0718...

So i was looking at an old photo of this car and my friend noticed something weird about the bonnet... Off to one side, towards the front, it looks like there's some kind of hatch/door that lifts up... i know it sounds weird, but that's exactly what it looks like... Unfortunately, i don't have a digital copy of the picture that i could post (maybe i could get one, not sure), but was wondering if anyone knows anything about this car that would tell us why the hood had some weird contraption on it...

For what it's worth, the picture was taken while the car was racing (many years ago, i guess)... It's a black and white photo...

 

Hi NNO, this is a pic of 0718TR at Riverside 1959. Please explain.
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Boudewijn, hi, thanks for replying... Unfortunately, because of the angle of the picture you've posted, there's no clear view of the hood... i'll see what i can do about posting a copy of the picture i'm talking about...

 

NNO, I believe it was a remote access oil hatch. Depending on time, car may have had a chevy in it. I helped reunite this chassis with it's original motor back in the 80's, from Mr. Lovely. Nice chassis, pretty unscathed. If you find a better pic, post away...my archives of this car are all analog.
LK

 

Are you serious...? A Chevy engine...? The picture i saw was old... Very old... Why would someone have put a Chevy engine in this car so long ago, while it was racing...? Who modified the body to make the "trap door" for the oil hatch...?

Sorry for the delay in responding, i was out of town... Thanks for the reply...

 

NNO,

This was a common thing to do as these race cars got old and uncompetitive. In NZ even the Alfa Romeo P3 ended up with all sorts of engines as the original failed, etc.

It is great that these mods can be undone, but we have to remember not to blame anyone, as they were just trying to keep it racing with the tools they knew ... ie. heaps more tuners of Chevy v8's than Ferrari engines, etc.

Pete

 

Pete, thank you...
i wasn't blaming anyone for anything, rather just curious as to why it had a Chevy in it... That seems kind of odd since Ferraris engines seem to have been superior to Chevy's...

 

Here is the photo NNO referred to at the start of this thread.
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Guess I should have mentioned the photo was taken at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958. It shows the car driven by Mairesse and Bianchi for Equipe National Belge. They were a DNF after a crash. The reference books differ as to what car this was. Finn's Testa Rossa book says it was 0718 while Rogliatti's Francorchamps book says it was 0724.

 

Yes they may be but there is heaps more knowledge on how to get reliable hp out of the Chevy ... and when a Chevy goes bang, easy fix. When a Ferrari engine goes bang ... sometimes never put back together again.

That is why they were replaced, as back in those days not many people knew about rebuilding Ferrari engines and also the Chevy probably produces MORE hp (as large sized engine).

Pete

 

Pete, that certainly makes sense...

But how about what Gerald posted...? The engine in the car was still a Ferrari engine, so why the remote oil hatch...?

 

I think you can see clearly on this picture the reason of this panel.

After a stop and refueling, mechanics must have forgotten to screw in, this is why you see the trap-door opened on the Gerald picture.

Note that the same detail was also visible on 0736TR N°21 at 1958 Le Mans so we can say that it was a "Ecurie Nationale Belge" special arrangement.

I have also a pic of 0736TR at 1958 Leopoldville GP on 7 sept 1958 with N°10 with the same panel on hood.
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The trap was still there on 0736TR at 1959 Le Mans race N° 10.

 

My guess is that the trap door - just about over the radiator cap - enabled one person to top off the radiator a lot more quickly. With the unaltered hood arrangement, either one guy would have to run around both sides of the car to undo the bonnet clips, pull the bonnet's 2 tongues out of their holes (and if you don't pull it absolutely straight back, the tongues bind in their holes) and THEN fill the radiator. I know pit stops in the 1950s were leisurely affairs by today's standards, but the trap door would have still been a time-saver.

 

Agree.

Pete

 

That was an oil/rad access panel. The oil access was probably most important then, as rings/ seals were 50's tech, and the pits were on right side, ergo easiest to get to that filler neck on the 168. Also, open flap may have given some more airflow thru radiator if it was running hot, incidental, but relevant. After all, they'd take tin snips to cars back then for cooling. Prob did it for LM, as oil comsumption would be greatest on long races.
Glad to see Gerald here, I think we met many moons ago...don't remember where, PB perhaps? Long ago.
FWIW
Lee

 

At LeMans you can't add water untill the car has gone I believe 400 miles. The flap could be sealed by an official to insure you didn't. You were only allowed to add fluids in the pit's not on the course. The seals monitored this as well.

 

Left oil cap seal visible on the filler in open hood pic below as well, about 5 o'clock on the L. Esoterica much appreciated, Jim, I couldn't remember how long/far they had to refrain from fluid replentishment. Rad and R filler likely used since sealed, ergo no inspection sticker? Different race, but rules same, I assume, apart from vagaries of the ACO.
Lee

 

0718TR
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6546/trmariscal20first20race.jpg

I wonder how 0718 looks like today ? whereabouts

Is it silver with the red stripe ?

does anyone have a pic ?
please

 

Silver with red stripe today - i took pics at the Cavallino Classic some years ago. Have to resize them and then i will post it!

 

pic from 2003
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Pascal's book identifys the car as0724. just one man's opinion tongascrew