TrashersRacingTeam

Quick change parts

2010-10-27T01:28:00.000-07:00

After obtaining our quickchange case in the UK last summer, we contacted Sig at Rodsville in the USA to order some parts; in fact all the guts are needed, gears, gaskets, shaft, crown&pinion set, the whole enchillada !
Shipping is calculated as we speak, so our last dough in the budget will be sinked in good ol' iron !
Of course we'll keep you posted when it the package hits our side of the pond !

Wheels: sorted !

2010-10-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

Through our worldwide webbased network, we got hold of a nice (as in new!) set of rear wheels for our speeding bullit.
Thanks to our UK-friends Rem and Keith for making that happen !

wanted: wheels

2010-09-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

For our rear axle, we need two steel wheels in 15" diameter with a 5 on 5,5" bolt pattern. Preferably narrow, like 4" or 4,5" wide. These are early ('40s / '50s) Ford wheels, also found on the F1 and F100 pickups.
Other sizes, makes and models can be looked at too, just show us what you've got.

Trash-Can magazine feature; Auto Motor Klassiek

2010-09-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

We'd like to thank Auto Motor Klassiek (Classic Car & Bike) magazine for the article on our Trash-Can bellytank landspeed racing project. Here's a sneak preview but you'll need to buy the magazine to actually be able to read it. Look for the September issue in stores as of yesterday.

AMK

2010-09-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

The apearrance of our Bellytank story in a Dutch Classic Car magazine called 'Auto Motor Klassiek' sure catches attention. We get numerous emails from people who never believed a team of Dutch guys were preparing to break a Landspeed Record. These pics were send to us by Menno who just returned from Speedweek, still shaking the holy salt out of his shoes ! By the looks of the pictures he had a blast overthere, thanks for the pics and kind words Menno ! It's these things that keeps us motivated !

Salty white shirts; get'm while they still last !

2010-09-01T03:56:00.000-07:00

We managed to book supermodel E. to show you our salty white shirts. To avoid any diet-issues they are only in L, with small logo on the chest, big logo on the back, both in fierce green !
Cost: a measly 15 euro; with free shipping in the Netherlands ! Outside NL, please ask !

Drop us an email if you'd like to dress like a hero, and take part in this excellent adventure !

Thanx !

Quickchange finds it's way down there!

2010-09-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

That Rodsville quick change we scored at the Hayride in the UK quickly (pardon the pun) found it's way between the 70 year old Ford axlebells, and onto our welding table. Now we have to score the parts that need to go in it ! Lower shaft, yoke, rear cover, gears, bearings, gaskets...

If this looks like a request for a friendly sponsor...it is !

quickchange

2010-08-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

Look at what we brought back from the Hayride! This will do the trick easier than the one we already have since it will fit the '40 axle we've got without expensive adapter plates. Still need more parts for it since it's only the housing... anyone?

tools

2010-08-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a great deal with HWIJ - Handelsonderneming Wijbenga, we now have a fully loaded toolbox to work with. Check their website out here: www.HWIJ.nl
Thanks Johan!

Inspiration

2010-07-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

The So-Cal Speedshop bellytank!

One of the most well-known and successfull bellytank racers was Alex Xydias, the owner of the So-Cal Speed Shop. The So-Cal Special was basically a 315 gallon wing tank off of a P-38 Lightning with custom built framerails, powered by a 156 cubic inch flathead V-8. At Bonneville in 1951, the So-Cal team set a new record for their class, running a 145.395 mph average.
The So-Cal Speed Shop team took the car back to their motel and, right then and there in the parking lot, swapped the engine out. They put in a larger, 259 cubic inch Mercury flathead and ran the car again in a larger engine class. They set a record in that class as well, running 181.085 mph.
The team then swapped the engine out once again, this time putting in a 296 cubic inch Mercury engine. It ran a one-way time of 198.340 mph, with a two-way time of 195.77 mph. This speed was a record for its class, until it was upstaged the next day by the Mal Hoopster lakester, which was running with a Chrysler hemi and turned a 197.88 mph average. But the So-Cal Special's 198.340 mph run is still the fastest one-way speed that a non-blown flathead V8 has ever run.
To put all of these achievements into perspective, consider that at 1952's Indy 500, Troy Ruttman (with all of his sponsors and his overhead cam engine) won the Indy 500 with an average speed of "only" 128.922. Xydias was going faster than Ruttman in a salvage yard belly tank powered by a pre-W.W. II flathead Ford and no sponsors.

Q&A #1

2010-05-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Why is it called a bellytank?
A common question for us to hear.
Here's why:

It's an auxiliary fuel tank hanging from the belly of a plane, which in this case is a McDonnell F4 Phantom II.
There you go!

TrashCan support party April 3rd: wet, but fun !

2010-04-13T05:46:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, April 3rd, the Trashers had their first bash at our own clubhouse: The Trash-Can Support Party.

We invited a heapload of friends to join in with their cars, get some shirts, get even more grub'n'beer, and support the TrashCan tank in the process!
But oh boy, was it wet! The worst weather of the week, but you didn't let us down! 90% of the people who bought a presale ticket showed up, we sold 'bout 700 bottles of beer, at 5pm we completely ran out of burgers, our friends of the Dunlop Devils and the Cowpokes played blisters on their fingers, kids were entertained, the whole enchillada!

Thanx everyone for the great support, and for having a GREAT day!

Special thanks go out to:

- Our hard working heroe in the tastebuds ticklin' department: Manuel, a.k.a. "Kokkie". Visit his restaurant Chez Manu at Hoogstraat 50 Eindhoven!

- The greatest surf band around: The Dunlop Devils. Check 'em out on their myspace. www.myspace.com/thedunlopdevils

- The magnificent acoustic bluegrass trio: The Cowpokes. www.myspace.com/thecowpokes

- Louis for supplying Vedett beer and gimmicks such as the kustom beer bottle label printer.

Thanks again everyone and hope to see you all again soon!

Just in: steering to swerve the Salt

2010-02-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

We got a nice lil' package in the mail: an all aluminum rack & pinion steering rack, designed for a dragster, but that will suit our Salty Bomb just fine, thank you !

Allways great to get that kinda mail !

Lengthening the bomb

2010-02-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

After we did some mocking up, we decided the tank had to be lengthened by 40cm, or some 15 inches for you Imperial thinkers.
Harks Staalbouw did a good job rolling a couple of pieces in the right curvature. We did the cutting after clamping some sliding tubing to keep everything in shape during the stretch.
Now we should have enough space to occupy the driver AND all important parts !

Let that engine float !

2010-02-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

Last week we made up some adjustable engine supports, wide enough to let the tank body slide under, and sturdy enough to hold that heavy sucker !

Expert welding was done by Polle, no longer a welding Virgin !

L.A. Grand National Roadster Show 2010

2010-02-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

It's nice to see that our shirts are getting some exposure! Though several Trash-Can shirts have already crossed the ocean towards new owners there, this here's our local buddy Mr.HotRod. Het left his Rod Shop in freezy cold Rod City for a field trip to the GNRS. And we all know who that other guy is, now don't we...

If you have a nice picture featuring your Trash-Can shirt or sticker, be sure to mail it to us at trashers@live.nl. We like that stuff!

Preparation of the frame build

2010-02-04T03:55:00.000-08:00

Here's another short update from the workshop.
We made an outline of the shape of the bellytank and mocked up the axle positions and the length of the drivetrain.

Though we knew it wasn't going to be easy,
we soon realized there just wouldn't be enough room for our driver.
We decided that the throttle and brake pedals, and therefore Sascha's legs, should be positioned behind the front axle.
There also should be enough room for cooling and fuel system components, so we can make a decent firewall to seal it off from the driver compartment.
All for safety purposes ofcourse.
This means we'll have to lengthen the tank by approximately 40 cm.
The middle part of the tank shape is cilindrical so this shouldn't be too hard to do.

Now that the wheelbase was determined, the rear axle is mounted on the chassis table. Hanzl fabricated some adapter plates, so we could bolt the rear axle sidebells to the quickchange center section. This enables the rear axle to be mounted in the correct position during mock up and construction of the frame.

Next step, make a construction that'll place the engine in the correct position. Then our master fabricator can start building the frame.

After extensive contact with the SCTA, we decided on rectangular steel tubing for the main frame rails, which exceeds the minimum width the SCTA requires.

We're also busy planning an event concerning sponsorship for the bellytank project, we'll get the details posted on the blog as soon as we've got it all sorted.

Trashers - Bigtwin Magazine #279 / Januari 2010

2010-01-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

Motorcycle madness!? Bigwtin... Benelux biggest custombike magazine was kind enough to do a small artikel about us and our Trash Can bellytank project. You can read it at page 106 of Bigtwin's 1st edition of 2010! Here we are...just to show you bikers that there's much more juicy stuff to build than bikes! Ha'

Trash-Can project in Motorized! Magazine

2009-12-18T03:56:00.001-08:00

The latest publication of Motorized Magazine, number 2, features the first of probably a series of articles about our Trash-Can bellytank project.
MOTORIZED! is all about hotrods, customs, choppers, bobbers and hot aircooled VW's and the lifestyle surrounding all of this, with minimal words and as much fuel injected eyecandy for the greased up mind as possible.

ElCheapo, Motorized's founder, editor, photographer and overall chief executive officer, visited the workshop a couple of months ago and brought along his camera to shoot the pictures found in the current issue. He'll be coming over more often so he can document the progress of our project, shooting material for upcoming issues. That's when he's not too busy with his custom paintjobs, pinstriping and travelling all over Europe promoting his magazine and gathering features for it.
Well, here's a lo-fi sneak peek, you really should just buy the magazine...

Thanks to ElCheapo: ElCheapo Kustom Works & Motorized! Magazine

Show your support with a Trash-Can t-shirt

2009-12-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

Trasher Sascha is the smallest and lightest of us, which is why he'll be piloting the cramped Trash-Can down the salt flats. Well, maybe because he's fearless as well. Or just because he Can?! But anyway, he's also a very good tattoo artist down in Eindhoven Rock City's finest tattoo parlour. This brings along the benefit of his ability to design a logo to represent the Trash-Can project.

Sascha designed the "Trash-Can Vintage Fourbanger Flathead" logo primarily for the limited edition first series of t-shirts.
Also from Eindhoven Rock City, Paul of Blendomatic fame, collaborated with us on the production of the t-shirts. He's the number one supplier of cool Rock City related merchandise.

People who buy a Trash-Can shirt not only look the part, but support us because the proceeds go towards finishing the Trash-Can bellytank racer and improving the world speed record in the Vintage Fourbanger Flathead class. The shirts are stylishly olive drab green colored and feature a small logo on the front and a biggun on the back. They've been selling like crazy at the Rockin' Jalopy's Motorama and Speedfest events we attended last few weeks.

If you haven't been to one of these events, didn't buy one there (shame on you!) or if you want more, you can order 'm from behind your computer the same easy way as the stickers of the previous blog post. Just drop us an e-mail at trashers@live.nl and we'll set things in motion. No, still no Paypal, hey it's only been about an hour since the last post...

This is a short promo film featuring footage shot at the Rockin' Jalopy's Motorama.

Thank you for buying a Trash-Can Vintage Fourbanger Flathead t-shirt!

Thanks to Paul for making the t's!

Trash-Can stickers for sale

2009-12-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

Last week our buddy Nico a.k.a. Guzzmen Deluxe produced some cool looking stickers based on the same "Trash-Can Vintage Fourbanger Flathead" logo as our t-shirts.
Trash-Can is the name we gave our bellytank project and V4F, short for Vintage 4 cilinder Flathead, is the class it'll be competing in.
There are black on white stickers as well as black on metallic silver versions. Guzzmen is a fast acting dude, he likes speed as much as we do apparently, so these stickers were ready to go on sale at Speedfest last Saturday.

So now you can show everyone you support Trashers Racing Team's Trash-Can bellytank racer; just stick 'em anywhere you like. They are popular and sell fast, so get 'em while we still have 'em. Order your set of assorted Trash-Can stickers for only €5 (ex. postage). And while you're at it, order a t-shirt too!
Contact us on our e-mail address you'll find in the column to the right. Just leave your name and address and how many sets you want and we'll get back to you with details concerning payment and postage. To make thing easier for you, we are working on a solution to put a Paypal account up and running. Of course, everyone interested in our project is more than welcome to stop by at our workshop and have a closer look, as long as you don't leave empty-handed ;-)

Once again, thanks to Guzzmen for making such cool stickers!

nothing can go wrong from this point...

2009-11-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Guess what!? After an explosive gig at the Trashers stage at Speedfest 2009, Reverend Beat-Man was kind enough to take his Holy Bible and bless the Trash Can bellytank project. Now we're certain of a nice & smooth record attempt! In fact, we'll just be the fastest!

Reverend Beat-Man is the coolest and most amazing surreal folk trash blues preaching one-man-band on the face of this earth.
http://www.myspace.com/reverendbeatman

Speedfest 2009... Day After

2009-11-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

What can we say...
Lack of Trashers space this year so only a few of our rides were squeezed inside.
We did bring the "Trash Can" bellytank-project and a pile of cool T's to raise funds;
thanks for all you rockers that bought a t-shirt to support us!
This year sure was a great 3rd Rockin' Time!!!

Pics by Limpe Iven

Rockin Jalopy's Motorama... another great weekend!

2009-11-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

It's a fact... 1st edition of Rockin Jalopy's Motorama was a blast!
A short but cool trip... all together, without any probs.
Trash Can bellytank racer project (looking for sponsors ;-) display at the show!

Thanks everyone who supported us by buying a T...

hopefully many will follow!

Pics by Limpe Iven...

Mocking Up

2009-11-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Guess what!?

We've decided to take the bellytank project out for this weekend!

Seems a logistic nightmare but would be so cool if we "Can"

well... the mocking up has already started!

Saturday 21TH NOV "Trash Can" Tees launch!

2009-11-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

As insiders may know... it was a major birth & may took a while... but finaly here they are!!!

Saturday 21th & 22th of Nov... Rocking Jalopy's Motorama Autotron Rosmalen, Trashers will launch the sale of NL's first droptank racer t-shirts!
Come and get your vintage looking T at our stand!

Trash Can VFF Tees... Looking good for a good cause!

Getting ready for Rockin Jalopy's Motorama

2009-11-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

Yes! counting off days to upcoming weekend!
Rockin Jalopy's Motorama indoor Hot Rod & Kustom show at Autotron Rosmalen.
Promissing to be a blast!

Quickchange

2009-10-30T04:08:00.001-07:00

To get the gearing we want in a early Ford rear axle, we had to get a Quickchange centre section. For those unfamiliar with this: it replaces the centre section of a early Ford rear axle. It has a horizontal shaft, going from the front (power in) to the rear, through a set of gears, which are available in all kinds of ratios, and back in the differential.

We managed to get one on ebay for a reasonable price. Turns out that seller Jim lives 110 miles from Bonneville, and he is a regular visitor ! Besides that he owns a KILLER 34 coupe, one of the very, very best I've seen. Nice guy !

Rear end challenges are solved !

2009-10-30T04:03:00.000-07:00

We finally found a suitable early ford banjo. Turns out our Dutch Australian mate Henry Norberhuis had several axles to choose from ! We picked up the latest he had, together with a set of juice brakes. Only downside was that all axles Henry had in stock missed their pinion shafts, so we have to purchase a new set of crown and pinion. And we are all very poor...

2009-09-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here's another look at that rear end. We're contemplating a early Ford banjo, but considering the desired end ratio, we'd need a quickchange, and they're mucho dinero !

Rear end challenges

2009-09-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Almost immediately we ran into a problem. We chose our 9" Ford rear axle for parts availability. Only to find out that the yoke where normally the propshaft is attached to, is out of the axle's centreline.

Because of space limitations, the gearbox is attached directly to the rear end, not using a propshaft. This is not gonna work...

What have we been up to ?!?

2009-09-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's been a while since our last topic, now that we're all up&runnin' after all our holidays, here's what we've been up to !

First of all we set up a chassis-table in our workshop. On this we are able to set up every major component up in any angle or position we'd like.

We cleaned our 9" Ford rear end, and put it up on the table.

Donated: a 9" diff !

2009-08-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

And thanks to Mark Spooner from the UK (aka 296moon) we are also the greasy owners of a diff for that 9" Ford rear axle ! It's origins are not the sexiest, chekc out the little trucky-thingy under which it came out of !

Seems to be in good nick, and it has 2.78 gears, so suitable for our high speed aspirations !

Thanx Mark !

Rear end donated !

2009-08-26T06:14:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Jerome Volkering we now have a 9" Ford rear axle case; ugly but a goodie !

Greasy stuff !

2009-08-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we opened the bottom end of our engine, and we were happy to find that oil was everywhere, and so far so good: no cracks found !

Final disassembly will be done asap, so we can drop the bare block and crank in the diptank for a couple of days to start with a squeaky clean base. The engine will be gone thru completely, so block and crank are probably the only parts we'll use, and then heavily modified: billet steel main caps, perhaps a sturdy girdle, so we can rev her up to 4800-5000 rpm.

Bellytank set up at speedfest 2008

2009-08-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

ran in to this pic of the bellytank set up at last year's Speedfest 2008
Can you imagine...
It's already happening!

Cheers Skip'

New motor ! well, 1932 new that is...

2009-08-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

We picked the motor yesterday, heavy as hell ! But strong lads as we are, we pulled it out with our bare hands, dropped it on a skateboard, and wheeled it into our shop !

Here she is, in all her Greasy Glory !

Scary face, and he isn't driving yet !

2009-08-04T04:44:00.001-07:00

Our designated driver Sascha holds the new steeringwheel, and is already scared sh1tless by just the thought of driving our tank on the Salt !

Donor heart found !

2009-07-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

A deal has been done, (thank you Arie !) and we're happy to announce that we found an engine at last ! It is a Ford model B engine, possibly a bit later then 1932, in good nick, and complete enough for us.
No pics yet, as we have to pick it up next week, but this plan is starting to come together now !

Imagine this: this engine has done it's duty calmly for probably many years, now resting for an unknown number of years, only to be woken up by a bunch of racers, prepping it to do 5000rpm's on The Holy Salt of Bonneville, heeeeeehaaaaa !!

Come back here next week for piccas !

We need directions !

2009-07-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

And this new addition to our parts bin will give us directions just fine 'n' dandy ! brand spanking new, but still oldskool, is this butterfly steeringwheel, on it's way from the US as we speak. It even comes with an instrument panel, to mount that ancient Sun tach in !

2009-07-16T00:48:00.001-07:00

In the shop we put it on temporarily stands, just waiting for the chassis-table of Hanzel, on which we are able to set everything up and weld the chassis together.

Movin' the tank to the garage

2009-07-16T00:42:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to move the tank to Rod City Garage, and make this cool place our dedicated clubhouse and workshop. We all have our own lockups, but being alltogether in one shop has its benefits !

The tank at 4,25 mtr (that's some 14 ft for our non-metric followers) kinda fits in a Opel Omega Wagon...NOT !

"When going abroad, you need rubbers young man !"

2009-07-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Edwin we managed to obtain some rubber, Good year frontrunners 28x4.5x15 to be precise.

So up front we are almost good to go, up next are rear tires in huge diameter please !

What do we need ? Parts, parts, parts and then some !

2009-07-14T11:35:00.001-07:00

Building a racecar from the ground up requires lots of skills, patience, money and parts. We've got the skills, we more or less have the patience, and money is slowly coming in (we could do with some more, winkwink, nudgenudge).

What we need on parts is a long list ! Well, at least we have the tank itself !

If you can help us out with these parts, please contact us thru this blog !

9"Ford third member, 1:2.80 gear ratio or somewhat in that region.
clutch housing for a M40 gearbox of a Volvo Amazon
cool airplane style steering wheel
race style battery
power shut off switch
inertia fuel stop
gauges
seatbelts suitable for racing, six point harnass
fire extinguishing system or parts for it
15" steel rims, 4-5 inches wide, 5x4.5" wheel stud pattern
18"steel rims, 4-5 inches wide, 5x4.5" wheel stud pattern
18" tires, 4-5 inches wide, tallest available.

We will add parts in the near future for sure !

Sponsors, donations, all for the Salty Cause !

2009-07-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

Good friend Perry very kindly donated a complete and even chromed and drilled Model A frontend for our bellytank. Kool !!

visit his kool stuff at: http://www.rodshop.nl/ !

We took off the discs and Wilwood calipers, we won't be using no frontbrakes !

SCTA Rule Book 2009: so that's how we should do this !

2009-05-11T05:02:00.000-07:00

Met up with Tilly at SINS 2009, and boy did he had a super contribution to our Salty aspirations: the 2009 SCTA rule book ! Very hot of the presses, just out in the US, and it is already in our greasy hands !

This book tells us all about classifications, safety measures, general rules and technical queries about building one hot SaltShaker !

Tilly is Da Man ! Thanks !

2009-02-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

We've got some questions about this blog, some people still don't seem to know what a bellytank and saltlake racing is all about...

Thats why we decided to ad some old time pics of bellytanks on salt ;-)

Here's also a link to get your warmed up & Informed... and to see what we're up to in the future!
http://www.saltflats.com/

Info about the tank:

2009-02-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Where does one find one of these bellytanks in the Netherlands?
Well, we actually found one in the free ads paper !

After dragging the 4,5 meters long 'drop' home it seemed in pretty good shape!

In the early days these 'bellytanks' were used for their perfect low drag and being leightweight you couldn't wish for anything better !

It was bolted underneath an F4 fighter plane in 1972 and dropped above sea somewhere when it was empty of gas

We cut it in half to see witch member would fit, Erwin didn't!

How it all started

2009-02-18T10:57:00.000-08:00

We all have our own different ideas on how our perfect car would look like. Club-member Erwin for instance has had a weak spot for land-speed-racers since he first drove his home-build soap-box down a hill just 6 years old ! Now some 30+ years later Erwin wants to make his dream come true and convinced the rest of us to help alongon this crazy ride.