Hot Rods P-38 Belly Tank & Alvord Dry Lake Adventure. BY Marty Strode

For a second there I thought the T had a bubble top...

I take it Brett is the young fella...

That's very kind of you...I can't wait to see what they do with it...

I am reminded seeing them of the the Auliz, Oscar team across the pond...

When Dads all over Hotrods how could it not rub off on the Youngun and now this...priceless...
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Outstanding Marty... Epic Kool factor for a young gun to get a project Outta the Strode camp!

 

Did someone say cupcakes!

 

The gesture of giving is priceless. Good on you Marty.

 

Wow Marty, good on you for getting a young guy off to a good start! Oh, and happy belated birthday old timer (my 73rd was 4 days before yours).

 

I'am speechless Marty, how cool was all of this. Like a dream trip back in time, with real history at the helm.....

 

I already asked...

 

All I had was butter tarts

 

Hello everyone and thanks for the introduction Marty! It has been quite an adventure getting the belly tank back to life, and here is a brief history of the car.

The belly tank is from a P-38 and was built by Tom and Felix Fornaciari and Everett Adams in 1951-52 in Stockton, California. I was fortunate to meet Everett Adams in February, 2016 (he passed away a couple of years ago) and he gave me original photos of the car during construction and after a race at El Mirage in either 1953 or 1954. Everett remembered the car well, since it was his first big project. He gave me a fairly complete list of the major parts that he used on the car (Halibrand Model A quick change, Evans heads and 3 carb manifold, magneto, DC3 steering wheel, WW-II bomber seat, etc.). So, I started searching, and over the next five years I managed to get the missing parts thanks to people such as Don Orosco, Greg Buller, Mike Moore, Scott Perrott, Mark Brislawn, etc.


In an early outing to test the belly tank Everett and Tom raced it at Kingdon drag strip (Lodi, California). When I first spoke with Everett he asked me “is the bottom of the tank was still dented?” I told him that it was, and he went on to explain that this happened when the car veered off of the drag strip and bounced off of a dirt mound severely damaging the bottom of the tank. He said “We straightened it out by removing the engine and rolling a pipe under it while pounding the inside with a hammer.” As a result, they installed shock absorbers to stabilize the front axle.

According to Everett once the car was sorted out Tom ran it at El Mirage circa 1953-1954 (car number 9c in one event) and recorded a speed of around 143 or 145 mph. He said that Tom was so shaken up from the experience that he put it away in his garage until he sold it to his cousin Bob Fornaciari in the mid to late 1960’s. I spoke with Bob in 2016, and he told me that his primary interest was to get the trailer that the belly tank was on to haul a sprint car. Bob eventually passed the belly tank onto his friend Rich Guasco (of “Pure Hell” racing) in Pleasanton, California in the late-1970’s.

It passed through a few more owners (Jim Bauer, Brian Martin, Lou Pavesi and Curtis Patience) until I was able to get it in March 2015 from Scott Perrott who had it in his collection. When I got the car the early history was unknown, but over the next year I was able to discover its story thanks to the Kustorama website that posted a photo of it, which Jim Bauer saw. Kustorama connected me with Jim aqnd he was very kind and helped me learn that he got it from Rich Guasco. Within two weeks of learning this I visited Rich and he connected me with Bob Fornaciari, who was also very helpful and supportive. He told me that he got it from his cousin Tom who had built it with his father Felix Fornaciari and Everett Adams in 1951-52.

Scott told me that Marty Strode was "the man" to take on the project, since he had been working on hot rods, drag racers and land speed record cars for decades. He was right, but Marty was extremely busy owing to a long list of customers demanding his skills. But I was persistent and kept bugging Marty for the next five years to take on the project and he finally had an opening in his schedule in December 2020 and I brought the tank to him. Marty totally bought into my vision of using original parts made prior to 1951 to keep the car as authentic and period correct as possible and compliment the original paint that is still in remarkably good condition (see photo from circa 1953).

Over the next nine months Marty and I worked together at a steady pace, and in early 2021 he had the great idea of running it in the Alvord desert, since we couldn't think of any other place to test it. Marty set the date with Jim Lindsey to be September 18 so we had a deadline. The last month we worked at a fairly insane pace, and over the last week or so I was putting in 14-hour days to get the engine and transmission done so that we could install it in the chassis at Marty’s shop. The last few days I pretty much lived at Marty's shop to get the car done and good friends such as Chris Bright, Harold Peters and Rick Warner helped to push us across the finish line. Marty also pulled in some of his good friends to help us that last day too. Thank you everyone!

Marty stood behind the project 100% and he even made a house call to adjust the front suspension just I was about to leave to the Alvord desert on Thursday, Sept 16. Now that is customer service! My friend Harold Peters and I hauled the car to the Alvord desert and arrived the evening on Sept 17 to a wonderful crowd of fellow hot rodders. Everyone was very kind and enthusiastic and I had plenty of help when we decided to change the gears in the Halibrand in the dark.

The next day I took the car for a brief run without the upper tank half, just in case I needed to escape quickly, but the car ran well. So, we put the top on the tank and did some test runs which demonstrated that the car was ready to run. Later in the morning we did some 1/8 mile runs and the car loved it. It was easy to drive and had plenty of power. The rest of the story is well told by Marty and Chris Bright, so I’ll stop here.

Thanks everyone for your interest,

Ed


The belly tank circa 1953. Photo courtesy of Everett Adams

 

What an awesome Story...well told Ed...its even sweeter that you were able to meet the original owner/builder...

I am surprised to hear of the pretty high speed runs at the lakes shaking the driver to the point of Backing away from further runs...I certainly can understand and it probably happened more often than we think...

I'm well aware they were pretty rough on the comfort without rear suspension in many...

There's actually several Hambers currently building Tanks for Lakes competition...

Welcome to the Hamb...thanks for filling us in on the History...perhaps you're quite familiar with the site, but if your not have a look around...there is much to enjoy and glean...

It's really interesting noting all the Aviation connections to these beyond the tank itself...Such an gorgeous aircraft with its standalone twin tails...Many of these tanks may have been on Aircraft that saw combat...

 

Thank you!

 

My experience driving on a dry lake is limited to my one time at Alvord, so I am certainly at the baby level in that world. But I can say that it was smooth enough to do some high speed runs in the car once it is more sorted. I have read that El Mirage could be bumpy, had mounds to be avoided and even soft spots which may explain why Tom Fornaciari was uncomfortable at 140+. Does that make sense or am I completely off base?
Ed

 

...Not at all off base Ed...any divet or bump at those speeds surely has an effect within...that could make one think should I or shouldn't I...I suspect all lanes of these runs at the Lakes are inspected at least prior to the races for anomalies that could spell disaster...its great you've had a trusted eye look this thing over including your own...I wonder what Marty thought of what he saw working on it...I have complete admiration for workmanship that wows years after it was crafted and still delivers the goods...

 

Awesome tanker.

 

Hey all -- Kelli Hascall did a fantastic job of capturing last weekend's gathering! I am posting this gallery on her behalf. Enjoy and thanks to Kelli for sharing her talent!

 

Very interesting story - thanks for sharing it.

Living in Oregon, I often wonder if there is a way to know when speed events on Alvord Desert are going to occur. I’d love to watch and/or help in some way.

John

 

What a cool story, thanks for sharing Marty, and all. I didn't think it could get any better, and then I read this. You are one cool dude Marty.

 

John, the reason we decided not to invite people to this gathering was, we wanted to check it out, with a small group, to see what the possibilities were. Also, a horde people and cars might have been hard to control, for safety reasons, and rest room facilities. It was amazingly smooth, and fun to drive on, and the group that came were a fun bunch.

 

Blues, I told the story a while back, about my Brother Tom giving me a T Roadster body in the early 60's, and how it shaped my future. Not sure if I am a cool Dude, but Winter is coming, and the temps will be lower soon !

 

So happy I clicked on this thread! Marty, Ed and Chris, thank you for telling the story so well. I got to experience it a bit though you guys!

The pictures were stunning!

 

Hi Jeff, Thank you for your kind words. It was a great adventure and only made possible with good friends all pulling together.
Ed

 

What a great story! Thanks all for sharing it with us. Hope to hear more as future adventures play out.

 

Of all the pictures, this is my favorite. With the mad thrash of the last month, Ed and I are still talking !

 

I completely understand. Looks like it was a great outing.

John

 

...Who's hand is on the Tank giving a high five...

I'm telling you Marty I certainly understand the demand for your expertise...if you were closer I'd be knocking on your door...just your historic knowledge alone is worth the price of admission...I'd buy you a coupla months worth of cupcakes as an incentive...

Me and Denny can help you get rid of them too...

Anyone passing through your shop for service knows that you will not disappoint...
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Stogy
If your buying make it some Voodoo Doughnuts.
You'll be looking that up I'm sure.

 

...I did they look like they might bite yer ass......are they Marty approved...

 

I can echo Marty's comment above "With the mad thrash of the last month, Ed and I are still talking !" Amazingly through all of this project we never had any real arguments. What helped is that I realized that I was junior to Marty in experience so generally he had the final word, but he respected my goals and vision and would listen to my input. Pretty darn good project management on his part. In the end it turned out to be a great experience and friendship. Thank you Marty!

I just received some wonderful photos for Scott Mead and he has given me permission to post them here.


Loading the belly tank on Sept. 18, 2021. Photo: Scott Mead.


The belly tank on the Alvord dry lake, Sept. 18, 2021. Photo: Scott Mead.


Ed Godshalk and Mike Moore on the Alvord dry lake, Sept. 18, 2021. Photo: Scott Mead.

 

One more photo from Scott Mead:

Ed Godshalk leaving the 1/8 mile starting line on the Alvord dry lake. Sept. 18, 2021 Photo: Scott Mead.

 

Ed did you record any speeds you achieved...how about the others...was 100mph dusted?

Thanks for sharing this adventure All of you...