Australian Belly Tank

[Buickguy3]

  I'm with you. Maybe it's time to ask for a current Salt report. I think that the big weather anomolies are over for the time being, but maybe somebody should make an educated prognostication. How deep is the fucking water??? 
Doug

[Tman]

I think Glen said in the chat last week it was 6" deep

[Milwaukee Midget]

Feeling a tad starcrossed, eh?

We're still better than two months out from Speedweek.  It gets pretty hot, and the norm, the mean, the average nature of the place in June and July is one of aridity.  Like the DLRA, SCTA-BNI won't cancel unless absolutely necessary, and it's likely to be late in the game.  But if the mid term weather events play out poorly, or start to look like the early eighties, I suspect it'll be pretty clear what's up before you have to hop a plane.

Tman's observations are likely right . . . 

"Summer will be drier than normal, with near-normal temperatures, on average. The hottest periods will be in late July and mid-August.

September and October will be slightly drier than normal, with near-normal temperatures."

http://www.almanac.com/weather/longrange/zipcode/84083

[maj]

Well thats at least some good news, I believe several Aussie cars are not making the trip across the water now as they think its too risky , there timetable would require them to be on the boat within the next few weeks to make Speedweek. Were continuing with our plans to ship the bikes mid July for later meets.

[Andy Cooke]

I see that the Prefect has a damper conversion, if you're not using the suspension it might fetch a couple of £ on ebay.  I recall Ballamy did one, but that may be a false memory...
Andy

[PJQ]

day or two late for the nostalgia posts, oh well... "Memories..."

[Dr Goggles]

  I'm with you. Maybe it's time to ask for a current Salt report. I think that the big weather anomolies are over for the time being, but maybe somebody should make an educated prognostication. How deep is the fucking water??? 
Doug

....it's colddddd and deeeeep man..... oldie but a goodie.

I see that the Prefect has a damper conversion, if you're not using the suspension it might fetch a couple of £ on ebay.  I recall Ballamy did one, but that may be a false memory...
Andy

Hi Andy,
I'll have to come straight out and confess that we are going to chop that chassis up.

At the moment it looks like we might reverse the rails and shorten the wheelbase about 25%. We will be using the suspension but we are as yet undecided as to how we will ...there is a chance we might use the front end "suicide" style by shifting the spring behind the axle.That would allowus to put the spring through the nose of the tank and hang the rest out in front of it.......the cable brakes are very handy for what we're going to do.......we'll be using a lot of motorbike controls, hand clutch on the gearshift lever, hand actuated brake ironically with a hydraulic piston working the cable set up.......

The baby is in the Reverends more than capable hands and I am very much looking forward to seeing what he comes up with ......just in case yous were a wondering...

This is the model we had in 1:5 scale sitting on the line in 2005 ......

[Dr Goggles]

Pure excitement....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meEIIjt6R2o

[Drewfus]

Pure excitement....

Sorry Dr.....your spelling suck's (sux)

It's spelt excrement

Cheers,

Drewfus

P.S. was thinking about this little tank project, why don't you just stick a motorbike engine inside the tank, driving the rear wheels, and make the lid(top) with a small seat to straddle (like a horse), with little bike handles protruding discretely to hang onto/steer with? In other words, sit on it, not in it?

[Milwaukee Midget]

P.S. was thinking about this little tank project, why don't you just stick a motorbike engine inside the tank, driving the rear wheels, and make the lid(top) with a small seat to straddle (like a horse), with little bike handles protruding discretely to hang onto/steer with? In other words, sit on it, not in it?

Drewfus, I already PM'd him the saddle idea, and then he started off on a diatribe about how camels shouldn't be fed because they get lazy, and some other oddball topics. 

I think he's in denial, but then I'm building a Spridget, so I've got no quarter with THAT argument.

[grumm441]

Drewfus, I already PM'd him the saddle idea, and then he started off on a diatribe about how camels shouldn't be fed because they get lazy, and some other oddball topics. 

I think he's in denial, but then I'm building a Spridget, so I've got no quarter with THAT argument.

Denial? I thought he was in Sunshine
Doesn't Denial run thru Egypt?
That would explain the camel thing
G

[Dr Goggles]

I'll have none of this gip........

The idea is to use a V-Twin Drewfus, no not one of those expensive pump motors but maybe a Honda Firestorm or something similar like a TL....but anyway it'll be run transverse which means we only need about 600mm (2ft imperialists) from the back of the diff to the firewall . Having the closed tailshaft style diff means there is a spline which will be easy to adapt to run a short chain to the secondary that means we've got motor/box/clutch in one package, then we've got cable brakes, we can use the hand controls off the bike, even the twist throttle mechanism as the pivot for a pedal. There's a free biscuit for anyone who gets what I'm talking about there.............

I just went out and ran a tape over a few things.....then I sat against the wall and measured how much leg-room I thought I could get away with....

Now, from the pointy end it's just over 800mm to the small bulkhead, that's enough for the rear spring,rear end and motor assembly.



From the small bulkhead to the nose is 1500 or so which means there's enough room for the spring, front end and steering ( 250mm front to back) and enough room for me to sit with my legs flat (1200mm).....

Sitting legs flat feels weird and takes away your ability to brace too but bending your knees leaves little room for a steering wheel so that is a compromise that will have to be made I reckon........It's going to be a better fit than I thought....


I am not in deNile which is Am-a-zon  all things considered but I may live to Ruhr the day that I didn't read the Seines and moderate my Rio Grande plans, I must have been O High-Oh .

[Milwaukee Midget]

I am not in deNile which is Am-a-zon  all things considered but I may live to Ruhr the day that I didn't read the Seines and moderate my Rio Grande plans, I must have been O High-Oh .

This is not an intervention - We just don't want to see you in Missouri.

[Drewfus]

then we've got cable brakes, we can use the hand controls off the bike, even the twist throttle mechanism as the pivot for a pedal. There's a free biscuit for anyone who gets what I'm talking about there............

I get what you're doing, but I think you need to step out of the mentality that suggests you need to have a steering wheel....

Sitting legs flat feels weird and takes away your ability to brace too but bending your knees leaves little room for a steering wheel so that is a compromise that will have to be made I reckon........It's going to be a better fit than I thought....

If you just trim/narrow up the existing bike handle bars(instead of using a steering wheel), it should provide you a neat comprimise, a 'bit' of room for you to move your legs a fraction, and still offer you a 'familiar' steering sensation, without having to create more parts to package into that tiny area

Is that free buiscuit soggy? or slightly past its used by date?

Cheers,

Drewfus

[Dr Goggles]

Kind of disappointed that Jerry King of Puns didn't get involved in that one......

I get what you're doing, but I think you need to step out of the mentality that suggests you need to have a steering wheel....

If you just trim/narrow up the existing bike handle bars(instead of using a steering wheel), it should provide you a neat compromise, a 'bit' of room for you to move your legs a fraction, and still offer you a 'familiar' steering sensation, without having to create more parts to package into that tiny area
Cheers,
Drewfus

Had intended all along to use handle bars....but there's something really un-rock about them in a bellytank....it might be the "coot-scooter" similarities....and frankly if it's gonna look like a chopped down mobility scooter I'm not building it.... plus, the steering has to be super short to go full lock without a full rotation, and that's more trouble than its worth.

It's not about leg movement. Sit on the floor with your legs flat, they aren't much use to you are they?,,,,It puts more strain on your back . We'll have to build a pretty good back rest that stops any side to side movement if we are to have our legs flat....

There's a free biscuit for anyone who gets what I'm talking about there.............

I can just set up a spring loaded pedal and run a "string" around the twist throttle control mounted in a convenient place.....much easier than setting up another cable from a pedal