Projects Belly Tank Build, NZ.

that tank is a jewel!--well,BOTH of them..

 

Well it's been a while and i'm back on it. I have redone some of the lower body mounts as i had finished them before i had the chassis welded and it moved a little bit and that mucked things up and the two sections didn't line up as well...fixed. Another item i overlooked was the flywheel, the one that came with it is 13'' and the bell housing takes a 12'', i'm getting one with clutch and starter and a few other things. I want to get it going before i give the engine a tickle up and i plan to enter it in our Land Speed event next year, it won't be finished but will be race ready.
More progress soon. JW

 

Hi JW how accessible is your fuse panel? I blew a fuel pump fuse on the start line on my first run at Pendine, was a stressfully 20mins taking the front of the body off to get to it. luckily I had lots of helpers so we were back on the track within half an hour.
Progress is looking good, will be good to see how fast that jeep engine will spin.

 

My fuse panel is above the rear axle along with three relays for fuel, ignition and starter so very easy to access. Before someone says the starter relay is not big enough to feed the starter it is only for signal to the solenoid. JW

 

Very cool

 

Another small update. a bit ago i mentioned i wasn't happy with the steering arm (how i modified it) and the drag link, at first i wasn't concerned as the So Cal Tank had a lot of drop on the drag link but mine only had about 2'' and running on a fairly smooth surfaces should be OK....BUT when i had a bounce on the front (about a 1/2 '' or so) the steering wheel had quit a twitch. i don't want bump steer. so i took the arm to work and did some more bending and extending to make it line up with a straight and flat drag link. I will now send it off and get it remade in one piece and have hiems on both ends. JW

 

Finished the fab work on the engine bay fire extinguisher mounts. All bolt together incase i change my mind or i change the engine or what ever. JW

 

The extinguisher will have rubber in the mount hoops to make a very tight clamp. I was going to mount it lower but wanted it up out of the way of a wayward conrod. JW

 

Now that's funny

 

Yeah i know not belly tank ,but JW was out playing last weekend ,the stock model T did ok ,but JW crossed the line first.

 

Thanks Bud ,great pic and a great day........awesome!!! JW
PS, you did invite me to bring the Tank if it was running ...maybe next year.

 

Absolutely 100% invited in the tank .Might have to smooth the finish line, it was too funny seeing both your bums leave the seat .

 

Really coming along JW...as mentioned you're quite the fabricator...that was quite the trailer load at that show...glad it was just entertaining as in no damage...

 

Just working through small things like the start of the wiring routing and hydraulics.
Nothing is really finalized, hence the green tape holing the ends on. JW

 

Also starting to work out the operation of the go peddle slave cylinder. JW

 

Looks good. The small things tends to take more time then you first belived.

 

Amen
like wiring

 

Double Amen to that

 

True that and as i have said before, you need to plan so that two things don't end up needing the same spot. The brake line you can see will be redone as it was only a quick thing for when i took it to a show last year, i have made some brackets to hold all the hydraulic lines, fuel line and wire looms. JW

 

Pulled the engine today and put the firewall template in. Will climb in and start marking the lower edge then have the top put on and do the top. More in a week. JW

 

Just a thought, as I'm midway in the same wiring process for my FED. The advice I got was to not use the chassis as a common earth return, but instead to run dedicated wires. It's more reliable, and can be simpler. The FED doesn't have much in the way of electron-trickery though - battery, master isolator, starter solenoid, starter switch, oil pressure idiot light. Separate circuit for the maggie earth, mechanical water temp gauge. Might not apply to the belly tank through if you have a bit more kit (relays etc).

Cheers,
Harv

 

Hi, Harv. I will have a separate earth wire coming back from up front for the gauges and rest will have a common earth on the chassis above the isolator switch, the starter will have its own one just along from the other one...i don't think that will cause an issue . I can't see an issue with using the frame except for more points to have a single problem. JW

 

This shot shows the mounts in position that will hold the wire loom and fuel and hydraulic lines also the tube to protect the above mentioned from a flywheel/clutch mishap. JW

 

There are times when i just stare at it and not believing that i made this "puzzle'' with no plans and just a dream. JW

 

Just wait till you fire it up at the salt. The dreams become reality.

 

Oh shit yeah !! Even at an event hear will be way cool but the dream to reality took over and if it gets to the salt...job done. JW

 

I have been watching and enjoying your build, It's looking great! Thanks for sharing your dream in progress.

 

You are more than welcome Sir. JW

 

After a few trips to the parts store i finally got the bits to start the hydraulic lines.
Will cut out the firewall this week (all going to plan) and finish the lines on both sides of it. More soon. JW

 

No fire wall to show as we had a short week at work with public holidays...this week !!
But that gave me time to sort out the hydraulic lines after i got all the bits needed and made a mount for the two flex lines going to the engine as well as for mounting wiring and fuel line going there also. The bracket worked cool until i noticed it was most likely sharing some of the space for the fire extinguisher, shorten it and a slight bend fixed that. I put a few joiners in ( 2 in the front and 1 in back) to aid getting the lines in and out without rearranging their shape. JW