Aggressor

[bootlegger]

After having one of the closest shaves ever with bush fires last week (10 feet from my front door) I decided to move Aggressor away from my place.
Ive also taken the engine out and put it into storage.
Im planning on fixing the engine back up to run in Feb.

There is also a chance that I have lost my licence again. I ran my Truck through the Police road block and was chased all the way to my house by the Hwy Patrol.
The Female copper roughed me up a bit when I got out of the truck (turned me on).
My neighbours are calling me Hollywood. Even the firebrigade thought it was awsome seeing my Dodge flying down the road with the cops up my arse sirens blazing.

When I got there the firebrigade were on my property. I used my backhoe dumping dirt on the flames.

I always fantasised about running from the cops. Never thought I would do it in the Dodge.

[bauchy]

hahahaha good work dave... put a pic of the dodge up so everyone can get a visual on it...lol

[Sunbeam11]

Gees Dave whew.... I was thinking of you when I heard about the fires up your way. What a dilemma ...what do I save first??? And in that context....I dont blame you for running the road block. I swore at a female cop once and I was locked up and charged with indecent language and a couple of other things ......long story.... Plead your case...... you might get a sympathetic judge who went to the boat races back then. And ur right.....put those treasure items in bank vaults....concrete bunkers...whereever.....once they are gone.....

[bootlegger]

I got some legal advice so fingers crossed I just get a warning. Over the last couple of months Ive been looking at other properties. Im kind of focused on converting a large factory to live in.
I also looked at a place on a couple of acres with a 2000 sq metre shed on it. The property has no trees and a pretty ordinary house. The problem is the bush is near it also.
Anyway now that all the bush near me is burnt out I should be right for a couple of years.

[viteau]

Bad luck about the cops. If common sence provails you should get off. I bet you if the cops house was under threat she would have done the same. I will be in touch regarding Australia day. Merry Christmas to all. Cheers Chris

[bootlegger]

Spent the day today pulling the Merlin down. I found the shaft (Inner spring drive or Quill shaft) that connects the crank to the supercharger broken in two. Also the outer spring drive shaft sheared all ten bolts off that attach to the main supercharger gear.
Im also planning on replacing the supercharger bearings. They are easy to get to right now.
The good news is I dont have a broken starter drive. Now I have to go shopping at Merlins R Us for what I need.
here goes another couple of thousand .

[Bob Vic]

From my distant memeory of Merlins and thunderboat racing, I seem to recall that a broken quill shaft is not an uncommon occurance. Good to hear that these Merlin parts are still available too. Your dedication to the cause is inspiuring stuff Dave.

Bob

[bootlegger]

I dont know about inspiring Bob. Its more like torture. You know those ten bolts that snapped .Well so far I have found 17 pieces of them. Im figuring the other three are in the sump. Imagine how I am going to feel when this engine is completely torn down and I still cant find them.
I cant run the boat knowing they are floating around inside. This is going to be a big project
I am probably going to get a new better designed quill shaft made. The problem is they still need to be able to twist a little to absorb the load of the supercharger.
In a plane its not that much of a problem because there is a constant smooth force on them not the battering they get accelerating and deccelerating on a boat prop.

[bootlegger]

Well the engine is in a million pieces and you guessed I still cant find two bits of the broken bolts.

A miracle happened today when an aeromodellor friend turned up with a one piece quill shaft for a Merlin. He has had it sitting in his shed since the 70's. It had never been fitted. Its for a Pakard so I will have to see if it can be modified to fit a Rolls. Still its better than the stock two piece unit and heaps better than the thousands the yanks want for one.

[bootlegger]

I finally found all the missing broken bolts today My only set back now is the new cam I fitted has a worn off Lobe. Back to square one.