jw4 Smokey's JW4 Formula Four Rebuild Thread

[luxseven]

I guess there is still enough place (kitchen, living-room, bedroom...) for more

[Mark (smokey mow)]

There really is no more room anywhere now !!! I already have wheels and tyres in the kitchen, suspension parts in the dining room and a few small ancillary bits in the lounge

[alexander72]

Nice work mark :-)

[tisme]

Just noticed this on PistonHeads ..... http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/motorsport/race-cars/single-seaters/voigt-renwick-special/3024871

 

Go on, you've still got loads of room

[darve]

I think Mark could fit one more upside down above the westfield 

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Just noticed this on PistonHeads ..... http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/motorsport/race-cars/single-seaters/voigt-renwick-special/3024871

 

Go on, you've still got loads of room

Thanks for the link, I hadn't spotted it was for sale again.

The last I saw of the Voigt Renwick Special was 3 years ago when it was being advertised on ebay as a restoration project. Back then it already had been given a new body and suspension but was still in need of some restoration and assembly.

It looks great in the pictures, but for me and also knowing a bit of its past there seems to be too many new and replacement parts and not a lot of the original 1974 championship winning car that has been kept.

One thing I'm conscious of with both my original JW4 and also the Carburol Special is that every dent and repair in the chassis tells a story about its past, I know exactly what accidents caused the damage and it's all a part of the history of the car which to me needs to be preserved. If I was to cut out and replace the damaged tubes then it would be like erasing a piece of its history.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Just a little bit later than planned but here’s the latest update on recent events.

As you can probably tell I’ve been busy buying cars once more!! and this one is ever so slightly different to the other two.

In the history file for my car the previous owner Dr Pickering had exchanged several letters with another owner Michael Ford in Oxfordshire. In these letters dated September 1999 Michael speaks of owning a 1967 Mark3 car which he bought as a retirement project together with several spare parts and at that time was further expressing an interest in buying Dr Pickering’s JW4 project to add to his spares.

From Tim Barkers Post (55) on this thread and the mention that he had sold some parts to Michael as well I was keen to contact Michael Ford to firstly see if he still owned his JW4 but secondly what (if any) spare parts he may have.

Despite my best efforts to make contact, Michael had moved from his Oxfordshire home and the address, email and phone numbers I had on my file from 1999 were of no use. Quite unexpectedly and largely due to this forum thread I received an email from Michael 5 weeks ago as his son had spotted my build thread whist they were researching the possibility of selling his JW4.

Michael had gone to a lot of trouble over the last 20 years gathering together parts but his retirement project had never really started and still remained as a large kit of parts which he was now looking to sell. Lacking space for storage my interest was only in a few of the spare parts but from our conversations Michael was keen to sell everything and unwilling to break up his collection, so it was to be all or nothing!

Getting that feeling of déjà vu, I once again hired a suitably large van and this time headed off in the direction of Somerset, briefly passing a few of sights along the way

[Mark (smokey mow)]

The big question is… what did I buy?

Michael’s car was the original 1967/68 factory prototype for the transition from Motorcycle engines to car engines. It would have originally carried either an 875cc Hillman Imp engine and gearbox or SAAB engine and run in Class 3 of Formula IV. Both my cars are Mk2’s whereas this is a Mk3.

The chassis largely is the same as my cars although carries some extra bracing and also some more recent modifications made by Michael to accommodate an CB750K1 Honda Engine. Most notably with the chassis was that it ran a front mounted radiator with the coolant running through the main chassis tubes to the rear of the car.

As well as the car though he also had a trailer that he had purchased from Johnny Walker’s former business partner Stan Gay and was the trailer used by the ‘JW Works Team’ and factory when they raced all over Europe.

Pictures to follow…

[Mark (smokey mow)]

[alexander72]

Now that Rodney, is a result…. mange tout mange tout my son… Nice work Mark.. can you build me one please….. :-) 

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Nice work Mark.. can you build me one please….. :-)

Certainly James talk to me Saturday

[alexander72]

I havent had a drink for 10 days so I have the budget…. :-) 

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I havent had a drink for 10 days so I have the budget…. :-)

and I'd be happy to help you spend it

[tisme]

Not only can I see a book coming here but possibly a museum (or even a documentary on CH4 )

 

Excellent stuff - interwebby search engines have their uses after all..........

[luxseven]

That's what I call SHOPPING !

Christmas before time? Or is there anything planned to put under the tree?

Cheers.

 

Jos