P-38 Allison Engine Positive or Negative Ground?

[airtj]

My dad is trying to start a left hand P-38 Allison engine, but we need to know if it's a positive or negative ground on the starter. It's in a Bonneville salt flat racer. Don't have the engine dash number yet. Any help would be appreciated.

[airtj]

I was able to get a hold of Ace Allisons, it's a negative ground to the starter.

[K5DH]

Can you post some pictures of the car?

[Taigh Ramey]

Was any aircraft ever positive ground? Many vehicles were but I have not come across any aircraft that had it . Have any of you?

[airtj]

I will have to see if the owner / family of the car will allow it, going to look at the car tomorrow morning.

[airtj]

Bonneville Salt Flat racer originally built by ATHOL GRAHAM, being restored by his son Butch Graham.


7 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr

10 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr

4 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr


3 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr

5 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr

6 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr

9 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr

[K5DH]

airtj: Thanks, buddy! Very cool. Even though I grew up on the east coast, I followed the Bonneville scene when I was a kid in the 1960s. I remember seeing the "City of Salt Lake" and Mr. Graham featured in hot rodding magazines and historical books about LSR racing. The steering wheel appears to be a cut-down 1959 Impala unit! Neato!

And now, back to the original purpose of this thread. . .

[Michel Lemieux]

Wow...what a cool piece of history!

Tks for sharing

[airnutz]

Pretty cool survivor. With a first name of Athol, he musta caught a lot of flak at school. Apparently it didn't stunt him too much...What don't kill ya makes ya stronger...

[airtj]

Does any one have a service manual for this Bendix Stromberg carburetor in PDF form, PD-12H4 parts list 391699-1? The carburetor is giving us problems, I've already emailed Anderson aeromotive. Any lead on the gasket to engine to carburetor and the V gasket and the rubber ring at the bottom of the metal tube.

[Pooner]

Best bet will be a call to Jose Flores at Vintage V-12s in Tehachapi, CA for help on the carb issues.

No disrespect intended to Ray at Anderson, but a couple of months back when I visited the shop and picked through the copious outdoor storage inventory, there was not one stray piece of Allison or Merlin engine to be found. And trust me, I spent enough time there and I looked. Hard.

Offhandedly, I commented about that and expressed surprise there wasn't even a dead core inline motor anywhere in the storage area. Ray's response was calm and deadpan... "Nope, we don't do car engines here."

I got a chuckle out of that.

Flores will help. And what he isn't able to provide, Joe and Pat Yancey in Chino, CA will.

Best wishes on getting yours fired up shortly.

- Robert in PHX

[airtj]

It's Alive !!

IMG_4558 by Travis Hopkins, on Flickr