curt raitz Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Alex Xydias and his So-Cal Speed Shop built the fastest unblown flathead-powered car in the history of Bonneville… a 1951 record that still stands! The So-Cal Speed Shop belly tank was built using a 315 gallon surplus P-38 centerline fuel tank (belly tank) as its body. Using the streamlined belly tank was a natural to this Air Corps veteran who knew that Lockheed had spent lots of time in the wind tunnel with these tanks making them aerodynamically “slippery” and they were available as war surplus for $5! In August of 1948, Alex installed a “souped-up” Ford 156 cu. in. V8-60 that he and hot rod pioneer Vic Edelbrock Sr. built. He towed the car to El Mirage dry lake and set a class record of 130.155. Initially the car was run as a streamliner, but the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) created a special class for these fuel tank cars calling them “lakesters”. Later at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Alex and his So-Cal Speed Shop team used the V8-60 to set a class record at 145.395. They swapped out the V8-60 for a larger 259 inch Mercury flathead and set another class record at 181.085. They then put in a 296 inch Mercury flathead and set yet another class record at 195.77 setting a one-way speed of 198.34 mph. I picked up a "lakester" body, tires/wheels and parts from "Early Resins" Parts is parts...all cleaned up and ready to play with: scratch-built chassis: Decals shouldn't be a problem, except for the white #28...can't find the correct font and don't have a nice straight-on photo to scan image of, any help would be greatly appreciated thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george 53 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Never seen a build up on one of these,Curt. This one will be worth watchin for me! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 (edited) Coolness!!! I've had one of these ('though not a replica build) on my to-do list ever since Ron at Early Years Resin first offered his belly tank parts two years ago. I have the original, larger, body. He since has corrected the oversized original to a proper 1/24-1/25 scale tank which it looks like you're using. Gotta get me one and get started on mine later this year.... Are most of those parts from Early Years (i.e. the louvers and the headrest, for example)? Edited March 23, 2012 by Bernard Kron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Too cool, Curt!! Which of the elves is going to tackle this build?? Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathgoblin Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Wicked! I like the looks of what you've started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 This Should be FUN!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 This is great, Curt. Looking forward to following along! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Zombie Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Don't have pics of the So_Cal Tank, but a cool period drawing that might help you for future whatever: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Don't have pics of the So_Cal Tank, but a cool period drawing that might help you for future whatever: Thanx There are a lot of photos of this car online...more than enough to make building it fairly easy Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Neil Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Got my attention with this one Curt, should be very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Should be a good'n! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedster Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Looking good! Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Woodruff Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Great start! I always wanted to build a "lakester". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Curt ... this is going to be a great build. I have always wanted to do one myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Moving along.. I need to build some cool So-Cal Lakester wheels here's the rig I made to get the 60 degrees spacing of the screws holding the flat covers to the wheels along with the wheels and tires: the rig w/template and a couple of wheels completed: all done...ready for primer and alclad chrome: front suspension, chassis, flathead engine/transaxle and rear suspension so far: back to the bench, thanx for lookin'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Glad 2 C U Rockin' on this one!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Wonderful progress so far. Great subject matter. Can't wait to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Decals shouldn't be a problem, except for the white #28...can't find the correct font and don't have a nice straight-on photo to scan image of, any help would be greatly appreciated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Tommy by golly...I think this will work thanx curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DustyMojave Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Gotta follow this one. The 1st race car I ever sat in was the Tom Beatty belly tank, which was a contemporary of this one and set a lot of its own records. http://www.bellytanks.com/?p=283 Tom was a close pal of my dad's and later my best friend's family were Tom's landlords for decades. I have a video in my head of sitting on small portable bleachers at El Mirage Dry Lake in the summer of 1958 watching my dad and Tom's helper "Fat Eddie" button Tom into the car and push it off with Tom's 40 Ford panel truck. Then watching the dust trail as it ran down the lakebed. I could tell ya LOTS of Tom Beatty stories... Also a few years ago, my wife's cousin Henry Gonzalez was manufacturing a resin kit of the SoCal car. Here is a shot of me at El Mirage in the cockpit of the Kelly & Hall Belly Tank in '06. If you look at the show-hall photo of the SoCal car above, the little "Kong" lettering on the side is for the "Kong Ignition" system famous on racing flatheads. Kong Jackson was a close pal and racing partner with my old close friend (and Tom Beatty's landlord) Ray Basso. So...Yeah...I gotta lot of interest going for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronr Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 HERE IS A LINK THAT MAY HELP: http://www.legendarycollectorcars.com/featured-vehicles/race-cars/so-cal-belly-tanker-stripped-naked-we-have-the-photos/H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Curt, the link that Ron posted shows those numbers much better, so I reworked it a little and this one is much closer. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 Curt, the link that Ron posted shows those numbers much better, so I reworked it a little and this one is much closer. Hope this helps. Tommy yes, just what the doctor ordered perfect thanx curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBorg Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 This is a sweet project. I have most of these parts. I need to get started on mine along with a 100 other projects give or take thirty or so...... MIke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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