M8A-2 Restoration Project: Sponsor a Part Donation Proposal
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Proposal
The Bruce McLaren Trust welcomes the opportunity to present a proposal for you to become involved in the restoration of the McLaren M8A Can Am race car. We have set out below a broad overview of the restoration process and provided some examples of sponsorship opportunities for you to support this project.
The Bruce McLaren Trust is restoring the McLaren M8A Can Am race car to its original condition in order to preserve the heritage of the McLaren marque and to generate a working asset that can then generate funds for its own maintenance and further Trust work.
Restoration
The car carries an original factory production tag and this has established the authenticity of the vehicle and the worth of the restoration project. The restoration will require significant re-building of components to ensure that the car replicates the original team car, and can be used safely on a racing circuit when the project is finished.
During every step of the restoration process the project will be under the control of an experienced engineer with considerable restoration experience, including the complete refurbishment of his own personal McLaren racing cars. The Trust is able to utilise his skills in conjunction with a set of original factory drawings and archive material to ensure the restoration project is completed to a high and exacting standard and produce a safe and authentic McLaren M8A. Several engineers and mechanics that worked for McLaren Racing are now resident in New Zealand and have volunteered their services to assist with the rebuilding process.
The restoration began with the complete dis-assembly of the car into its component pieces. This step was necessary in order to check the physical state of each component for compliance with the factory drawings. The age and history of the car mean that a number of components have exceeded their working life and need replacing or refurbishing.
The chassis of the M8 Can-Am car is constructed from aircraft quality aluminium riveted to steel bulkheads and the aluminium is a part of the stressed chassis components and this type of construction is known as a monocoque chassis. Parts of these bulkheads require replacing, firstly to repair damage sustained during a race accident, and secondly to replace sections that have been corroded to a point where they are unsafe to reuse. These bulkheads form the basis for the chassis and are the main stressed components that then carry the suspension pick-up points, the engine mounting, and the stressed aluminium skin that forms the monocoque chassis. The original bulkheads and aluminium components were used as a template to manufacture the replacement components prior to the process of re-constructing the chassis. The construction of the monocoque is now completed and the costs for this work were met by an ex McLaren team member who was Denny Hulme’s Chief Engineer.
Following the completion of the rolling chassis a number of components can be added to the vehicle. The majority of these components will need complete replacement due to the age and unserviceability of the existing units, and some will be refurbished. In order to complete the chassis the magnesium steering components will need to be replaced. To complete the cockpit a new seat and driving instruments will need to be fitted and connected to a new electrical wiring harness. Finally the rubber fuel cells need to be replaced due to their deterioration and at this point the chassis will be ready to receive the fibreglass body components and the engine and gearbox assembly.
The fibreglass body needs to be manufactured from patterns and factory drawings in order to preserve the original look of the car and to restore it to replicate a genuine McLaren M8A. (The present body section is from a McLaren M8D, and was fitted to the car when it was used in the seventies as a static display show car.) The fibreglass components will then be painted to match the original McLaren orange livery complete with sponsorship decals to replicate the car as it was used in competition during the 1968 racing season.
The engine and gearbox require complete refurbishment in order to replace components that have completed a series of competition races and have been subject to damage and the deterioration of the past thirty years. (It has now been decided that a complete replacement engine will be fitted to the car and that the original badly damaged engine will be used as a display museum piece.)
A number of vital small components will need to be manufactured from original factory drawings as they are missing from the car completely.
