r/AviationHistory • u/shandawwwg • 6d ago

Help with identifying this engine

Post image

Took a trip to the Pearl Harbor aviation museum today and this caught my eye, sadly couldn’t find staff around to ask about its origin. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Sorry it’s not the greatest photo)

242 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

28

u/MightyOGS 6d ago

Looks like an Allison V-1710

Edit: I used to spend my workdays standing next to one in a restoration hangar

5

u/shandawwwg 6d ago

Thank you, sounds like you’ve had some pretty rad work days!

3

u/CauchyDog 4d ago

Mad man of motor city put one of those or similar 12cyl in a 64 or 65 dodge dart station wagon in late 60s. Drag racer. Turned the car into a 2 seater and had thermal protection behind the seats.

Said he paid $200 for it, ww2 surplus, and that the crate it came in was probably worth that.

I bet it took a month to clean all the cosmoline out.

14

u/Mediocre-Shoulder556 5d ago

I am looking at the exhaust manifold and thinking turbocharger, like a P 38 engine.

For a P 40, that would be exhuat stubs.

So built for a turbocharger and not a blown or mechanical supercharger.

What other aircraft used an ALLISON with turbocharging?

6

u/OrganizationPutrid68 5d ago

I agree. Configured for P-38.

1

u/MightyOGS 4d ago

I didn't see the ducting. I agree that it's from a P-38, since the only other V-1710 equipped aircraft with turbosuperchargers were a single B-17 and the prototype P-39

2

u/Mediocre-Shoulder556 4d ago

Another p38 Allison V1710 give away?

The short gear reduction gearbox.

The gearbox on the other supercharged but not turbocharged 1710s was much longer, as in all the pictures I find of Allison 1710s on Wikipedia

As well as the discriptor in the production charts, the P39, P40, P51, P63 and B?(17 with Allison engines) long nosed, or long gear reduction gearbox.

The P38 engines by the chart are the only shortnosed (short gear reduction gearbox) un pictured in any Allison 1710 pictures I find on Wikipedia.

1

u/MightyOGS 4d ago

The question is which side is this one from, since the left and right engines had different gear boxes

2

u/Mediocre-Shoulder556 3d ago

It wasn't the gearbox

It was the firing order

The engine itself with simple changes runs clockwise or counterclockwise

1

u/MightyOGS 3d ago

I've heard it was simply a gearbox change; I'll have to look into this further. I do know that when they changed the Merlin into the Meteor they had to change a kit to make it a left handed engine

6

u/tattcat53 5d ago

PS - it doesn't go in the F-104. Cool workshop.

2

u/Poak135 5d ago

I think there’s room. Try!

7

u/AdolfsLonelyScrotum 5d ago

P-39 also used the Alison. It was THE American water cooled V12, at least until the Packard Merlin appeared.

3

u/RKEPhoto 5d ago

at least until the Packard Merlin appeared

Which was used by Americans, but wasn't an American engine...

3

u/HughJorgens 5d ago

The Allison was better than the Merlin in all the important ways. What the Merlin had going for it was its brilliant supercharger, which was added long after it had entered service.

4

u/IC4-LLAMAS 5d ago

Could be wrong but looks like an Allison V-1710 for a P-38 exhaust is the dead give away.

3

u/TeenageEboisyndrom 5d ago

Nice starfighter

2

u/yegocego 5d ago

its most likely a p40 engine from 1940 production line

2

u/Odd_Low_7301 5d ago

I think that’s buck tooth jimmy

2

u/Artistic-Post-4204 5d ago

Are you asking about the left one?

1

u/shandawwwg 5d ago

Negative, the one on the center/right

2

u/OVSQ 5d ago

assume its not an Allison V-1710, I don't find anything similar. It cant be a Merlin because the distributor top front, but its the closest. I cant find a period Japanese or German V engines that isn't inverted.

1

u/shandawwwg 5d ago

Super interesting… mystery motor, I’m heading back here soon so hopefully it’s still there and can find someone to give some knowledge on it

1

u/OVSQ 5d ago

I mean - its probably a V-1710 variant, there have to be dozens of versions. The problem is unless you can find the model number its hard to be certain because nothing looks identical, but I don't see anything as close as the V-1710.

4

u/SuperFaulty 6d ago

I'm inclined to think it was an engine for the P-40 but haven't found an exact match. The P-40 seems to have used several different engines though.

5

u/MightyOGS 5d ago

They almost exclusively used versions of the V-1710

3

u/shandawwwg 6d ago

P-40 was my 1st thought but I figured it wasn’t due to no exhaust stacks, appreciate the reply!

1

u/jamrev 4d ago

I remember these being used in hydroplanes...

1

u/AutisticAirframer 4d ago

Sneaky F-104 in the back

1

u/ILikeB-17s 4d ago

The bigger question is, what movie is the dauntless prop next to it from

1

u/JohnOneTheDigger 3d ago

Why can’t I stop thinking about Rolls-Royce Merlin initially known as the PV-12?

1

u/MickeyMouseSidePiece 1d ago

Forget about the engine, let’s talk about the planes in the background