14 replies to this topic

[gdonahoe]

Wondering if anyone has pictures that they can post of Jerry Grant’s Lotus 19 Chevy from the mid sixties? Specifically ones with the large rear spoiler.

I have a picture in my mind of the car with the Bardahl logo on the spoiler, like a Bardahl sign was used as a quick and dirty crash repair. Did this happen or is my mind playing tricks on me?

Thanks,

Gary D.

[Manfred Cubenoggin]

You'll find a couple courtesy of me over in the Lotus 19 thread. Enjoy!

[gdonahoe]

I looked through all the pages and enjoyed many wonderful cars. Unless I missed something I never found a shot of Grant's car as it raced in 1965 with the large rear spoiler.

Thanks for posting!

[AJB]

Wondering if anyone has pictures that they can post of Jerry Grant’s Lotus 19 Chevy from the mid sixties? Specifically ones with the large rear spoiler.

I have a picture in my mind of the car with the Bardahl logo on the spoiler, like a Bardahl sign was used as a quick and dirty crash repair. Did this happen or is my mind playing tricks on me?

Thanks,

Gary D.

I recall seeing such a photo in Sports Car Graphic (IIRC) at the time. I'm sure a metal Bardahl sign WAS used as a replacement spoiler following a crash in practice. I've been looking for a photo too as my copy of the magazine is long gone.
Alan

[JB Miltonian]

From Sports Car Graphic's report on the 1965 Pacific Grand Prix at Kent, Wa. USA (text and photo credits to Pete Biro):

"...during a Thursday practice run, the body blew off the Lotus, shattering sponsor Alan Green's nerves as well as the expensive new fiberglass body he had just purchased from Dan Gurney - and had painted pearlescent, yet. Then, after an all-night patching session, the car fell off the trailer on the way to the track Saturday morning. If this wasn't enough, new big tires wouldn't fit under the front fenders, so tin snips now did even more damage to Green's nerves. Finally a cobbled up Mobil sign, being used as a spoiler, fell off the car at speed. This was cured by switching to a more reliable Bardahl sign (sponsor plug). So with no bodywork over the front tires, plus a few other minor details, you can see why it was impractical at this time for the tech inspection chief to give Jerry the go-ahead."

[gdonahoe]

Very cool! Thank you very much for your efforts to locate this picture.

Gary D.

[AJB]

As the photo above seems to have expired, here's a new one:-

 

[AJB]

As the photo above seems to have expired, here's a link to another one:

 

http://slotblog.net/...-1344825908.jpg

[David Birchall]

I recall seeing the remains of at least the front body section in a garage in Seattle in the eighties.

[mariner]

May I ask the experts here what gearbox the car is using ?

 

The left hand side bulge suggests it is not a Hewland.

[Simon Hadfield]

It's a McKee transaxle. Very clever, used all American parts to build a useful and practical gearbox for rear engined cars. Sadly the Hewland was far more practical and became the default package within a couple of years.

Edited by Simon Hadfield, 10 December 2016 - 13:14.

[mariner]

Thank you, Simon.

 

On googling "McKee transmission " I see it was developed by none other than Pete Weismann , explains the " very clever" I think!

 

BTW his family are still in the racing transmissions business

 

http://www.weismann....nnovations.html

[bradbury west]

I always admired Weisman's design for the Rockets.

Roger Lund

[raceannouncer2003]

As the photo above seems to have expired, here's a new one:-

 

 

 

 

I believe that's Trevor Harris in the white jacket, and drag racer/road racer Terry Kniss applying the tape.

 

Vince H.

Edited by raceannouncer2003, 11 December 2016 - 06:37.

[mariner]

I think Google may have been a fickle friend. Delving deeper, Pete Weismann is credited with the Ford production 4 speed conversions done by Kar Kraft in Detroit but I can’t see any specific evidence he did the McKee transmission which was done in Palatine, Illinois.

 

However he might have been involved as both transmissions used the same principle of reversing a production US 4 speed gear set behind the diff. and running a bypass shaft from the clutch to a pair of drop gears at the back. The McKee drop gears were from Halibrand as used on Indy car rear axles and the upper gear was mounted on the gearbox input shaft.

 

The truncated output shaft had the differential pinion attached to it. To get the bypass shaft past the production gear set the box was rotated at an angle so the " bulge" you can see in the photo is actually the lower side of the box showing.

 

Most US 4 speed gearboxes use two  selector arms on the side, one for the 1-2 shift and one for the 3-4 shift. They are connected by rods to an external shifter which selects the 1-2 or 3-4 plane rods e.g. the famed Hurst shifter. McKee used cables to operate those selector arms from cockpit shifter, maybe an off the shelf Hurst one?

 

The box would be heavier and slightly less efficient than a Hewland due to the extra drop gears but it had the advantage of using easily obtained US parts throughout and having gears sized for 400 bhp. The Halibrand drop gears also allowed very quick overall gear ratio changes at the circuit and with a big V-8 the 4 fixed gear ratios was probably fine.