Australian Belly Tank

[Dr Goggles]

I sent you a text yesterday saying ...."I'm not building another race car anytime soon"....... This will be a back in the day job....narrow the chassis after lopping it fore and aft of the transverse spring mounts......it's ten inches longer than it needs to be, I can narrow most of the cross members......box the frame rails in .

The main approach is to build it for Chopped and it's eighth mile dirt drag......I figure we get it running with the 250 twin and then go looking for something with a little more stick like a Firestorm/Superhawk.

It's busy at the SOS Possum Park and Bellytank workshop this week but I'll try and get some measurements from the SeaFury tank this week....

I drilled the rivets out of the middle three crossmembers ...the body is welded onto the chassis at the back but I'll soon have it off...




You know those flat wrecking bars that have a claw at each end...and a sticker that says "do not strike, wear protective goggles" ...yeah well that's sensible advice ...I dunno where one end of mine went when I was using it to pry the body off the chassis rails and giving it some help with a ball-pein...there's two inches missing , no sign of it....

[Reverend Hedgash]

I dunno where one end of mine went when I was using it to pry the body off the chassis rails and giving it some help with a ball-pein...there's two inches missing , no sign of it....

You are going to be one of those guys in the news 20 years from now who has their head X-rayed and they find the reason for your 20 years of headaches due to a rusting 2" piece of metal lodged in your brain somewhere behind your eye...

Check now for any sticky bits on your head that could in fact be an entry wound.

Phone flat yesterday as I was, got some crappy cold that makes me feel like I've smoke 20 rollies without any filters.

Given this is steel what say we cut it in half first so we know excatly what we are playing with? This one is too small to waste any millimetres on the interior.

I can come around this weekend with a big sheet of paper so we can get an acurate measure regardless.

rH+

[Reverend Hedgash]

PS this is one of my fave small tanks...

 "The Lady Bug", built by Fred Lobello, Benson, Vesco and Dinkians of San Diego, California.

Then of course there is Wazavoodoo (where is it now?)

If it is the non racing variety then we need to think of comfort...

Its hot out theree so some shade in the form of a roof or how about airco? A fridge for the beer, and you need to be able to transport stuff with it so the trailer might be a great idea too.

What else... cb radio... um...

dik

[Dr Goggles]

I can come around this weekend with a big sheet of paper so we can get an acurate measure regardless.

Yes.That will nail it. Have the sawzall of death too now....

Can't find any OBVIOUS entry wound.....I might pee it out , or cough it up..... was a memorable day for hand injuries...swollen finger, couple of hot angry little cuts , a burn. Nothing got mangled in the dismantlement but I do have to get it stripped down and off the truck hopefully sneak it into the back yard behind the shed out of eyesight or at least where it can't be seen from the kitchen and regarded as an eyesore


I spoke to Wayne Mumford a month or so ago. He bought Russell out and has remotored the tank with a 2litre Toyota which has been "built".......he's been having a little rest from the DLRA but has built a trailer and will be there next year, it'll go fast.

A little research of the registration laws may be enlightening as all we are doing is changing the body style and changing the motor to a smaller one.....Colonel , any thoughts? If we can get a provisional permit as a historic we CAN take it to Gairdner, but the main idea is to go to the Chopped Show...........

[Dr Goggles]

For those wondering, this is the Waza-Vudu in it's early incarnation...

[grumm441]

A little research of the registration laws may be enlightening as all we are doing is changing the body style and changing the motor to a smaller one.....Colonel , any thoughts? If we can get a provisional permit as a historic we CAN take it to Gairdner, but the main idea is to go to the Chopped Show...........

[salt27]

You know those flat wrecking bars that have a claw at each end...and a sticker that says "do not strike, wear protective goggles" ...yeah well that's sensible advice ...I dunno where one end of mine went when I was using it to pry the body off the chassis rails and giving it some help with a ball-pein...there's two inches missing , no sign of it....
[/quote]
That explains the hole in my windshield.
Please PM billing address.

Don

[Milwaukee Midget]

...I dunno where one end of mine went when I was using it to pry the body off the chassis rails and giving it some help with a ball-pein...there's two inches missing , no sign of it....

This didn't occur on the 21st, did it?  You may be the only witness to the prophecy.

Naaah, it's probably in the yard, lying in wait for you lawn mower.

Wait a minute.... Its a Ford!!!

What kind of confused bi-brand kid are you? This is Australia mate, and it is either Ford OR Holden, as George would say, you are either with us or against us ( ).

Rev, it goes WAY beyond the Holden/Ford thing.

We're talking a British Designed Ford.

It's a sad and twisted path.  Mark my words, before the end of the decade, he'll be looking at Studebakers . . .

[Dr Goggles]

That explains the hole in my windshield.
Please PM billing address.
Don

Naaah, it's probably in the yard, lying in wait for you lawn mower.

See Don I'm figuring it flicked over my back fence where my neighbour ran over it with his mower putting it into an unstable orbit, from there it re-entered the atmosphere somewhere over the NW coast of the US....and you know the rest..... I'll get his details...

At least that's what I'm hoping happened, otherwise it's gonna end up in my shin sooner rather than later

On another front the engineering shop called and said they got the axle tubes out of the differential housing....broke several tools before they were blown out with a torch...the guy who did it said "apparently there is a high nickel content in those housings and they alloy the weld, that was some seriously hard shit"....

[SPARKY]

S-H-S---that was our experience

[grumm441]

I was just looking at WW's build dairy

Type "stress concentration" into Google or another search engine and all sorts of interesting material pops up. .

It just reminded me of  three guys standing around a half assembled belly tank on a Thursday afternoon in March
I'm sure I saw some one with a camera
G

[Dr Goggles]

Hey you're the one with the I-fangle-phone.....

Anyway ,what brought that up?

Mr Watters( Maj to those on landracing.com) called me last night wondering whether we were taking the tank to the US this year....you know the answer. I'll miss him as he arrives two days before I leave ....you'll see him at WOS though.....

I'm going out to talk with the machine shop about the diff centre at lunch time...I have a piece of the Ford tube, the bar is there so we should have it all organised by the end of the week.

Looks like Saturday is the go for the measure up and executive staring session at the Prefect and tank.

Hey Colonel I'm going to ask the guy I got the Defect from for the old rego papers, then I can get an unroadworthy vehicle permit for it........

[Dr Goggles]

So, I go out to the machine shop......The differential housing job is no big deal....."So" I ask him, "what were you using the body off the Prefect for?".......well may you ask.......

He has a Coventry F1 motor ,a Hewland and a bunch of other race grade suspension and brakes ,he's building what will be a late sixties F1 car in a Prefect body.......

Needless to say we got on like a house on fire.

[Reverend Hedgash]

Huh? For street use or for racing?

Hope he gives a fellow madman discount...

[Milwaukee Midget]

Hey Colonel I'm going to ask the guy I got the Defect from for the old rego papers, then I can get an unroadworthy vehicle permit for it........

permit to permit . . .