Bobbing in and out of the cold weather like Rocky Balboa. Currently there is no heat or insulation out in the garage so I have to make do with nicer temps. Finished re-building my family members car in the past few days, so now all attention can be placed on the Lakester. Last night I managed to get a bit more accomplished on the tank. The entire bottom half is now completely gutted out and is ready to accept a frame! I removed the forward surge baffle as well as two more of the support ribs that were adjacent aft of it. I cut those two support ribs wide and will massage them down to where I would like them to be and clean them up. I only had time for a rough cut last night. I opted not to drill and pop out the rivets. I want to keep what I can and the added structure for the tank is important for rigidity and keeping its shape. Everything I can keep regarding the tank is a plus. I don't see a reason at this point in time to remove both the forward-most and aft-most support ribs so those will stay fully intact until / if there is an absolute NEED to remove them. Progressing nicely. The tank has come a long way in a month.
Just wondering about those fins, maybe they will keep the whole thing flying dead level however rough the surface, so rear suspension may have no effect at all!
>>"The tank has come a long way in a month." That is the understatement of the week! Impressive work.
My new F1 3 speed toploader trans came in 4 days early today. Should be a much better setup and gives me more confidence in the cars streetability having a freshly rebuilt assembly going in. The extra space savings is welcomed. No oil leaks to deal with and will save time and hassle during installation. One more piece of the puzzle checked off. I've decided to get all the major parts in before starting on the frame. Being able to take proper measurements will be key in properly laying out the car.
It looks like you could use that crate for a build buck to sort out all the relative placement of the major components.
I know little to nothing about aviation other than they serve drinks in first class, but I am completely blown away by the amount of engineering that went into what is essentially a gas tank. I can only imagine talking apart the Warthog herself. Nice work and please continue to amaze me.
About 25 years ago, I met a guy that contracted fire fighting aircraft (dropping fire retardant from the sky). He bought 2 surplus A-10 Warthogs to convert to fire fighting aircraft. The Warthog has a titanium tub to protect the pilots. This was a structural member of the air frame - he was not able to remove them to make room for a fire retardant tank. Russ
The bellhousing to mate the Mercury flathead to the F1 trans came in today. Thanks @alanp561 for the information! Just need to source the non-angled starter plate.
Don't know, never seen one. mine was inspire by the one Tony (Truckedup) made for the Tank he built. JW
Feel got to throw in my 2 cents worth. Sell all flathead stuff, find a straight 6 or 4 with a slush box ( auto trans ) in the rear. Maybe look at a VW trans flipped around with all swing axle suspension ( some of them had a junk auto trans ). Front end a motorcycle springer all inside/under the body. Maybe only 1 cent ideas?
Physically I'm dry on the progress front! Mentally the ideas are still churning! I have temporarily put the Lakester build on a short "visible progress pause" while I get my Corvette ready for Cruisin' Ocean City, MD which is one of the largest car shows on the east coast in the middle of May. I just dropped many thousands of dollars on the car lol... With the amount I just spent on the Corvette I probably could have sourced everything I would have needed to complete the Lakester... oh well. It's all the same fun to me and these are upgrades and maintenance I've been putting off for far too long! I am still keeping my eye out on some parts that are needed for the Belly Tank such as the correct starter plate, rear end, wheels, brakes, front suspension, etc, etc... i've been going over build ideas in my head, and I have an idea. It is a potential space saving suspension idea used on trailers.... the Lakester won't weigh much of anything so check this idea out and let me know what you hot-rodders think. It is meant to be used as a leaf spring replacement and upgrade used on trailers... Might have to give this a go. I doubt anyone has attempted this here It's better than hardtailing, it's cheap and simple and would really help me keep the minimalist exterior and clean profile for the tank. It looks as though I could probably position these suspension components completely inside the tail cone without issue and that is a HUGE plus to me. On another note, I think I have decided on a Banjo rear end. As the Lakester will be a driver and I have the money for it, I'll probably source a new Winter's Banjo no-change rear end and start off strong will no foreseeable drivability or maintenance issues due to being almost a century old. The banjo rear does not have a perfectly cylindrical structure running out to where the hubs attach, so I would need to take measurements after sourcing the axle before pulling the trigger on that specific suspension style. The bottom of the tank is ready to accept a frame, so before I start I am going to be sourcing all major parts to take proper calculated measurements for positioning purposes to get everything laid out just right. Let me know what you guys think of the rear suspension idea.
RE: Trailer suspension Like my granny told me just before she fell off the Harley," Sonny, its just crazy enough to work." But you would need to lengthen the arms since your rig is way less than the 3500# rating of those biscuits. I would also consider the torsion type of trailer suspension components. It may be more compact.
Nice axle! Its good to take a break from these projects unless you have a plan to follow and is also important to have all the parts so nothing gets forgotten, i have had many breaks from nine and I'm just getting back on it now after a few months. JW
About a month and a half has gone by since I've touched the Belly Tank. Finally found time to get out in the garage and get something done. I've been prepping my Corvette for the big car show in May so the tank has been pushed to the side. I'm in a small limbo with the Vette while I wait on parts so I was able to temporarily shift my focus to the Belly Tank. Nothing crazy, but it's small progress like this that makes all the difference. One step at a time. After the big Cruisin' Ocean City, MD car show in late May, I'll be shifting my total focus back on the tank and start really making some good headway. It looks like the weather is finally breaking here so warmer temps are on the way which means I can start getting out there in the garage to work more consistently. Again, there's no heat out there so I have to dodge the cold. In my OCD I spent around 3 and a half hours this evening cutting and grinding down the center forward flange on the lower half of the tank. I really took my time with it because I wanted it to be as perfect as I could make it for free handing and I didn't want the grinder to slip off the flange and accidentally damage the tank wall. Extra time spent here will make for a much nicer product later on. I am in no rush as the frame won't be started on until June roughly. The riveted bracket that was attached to this flange helped with some easy symmetry. I wanted this flange to be in similar shape and style as the flange forward of it so that's what I mocked it up to, just a little bit different with a wider opening on the bottom. In some pictures you can see some curved marks I made into the aluminum with the scriber as my guidelines. It was a repeated sequence of careful grinding and deburring with the scriber all the way around until I brought the flange down to where I wanted it. It's not much progress, but it's progress! One more flange to go but I'll work on that next time I'm out in the garage. Also, please excuse the pictures as they were inserted backwards in order
Love the work so far. One $50 question . . . is there room for a frame and YOU inside the thing? Hopefully you've done some measurements to confirm this.
After looking at all the metal removal pics and in view of the above remarks and the role of the A-10 as a close ground support aircraft I am wondering about what the metalurgy of the tank would be, in view of the fact that it may be the target of small arms fire? Does that metal seem like it could take a hit from an AK-47 or the like? I'd bet its made from some pretty tough stuff. I also wonder how many of those tanks are laying out in some desert or jungle after having been jetisoned? My warped sense of humor pictures one of those found tanks fitted with wagon wheels and being drawn by a couple of water buffalo or oxen, carrying water to a third world village.
Great question and probably worth more than 50 bucks, especially if I didn't fit! The tank itself is right at 22 inches at its widest. I'm a fairly skinny / small guy and have no concerns about my fitment. I actually had to lie down inside the tank in order to split the tank in two. As far as fitting WITH the frame goes, i'll make sure of it. I'll be fabricating the frame to give me as much space as possible.
Hey if it works, it works! Would make for a pretty nice water hauler. The tanks shell is standard aircraft grade aluminum. After cutting through it, I don't see it holding up to any form of direct fire even from small arms. The support structure itself on the top of the interior of the tank where it would suspend from the A-10's bomb racks is EXTREMELY beefy to hold the weight of 600 gallons of fuel. It seems overkill but it's meant to be. I can definitely see that holding up to direct fire, even point blank from heavier grade ammunition.
That's right. The jets had to get to the theater on their own, so no armament, lots of fuel. The A10 outfit I was in was based in Madison Wisconsin. One summer we went to Sculthorpe Air Base, England and those boys flew across the pond to get there. They do have inflight refueling, but you don't want to be doing it constantly.
Ah, I see. So likely no jetisoned tanks while in the air. And likely no chance of a direct small arms fire hit.
Spent around 4 and a half hours a few days ago carefully cutting and grinding down the second flange on the lower half of the tank. Slow process. About ready to be done with all the aluminum cutting and grinding for the sole fact I come out of the garage COVERED in metal shards and metal dust. I still have plenty of metal work to do however but it's a temporary evil. I'll plan on leaving the rivets in place on this flange for now. After some careful measurements when deciding on the flange cuts I needed to make, I have deduced that the tank wasn't created perfectly symmetrical which actually shocked me. Even though this tank was surely hand-made, I expected it to be carefully put together in a specific way that was even from side to side. Maybe it was intended to not be symmetrical, but for structural flanges on a cylindrical tank where balance of structure is key, I expected everything to be evenly laid out. As an aircraft mechanic myself by trade this was just assumed on my part. Utilizing the fuel sample / drains as a lower center point and taking measurements from that, you can see that the center bracket that connects the two sides of the flange was actually off-center. I cut and ground out this flange and centered it based on measurements as best I could. It's not a perfectly even cut and grind, but it'll do! Doing my best to be careful when cutting and grinding around the shell of the tank.. I don't have any re-do's.
Maybe the assymetry was intentional. Wind tunnel testing sometimes yeilds results that are not intuitively obvious.
A question on the framing for your tanker. Will you incorporate a tube frame such as the one I posted here or could you use a monocoque frame using hat sections or stringers attached to the skin like what was used in aircraft (second picture)? You've already got the ribs, you just need some additional longitudinal support. Build box sections off of the ribs and stringers for axle and steering attachment. Lighter but still strong enough for your use. If that building method will support the weight of an aircraft, both in the air as well as landing on the ground, it should work for your build. Worked for the OT Lotus sports car, as I remember.
I have been thinking of this also as at 22''inside and you sit in the lower part not in the center where it is 22''. Ad a seat, framing, elbow room etc etc, this means what ever the framing is and how it's done in this area will need to be very slim. JW
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