Turbine
By the time the turbine arrived, I
had the chassis and suspension assembled. The next thing was to install
the engine and see where I had to cut and weld the frame. I had the
engine on the chain hoist and I slowly lowered it into the chassis.
Unbelievably, it settled right in place. It cleared the front cross
member by a half inch and looked like it would clear the hood by and
inch on both sides. The narrow part of the engine was where the steering
box was located so there was plenty of room. I did have to split the
radius rods but that was common in those days.
It was almost like this is the engine Henry had in
mind when he built the 32 Ford.
The engine had been used in an Army L-19 observation
airplane test program. This is a military version of the Cessna 170. At
the conclusion of the program, it set a Class C small airplane altitude
record of some 37,000 feet. After that it was removed and put into
storage until it was surplused.
Here's a photo of the engine installed in the L-19 and
on the test stand at Boeing.
The engine output shaft was modified by machining off
the propeller hub and brazing in the output shaft from a Ford
transmission. This allowed the drive-shaft and torque tube to be
connected directly to the turbine engine. The thrust from the rear
wheels went into the radius rods, into the torque tube and then into the
engine. The engine was restrained longitudinally by modified Ford stay
rods.
Transmission
There isn't any for several reasons.
1. The stall torque of the Boeing 502 is about two and a half times
rated torque. Low gear in the stock 32 Ford was two and a half to one so
who needs a transmission, I could smoke the tires in direct drive.
2. With the rear wheels connected directly to the engine output shaft,
there is little danger of turbine wheel over speed, With a
transmission in neutral it is possible that an inexperienced driver
could step on the throttle and the resulting over speed condition could
result in a burst turbine wheel. This is not good. There are over speed
devices to prevent this but like Murphy says, "If it can happen, it
will".
With the present set up, I have no qualms about letting anyone drive the
car. I show them the gas pedal and the brake and that's it.
3. Okay, so there's no reverse. So What! As long as you know that,
you don't get yourself in that position. My Harley didn't have a reverse
either.
From running at Bonneville, the car had a 3.27 ring and
pinion. This was later replaced with a quick change unit with a 2.8
overall ratio.
Here's some photos of the chassis with the engine installed. This was
back in 1962.
Dig that crazy exhaust system with the eight inch pipes.
Things went pretty fast after this. The body, electrical
system, fuel system, oil cooling and throttle system were installed and
the car was on the road a few months later. I told the lady at the
License Bureau that the car had a gas turbine engine. She just smiled
and gave me my new tabs.
Here's one of the first photos of the complete car taken at Boeing
field. And a close up of the engine compartment.
Here's a schematic of the engine identifying it's
internal parts. An explanation of the engine operation is contained in
the flyer that follows.
Following is a copy of a flyer that I put together for
car shows and
covers most of the questions that people ask about the performance and
operation of the car.
The
Jet Car
Well, it’s not really a jet car; we just call it
that. Technically, the engine is a Turbo shaft gas turbine with a free
power turbine. There are two sections, the gas producer section and
the output section.
Gas Producer Section
Air
enters at the front where it is then compressed in the centrifugal
compressor. The air then enters the two burners where fuel is burned,
heating the air and expanding it. The expanded gas then travels at a
high rate of speed and impinges on the first turbine wheel, like a
windmill. The first turbine wheel is directly connected to the
compressor so the gas producer operation is continuous.
Output Section
The high
velocity gas then impinges on the second turbine wheel and goes out
the exhaust. The second turbine wheel is connected to the output shaft
through a system of planetary gearing.
Engine RPM
The engine (the gas producer) idles at
15,000 rpm. Maximum rpm is 37,000.
The output turbine wheel turns 30,000 rpm at full power. This
is reduced to 3000 rpm at the output shaft by the planetary reduction
gears. The engine output section is directly connected to the drive
shaft. The cars’ rear end ratio is about 2.8 to 1 so the top speed
is about 95 mph. that’s fast enough to get you a ticket in the state
of Washington. With
taller gears in the rear end the top speed would be about 115 mph. The
2.8 ratio is a compromise between top speed and acceleration.
Horsepower
The engine is rated at 180 HP with all the
accessories operating and no transmission so all of this power goes
directly to the rear wheels.
Where’s the transmission?
There
isn’t any. The stall torque of the engine is approximately two and a
half times the rated torque. This is comparable to low gear in the
1932 Ford, which was 2.5 to 1. (A
nice coincidence.) Since the second turbine wheel is not connected to
the first turbine wheel, it can be stationary while the gas producer
section is still running. The operation is similar to a piston engine
with an automatic transmission. With the engine at idle, the car moves
along about 4 or 5 miles an hour. Step on the throttle and you can
smoke the tires.
That’s right, there’s no reverse. That’s
somewhat of an inconvenience but if you plan ahead, you can live with
that. I didn’t have a reverse on my Harley either.
Question “Why don’t I have a gas turbine in my
car?”
Fuel consumption, the turbine is a fuel hog.
Part load fuel consumption is almost as high as at full power. I was getting about 3 to4 miles per gallon around town and 5
to 6 mpg on the open road. And that’s in a 1900-pound car. Check out
the fuel tank in the back where the rumble seat use to be. It’s big.
The turbo jet gas turbine is
successful in a commercial airliner because most of the operation is
at 85 to 100 percent of full power where the engine operates more
efficiently. Also the gas turbine is very sensitive to air
temperature. The lower the air temperature, the more efficient is the
engine operation. The air temperature at 35,000 feet is 65 degrees
below zero. That’s cold.
Acceleration
There is a slight delay when you step on the accelerator as the
gas producer spools up. But the car is so light; the delay is hardly
noticeable. If you really want to impress the troops, you stand on the
brake, bring up the gas producer rpm and release the brake.
The
acceleration is very smooth. Step on the throttle and you’re doing
70 before you know it. You must be careful.
The engine is vibration free. My favorite
trick is to balance a half dollar on the hood with the engine idling.
Engine braking
Contrary to popular belief, the engine does
produce a fair amount of engine braking. It takes power to keep the
output rpm up with the gas producer idling as in going downhill. Going
to work in the morning I descended Boeing hill on my way to Plant One.
Judging by the brake lights of the cars in front of me, I noticed my
use of the brake was similar.
Noise
It sounds loud but the noise is a
high-pitched scream that attracts a lot of attention. It has very
little carrying power and in terms of decibels it’s not as loud as a
motorcycle or a truck. The engine compartment was sound proofed but
this was later removed. I was worried that the foam rubber would
deteriorate and be sucked into the engine.
And that’s about it.
I had a lot of fun with this car.
Len Williams
There have been a number of Magazine articles
written about the car. Here's four of the best.
North West Rod News was the first. They had the article written before I had the
car on the road.
Bill Carroll from Science and Mechanics was the first writer to go for a
ride. He phoned me regularly to find out when it would be ready for him
to come out for a test run..
I especially like the article that Tony Hogg wrote for Car Life. He
spent a couple of days out here and we got to be good friends.
For some reason Hot Rod Monthly never expressed any real interest in the
car other than to inquire about where they could obtain a similar
engine.
North
West Rod
News
November 1961
Science and Mechanics
October 1962
Car
Life
June
1962
Gas
Turbine
December 1962
Return to the top and
click on the magazine to bring it up.
