jw4 Smokey's JW4 Formula Four Rebuild Thread

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Wow, great craftsmanship. Any indication of the price-tag?

Will you opt for the magnesium or steel?

The price reflects the amount of work and level of engineering involved in producing the wheels, together with the fact that only a very limited quantity are being made each year. As a guide though a set of 4 is roughly the same as my monthly salary

Mine are Aluminium

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Excellent updates and story so far - that Briham certainly looks interesting with a combination of "modern" inboard suspension yet fitted with outboard drum brakes at the rear !! (and as for that narrow slot you put your legs through ........ ). I guess we didn't worry so much in those days...

At 6ft2 I wouldn't physically be able to drive the Briham, it was hard enough just to get in it and I'd have no chance of getting out after an accident. Thankfully the JW4 has a lot more leg and knee room, although the thought of my feet sticking out the front forward of the front axle line still worrys me a bit.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Absolutely top class Mark - a joy to read - thanks mate

Thanks James

[Onliest Smeg David]

Absolutely top class Mark - a joy to read - thanks mate 

 

Too right! 

 

By the end of this you'll only have to undertake a bit of editing before sending to a publisher for your first top selling historic car book.

[luxseven]

The price reflects the amount of work and level of engineering involved in producing the wheels, together with the fact that only a very limited quantity are being made each year. As a guide though a set of 4 is roughly the same as my monthly salary

Mine are Aluminium

 

*GULP* don't know how much you earn, but sounds like a lot anyway ...

The saying goes: If you like something, you don't count.

[tisme]

Mark,

 

The Jedi's suffered the same problem with "exposed" feet (well, the car didn't but the driver did )

 

In the end, although the MSA didn't "demand" some form of additional protection, they certainly put pressure on the factory - in the end JC made a welded aluminium box cover that bolted to the front of the chassis within the existing nose space - it was certainly better than nothing, could be removed and replaced to get to the pedals etc and didn't detract from the overall package. It certainly gave you more confidence and may be something to consider if it could be done without disturbing the originality of the JW4 rebuild.      

[Mark (smokey mow)]

There's not much to show but the last week has been spent cleaning up the chassis of the Carburol Special, prepping it ready for blasting and then paint.

The first task was to fill all the holes in the chassis that previously held it's aluminium panelling which numbered around 300 holes Each hole needed cleaning with a wire wheel, plug welding, grinding back and then linishing flat to the tube. Thanks go to Ben for his help with the welding which amazingly only took 3 hours leaving me to do the grinding and linishing.

Here's the three stages.... First the plug Welds

Then Grinding

And finally linishing

[Mark (smokey mow)]

In other news I've been fortunate to learn a bit of the chassis' history and was grateful to be sent a copy of this period 3 page article from Car and Car Conversions following a chance conversion at the weekend on TenTenths Forum thanks Wayne

[Mark (smokey mow)]

So, progress hasn't been quite as good as I'd hoped over the last month. rather annoyingly the company I'd originally lined up to fabricate the wishbones has let me down and so I've had to go looking elsewhere at alternative companies for quotes.

I have however been busy buying a few more parts for the cars and recently picked up some tyres and tubes for the JA Pearce wheels. For eligibility in historic racing I've opted for the Dunlop CR65 historic racing tyres. I've also been and collected myself a pair of these tonight courtesy of eBay.

I could have chosen some of the many reproductions sold at the kit car shows but using copies didn't sit right with me when I knew I could get the correct period parts. So these are a pair of original Talbot Berlin from the 1960's that adorned the wings of such cars as the 300SL Gullwing Mercedes. It took me a while to find a pair I could afford, even then I could have bought 20 new ones for the same price as these originals

[alexander72]

very nice detailing mark.  it will be worht greater than the sum of its parts mate.

[KugaWestie]

The mirrors look to be in fantastic condition Mark 

[Mark (smokey mow)]

It's been quite a journey and a lot of hard work to get this far but today I reached a milestone having collected the first of the new parts to be made for the JW4

The task of finding a company willing to fabricate the wishbones turned out to be more difficult than I first thought but my thanks go to John Danby Racing for their willingness to help with my restoration. The job was made easier having obtained all the the original factory drawings for the wishbones so at last I could confidently commit to making new parts knowing the dimensions and spec would be correct for the car.

At the same time as making the new rear wishbones JDR also refurbished the original fronts so these could be despatched to the platers at the same time.

The finish although having a similar appearance to chrome is actually nickel plating, this is exactly how they would have looked when the car left the factory in 1966.

The original wishbones have come up looking like new and only the more heavily pitted areas on the sheet metal offer a clue to the years of neglect that the car endured.

It's hard to believe that the originals looked like this when I bought them.

The next big job now is to get the rear upright castings machined, then I can get the car rolling on it's wheels again

[darve]

Congratulations mate - well done

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Congratulations mate - well done

so far it's just the first rung of a very tall and expensive ladder but at least I'm now actually climbing it

[XTR2Turbo]

Looking good.