Mark IV Powered T70

[Scott Calabro]

Hey All,

Does anyone know if any Big Block Chevy powered T70 spyder's were successfully campaigned in the CAN-AM ?


Regards,
Scott

 

[Dave Wood]

Someone probably knows off the top of their head, but I'll have to look through some old magazines. My recollection is they were campaigned pretty successfully and I'm pretty sure with BB Chevy's (damn that hurt).

 

[Scott Calabro]

Thanks Wood Z !

No pain man, regardless of opinions, the BBC is a great motor. Like ALL American V8's !!!

Regards,
Scott

 

[Gary Kadrmas]

From what I recall......
The T70s preceeded the Orange car McLaren guys, and I remember the T70 with SBCs. The later McLarens had the BBCs, so I guess the span was 1-2 years apart?

 

[Ron Rowse]

I thought the pre Big block T70s had a Traco Oldsmobile engine in them.

Ron

 

[Johan]

Lola T70 Spyders won 5 of the 6 Can Am races in 1966 with a win going to Jim Hall in his Chaparral as well.


John Surtees won the first Can Am race wearing race #3 in Lola T70 SL71/17 with a SBC and weber 58 sidedraught carbs making 550 hp.

Dan Gurney won the second Can Am race wearing race #30 in Lola T70 SL71/34 with a Gurney Weslake Ford 305" motor making 550 hp but lighter than the Lola Chevy at 1560 lbs.

Mark Donohue won the third Can Am race wearing race #6 in Lola T70 SL71/32 with a SBC. One of the Penske cars had a BB 427 Chevy initially but not competitive as the small block and won no races prior to being exchanged for a SBC.

Phil Hill won the fourth race wearing race number 65 in a Chaparral 2e.

John Surtees won the next 2 races wearing race #7 in Lola T70 SL71/43
which was SBC powered with the cross ram side draft weber 58's as well, which was a pretty potent package in 1966 I guess.

Thanks to the Racing Sports Cars website for the above pictures. Interestingly, most of the cars pictured above, which are all Chevy powered, are owned by GT40s.com forum members ! Could it be that this is because the Ford GT (40) is really a Lola/Ford GT ?!

 

[Russ Noble]

Wow Johan, SL71/34 comes in at 1560 lbs. I'm impressed. That must be a mighty car you've got there!

Cheers

 

[Johan]

Or fragile, depends on how you look at it !

 

I remember someone in the New England Region - SCCA back in '63 or '64 tired a Hemi in a T70. If I remember right, he couldn't get the power to the ground. I saw the car spinning the tires all the way up the hill past the pit straight at Thomson Race Track in Conn. I wonder where that car is now and the Lotus 30 I used to see race back then??

 

[Scott Calabro]

So no successful BBC powered Lola T70's ?

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Scott.....become the first.

 

[Johan]

No, no BBC T70's did well.
The BBC was not a great engine in Can Am until the Reynolds aluminum block came out in the McLarens. By that time the Lola Can Am car was the T160 series

and the Lola T220 series

. The cast iron blocks added too much weight and the rpm range suffered as well. The Shadow Can Am cars had 1400 hp out of a Twin turbo Reynolds aluminum BBC but that motor was not around in 1966 and 1967 when the T70's did so well. Even if they had been, the T70 was never designed to have so much power. The T70 was the last of the Can Am cars that
were actually designed as a true Sportscar with two doors, two seats, headlights, luggage space, a horn, etc.
The McLarens had no headlights for example. By the time the 600 cubic inch cars were running they were essentially dragsters that cornered well. T70 spyders are worth more than McLarens today for that reason. They are sportscars that could be driven to dinner with a date.

 

[Scott Calabro]

Johan,

Dragsters that corner well ... How does it get better than that !!!!!!!! rockonsmile

Thanks for the info! Both the blue 51 car and the orange 23 car are variants of the M8 (M12 customer car) right ? Looks so because of the pictures I see in the book "McLaren Sports Racing Cars", by Dave Friedman.

Do you have pictures of actual BBC powered T70 Spyders?

Fran,

Help me out mate......I'll do an RCR ZZ572/LG600 wide body, public relations/demonstrator car, complete with calliope stacked injection and vertex magneto ignition, for the New England Region. All I ask is for you to provide the kit !

If it feels good PM me...



S

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

No problem ...March 2007 Special just for you....
"""free kit supplied with a full price deposit...."""
..........thats all I ask.....rockonsmile

 

[Scott Calabro]

I guess it does'nt feel to good !!!!!!!

Hold on ! I get a kit with just the deposit ? I'll take 2

Best,
S

 

Scott, Me thinks you missed the "full price deposit" !

 

[Scott Calabro]

No... I read it correctly !

Seriously, to get back to the task at hand, does anybody have or know of resources to investigate BBC powered T70's?

Regards,
Scott

 

[Johan]

Scott, the blue #51 car is a Lola 1970 T163 and the red #23 car is a 1971 Lola T222. They both have BBC power.

The first T70 to have a BBC was this Penske car.

The last Lola T70 to race with a BBC was this one owned By Tony Adamowitz
and driven by Vic Elford in 1970 Can Am at Road Atlanta.

 

[Johan]

Scott, I have to say that if you want a big block in the T70, you go right ahead and do it.
Remember though that this has all been done in the past, and the result was the Lola T163. A T163 has a bigger radiator, bigger brakes, stronger chassis, bigger oil coolers, way fatter wheels and tires ( 12" front and 17" wide rear wheels), and a huge wing ,and these items will not readily fit a Lola T70 spyder. I'm saying you might run hot, and at a minimum you will be at a performance disadvantage.
I think what you are trying to do is pick a color scheme for your car, right ?
There are a lot of neat T70 Spyder color schemes and a Hewland LG would work well with almost any BBC horsepower available up to 1000 or perhaps even more, but a Hewland DG300 is probably easier for you to find and you want to stay under 550 hp with that (Although I do have a 650 hp car with a DG300 and it has never given problems if treated with due care).Here is a good website to search for different liveries.

Results obtained in 1967 USRRC Championship - CANAM 1967 - Pics of all cars - Statistics
http://www.imca-slotracing.com/images/CANAM%201966%20titelblad.jpg[/img]

 

[Jim Glickenhaus]

Scott, I have to say that if you want a big block in the T70, you go right ahead and do it.
Remember though that this has all been done in the past, and the result was the Lola T163. A T163 has a bigger radiator, bigger brakes, stronger chassis, bigger oil coolers, way fatter wheels and tires ( 12" front and 17" wide rear wheels), and a huge wing ,and these items will not readily fit a Lola T70 spyder. I'm saying you might run hot, and at a minimum you will be at a performance disadvantage.

Tru Dat.