Le Mans Mini Marcos found

[Pandora]

My point exactly, and Diff ratios are specific to events. One car may have run at Le Mans and done the Targa Florio - It won't have used the same diff, and I know which I'd go for!



Al

[Pete]

http://www.marcos-oc.com/project50/gallery.html

[Nevsmini]

How much lighter would the Marcos have been over a cooper s. If there is a big weight difference a 2.9 would pull no problem. The biggest problem with fitting a tall diff is the gap gets bigger between the gears so the rev drop might take it off cam. I would imagine they would have used a CR gear set to reduce this gap.

[rpb203]

There is a significant difference in the weight of a Marcos over a normal mini shell, with my Mk1 race car it isn't too difficult to lift the back end on my own, in fact it's the easiest way to move it in the tight space in the garage. Albeit the grp on my car is a lot thinner than I have seen on other cars and is allegedly one of a small number of lightweight shells produced by Marcos in '66. I would guess that the Le Mans shell is the same.
I am certain that the front and rear subframes would also have been lightened on the LeMans car, but have no proof, the body of the Marcos is extremely rigid with the amount of marine ply that is bonded into the shell so the subframes add very little to this.

[nimbusprint]

I don't think the weight saving would make any real difference to top speed, it will however improve : acceleration, braking and cornering ability, which will improve lap times but I'm sure aerodynamics play a much more important role.

[rpb203]

I would think that aerodynamically it would be significantly better as well?

[carbon]

I would think that aerodynamically it would be significantly better as well?

Definitely much less aerodynamic drag from a MM shell compared to a Mini. For two reasons, first the drag coefficient is a lot less than a Mini, and second the frontal area is less.

That's why 95-100bhp in the Le Mans Mini Marcos was good for 146mph on the Mulsanne Straight. If you put the same engine in a Mini you might get something like 115 mph?

[Nevsmini]

Just had a quick look and the weight difference could be anything between 200-250 kgs. But I agree it would make very little difference to the top speed. You would just get to the max speed quicker, so the high diff would be less of a problem with the weight loss!

[nimbusprint]

Certainly, up to a point, but I think in practice the battle with weight is well and truly over by the time you're deep into the torque curve and a couple of hundred kgs is nothing compared to poor aerodynamic performance. Reduction of frontal area is again only a starting point, take the Mini and Metro comparison as an example where the mini frontal area is smaller and the weight is greater for the Metro, but the overall areodynamics of the Metro and general performance is far superior with a like for like engine transmision package, the Metro wins in every department. If I remember correctly Ian Hargreaves did such a test back in the early eighties with an engine spec similar to the one he built for me and the results were published in CCC, anybody got a copy ?

[Nevsmini]

The ways to overcome a high diff would be rated like this:

1: Fit a lower one
2: Fit a more powerful and torque engine
3: Loose 1/3rd the cars weight
4: Improve the cars aero

Remember I am talking about overcoming a high diff not achieving top speed.

[nimbusprint]

Merry Christmas, I've just drawn the short straw SPROUT duty !!!XXXXX

All valid, but for comparisons to have value you must compare like for like, changing lots of stuff introduces to many variable for any comparison to have worth. If a car is overgeared it's overgeared. ie: it won't allow the engine to reach it's maximum potential for that vehicle.

Now! back to the sprouts

[Jeroen Booij]

A long silence, but preparation work on the Le Mans car is in full swing.

Amazingly, I have found the car's original wheels back!
Yes, these are not just the same type of Minilites, but the actual ones that were fitted to the car when driven at Le Mans in 1966.
And it's not just one set, but two complete sets of wheels, both magnesium; one with the groove and one without, as they can be seen on many historic photographs with the grooved ones on the front and the smooth ones on the back. Quite a find, I thought.

I have now also bought a Cooper 'S' engine, which is going to be build to the right spec.
Not cheap! The first deposit has been paid, though, so work is started. It's going to be quite something.

But first I need to finish the body.
Quite a job on its own. I have started sanding down the layers of paint, which turns out to be kind of nightmarish. The original layer of blue as well as the yellow and the racing roundels are sprayed on as thin as they get, and the same goes for the next layers (light blue, green, orangey-red, maroon). However, then there are two more layers of red, which are considerably thicker and on top of that there is a massive layer of primer. Even with a very rough sanding paper it takes ages to get that off! It was fun to do it at places where I knew there should have been a hole, and then discover it, too, though!

I'll try to get off as many of it in order to show it nicely at Blyton Park, without upsetting the neighbors too much here.
After the show I'll take it to the soda blaster, with body repairs and the fitment of a new roll over bar to follow.
Oh - I had to buy a proper trailer first, too, as I couldn't move it properly. Just did that. It's all about investments!

There is some more exiting news, with a stack of old slides of Le Mans 1966 found and more original parts to be unveiled soon...
I will post some of it, with images, on my website asap.

[UHR850]

Whow great news Jeroen thanks.

Kees

[mk1]

Thanks for the update Jeoren,

I'm really pleased that you are making such good progress. I know how tricky a restoration like this can be!

Can't wait to see it & you at Blyton.

Regards,

mark

[Jeroen Booij]

Thanks for the update Jeoren,

I'm really pleased that you are making such good progress. I know how tricky a restoration like this can be!

Can't wait to see it & you at Blyton.

Regards,

mark

Thanks Mark. I'm looking forwards to Blyton, as always.
I think 2017 is going to be quite a special year for the Maximum Mini display, with a grand celebration of GTMs plus more exiting stuff!

To all of you coming: I still need plenty of more parts for the car. Do bring your bits and pieces over and if I sell enough books I'll be your taker.

[Jeroen Booij]

I have just uploaded some images and more information about the wheels, block, crank and cam that I bought:
http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2017/03 ... -back.html

It was a hard decision to choose between a few engine builders, two of which who were recommended to me by Mark, but I think I have made the right decision.

[Jeroen Booij]

More progress on the restoration; things are now really taking off:

http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2017/06 ... rtner.html

[Red Mist]

Great to see such progress on the car, looking forward to the next update!

[Jeroen Booij]

The paint has finally come off. I made a little video on Tuesday when I came over to Paul and Peter who are working on the car's body.
It's here if you like: http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2017/08 ... rk-in.html

[UHR850]

SUPER

Kees.