T70 barn find ?

[Johan]

I'm at a total loss as to how to restore this car. Thank goodness the previous restorer painted all the magnesium parts. Items such as the wheels, uprights, etc. are pretty much all painted and it has protected them over the years. They would be fuzzy junk if they had just sat all this time.
The fluid coolers are all painted gold. What's up with that ? I can try to clean them up, but it would be easier to replace them.
I'm going to restore the port side fuel pod , then add a new fuel cell, but then what ? The Suspension is suitable for street use or track touring, but is really not capable of being race ready. I can replace it I suppose. The car has miles of wiring and accoutrements for the AC , radio, etc. and holds a huge battery over the transaxle. This whole wiring harness must go I suppose. The body is in perfect shape, with 25 year old paint that is almost perfect. A cleaning and wax would restore it's luster. It too must go because the car needs to be a spyder. The wheels are there and there are 2 sets, both shod with new vintage tires, one set of Firestones on gold wheels, and a set of Goodyears on blueish gray wheels. I can't use the tires or the wheels if I want to race.
My point is that it is a matter of a month or two of re-assembly if I leave it a coupe and just put the car back together, but a total re-do from the chassis up if I go back to a spyder. I'm leaning towards putting the car back on the road as a coupe until such a time as I've accumulated the parts to restore it to the Bardahl Special.
And to think that if the Bartz brothers had been so inclined to leave the car a spyder, my work now would be much easier !
David and Rob, thanks for the help with the car. I'll be needing plenty of that.

 

[Gregg]

Johan, Congratulations on the T70. I've been following this thread in silence. My 2 cents is to take the time and do the rebuild as a spyder. Thats what you appear to truly want. You seem to have plenty of other toys in which to enjoy and drive at the moment. No use in rebuilding the car twice. Enjoy the rebuild and keep the pictures coming.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm trying to determine if my car had a "dashboard structure" like the number 8 Jerry grant car, or the kind with all the holes in it

[/ QUOTE ]

Johan - the dash has a series of horizontal holes - I'll scan and send a photo of it some time next week.

Cheers

 

[Johan]

The fuel cell that burst it's bubble.

 

[Johan]

Above can be seen the bubble, below, the top side of the cell.

 

[Johan]

this is a shot inside the sponson, where the cell fits. I dropped the camera down through the fuel cell access hatch. The ribs are not rusty, they are covered in some sort of dried goo.Sorry for the fingers.

 

[Johan]

This is the front bulkhead where the fluids have been leaking out, lifting the paint.

 

[Johan]

This is the bottom of the front bulkhead.

 

[David Briggs]

What ever it turns out to be, it is certainly cool and worth thr price of admission!

 

Hi again Johan. As promised, here's the best image I can find of the dash from the 66 Bridgehampton Can Am so far. It's a lot different from the MK1:

Hope it helps!

Rob

 

[Johan]

Rob, that's a great picture ! Notice how different that dash is than the one on Grant's no. 8 car (a tubular structure).Now at least I know what I'm looking for.Thanks for your efforts Rob !

 

[Johan]

Gregg, thanks for joining in the fun and thanks also for the advice. I'm installing the fuel cell as soon as it comes, and then deciding about the spyder coupe issue.

 

[David Pozzi]

The spyder bodies came with the dash area covered on a MKI, they used a tubular structure underneath to hold a very nicely fit instrument pod.
I believe the MKIII Lolas used a fabricated sheet dash and the fiberglass was trimmed back to the windshield base. I cut mine back since my tub came with a sheet aluminum dash structure and it was too tall for the fiberglass dash to fit over.
I think most race teams T-70's cut out the dash top fiberglass for better access and less weight.

The original master cyls were the small girling .70 for brake, .75 for clutch. They had the reservoir built-in, not remote. Those large reservoirs were added to coupes with the large calipers.
The brake line T fitting is usually at the top center of the bulkhead, not down low.

Racers usually cover the rivets inside the tub with tape to protect the cell. My cell is smooth since the tub didn't come with a cell. MKII and MKIII tubs had the fiberglass stiffeners inside plus some had snap in fittings to hold the bag in it's place. Later fuel bags used foam fillers so the snaps were done away with.

It might be well to keep it a coupe for now.
What would you do for a windshield if you do a spyder?

It would be nice to see the old original spyder body and paint scheme again!

Phil Schmidt the wheel guy in Los Angles has molds for a MKI tail section, the only difference is the hole on the right side for a fuel filler. Mac Mclendon used to have spyder body parts.

 

[Johan]

David, I have an extra MK I spyder windshield that I think I could copy and work with.It is fine but would need some modifcation. I can copy the general shape and then trim it to fit (I think).I have a rear section, but it is a MK I narrow job, not the wider one.I have some Can AM flair molds for the back that create the "half moon" vents behind the rear wheels.I can re-use the nose if I have to, but I do have a spare that might fit. I hope I can eventually round up the other body parts like the side pod covers and the "center section". I have NOT yet given up on finding the , or at least an, original body. I have identified the owner of the body shop (a Corvette restoration shop) that installed the coupe body , meaning the actual fiberglass bodywork and paint(22 coats of Gaurds red laquer-no clear coat), in 1981.He remembers the car and "may" have a body,but it is "not included or in usable condition".It is warped , too thin,incomplete, and cracked. Makes me CURIOUS just thinking about it.Interestingly, the name of the bodyman that did most of the fitting/work on the car back then is named "Jimmy Hendricks" vs. (Jimi Hendrix)!
I found some "donated" doors (specialized mouldings)that came as extras with the old Buck Fulp car (Thanks Paul !). The best part, and I mean the very best part, is that I have a group of good friends that enjoy working on race cars in general, and Lolas in particular, and whether it's parts, knowledge, or just plain grunt work like moving drivelines around, we sort of do it like a team, albeit a drunk team.Some of you I've never met so thanks for taking the time to help with the info.
I have 6 neighbors that are race car drivers. When they are not stealing my parts, beer, gas etc, they are a big help. Thanks !

 

[David Pozzi]

Sounds good, there is a body source in England too. I have a fellow vintage racer who bought a new nose for his MK1, but I don't know the name of the supplier. They supposedly have the old Specialized Moldings molds.

It would be great to have the original body!!!
Most tail sections got flared and re-flared, since original wheels for a MKI were 8" and 10" F/R, I talked to a guy who crewed on the Simonize team and they tried 14" wide rear wheels on the last T-70 that Chuck Parsons drove. Chuck used to live on the Monterey Penninsula, but I think he passed away. I talked to him once and all he could say is he wished he'd kept some of his old cars so he could SELL them and make MONEY. He finished his years as a car salesman at various local dealerships.
David

 

[David Pozzi]

Aircraft Windshield in Los Angeles has the molds for spyder windshields and also coupe headlight covers. I think they have molds for Coupe windshields too, but of course they are for Uvex. They told me Uvex has the best vision clarity, Lexan is not as good.
They did the plex for my car before I bought it. They have several colors, mine is a smoke color which works well with a yellow/black paint scheme.
David

 

Johan - bodywork should be available through Mac MacLendon in Florida. If not, the original moulds for the T70 MKII (and many others) are available at TW Mouldings in England.

For the list of original Specialised Mouldingings bodywork available from TW, Click Here

Cheers.

 

[Johan]

Thanks David and Rob. Uvex is nice. I wonder if a body could be made "clear" ? Probably not, but would be neat. I notice TW also has mouldings for other Lolas as well and I need something. Thanks for the links. David, I wish you would post more pictures of your car. Rob, how far are you on the Lola GT ? What kind of transaxle will it use ? Are you going to build the medium blue car with flairs ? One of my all time favorites !

 

[Chris P.]

Aaaaaah... Bridgehampton. I grew up not even 10 minutes from that track. Awesome track to drive. I can't imagine driving a car that fast on Bridgehampton. I should ask my dad if he has any photos from back then - perhaps there may be one or two of the Lolas.

Wish I had a project like that - enjoy! Huge amount of T70 pictures HERE. Perhaps you already know about that site though.

 

[David Pozzi]

Chris P
THANKS for the LINK! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif LOTS of pretty Lolas!

Johan, here is a photo of a Lola with 9" wide front wheels. Note that you can't see the spokes extending as far to the rim.