Projects Belly Tank Build, NZ.

Made four more exhausts, will weld them on at work too. These are 1 3/8'' OD and my stock 37 Willys exhaust is one pipe at 1 5/8'' OD. JW

 

Looking good.
Make sure you radius all the inside corners of your plenum on the intake.

 

Thanks and i did make good radii on the inside of the plenum before ***embly. I wish i had made a cross hatch piece to go on the bottom to create a bit of turbulence under the throttle blades.
Also on this weeks list is to make an adapter for the steering wheel and column mount, more on this when i have something to show. It has taken me a bit to work out but ended up being very simple. This is the mount bearing, it had to be fairly big to fit over the quick release center. JW

 

The exhaust take two. Will mark out the position on the top body section and cut clearance holes. The pipes will be trimmed to protrude about 1 1/2''. I have also started the steering column/ wheel mount and having the other stuff TIG'd. The fire wall still needs to be started but may wait till i pull it all apart for final ch***is welding soon, that way i can get inside and mark the template. JW

 

Small update on the exhaust and the intake together. The water outlet is all finished and the steering wheel/column mount is not but hopefully soon. I hope to cut the exhaust holes in the top body section tomorrow if i don't go to a Show with the RPU due to weather. JW

 

That intake sure looks high. Can you still pull sparkplugs? Why not to the side over exhaust

 

The carb is not that high really and it fits best there as it's near center and in its design i made sure i can still get good access to the plugs, that's why it's ''near'' the center. I don't need quick throttle response in this so long runners are good, Also in the design it is made to come off easy for head work. JW

 

I went to the car show on Sunday so i didn't get this done until today. was a bit scary to do but worked out rather well with just a small amount of t******* needed. JW

 

Put the exhaust back on and wriggled the body over the pipes and roll cage, so far so good, marked the desired length and gave them a trim. I will make a polished ally trim with smaller holes to tidy it up. JW

 

Damn that looks good. I get a mental picture of aircraft exhaust coming out a fuselage, with lazy yellow flame at idle

Cheers,
Harv

 

Thanks, and just for a moment on the one side it may be hiding one of my Chevy small blocks! Maybe one day. JW

 

Another small piece of the puzzle, the steering column bits. These three parts will be TIG'd together and pinned. JW

 

All in place for a trial fit. I have a mount to weld on above the bearing. This has pushed the steering wheel about 2'' toward me from where i had it sitting before but i can shorten the wheel down if i find it not to my liking when finished. JW

 

Not a lot to report but i did have the shaft welded up and also drilled and fitted roll pins. Before welding i shortened the shaft 3/4''. Tacked the top mount the the ch***is and made a trial ally joiner mount thingie that will have some shims at the bottom to be able to adjust out any bind. May start a dash panel as well now i know where the steering fits. JW

 

Now i have the steering box, shaft and wheel mounted where i want it, it was time to make a dash panel.
made from 3mm ally it will have enough room for oil and temp gauges as well as a tach with all necessary (minimal) switches. The curved bit at lower left is to give good clearance for my knuckles when selecting reverse or second and that all important shift into top. JW

 

A bit of an over view of the drivers area so far. JW

 

You really do some nice work! I'm enjoying the ride here watching your build.

 

Thanks and its nice to have comments and inquiries on the build, they are few and far between these days. JW

 

Nice work you're doing. What no speedo? Just kidding.

 

Gauges will consist of 2'' temp, oil and water and oil pressure along with a 2'' tach. I will have speedo in the form of a GPS i sometimes use in my T RPU that records fastest time, that will be handy along with not getting lost. Hope to get the gauges this coming week then i can start the dash layout. JW

 

Did the fixings for the dash panel and made some 2'' discs and started to plan the layout. This is my view (eye level) and from L-R will be water temp, tach, oil pressure then oil temp. On the R/H side below the gauges will be on/off switch and start ****on and in middle at top will be a master toggle switch. Still to work out will be the fire extinguisher controls. JW

 

Cut the holes for the gauges and also mounted the ignition/fuel pump switch and starter ****on, the cross is where the emergency shut off plunger switch will be. I folded the lower edge down to give more room for entry/ exit. JW

 

Looks great.
I really enjoy to follow this build.

 

Thanks Man it means a lot, just wish it was moving faster....it will very soon! JW

 

Got busy and pulled it apart to do all the finish welding on the frame. Will take it to work and use the welders there. The seat is still in as i need to double check the top harness point. The bracket sticking out the front is hopefully going to work as a rotisserie and use the push bar at the back. JW

 

Looking forward to putting this stuff back on as well as the pile of bigger bits. JW

 

Is it like an Ikea table that comes with pictures only and an Allen key for ***embly? Keep up the good work.

 

I put some of those together for family members so i hope it will be that easy..... i know it will. JW

 

Just remember, you won't actually have time to READ the gauges while on a run, but you can glance at the needles. If you mount them with the needles ALL pointing up when they are in the proper operating range you will know at a glance if something is wrong.

 

I did think of that briefly, it makes good sense...end of the day i most likely won't be going that fast but i may also install a shift light...hope it doesn't come on in top gear. JW