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Roger, thanks for the suggestion to look in Neal's book for the answer to my question. I believe the answer is on page 175.

"This was but the beginning of a monumental task of redesigning an engine which was not originally designed for mass production so that it could indeed be made by American mass production methods, and so that it could be fitted with American fittings and accessories as mentioned above or British accessories and fittings, depending upon which government the engine was intended for."

This makes sense, but was a major complication in manufacturing the Merlins.

JWL

Quote:

First: As mentioned above, the Merlin production line was running by October 1941, months BEFORE the car line was shut down. Merlin production was done in Building #22 with an adjacent building used for run-in testing - these were brand new buildings used only for thh Merlin.

Second: Yes, a significant number of women were hired, including my mother and several of what later became her best friends. Remember, during WWII, the plant was running literally 24/7 - the doors were probably never locked. My mom and her friends worked in Building #22, inspecting ball bearings and other small parts using tolerance gauges for proper fit.

Attached below are vintage photos of my mom and my "Aunt" Helen - that is the title people of my generation calls their parent's best friends. While Packard gave them their first "real money" paychecks they could not afford the 1941 120 convertible coupe they are posing with. That was a loaner borrowed from the husband of my mother's older sister who owned a used car lot. They took the buss to 1580 E. Grand Blvd. A number of relatively new cars were being sold as guys went off to war. You can also see my "Aunt" Helen in this movie trailer about the Packard Plant at the 4:30 minute point.
freepfilmfestival.com/schedule-of-films/packard-the-last-shift/

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Roger,

Now that is cool! Thanks for Sharing!

To give you a better idea where the Merlin production line was located at the Packard Plant I have attached 3 items for your review.

1. Street level image, looking SW toward the corner of Concord Street (left) and Harper Avenue (right / foreground) to building #22 under construction.

2. Aerial view of the same intersection. Note the test cell building adjacent to the west with the numerous smoke stacks. These stacks were attached to the engine exhaust pipes during run-in testing. Freshly assembled engines moved through underground tunnels to the test cell room and not exposed to the weather.

3. Floor plans comparing the pre-war, car production layout to "Today" or wartime production. Note that building #22 was NOT in existence before the war and was built specifically for the Merlin engine production. RED line is E. Grand Boulevard. GREEN line is Concord St. and BLUE line is Harper Avenue.

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Check the titles for any numerals separated by a dot such as in this example with the time
2013-07-14 at 3.44.20 PM
or just rename the photos to all letters. If I tried to post the photo with that title it would get the same error. If I edit out the time and just leave the date it will post. Some websites see titles with numbers separated by a dot as an odd IP address and think it is trying to hijack or redirect.

Roger - thank you for the additional information and especially for the photos. You've really brought the subject to life with all of this!

Many thanks to all of you PackardInfo readers who have visited the blog post! We've had great traffic on the blog thanks to you!

For those who haven't seen the post, the link is below. Don't miss the videos.

56packardman.com/2017/03/28/gear-head-tuesday-packard-and-the-merlin-engine/

Also, we posted about James Ward Packard here:

56packardman.com/2017/03/21/gear-head-tuesday-james-ward-packard-1863-1928/

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w8soszoMtek?list=PL3QxtvilYVbq8ljlzIlmorEc2Tr7K3AEa" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My father, who celebrated his 97th birthday last Saturday, is a fellow Packard collector some of you may know. Here is a video where he talks about flying Packard Merlin equipped P40's and later P51.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AeCEpBuyQUQ?list=PL3QxtvilYVbq8ljlzIlmorEc2Tr7K3AEa" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here is some very rare footage of the 89th Fighter Squadron flying, I believe, Packard equipped P40's in Richmond Virginia


Edited to correct video footage

Tinpan, thank you for sharing the videos. You are fortunate to have the one of your father talking about his war experiences. Many others would love to have that record and image.

About the 90th Fighter Squadron's P-40s in Taipha, Georgia. I believe these aircraft are Allison powered as they are shown with the snorkel on top of the engine cowling. The Packard powered P-40s did not have this snorkel. Just a few of the P-40 were fitted with the Merlin engine, and I believe were later reverted back to the Allisons. I may be incorrect on this, but recall reading something like this in the past.

JWL