WOW !! JamieUc, outstanding worksmanship...and vision....and glad to see period correct components and vision...I definitely have had a soft spot in my heart for tanks ever since I saw one in an article about bonneville in Hot Rod magazine about 50 or so years ago....if I were to ever run across an empty for a decent price I probably won't be able to pass it up!!!
A litle bit of progress on the tank this week, putting in a fire wall between me and the engine, will post some pics at the weekend. I did try the oven cleaner on the quickchange rear cover that Ricks garage sujested but didnt do much, it was a UK brand not the "Easy off "Rick sujested. Will have to try get some Easy Off. Got some header flanges delived today from Wengparts, couldn't resist a pic of these with there business card, the card made me laugh.
Some photos of this weeks progress on the tank. I've been making a fire wall as I want the engine compartment sealed off from the passenger space, proably a good idea when you've got a supercharged flathead roaring away six inches behing you. Bulkhead is 1/8" steel plate, so fairly stout. First picture is wooded template and plasma cutter, not very traditional but sure makes life easy on a big peice like this. Now its time to get the seat out, this was one of the first parts I got for the build, I'd been planning the build in my head for a while and in walks a good freind and says "look what I've just found" and shows me a picture of this vintage aircraft seat, anyways a bit of bartering later he turns up with the seat for me. Havent got a clue what this came out of but judging by the fact its got a swivel base I'm thinking gunner or navigator, If anyones got any leads on its history, what plane it might be from, I'd love to know more about it. Here the swivel base has been removed to make it low enough to fit in the tank. In the pic above the white chaulk line is where the top of my head is with helmet on, Ive deliberatly made the firewall a bit bigger in this area and will cut it down to size once all the roll cage is fitted.
Great progress Jamie. I can't wait to see this running. Brett. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Also spent a bit of time looking at the ride hight, rear is about right but front is to low so I need to lower the front crossmember two inches, the crosmember I've already made was to narrow for this to work so I've knocked up a new one out of a bit of box. Finished and ready to fit.
Hi Brett I've made my mind up I'm gonna crack on with this and aim for getting it finished in time for Pendine 2022 .....see how it goes. Gonna PM you, I've got a question.
Hi Jamie.Very nice Sir.I`ll saddle up and go along for the ride.Every time I see one of these threads about a belly tank racer and hear the builder lament about the dearth of same,I remember the piles of them that were just laying around for the asking at the local airports that were the local Navy bases during WW2.There were three of them around the town where I grew up in Vero Beach, Florida. Main was at Vero Beach.Then there was one at Ft Pierce and one at Sebastian.Vero was in the middle and Sebastian was about 15mi North and Ft Pierce was about 15mi South. Ahhhhhhh those were the days. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
Mocking up the roll cage, I haven't got the equipment to bend the hoops so will be getting these done at a roll cage shop. Spent quite a bit of time sitting in it with my crash helmet on day dreaming about racing down the beach
Hey maybe we can go to Bonneville together when we get our cars done. Great work you are a cool cat Sent from my LM-Q720 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Excellent work. You will have a blast in that car. The external tanks for the P-38 ranged in capacity form 150 gals to 300 gals, and there were variations in dimensions and capacities do to different manufacturers. Early model 38's had the intercoolers in the leading edges, this proved to be a bit of a problem as there were vunerable to enemy gunfire. The intercoolers were relocated to the nacelles post G models, and 60 gal leading edge tanks were installed. The L had reinforced rails capable of handling 2000lb bombs or 300 gal drops. The L had 2 60gal reserve tanks forward, next to the cockpit, and 2 90 gal mains aft of the reserve tanks, plus the 60 gal outer or leading edge tanks. This is a picture of me (circa 1994ish) in a P-38L - sans the drop tanks. You can see the red fuel caps near the walk-strips. The drop tank rails are protruding under the wing, below the walk-strips.
Be sure to sit in with a fire suit or at least very heavy coat when you check for room, you would be surprised how much they add/subtract in the available limited space
IDK the SCTA rulebook, but it would seem there would be a need for longitudinal tubing below the main rails to protect drivers legs. Just a skin of aluminum between your butt and sandpaper! Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yes got a copy of the SCTA Rule book and making sure my car would comply with that aswell a rules for racing here in UK, just incase I make it to Bonneville one day...
Wow..I bet your a proud man having flown in that P38, I know I would be, Ive been up in my mates microlight and thought that was fun but flying a P38 would be something else. I did pick up a copy of Genn Gurneys book the P-38 Lightening on ebay last week so I can brush up on my history and tech a bit.
Yep dont want my butt skiding down the beach at high speed, there will be more roll cage to come this is just the start.
The 38 was one of the coolest, there are few of them remaining in relation to the other fighters, and they have some unique flight characteristics. We had drops for the 38, the P40, and the P51; I never flew the 38 with the drops mounted but I was told the drops had a bit of a "keeling" effect. I've flown the P40 with and without a center mounted drop, and you could definitely tell the difference. Both the 38 and 51 had more range than the 40, so we ran the drop on the 40, mostly for the cross-country flights to and from airshows. The drops were popular in the 70's and 80's when airshows - especially at Military Bases, would give you all the fuel you could carry. I assume you checked with the guys at Duxford when you were looking for an original tank. I doubt they would have parted with one, but always worth a try. The fuel burn schedule would generally be the same for all aircraft with external stores: take-off/climb(15 minutes) - use the tank with the vapor vent return (so as not to overflow a full tank), on the 38L this would have been the 60 gal res tank. Next would be outboard or external - if equipped. The idea would be to get closer to the target with as much on-board fuel as possible. Drops would have been discarded when: depleted or engaging. So, anyone hunting for a survivor tank - the L would have been burning about 1 gal a minute once in cruise. If you figure 25 -30 minutes, plus 5 hours - that's where to start looking. Good luck.
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