1949 T28 Trojan Airplane becomes a car

I started a thread on here a while back when I hauled home a WWII Lockheed Lodestar airplane that I had big dreams of turning into a giant panel truck. But, that fuselage was to far gone and as I write this, I have not been able to find another Lodestar that anyone will sell me. I had traded the Lodestar fuselage for this 1949 T28 Trojan airplane that was dis***embled, but for the most part a complete airplane. I've decided to go forward with this project since I have it on hand. Since this is an entirely different airplane than the first thread, I'm starting a new one now.
This T28 was built as a trainer plane in 1949 and later it was sold to the Mexican Airfarce in the 1950's where it was armed with several .50 caliber Browning machine guns in pods that hung from the wings. Several years ago this plane and several others were sold to a collector near Laredo, TX. The planes set in pieces in a field. At some point a gr*** fire came through and burned the pile of wings and warped the tail of this plane in one small area. The plane was donated to a museum, and after it languished in another cow pasture this time in North Texas, I was contacted about the relic of a plane. I traded my 1942 Lockheed Lodestar nose for this plane. I sold some of the extra pieces off of it on Ebay and was able to buy a 454 Chevy engine for it.
Now I'm going to use the fuselage as a base for mounting an internal steel frame and making the fuselage into a m***ive hot rod that will look like a crashed wingless WWII TBM Avenger airplane skidding down the highway on its belly. It has begun.

 

Subscribing NOW!!!

 

keep it traditional....use the radial engine!!

 

Wright 1300 radial engine had been taken apart completely to remove the heavy guts. The engine will be be bisected and only the front half will be put back on the plane to reduce the nose weight. A 454 Chevy/400trans will be put into the tail of the monster with the tail shaft facing forward. I can run a long drive shaft to a heavy duty 4x4 front axle to make this thing front wheel drive. My plan it is have the front axle as wide as possible for stability and to use a giant heavy duty single wheel in the rear. I've looked into it and there is enough room to make at least 4 p***engers. And it can have a tail gunner seat. I know it isn't as awesome as the other plane that I had, but this is what I have to work with now.
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l523/cjasonbarnett/CIMG8400.jpg


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Might have to use a bias ply engine to be traditional.

 

Do you have the big radial chained to the tree so no one will steal it? Should be an interesting project... Inspired by Hotweels perhaps?

 

You sir, are a bear for punishment. I followed your other thread and it was like Tom Sawyer all over again. I admire your tenacity and you seem to be having a lot of fun, so you have my eyes and ears!! Let's go!

 

It would be neat to have it radial powered. It would be a nightmare to rig it up.

 

I never spoke up, but your previous fuselage was past prime when you got it.

For this new project, I was enthusiasticly following you until... "making the fuselage into a m***ive hot rod that will look like a crashed wingless WWII TBM Avenger airplane skidding down the highway on its belly." Why crashed and skidding? Making a "rat (bat) rod?"

If I had your opportunity, I'd fix it up as nice as I could, put the horizontal stabs back on it, fill in the wing roots to match the fuselage panels, super-charge the engine you selected and take it to all the speed trials to cruise around in! Gary

 

The tree was the only thing around strong enough to lift the engine out of my truck. It weighed about 1200lbs. I gutted that engine right there in the tree like a deer. The neighbors didn't know what to think. When they ALL asked me why I was hanging that engine in my tree, I told them I was decorating my tree early for Christmas, and that I was going to be hanging engine blocks of all shapes and colors as ornaments and putting up lights in the tree this year. They didn't like that. One of them thought it was a redneck wind chime, so that is what I called it for the two weeks that it swung there.

 

If everything fails, you can still use just the canopy...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=9001

 

Man. that other plane was beat up, but I had a hard time facing that reality.
I'm on the fence when it comes to making it look nice or making it looked like a restored airplane that just lost the engine and landed beside you on the interstate. I could go either way. If I make it look like it is in a belly skid, then I can put a huge bent back three blade prop on the engine. The prop wouldn't turn. If I make it nice, it will be hard to explain the bent up prop idea and you can't put one on if it isn't bent---they are about 12ft in diameter.
But, I also don't like the idea of a bunch of jagged metal where the wings were for kids to get hurt on. I want people to be able to climb all over it and enjoy it. That was a lesson that I learned with the other fuselage when it went out the the Lone Star Round Up. people really enjoyed and appreciated that they were allowed to participate and crawl on the other fuselage. I want this thing to be open to the public.

 

This one screams for a suicide front end...build it "salt-style".

 

Well,not t-28s,but how about a water skiing vibe...

 

I like your new car.

 

Watching this one. I think you should get as many gauges as possible, trans temp, ambient temp, airspeed, etc. to fill all the holes in the dash

 

Shades of Blastolene Brothers.

 

I just realized that each cylinder jug had a 186 cubic inch displacement. Wow. Note the tiny 454 Chevy

 

I've got a lot of NOS WWII aircraft gauges. Even if they don't do anything anymore they will be awesome. I have oil pressure gauges that go up to over 200lbs of oil pressure.

 

THAT is sketchy! ......

 

You know that you can't please everybody, so just keep going and we'll guide, yell, laugh, point, judge and sometimes even keyboard build it our way!!!! In the end, it's yours to build and enjoy and I believe this time you will!! Ignore the naysayers and have fun, I'll enjoy the trip either way!

 

This is going to be rad. Cant wait! I almost wish I hadnt found this thread until you were done. I hate waiting for updates!!!!!!!!!

 

DMV will love this when it is finished! Years ago I came upon a trailer with a Blue Angles fuselage mounted on it. Totally restored, it was a neat feeling p***ing it in my van, closest I've ever been to flying a jet fighter. Bob

 

and my wife thinks im sick! i love it ! carry on!

 

I had subscribed to your last thread from the beginning and just did same to this one. Good luck looks like yet another out of the box project. I'll be waiting for updates.

 

okay you've got me. sounds like an interesting idea

 

If you have the engine turned around, the driveshaft will turn the wrong direction. You will need some sort of 1:1 reversing gear box, or turn the differential upside down, and figure out a way to keep the pinion oiled. (This has been done on some rear engine 4x4 buggies).

You could also keep the engine in the correct orientation, and use the 4x4 transfer case to drive the front axle.

And just to clarify before anyone pipes up; A 4x4 front axle is not "reverse rotation". Both driveshafts turn counter clockwise as seen from a driving position. A low pinion front differential is just a rear diff facing the other direction. Even the Ford high pinion axles are counterclockwise, even though they are sometimes erroneously called reverse rotation gears. They are reverse spiral cut, but turn the same direction as any other axle.

 

You can put a TH400 tailshaft on a TH425 Toronado gearbox.
And point that foreward.

That will reverse the direction as well, and it might be a simpler/cleaner way of doing it.

 

Yep your right about the engine not going to work if I turn it around backwards.
I had heard that those front wheel drive car hauler one ton trucks that were popular for a while, failed because of the transfer cases being under to much load. These trucks were basically a 4x4 truck cut in half that had a low boy car hauler trailer welded on for the rear half of the truck. I was told that the transfer cases blew up in them often. I wonder if that is true. There has to be a simple way to reverse the direction of the tail shaft on the transmission.

 

So the Toronado transmission has a reverse rotation?