Sorry, not meaning to hijack the thread but what purpose do Moon tanks fullfil today? I believe initially in early years of hot rodding and drag racing, they were used as fuel tanksa And later for cooling assistance? Today are they used as a pressure tank, cooling assistance or just for looks. That said, I love the look of a traditionally styled hot rod with a front mounted Moon tank.
Hello, Here is a copy of a Drag News from back in August 13, 1960. The whole story is of Lions Dragstrip one evening of August. Because of our 40 Willys clutch explosion and fire, (the Willys w/o my brother in it was stuck in the fence after the traps, on fire) the rest of the evening races were cancelled. (Even though the strip was cleaned off of all of the flying parts.) Our Willys was still on fire, stuck in the spectator's side fence. Our friend, Atts Ono, stayed with the Willys until the fire was put out. I was already at the hospital visiting my brother. As the above previous post explained, our Moon Tank was placed inside of the cab in front of the passenger seat. This was a common thing in most race cars. The pump was handy for the driver, as well as the shut off valve. Jnaki This episode is what we use as a means of explaining why those tanks started showing up on the outside and in front of most race cars. Then it progressed from there to the street "gasser" look cars and roadsters. what a mess...
Hello, Here are two of the fastest FEDs during the 1959-60 racing season at Lions Dragstrip. Their Moon Tanks were visible, but in different arrangements. Lefty Mudersbach twin vs Jack Chrisman in the Howard Cam Special Twin. Jnaki What a show it was for everyone in attendance.
I liked the look so I used mine as a large radiator overflow & recover system since it was there. Jerry from N.C.
Hello, My brother and I were putting together our 1940 Willys Coupe for the Gas Coupe and Sedan Classes at Lions. We had a long time friend that we knew, attended the same schools and I even played AAU basketball with him. He was a great athlete, but his love was drag racing and hot rods. Atts Ono was instrumental in helping us line up everything to make sure it was level and balanced. His ideas were incorporated into the build that we had started and it made plenty of sense from a machinist/designer’s way of thinking of things. His basketball court sense gave him a prospective of the whole field of activity and then pinpointed where the attack was going to be. He looked at our plans, suggested several changes and when we measured, installed the preliminary work and mounts, it worked better than what we had proposed. What are skilled friends for if you can’t ask what is what and complete the task. 1964 He was slowly working on his own 1940 Willys Coupe and had decided to make a finished car, including upholstery and paint. We had the idea of getting our Willys put together, get it to run right, get as close to competitive speeds and e.t. then, get it finished for a complete hot rod. Our goal was to tow it back to the U.S. Nationals in Detroit in the fall of 1960. (almost a year later from our initial start.) The Moon Aluminum Tank and Pump System was a hot ticket on most Gas Coupes and Sedans. They were also on a lot of roadsters, altereds, and even the low slung dragsters. The current rules from 1959-60 allowed the Moon Tank to be bolted to the floor of the passenger’s foot well area. It made it a little cramped when cruising around in our street legal Willys Coupe. But, it was the feeling of driving around in a powerful hot rod that overcame any form of inconvenience. After a few months of running a Stromberg carburetor powered 283 SBC, everything worked well and we had no problems. The only problem we saw was the Willys was not as competitive against the big names like Jr. Thompson, Pittman/Edwards and Doug Cook. What a line up of competition, no one could say my brother did not have big goals for the Willys in B/Gas. But, it just was a little disheartening. Our move to the competitive C/Gas class was an eye opener and now, we were close to the national record. Needless to say, our last evening race at lions started something that changed the drag racing circles and created somewhat of a monster in the hot rod world. Jnaki Our mishap made it safer for all others that followed and it was a good/bad thing. Good in that there should be no more huge fires or explosions inside of the cab from skimpy aluminum fuel tanks, even as nice as they looked and functioned. But, as the years rolled by, a lot of people mostly moved to the front and outside of the cars. BAD STYLING… Atts Ono decided that the Willys needed as much smooth flowing air going over and under the Willys Coupe body, so he mounted his tank in front, but inside of the split grille. Still keeping the original smooth front end of the Willys for racing. It was a fully functioning gas tank that was mounted on machined aluminum brackets and hid well inside of the grille. 1964 Lions pits 1965-66 1965-66 Thanks, Jason 1967-70 photo by Don Hale Before the 1940 Willys was sold in 1970, dual Hilborn Injectors were added for better flow and more power. But, the aluminum Moon Tank still sat on its custom brackets behind the 1940 Willys split grille. Most of the top racers running their Willys Coupes, Sedans and Trucks had their Moon Tanks inside of the grill area.
The Jalopy Journal
