Godzillas new paint.

[Fire-medic]

Couple hundred miles later, runs and looks great.View attachment 78928

Yes Bill, but what about the bike?

 

[Fire-medic]

A great addition to the Von Dutch history of work, a WW II Lockheed Lightning P-38 fuel tank, called a 'belly-tank,' which was used to provide the #1 Allied ace's frame with more-range (that's right, the #1 Allied ace flew a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, not a P-51 Mustang). The tank would be jettisoned when empty, or before engagement with enemy fighters, providing enhanced maneuverability. The belly-tanks were popular with post WW II hot-rodders, who made midship-engined racers where the pilot ran in the front/nose, with the engine behind them, in-front of the rear axle. Can you imagine in 1957 turning a time of 216.75 mph? What a spaceship!

It was striped by Kenny Howard himself.

Belly Tank Racer Ran 240 MPH in the ’60s, Then Vanished for 30 Years (msn.com)

In 1963, it turned over 240 mph! A production streetbike that was capable of breaking 'the ton' (100 mph) was a legitimate big deal at that time. And, the belly-tank was pinstriped by Von Dutch!



Engine & Transmission

• 1956 Chrysler Hemi 354
• Machined and assembled by Ed Iskenderian
• 1956 Chrysler cylinder heads
• Weiand intake manifold
• Hilborn 2-port fuel injection
• GMC 6-71 supercharger
• CT Automotive crankshaft
• Venolia pistons
• Isky 5-cycle roller cam
• Vertex magneto ignition
• Custom headers
• 1939 Ford 3-speed transmission, modified
• Schiefer clutch,, aluminum flywheel, disc

The Lockheed P-38 belly-tanks were what allowed the US Army to somewhat 'even the score' when Admiral Yamamoto's plane was shot down (he was the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor) because the US decoded a secret radio transmission about Admiral Yamamoto's itinerary. They equipped a squadron of Lockheed P-38's with those belly-tanks and sent them out on a hunter-killer mission, and they located Yamamoto's plane, and destroyed it, and him. Without the belly-tanks, they never would have had the range to make the assault. Incidentally, Admiral Yamamoto was a Harvard graduate. His comment (taken from his diary) after Pearl Harbor was an eerie predictor of the eventual outcome of WW II: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Why the Man who Planned the Attacks on Pearl Harbor Advised Against them - Pearl Harbor

Death by P-38: When America Killed Japan's Top Admiral (historynet.com)

We Killed Yamamoto: a detailed description of the P-38 assassination of the man behind Pearl Harbor - The Aviation Geek Club