one we are getting is a European model with higher compression than the American model. This engine dominated racing, but was retired because its weight caused it to go through tires and fuel resulting in freqent pit stops. The 300 SEL was the worlds fastest production sedan. It has been called the first "Q-car." In the next couple weeks I'm going to tear into a 1965 Mercedes 250 SE to start working on engineering a 300 SL clone engine. The 250 SE is a 2.5 liter straight six with Bosch mechanical injection. The 300 SL was a similar engine (3.0 liters) except it was canted at 55 degrees to lower the hood profile. Factory hp for the 2.5 liter engine is 150 hp (1:1 hp/ci). My directive is to get it to 250 hp like the 300 SL without forced induction. The aftermarket for classic Mercedes engines is practically nill -- I love a challenge! Rumor has it we will be getting a Rolls Royce re-body project as well as a custom Porsche build in the near future...
awesome project , the jag v12 all cleaned up is beautiful , what an engine cant wait to see this finished will be art work
Thanks for a peek into the world of "more money than any sane person should be trusted with". I've been privileged to skirt that universe on a few occasions (getting to do fabrication work on similar projects) and it is a heady experience indeed. Frank
Unfortunately, probably somewhat like a weenie P-51 with no propeller-noise input and only four exhaust pipes instead of twelve. Engine is otherwise gorgeous, though. DD
No website. We haven't finished any cars since I worked there. I'll see if the boss wants to share any pictures of previous cars with me. He is tech-illiterate for the most part. He just got a digital camera, and I've been trying to talk him into a web presence. If it sounds anything like the Ferrari it will purr like a sewing machine. I'm going to be running the four exhaust manifolds into a pair of high-flow mufflers with dual inlets and single outlets then the pair of pipes will run through some real quiet mufflers. We want to get the exhaust note on the Delahaye very subtle. Now the Duesenberg (GMC V12) is supposed to sound much more heavy, so we will be running a true-quad set up with dual X pipes and Flowmasters.
The clients are two types. We have the older guys who already have everything else and they are truly history buffs and want a piece of history that can't be purchased anywhere. The other types are middle-aged "Have-a-holics" who think that they need to prove they are special by having something nobody else in the world has. The former group is a pleasure to work for -- they know exactly what they want and they don't mind spending the money to do it right. The latter group is very insecure and needs a lot of constant reassurance throughout the project. I get the feeling that they want to look richer than they are, so they are constantly asking about cutting corners. Sometimes we have to put our foot down and draw a line -- we don't build junk. Our goal is to build the worlds finest custom cars. This means it can take a couple years to finish a car.
Interesting work. I note on a few forums you are considering an SLR project. I have some knowledge of the demodromic engine and previous attempts over the last 20 years, most ending in an expensive hole. 15 years ago a body went from Southern California to Germany via a circuitous route, the owner passed away 10 years ago. If you are still interested I may be able to point you in a few directions. A project such as this will be resisted in many areas if it is really an accurate attempt. If you do the engine it will not pass any DMV, even in Germany one of the two had a "suitcase" attached to the exhaust outlets to soften the noise. It was only Daimlers political clout that allowed it on the road. As k Jay Leno about the noise!!
They have a website now it is the OP's signature. Looks like the only one finished is the Delahaye and it is gorgeous!!
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