Bellytank build - Power by the Fabulous Flathead Ford V8

very cool!

 

Looking Good , I wish I did'nt live so far from Bonneville.

 

What a cool build. way back, years ago my neighbor had a bellytank he ran at the old Santa Ana drags. He even held a worlds record at one time at 144 mph. I was 10 and he would let me sit in the car and go rhooom, rhooom. I still remember that car 50 years later.
JMPRO

 

I always liked the bellytanks.Good luck on your project.

 

I've sat in mine on quite a few occassions and made some engine noises, never gets old.

The flathead in the pictures is pretty much junk holding together a few good pieces. Details of the race motor are yet to be fully determined.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement.

 

Got that right. When the engine doesn't run all one can do is make motor noises.

 

Man, neat car!

I have a couple of questions... may have been brought up before...

Is an open channel frame with a cage welded to the top and bottom part of the "C" legal like that?

Also, how are you going to splice the tubes together where the bends change direction? I really like the bird cage that is small like that.

Lastly... how do you get the quick change apart with the frame welded to the axle tubes?

Again, I like it!

Sam

 

Yes, it's "legal". That's how most tanks are configured; one main rail that splits the car horizontally lengthwise with an upper and lower cage attached to it.

Looks like the back section of the frame unbolts from the rest of the chassis to me.

 

Exactly correct on taking the rear axle off. C-channel welded to rear slips over frame and bolts fast.

 

Man! thats rad. I want one.

 

I love drop tank cars!!!!!!

Are you going by drawings from past cars or your own??

Great job, looking forward to this thread..

 

man oh man, how many hours do you have in that rendering? it's amazing.

 

I realize most are done that way... but not done with a "C" channel frame. Are you going to box the frame?

Sam

 

The frame will not be boxed but there will be gussets or pieces of tube in the c-channel where the tubes meet to keep the c-channel from crushing.


As for hours in the cad model, I have no idea, but it's alot.

 

Sounds sufficient to me.

 

Nice build. Let us know when it's ready for the first run.

Rod

 

The 1932 4 banger ran 156 on a shake down run then I broke a piston. The tank was stretched 12". I was lucky and had 2 tanks to work with, the top of each tank had a huge cast NATO jet attachment recessed in the top of the tank so I used the tank bottoms.
liberty garage

 

BTTT, Any progress on this badboy???

 

Great looking build, keep the pics coming.

 

Current work is on the pedals, also tore apart the entire front end to get ready to start welding. The pedal assembly main plates will be welded into the lower cages hoops. The master cylinder & clutch cylinder will be under the floorboard with remote mount reservoirs.

Also dug the back up motor from it's resting place. Plan on firing it up with the Hilborn for the first time in the near future.

Next up will be the headers, custom flanges and a box of bends in hand, we'll see how that goes.

 

First time I saw a belly tank dragster was in 1956 and was red ram hemi power. Your doing a fantastic job and I hope to see the finshed product.

 

Wow!
Nice engine stand.
Ted

 

Great to see some more progress. I think your pedal design is outstanding.

 

Maxton is a great place to debug for Bonneville. A lot closer and runs more often. No suspension will be a problem both at Maxton and can be on the salt. Maxton is a great place to "steal" technology.I think you azre doing a great job at a good pace. Have been working on my lakesyter 6 years and is not out of the celler yet

 

Looks great. I em about to start building my own belly tank so it was nice to get some inspiration.

 

How about some progress reports? I want too see whats been going on for the last 3 months.

 

I guess it's about time for a quick update. Not much progress recently, replaced the rear crossmember and have the gas tank mounted. Also have mounts for the two electric water pumps for cooling (don't want to use up any of the flathead hp spinning a mechanical pump).

The plates around the rear axle will be the mounts for a sub frame for parachute/pushbar mounting. Hopefully I have enough room to mount the fire extinguishers back there as well.

I've also spent a bunch of time cutting tubing bends into headers but don't have any pictures of them.

The front half of the car is mostly disassembled, have been polishing the front axle.

 

Looking good! I'll be down to see it in person in about 6 weeks. In the meantime keep pictures coming.

Hey, this is my 500th post.

 

Straightpipes - you planning for a Wed & Thur again for Hershey?

So finally I have something to update, although it is mostly a redo of the rollcage. After some suggestions from the SCTA guys I decided for a redesign of the entire rear rollcage section. Mainly to be a stronger cage but it will gain me some room as well. So, it was dig out the bender, buy more tubing, and make more scrap.

The bars off the rear axle will be for mounting the fire extinguishers (if they fit back there), the pushbar, and parachute.

Also, I've spent my fair share of time crawling in and out and just sitting in it stairing at that same damn wooden door. But I still like to sit and dream about salt.

 

Lookin good!