Author Topic: Australian Belly Tank  (Read 3165543 times)

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Offline Stan Back

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4155 on: December 25, 2013, 12:56:27 PM »
Maybe those are metric degrees.
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Offline Stainless1

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4156 on: December 25, 2013, 12:58:04 PM »
it does seem a little short.... the Bockscar had 36 before last year when we built a new one and went to 12 or so...
seemed to run straight most of the time... was a little hard to back up, the fronts wanted to flop
Stainless
Red Hat 228.039, 2001, 65ci, Bockscar Lakester #1000 with a little N2O

Offline grumm441

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4157 on: December 25, 2013, 05:03:59 PM »
So you don't have to steer it?
G
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Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4158 on: December 26, 2013, 06:00:22 PM »
When we were getting the axle made the builder suggested it, not having built one before we went with it,it hasn't given us any grief. Why would you have 36 degrees castor in a lakester?..
.....yeah, metric,crazy

http://www.zmescience.com/other/map-of-countries-officially-not-using-the-metric-system/
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline Stainless1

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4159 on: December 26, 2013, 11:09:49 PM »
When we were getting the axle made the builder suggested it, not having built one before we went with it,it hasn't given us any grief. Why would you have 36 degrees castor in a lakester?..


Hey, our excuse as well.... 'cept we figured it worked for the old rails to help 'em go straight so that's the way we made it, I can say the car steers too easy with the reduced castor... been used to steering by just leaning on the hard spot... can't really do that now, there is not hard spot to take the wheels off of straight.
Stainless
Red Hat 228.039, 2001, 65ci, Bockscar Lakester #1000 with a little N2O

Offline Reverend Hedgash

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4160 on: December 27, 2013, 07:23:24 AM »
When we were getting the axle made the builder suggested it, not having built one before we went with it,it hasn't given us any grief. Why would you have 36 degrees castor in a lakester?..
.....yeah, metric,crazy

http://www.zmescience.com/other/map-of-countries-officially-not-using-the-metric-system/


We also heard that others has cars with similar set ups but were getting a bit light at speed (I think this was a Hadfield crew member...) so this confirmed our resolve to go this way.

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4161 on: December 27, 2013, 08:25:41 PM »
When we were getting the axle made the builder suggested it, not having built one before we went with it,it hasn't given us any grief. Why would you have 36 degrees castor in a lakester?..
.....yeah, metric,crazy

http://www.zmescience.com/other/map-of-countries-officially-not-using-the-metric-system/


We also heard that others has cars with similar set ups but were getting a bit light at speed (I think this was a Hadfield crew member...) so this confirmed our resolve to go this way.

to reiterate.

Graham Robinson built our front axle , it is seamless 1/4 wall 1& 3/4inch , he has been a long time crew member on the John Lynch A/BFL hemi tank and has a long involvement in fuel dragsters. The Lynch tank has 23 degrees and as Robbo said is apparently a little light at 300mph.

Doubtless there are arguments that it is too much but to this point it has been great and i think that when I managed to get the car airborne and twist our steering box giving the car toe out in 2010 it may have kept the car manageable. Either way it's 30 degrees and as Stainless says it sort of gives the steering a "notch " on centre. To some that may sound like a recipe for disaster, however this car handles like no car I have driven, it feels like the biggest go-kart in the world, I have managed to get it tail out twice, both times when turning it at the end of our test track and that requires some effort, a very rapid jerk of the steering and a clutch sidestep, when I say "tail-out" I don't mean fish tail because neither time would it go past centre again, it just snaps back on course like it has fallen into a trench.....

Anyhow, speaking of the car I have to get out to the shed and work on it............
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline Sumner

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4162 on: December 27, 2013, 10:08:59 PM »
...The Lynch tank has 23 degrees and as Robbo said is apparently a little light at 300mph....

I'm wondering it that has anything at all due to castor?  I have a feeling that it is getting aero light.  I would think that with the steering centered and the car going straight the downforce on each front wheel would be the same regardless of castor.  

Now with a lot of castor when you start to turn the car tries to raise up on one wheel giving it more downforce but the other is getting lighter so there again I can't see the overall downforce on the front of the car being different.  The high castor does help to 'self-steer' since as you say there is a notch where the car hasn't started to raise on one wheel or the other and as soon as it does the weight wants to push the steering back neutral. 

I'd considered 30 deg and see nothing really wrong with it as long as you also follow the rule book if you go that route and it has for sure worked on fast cars, but so has way less.  I think I have mine set about 18 degrees about 2 degrees under where steering stops are required.

Dik hope you guys can get by and see us.  You say Sept., are you planing on going to WOS or WF at the end of the month?

Sum
« Last Edit: December 28, 2013, 02:04:23 PM by Sumner »

Offline SPARKY

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4163 on: December 28, 2013, 01:08:04 PM »
I would bet BIG $ it has nothing to do with steering and all about LIFT

ask Joe Law  (recognized the problem & did something about it---before) and Seth Hammond---"The faster it goes the smoother it gets"  Tannis said after a 30? pass in the old car.

Check the history to see what happened to the old car..
« Last Edit: January 13, 2014, 09:34:28 PM by SPARKY »
Miss LIBERTY,  changing T.K.I.  to noise, dust, rust, BLUE HATS & hopefully not scrap!!

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."   Helen Keller

We are going to explore the racing N words NITROUS & NITRO!

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4164 on: January 04, 2014, 10:02:14 PM »
 Busy day today, I'm going through the front end . Just popped the king-pins for a look see, no issues that I can detect, the bearings underneath them are clean and good, there was some concern they'd got wet and salty, nope, fine.Put the grease gun on them, oozed evenly...... Wheel bearings repacked. This year we will have the tie rod squarely behind the front axle, there is still some correspondance ongoing between me and the authorities about this, that being the case , no pics.

Yesterday I altered the steering column angle, rather than sweat over it I moved it to the point where the upper edge just reaches the sight line to the front of the car, last year I had miscalculated and it was a bit too low.

Next I am going to adjusty the canopy rearward by about 3/16ths, for some reason, at some time it went forward a tiny bit and I suspect is the reason for its reluctance to snap down now....

Last week I started on the nose repair,it was damaged in a trailering incident at the Chopped show, I welded in a patch in the centre where i had hurredly riveted a piece when we first finished the car too, looks better from the inside now.....

Not long to go.....


Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline SPARKY

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4165 on: January 04, 2014, 10:23:18 PM »
If they have problems---show them mine we have nothing to obstruct the tie rod  :-o  lol
Miss LIBERTY,  changing T.K.I.  to noise, dust, rust, BLUE HATS & hopefully not scrap!!

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."   Helen Keller

We are going to explore the racing N words NITROUS & NITRO!

Offline Milwaukee Midget

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4166 on: January 13, 2014, 09:30:09 PM »

Not long to go.....


A little more than 6 weeks, according to my sundial.

Any word on the lakebed?

I think this year's DLRA Poster is brilliant . . . the perfect balance between levity and bravado.

http://www.dlra.org.au/




"Problems are almost always a sign of progress."  Harold Bettes
Well, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .  :roll:

Offline maj

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4167 on: January 13, 2014, 09:55:08 PM »
lots of sun for the dial
44c here at the moment , good drying weather
last thing i heard about conditions back near Xmas was dry surface in the morning but rising damp in the pm
as usual it will come down to summer storms just before or during the event that would cause the most problems

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4168 on: January 14, 2014, 12:38:11 AM »
Have completed some changes to the front end, won't be publicising them due to some contentious issues. Have to enter tonight to avoid a late fee... I'm on it,I'm on it.
Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

http://thespiritofsunshine.blogspot.com/

Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Australian Belly Tank
« Reply #4169 on: January 15, 2014, 09:24:09 PM »
Greg, those are Bakersfield temps.  Lay low and sleep for a few hours in midday.  Do your physical work in the very early AM of the evening.  Life needs to be rearranged when it gets hot like that.  Also, avoid any air conditioned places and drink hot coffee or tea if you are working out in the sun.