The Bruce McLaren Trust Car - Conservation Plan

1968

The BM8A/2 McLaren Can-Am sports car was first built in 1968 at the McLaren Factory in England and was the official team car for Denny Hulme to race during the 1968 Can-Am Championship series. At the end of the 1968 season this car was altered and rebuilt using the original tub and upgraded to the Highwing M8B car and became the teams spare car for the 1969 Can-Am series. Throughout the 1969 season the American driver, Dan Gurney, also raced it for the McLaren team. At the end of the season because of problems with his own car, Bruce McLaren drove this actual car in the final race of the 1969 series and thereby won the coveted Can-Am Championship. The car was then onsold to an American by the name of Lothar Motschenbacher.

Lothar raced the vehicle but shortly thereafter badly smashed it whilst racing. In conjunction with Denny Hulme and Goodyear, Lothar was approached to make up a "Display Car". Research, photographic evidence and discussion with Lothar confirmed that this was done from a combination of McLaren parts, utilising the tub BM8A/2 and using the body from an M8D car. This vehicle was used as a display extensively in the USA and eventually came to New Zealand and was handed to MOTAT in 1978.

At sometime over the ensuing years, MOTAT "misplaced" the vehicle and it was found on a farm by members of the Northern Sports Car Club in an extremely rough state and ready to be buried by the owner of the property. The Car Club members duly "rescued" the car and became its guardian. Sixteen odd years of ownership dispute then started between MOTAT and the Northern Sports Car Club. In 1995 with the start of the formation of the new Trust, Jan McLaren decided to try and resolve this situation and with the help of others and the official formation of the Trust, after 18 months negotiation, all parties agreed to hand ownership to the new Bruce McLaren Trust. Ownership of the M8A by the Bruce McLaren Trust is now covered by a legal contract dated 18^th December 1997.

Significance of the M8A

The series of McLaren M8 Can-Am vehicles are world renowned and were the vehicles that triumphed and dominated the Canadian American Sports Car Series. This series in those days had a prize purse higher that the World Formula 1 Driving Championship. A small New Zealand team took on the might of the wealthy Americans, and won with resounding success. They were so successful that the McLaren Team won the Can-Am Championship five years in a row, a feat unequalled in motor racing even today. In current achievements, it had been likened to Sir Peter Blake and Team Black Magic winning the Americas Cup.

In the world today there are only a few genuine McLaren team cars left and these are highly sort after. Of the eight M8s of varying models remaining, the car belonging to the Trust is the only M8A that exists, or has the right to exist in the world, so it is extremely significant that this car belongs to the Bruce McLaren Trust and the people of New Zealand. It will be a magnificent example of the abilities and genius of an extremely talented young New Zealand engineer, designer and driver.

Materials made from

The main sections of the original car, as constructed for the 1968 race season, consist of an aircraft riveted aluminium tub with a fibreglass 3 sectioned body. It has a Chevrolet engine and a Hewland gearbox. It had cast magnesium wheels and ran Goodyear tyres. (In the interest of safety with the rebuild, magnesium parts will be replaced or substituted with stronger materials as over the years magnesium has proven to be subject to cracking and becomes brittle.)

The aluminium components are:

• All panels

• Mounting brackets

• Oil radiator

• Water radiator

• Breather tank

• Oil tank

• Water pipes

• Filler caps

• Master cylinders

• Brake callipers

• Shock absorbers

• Disc mounting bells

• Retaining rings

• Track rod

• Steering arm

• Wheel nuts

• Most of Chevrolet engine

• Mirrors

The chassis of the car is constructed from aircraft quality aluminium riveted and polymer glued over steel bulkheads. The aluminium is a part of the stressed chassis components and this type of construction is known as a monocoque chassis. The 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 that forms the monocoque chassis.

The engine oil tank and cooler share aluminium construction with the tanks and fittings used throughout the cars cooling and fuel system.

The cross flow radiator and its supports and air ducts are aluminium.

An aluminium transaxle oil cooler cools the Hewland Gearbox.

Refer also, the attached specification sheets and technical drawings.

Present condition

When the M8A was gifted to the Bruce McLaren Trust it was in a major state of disrepair.

As mentioned in its background (Paragraph 1) its reconstruction history evidenced that it had been rebuilt with many severely damaged and incorrect parts. Added to this, it had also been fitted with an incorrect fibreglass body and the engine and gearbox were only a "dummy" being made up from a collection of old/damaged engine and gearbox parts.

During its time under the ownership of MOTAT it unfortunately suffered extreme deterioration by being left outside underneath trees on a farm for some years. Whilst under the control of the Northern Sports Car Club it was kept in secure dry garaging but as no work was done on it, due to the ownership dispute, further natural deterioration also occurred.

Therefore virtually no parts of the original car are safely salvageable or can be used in the reconstruction. However, these parts are invaluable for patterns for reconstruction and will also form part of the visual display in there "deteriorated" condition. The tub section, which forms the integral part of the construction of the car, was visually thought to be able to be reused in part. However, on further examination, deterioration of the inner strengthening bulkheads proved that the tub was unsafe and a decision was made to totally reconstruct the tub. The aluminium tub has painstakingly been dismantled by hand grinding out the 1000 odd steel centered rivets and the many pieces will be used in conjunction with the line drawing plans to reconstruct the new tub section.

As the fibreglass body is the incorrect body for the car, a totally new body will be reconstructed from old mould sections that have been procured by one of our sponsors.

All wheels, tyres, windscreen, and componentry naturally also need to be fully replaced due to deterioration.

N.B. - The safety factor in the case of this project is of enormous priority. As the M8A is an extremely powerful and fast sports car and will be driven by well known personalities and used to take passengers on special occasions, no old parts of the original vehicle can be used where they compromise strength and safety.

Restoration / Rebuild process

During every step of the restoration process, the project will be under the control of one of our Trustees, Duncan Fox, who is an experienced engineer with considerable restoration experience, including the complete refurbishment of his own personal McLaren racing car.

The Trust is able to utilise his skills in conjunction with a set of original McLaren factory drawings to ensure the restoration project is completed to produce a safe and authentic McLaren M8A. Several engineers and mechanics that worked for McLaren Racing are now resident in New Zealand and have also volunteered their services and knowledge to assist with the rebuilding.

Restoration Process Steps

• Research – extensive research has taken place over the last eighteen months to evidence the cars history, its pictorial history, procurement of original plans, the availability of components, body moulds and general requirements.

• Dismantling -the restoration has begun with the complete dis-assembly of the car into its component pieces. This step is necessary in order to check the physical state of each component for compliance with the drawings and photographic historical record. Each component has then been checked to ascertain its condition and whether it required replacement or refurbishment. In most instances, damage and corrosion has necessitated total replacement of most components.

• Monocoque - Aluminium to match the original material has been sourced from the USA, original rivets have been sourced from the UK and new steel bulkheads have been rebuilt. Cutting, bending and reconstruction of the aluminium panels that form the tub will be the next major process. Once the monocoque has been reconstructed, a number of mechanical components require replacement – these include replacement of magnesium suspension uprights, wheel rims, etc. These require replacement because the magnesium alloy has a finite working life and then becomes prone to stress failure. Moulds have been reproduced using the original pieces and these components are in the process of being manufactured.

• Rolling chassis – Following the assembly of the suspension uprights and the refurbishment of the springs, dampers and pivot joints, the car will then be mounted on new alloy wheels and tyres and will represent a stage known as a rolling chassis. At this point the chassis can be pushed along and is starting to represent the look of the finished product.

• Chassis components / Cockpit – Following the completion of the rolling chassis a number of reconstructed and refurbished components can be added to the vehicle. The majority of these will need complete replacement due to age and unserviceability of the existing units. In order to complete the chassis, magnesium steering components will need to be replaced along with a refurbished steering wheel. 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.

• Fibreglass body - 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 a genuine M8A. The existing body is from an M8D and was fitted to the car when it was used as the static display car. Therefore this bodywork cannot be utilised in the rebuild and this original body in its damaged condition will be used for historical display purposed only. Old original moulds have been tracked down in the USA and the UK and we are now in possession of sufficient old moulds to enable us to re create the original bodywork in conjunction with the plans and photographic evidence. Confidential discussions are in place at present with Air New Zealand to assist in the recreation of the bodywork. The fibreglass components will then be painted or moulded to match the original McLaren orange livery complete with sponsorship decals as used during the 1968 racing season.

• Engine & Gearbox - The engine and gearbox require complete replacement as the "dummy" gearbox and engine in the display car were never complete and what pieces of engine and gearbox that are there are in a badly damaged and deteriorated state. A number of vital small missing components will also need to be manufactured from original factory drawings. We have the option of installing a totally authentic Aluminium Chevrolet 427cc 600 Hp engine or we can install a smaller Chevrolet cast iron 500 Hp engine. Both options are acceptable within the classic rebuild sense and we are still negotiating the best option as depending on what deal can be arranged, the cost difference between the two could be considerable. There is also still a possibility that we may obtain one of the original authentic team engines that may be in salvageable / rebuildable condition. The gearbox will be a Hewland LG500 – procurement of this is still also under negotiation.

• Ratio of replacement to refurbishment - Due to the extreme levels of damage and deterioration and the enormous priority of the safety factor involved, the ratio of replacement and total rebuild is within the vicinity of 90% of the project. However, all the damaged and unstructurally safe parts of the car will be utilised in the cars display and form part of the unique historical display that will be a large feature of the cars future. Small displays to date using this strategy have proved to be extremely successful and of intense interest to engineers, engineering students and the public in general. Seeing the effect of the damage and deterioration has a fascination to people and in effect doubles the portfolio of our display.

• Future maintenance – a full plan for ongoing maintenance and running costs has not been completed to date in detail. However, it has been addressed and its regime will be developed in conjunction with the restoring engineer and several ex McLaren Racing personnel. Volunteers will support all maintenance and ongoing fundraising will cover any costs required. Our Trustee Duncan Fox, the controller for this project, currently runs the maintenance program for his own McLaren cars that are used for the Trusts benefit and the M8A will simply fall into this current routine maintenance program as is normal for any classic race car.

• Insurance - An insurance policy is in place on the vehicle in its current state and amounts will be adjusted as the value of the car increases with the rebuild. Insurance costs have not been noted anywhere within the project costings or budget. These are however, being totally funded by one of our members.

Funds raised by the Trust will also be used for ongoing maintenance, display, running costs and the like.

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