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Bellytank in Australia

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Dr Goggles, Sep 28, 2007.

  1. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    When I look at those three photo's of the members camp( post No 51) I laugh every time .The first year I went to the lake I travelled over with Ben James with his Duke on the trailer . Ben is a very even tempered guy ,I'd known him for fifteen years and had never seen him "lose it"...me? I'm not your angry type ..nor am I the bottle it up type either and in most cases I'll let you know what I'm feeing...

    So , we're heading down to the lake ..it's early and it's stinkin' hot, dusty as blazes and we're feeling a little frayed ..as we drive out of the yard near the big shed there Ben notices a spare fall off the mostly empty bike trailer( I'd just tied it there..."1")...."I'll get it Benny"..."chuck it on the roof rack Stew".., " nah , It'll dint the roof...." I sort of tie it on again , "2".....we get about twenty yards , it falls off...."...just chuck it the roof Stew..." I jump out and tie it through the middle of the wheel and down to the wheel channel on the trailer "3"...I get back in the car...Ben is a little bit quiet.....we take off he's in second and I'm just turning to him to make some joke about knots when he slams on the brakes , I kind of hit the dash and when we stop Ben has his head leaning on both of his hands at the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel ,no , the knot didn't come undone but the wheel was bouncing along behind the trailer like a balloon behind a bicycle..."Just put it on the roof will ya Stew"

    As we left the lake that year we were driving along about half way through the dirt section when I saw an emu standing in the middle of the road looking towards us , I said " ...emu , Ben " ...."Yeah Stew".... I think Ben was enjoying the silence...I noticed though that the car didn't "react"......the emu was getting closer "emu Ben"..."yeah Stew" said Ben in a kind of a chuckle....out of the corner of my eye I could see Benny staring straight ahead with his whole head in a plume of cigarette smoke , the car , once again, didn't react ............."F*****G EMU BEN!!!!!!"...."Oh Shit!"...the car and trailer crossed up a little bit but managed to slow just enough in time for the emu to sort of lope off the road.....I nearly got a lap dance off an emu.

    here's a shot of the Souter's Ford , drove there and back...

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Photography is partially about capturing a moment in time, a 'reflection' of sorts, with the detail being captured, and highlighted as the world passes by..... and yes, I like the story in a story...




    Can you see the irony?:rolleyes: ;) :D

    [​IMG]

    I gotta back off the green cordial.....not a good thing to have at work...:D

    Cheers,

    Drewfus
     
  3. celibaterifle
    Joined: Jul 9, 2006
    Posts: 42

    celibaterifle
    Member
    from Australia

    Thanks Mercmad, Doctor, Reverend & Drewfus. Appreciate the advice.

    Apologise for hijacking the thread Dr. Just discovered the forum at the DLRA website.
     
  4. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    phew , I'm back ....got started on the lock-out of the gear shift last week...it works and all it needs now is a bit of a fine tune ... before I build the "real" one....

    we put up a list of what we need to do before we go to Lake Gairdner next year.... here's the Good Reverend Professor with his pointer dealing with a few of the insolents from the front of the class...at this point he was about to give me a detention....

    [​IMG]

    we had to stop the fume problem ...that meant nailing the seal between the body and the frame at the firewall , not being able to access this point was making even measuring this gap difficult , let alone coming up with some sort of remedy...so we cut the tub at the firewall....This was a pretty drastic measure but the more we thought about it the more sense it made .,...every time we wanted to get at the lower engine bay we'd had to drop the tub off ...that meant removing the bones and the tie rods ...as well as all of the machine screws around the front of the bodywork....on top of that the tub was difficult to remove and particularly to replace for one person ....and particularly difficult not to scratch while doing so

    here's the amputation..
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    then the Rev made these neat little pieces to fill the gaps

    [​IMG]

    Today I started on three separate jobs ..the vacu-pan arrangement , made from the pieces I scrounged from the wreckers yard ...it's all going well... the piece that we cut off the tub which is basically the lower engine bay needs a bit of bodywork...and that's my department and I welded in the bits that are pictured above......

    Elsewhere I finished what I was doing on my panel van ...I ended up painting the bottom in PPG DP and then black QD with Schuttz in the wheel arches , changed the gearbox and neatened up some lines and welds , the clutch slave is partially seized so that will be coming out again...thankfully the motor started just like clockwork again after the refit.Here's a photo of the old girl in front of the canteen at Lake Gairdner in '06 just after the sun went down , Larry Lague who was there with the Ack Attack streamliner team took the shot...check out the stars
    [​IMG]
     
  5. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    here's a PM that I thought I'd post with the reply .......

    Hi sawzall
    at the moment the motor and management are largely stock. Here in Aus' this was used in a 1989 GM Commodore , it was the first version of the V6 they used here, then they went to the Ecotec , now we have the Alloytec which I've pictured above somewhere in the thread. The throttle bodies are just two of the standard ones from the motor using the senders in only one of them. I cut and shut the idle by-pass off the one on the right hand side and welded up the various vacuum fittings as well . Currently we're just using a stock manual computer with a view to going to a Mega-squirt or ideally a Mo-Tec . The injection is dumb-ass ...not sequential . we toyed with the idea of making the opening of the throttles graduated but in the test run we had it ran and idled fine and didn't stumble so I'm glad we didn't bother with it.
     
  6. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    I made some "inner moons" for the front of the Lakester yesterday .....just flat 2mm Al plate. I got a piece of 1 inch steel strap and marked the circumference I wanted , the size of the hub hole and screwed it to the center of the plate and marked it with a scriber then cut the plate with a jig saw with a wood blade and a generous slobber of CIMTAP which I've found to be just the stuff for cutting Al .Before cutting out the hub hole I got a hole saw and using the center guide hole cut out the exact size of the spindle , pressed the disc on and then marked the mounting holes........they look like this and especially for Drewfus I've managed to get a reflection of the roll hoop in 'em.......Love ya brother;)

    [​IMG]

    Next up I was wondering whether anyone had handy hints for mounting Moon caps.....is welding nuts around the perimeter of the rim the best way to go?.......
     
  7. Mercmad
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 1,383

    Mercmad
    BANNED
    from Brisvegas

    I really don't think there is any advantage to sequential injection and the megasquirt with ignition control would do you just fine. It's a damn site cheaper with better support anyway than Motec.
    Envious is the only emotion i can think of at the moment....:D i only hope this weather doesn't bring down too much rain up north because the lakes will be beginning to fill in march if that happens.
    The Darling system has already had heaps of flooding ,the first in 8 years .
     
  8. Mercmad
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 1,383

    Mercmad
    BANNED
    from Brisvegas

    New Years resolution,fix the ass drainage hole in floor ...
    [​IMG]
     
  9. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    I'll have some sort of flip-out if it gets canceled again , second only to Dave my mate with the RX7...he turned around in '06 coz he heard it was off( it lost three days but went ahead) so he hasn't been since 05..........

    I'm friggin desperate to get there.

    Just standing on the salt at about 6.30am , slight cool breeze, low sun angle ,various motors goin' through start-up and a few people standin' around eating cereal , grins on their faces ...bloodshot eyes....bit sun-burnt....

    Colonel Grump said yesterday " I'm not looking forward to the drive there , not the drive home either ...I just wanna be there".....hallelujah brother!!!
    This shot below was taken after what is called the "new drivers meeting" when there is a tour of the track , next to that cone on the right you can see one of the timing lights so this is probably the three mile marker , in the distance back center you can see the pits...........
    [​IMG]

    PS .at the top of that shot of the chalk-board it says "Install Chalk-board" naturally , that's ticked off.
     
  10. Casey
    Joined: Nov 8, 2005
    Posts: 3,293

    Casey
    Member Emeritus

    what a great read . good luck guys !
     
  11. I really like that yellow car - it looks like FUN!!!!:D
     
  12. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    Hey Gary being a Chevy guy , when you said you liked the yellow car I hope you meant the 239 bellytanker and not the 131 Ford Coupe......just kidding , I'm a GM guy but I love that coupe .......it's an XA much the same as the Mad Max or Road Warrior car.....

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Mark in Japan
    Joined: Jun 19, 2007
    Posts: 1,466

    Mark in Japan
    Member

    SCHWIIIIIING:eek:
     
  14. Mercmad
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 1,383

    Mercmad
    BANNED
    from Brisvegas

    It's got to the sad point that it feels like there are more of those Falcons in the USA than are here in OZ now. Theres even a mad max clone racing in Portland Oregan at the Drags, complete with sunraysia wheels.
     
  15. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    The only time I've been genuinely scared in a car was in an XB coupe about 25 years ago . We left the parking spot sideways , I was just out of school and the guy driving was working for the landscaper I had some holiday work with , he had a few missing teeth ,lots of tatts that a shirt wouldn't cover and had racked up a lot of time. The car felt like it was on wet grass , sideways , speedway style corners and it was loud . It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon in one of the quieter 'burbs too. I've been in roll-overs and some real near misses including an 80 mph crash in a Fairlane but this was frightening coz he just drove with absolute abandon and the car was seriously fast , I'm not the best passenger on a good day and this was less than ideal........ I will never forget him just decking it moments after it started , the whole car lifting and moving sideways to the middle of the road almost before it went forward and then slingshotting down a slight hill toward an XJ6 Jag sitting directly in front of us at a T intersection..we didn't hit it , or anything else for that matter which was a wonder 'cause we're not talking about a car that handled , at all.But of course as you all know too well , if I had my time over , I'd be sitting right there , shitting myself all over again
     
  16. Mercmad
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 1,383

    Mercmad
    BANNED
    from Brisvegas

    Check OZ ebay sometime to see the insane money that they fetch..:eek:
    But sadly Fords were mere players in the 70's ..
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  17. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    I was standing at the counter of the rego branch when I registered my ute recently , there's a guy next to me with black and white NSW plates BIG 049 ...."they're for an E49 huh?"...."Yeah they are , I just bought it"......"If ya don't mind me askin'....how much was it?" "hundred and eighty , but I've been offered two twenty since I paid coz I'm known collector and it's genuine"......"gee , that's um , a lot!" "yeah , I've got another one I bought in 1974 and a couple of nice other cars.." , "like?" ......"like a Strike Me Pink XU1"........"but there's only........?"......" "supposedly six"

    Four and a half years ago a guy I had a shop with bought an E38 big tank for 25 dissassembled .........he thought he got ripped off , it was forty by the time it was all painted............

    I won't divulge the full details of a very good friends HK Bathurst except to say it is under 40k miles and all original , the full whack.

    If "if and buts" was beer and nuts .......we'd be havin' one hell of a party;)
     
  18. Mark in Japan
    Joined: Jun 19, 2007
    Posts: 1,466

    Mark in Japan
    Member

    The holidays seem to REALLY do something for your storytelling doctor...I could really picture myself in that XB Coupe with Angry Anderson as a landscaper !
     
  19. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    Ok , Ok , Ok ….it’s been a long time since I posted , and not without reason. I have tried to make this diary here a bit more of a condensed version of some of the other message boards that we’ve posted and used it to tell the story in bigger slabs than the almost day to day commentary on the others.We’ve been hard at it trying to get the tank ready for Speedweek here which starts on the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> of March , we’ll be perfecting this thing for years but before we do that we have to make it all work properly AND pass the scrutineering that it is subjected to before it races

    So , lately there been a fair bit going on….We’ve built a parachute bay on the top of the tail . We struggled for a while trying to work out a way to secure the ‘bay doors once they had opened in order to stop them from flapping open and shut and causing fouling of the ‘chute lines or just being torn off . The solution seems a little crude but it works and as we all know at the pointy end of things it’s better to have an ugly one that works than a pretty one that doesn’t , we can make a pretty one later Here’s a shot , of the bay , but before we put in the anchor point for the ‘chute………<O:p[​IMG]
    I’ve also made a new steering wheel . I got a piece of 10mm aluminium plate and drew the pattern onto it and just cut it out with a jig saw . I drilled the spars and made the finger grip parts with a small hole saw before I cut out the main parts<O:p<O:p…….Vaughn my fitter and turner mate has been cleaning it up for me , bit of filing and truing up .He’s also made a centre cap for it which is the same pattern as the moon discs that we have on the car

    We put a set of heavy duty valve springs on the motor last weekend so we’re hoping it will still be making power over 6500rpm , it has the twin throttle bodies and a severely ported set of heads as well as the nice headers and big exhaust.

    I've made a better version of the twin stick gearshift as well....more soon
     
  20. reverend hedgash
    Joined: Jul 23, 2007
    Posts: 6

    reverend hedgash
    Member

    For those that don't know the 2008 Speedweek in Lake Gairdner has been postponed and probably canceled for this year due to a wet lake surface.

    MAJOR bummer but we will continue on.

    We finally had the parachute mechanism operating sweetly just before hearing the news, and the gear stick assembly is the best it has ever been.

    We'll move onto completing bodywork and the like but are pretty deflated at the moment. Four and a half years work and still no salt action (the event was cancelled last year the DAY we were leaving for the salt...!)

    rH+
     
  21. Keep the faith Rev, keep the faith....your turn to soar is coming.......

    Cheers,

    Brother Drewfus:D

    P.S. more build pics required.....maybe you should do a thread on that slick streamliner that's got everyone talking....
     
  22. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    Hi All .....well after the cancellation again this year of the Dry Lake Racers of Australia annual Speedweek meet there has been precious little done at the home of the Spirit of Sunshine..... News of the cancellation came through right about the time that we were going to paint the 'tank and now five weeks later it's sitting there , well you know, with the remnants of the old paint on it and not much else ....

    We got the 'chute mechanism functioning well and then got the extra fire systems put in and then we kind of lost momentum. In frustration and because the holidays were booked anyway a mate Pete and I decided we'd head over to Lake Gairdner just to see the salt anyway and while we were there have a look at another of the salt lakes in the area to see whether it would be suitable to use as a racing venue.......diesel Troop carrier a bit of camping gear a few supplies and we were off. We took push bikes as taking a vehicle onto an unfamiliar salt lake in a remote area ain't necessarily a smart idea....
    We got to Lake Gairdner the second day and went straight down to the salt. It was immediately apparent that the decision to cancel the meet had been a prudent one as the access area to the salt was slushy . Lake Gairdner is a National Park and the powers that be are very sensitive to anything that damage the appearance of the lake particularly at the point at the end of the road where most people who make the effort to go out there arrive .The Parks service had closed all vehicle access to the lake when the race meet was cancelled so we put the bikes together hitched up the little trailer with the chilly-bin and some camera gear and headed out across the lake toward where the track would normally be . It was real hard going at first with the tyres sinking about two inches in as we rode ,after about two hundred yards it began to firm up and a quarter mile out it was rock hard. There were some strange salt formations and a heavily granulated surface unlike i'd seen before. we'd decided to ride directly into a northerly headwind so we could sail back....

    We got out to where the 2 mile mark of the track would be and stopped to take some photo's ...this one show's the coarseness of the salt ...
    [​IMG]

    We stayed that night at the members camp five miles from the lake . The next day we drove around the western edge of the lake travelling about 180 miles on the dirt to get to the Stuart highway where could go east again toward Woomera . Woomera has been used as a rocket testing range and has been the launching place for satellites as well as the site of several tracking stations. That night we stayed on the edge of Island Lagoon another big salt lake north east of Gairdner...... this is Conical Hill in the upper eastern arm of the lake , the salt here was just a thin crust.....not suitable for racing

    [​IMG]
    The part of Island Lagoon that we wanted to check out was the eastern edge further south of where we were but according to the people who run the pastoral lease on that edge of the lake access is very limited so we didn't get to have a look........

    The next day we drove to Broken hill in Central New South Wales and then up to Silverton and stayed at the Silverton Pub where we hooked up with a couple of club members ,one , Chris Fraser, owns the pub and just for our entertainment fired up this blown methanol 454 , [​IMG]
    he told the missus he had to kill some mosquitoes..., well it worked...I got out my guitar and sang a bunch of car songs for our supper , it was a great night .....the next day we drove the 550 miles back to Melbourne we'd done 1800 miles in four days and most of the time it was over 100 degrees...
     
  23. nexxussian
    Joined: Mar 14, 2007
    Posts: 3,240

    nexxussian
    Member

    Sounds like a good time.

    What's a 'Push Bike'?
     
  24. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    A push bike or "pushie" is a bicycle Nex.....BTW i neglected to mention that the Silverton Hotel is a very busy film location and is where Mad Max 2or "the Road Warrior" was mostly shot . Sitting out the front is a replica of the "Interceptor" of which there is a photo on the previous page of this thread.....
    be good.....
     
  25. 18n57
    Joined: Jun 29, 2007
    Posts: 578

    18n57
    Member

    I think you are all certified nutters, but I love your post and love the belly tank. Keep up the noble effort:D:D
     
  26. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    thanks for the flattery 18n57 that'll get you everywhere here....now , here's a photo from the test and tune day we did at Mangalore airport last year ...it was shot by Andrius Lipsys...this is a low resolution version ...I'll replace it when I get a better one.....that's Rev Hedgash on the left( yeah the boiler suit Honkey) and Grumm our engine man on the right ...I'm hiding in the car...

    [​IMG]

    Well ?, come on ....did ya car ever sleep with ya best friend....or try and take half yer house?
     
  27. nexxussian
    Joined: Mar 14, 2007
    Posts: 3,240

    nexxussian
    Member


    Thanks, I was wondering.

    :confused: Do I hafta:confused:
     
  28. Dr Goggles
    Joined: Sep 27, 2007
    Posts: 154

    Dr Goggles
    Member

    Hey-up
    It's been quiet here at the Spirit of Sunshine laboratories ...the Speedweek cancellation was a blow and we've taken the opportunity to catch up on some much needed work elsewhere , I've been working on my gut and also my unfitness ( as opposed to working on my fitness)......but I did get back the steering wheel that I made from our fitter and turner mate Vaughn who finished the center cap for it

    [​IMG]

    I made it out of half inch plate with a hole saw a jig saw a drill press and a grinder ...I've got all the hi-tech tools;)
     
  29. Your obviously not married with kids........that must have taken yonks to do.....job well done;):D

    Cheers,

    Drewfus:D
     
  30. You made the steering wheel and you couldn't do the centre cap? :)

    I'd hate to think what you could build with a lathe! LOL
     

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