The Mc Begg

[Wal Will]

I'l start this thread in the here and now, and as I become accustomed to posting photos I will build on it with what I have.
I am hoping some of you out there can help with some dates and a bit of the story on the car after it left Southland.
Photo's would be wonderful as there not a lot to be found.
I have several conflicting views on the colour of the car. The last thing I want to present is an 'orange' car, and yet in some of the photo's I have it appears that way.
Barry Keen (the first driver of this and many of Georges cars) recalls that it was painted in the 'Begg Machinery Yellow' - a colour that was always in the factory spray gun - and that the colour that Grant Clearwater came up with for the first Twin cam Begg was as close as he has seen to that colour. Others disagree and say that it was away more orange. By the time it comes to final painting I hope 'we' have resolved that.

Time line on the Mc Begg.
Components
Chassis
1966 M1B 13” wheel experimental car.
April 8th - Snetterton (Bruce) - 13” wheels all around.
May 14th - Silverstone (Chris) - 13” front 15” rear
May 29th St Joviet (Chris) 15” wheels all round
June 4th Mosport Players 200 (Chris) 15” wheels all round
Then the chassis was discarded to the scrap pile after all the bits were taken off it to go onto a new chassis.

Body
Came off the Denny Hulme M6 1967 Can Am car, raced as #5, then modified in 1968 to become a prototype/test body for the M8 program, then discarded to the scrap pile. (Georges shopping spot).

Mc Begg
1968
December 23rd? Container arrived at Drummond from England containing assorted parts
1969
January - Teretonga DNF timing chain Barry Keen #44
Timaru - Barry Keen 2nd to Graham Harvey in an Elfin. Barry’s last race. #44
March Pukekohe Geoff Mardon DNF/accident with Denis Marwood (in a single seater) #45

May 24th land speed record – Laurence Brownlie #45
May 25th Timaru broke a harmonic damper - only practiced, never raced
June - Small meetings at Teretonga and Ruapuna - Geoff Mardon
1970/73 Digby Taylor
Brian Middlemiss
Neville Brumby
Tony Roberts
Currently being resurrected by Wal Willmott

I hope that will get this thread off and running.

Wal.

[David McKinney]

I can confirm that Digby Taylor (Wellington) raced it 1970-73 but don't recall the colour - I have a vague feeling it was in a darler colour than the works yellow. I believe it was then sold to someone in Christchurch. This was when the regs limited engine-size to 2 litres, so if it raced at all it would have been with a smaller engine of some sort. (The next name on your list, Brian Middlemass, was Dunedin-based)

[Wal Will]

David, in George's book (The Engine Roars) he talks of the car going to the North Island to be cut up, and its components used to make a saloon car. I have spoken to Neville Brumby (Gore) and he said that the chassis (when he owned it) had been cut in two, but not otherwise molested.
Neville sold it (the remains) to Tony Roberts/Duncan Fox, who only wanted to get the chassis - which they saw as being the makings of an M1B that had been driven by Bruce and Chris. As I understand it the chassis (which was the only bit I didn't get) has been sold to a U.K. buyer quite recently.

[Wal Will]

Here is just a bit fuller version of the 'parts' story.

Parts:-
Chassis McLaren M1B (1966)
Second ‘B’ chassis works built. Designed to take 13” wheels all round, it was only raced once in this configuration, driven by Bruce in April of that year only just being finished in time for Snetterton. Its second outing was at Silverstone where Chris Amon drove it. At this race it was fitted with 13” front and 15” rear wheels in an attempt to overcome handling problems encountered at Snetterton. It was again raced in Canada by Chris at St Joviet and Mosport only by then it had 15” wheels all round.
Later that year the car was dismantled and most of the parts were fitted to a new chassis, to become one of a pair raced in the Canam series. The chassis was discarded into a corner of the factory, where it lay until George bought it and shipped it to N.Z. to for the basis of the McBegg

Body McLaren M6 (1967, lowered as prototype for M8 1968)
To test some design ideas for the soon to be built M8 cars Bruce decided that Denny’s M6 car (raced as #5) should be cut up and used. The chassis had the section behind the rear of the cockpit was removed and the new 7 liter Chevrolet engine became a ‘stressed member’ bearing most of the loads, and was supported/braced by tubes going back to the rear cross member.
The bodywork was lowered in the front section by simply taking a 2” slice out of it along each side and across the front. Fitted to the modified chassis it did many laps of Goodwood while tests were done.
Having served its purpose, it was discarded into the same corner as the chassis until George came along.

Gearbox Hewland LG

Motor Chevrolet 5.9 litre

Suspension
Front uprights strengthened (by gusseting) Standard Triumph (ex McLaren)
Front wishbones M1B McLaren
Rear uprights M1B McLaren
Bottom rear wishbones M6 McLaren

Wheels
Front M1B McLaren
Rears (were) M6 McLaren race wheels, from the end of the 67 Can am season. The team had been having trouble with these wider wheels cracking and as a stop gap measure they had braced one set of wheels with external steel plates. The wheels had been run at Laguna Seca and then Las Vegas before being discarded to the scrap bin. (Georges shopping spot)

Parts arrived in Invercargill Christmas 1968

[Oldfart]

Welcome Wally. I am guessing it will be to your usual (very high standard). I have only one memory of the car at Puke, when the scrutineers were very unimpressed by Georges'' Southland cable ties (baling twine) being used in a good number of places! Memory being equally vague I thought the paler Begg machinery colour.

[Wal Will]

Problem with taking on a project like this is that one tempted to 'improve'.
George was not noted for his finess - but he did build 18 cars.
I have a couple of photos of the car at that first meeting at Teretonga and the 'baling twine' approach is clearly evident.
Where safety and modern regulations conflict with the original I have had to make changes - but with every attempt to do it 'in period'. For example the aluminium fuel tank (evident in a couple of photo's) I have replaced with a fuel cell from an M1B mould.

[Wal Will]

Hopefully here is a pic of the car as it appeared at that first meeting

[Wal Will]

Barry Keen at the helm whilst other peer. Petty sure that is George on the far side wearing the cap.

[bob homewood]

[QUOTE=Wal Will;8470]David, in George's book (The Engine Roars) he talks of the car going to the North Island to be cut up, and its components used to make a saloon car.

When I was involved in the early seventies with trying to get OSCA going up North here ,I am sure that in one of the monthly newsletters it said Dick Cook in Wellington had brought it and he was going to use it as the basis for a OSCA car ,Victor or Viva rings a bell ??
Wally I know somewhere I am sure I have some photos of it in Digby Taylors time ,if I do have I will make sure you get them

[Paul Wilkinson]

Without getting into a debate on the accuracy of 'Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand' Graham Vercoe laments the McBegg having being sacrificed to make an OSCA car. From memory Viva sounds right....

[Jac Mac]

Bryan Taylor in the grey overalls.

[Michael Clark]

I can see, in my mind's eye, Digby Taylor chasing the GEMCO and Elfin at Bay Park in a dark colour. I would have said a royal blue if pressed.

[Kwaussie]

Bryan Taylor in the grey overalls.
Bryan Nicoll with the hat next to B Taylor

[Wal Will]

First of these 3 is of Barry driving the car for the first time at Georges test track (the roads of Drummond).

The second shows the car back at drummond after the accident at Pukekohe - the M6 rear wheels clearly evident, as are the Mk2 exhaust pipes with the major change being the last pipe on each bank doing a tuck under and coming to the collector on the inside. I assume by the heat shielding on the early photo at Teretonga that there was a fairly serious heat issue with the tires while using the Mk1 pipes.

The third photo shows Geoff on the grid at Pukekohe before his 'coming together' with Denis Marwood.

[minihaha]

I do know that Dick Cook Is still in Wellington and loves his cars. His son Aaron has done well in NZ rallying over recent years. He would be worth looking up for info. He still runs a garage in Martin Square in the CBD.

Dick Cook Motors Ltd
Business Listing
63 Martin Square Te Aro City, Wellington
Tel (04) 3854770

Hope this helps.

[Wal Will]

This photo is a coming together of the elements.
The photo was taken by George Begg at Goodwood whilst the testing of the M8 prototype was under way.
Starting from the left we have Denny, Gary Knutson (our engine man), Teddy Mayer, Phil Kerr, myself,and Bruce.
It can be seen how the body was cut including the slice off the door that cut Denny's name. Also you can see that 'slab sides' have been pop rivited onto the M6 tub in order to test the effect of having a larger flat under floor area. Bruce also thought that these sides would help if/when the car started to get sideways attitude by preventing air being forced under the tub.
George did this to the Mc Begg and the 'works' cars were all built with this profile, but the production chassis made by Elva/Trojan never changed from the M6 rounded sides.
This of course is the body that George later bought.

[Wal Will]

Teething problems during practice meant that Barry had to start from the back of the grid, and it is testament to his abilities that he carved his way through the field and into the lead before there was a problem with the cam chain. This was in an untried car that he had only done a few laps in before the race.

[woody]

Great photo Wal Will, has to be Teretonga.

[bob homewood]

Yes and a narrow strip between the track and the disaster of contact with the green Ford ,was it really that important that the guy had to be that close to his lunch box ,surely he could have walked a bit further to it

[Wal Will]

I just love these early Teretonga photo's.
The first is Barry during the few laps of practice he got. It looks like the spring rates where a bit out, George might have put the fronts on the rear. Nobody seperated by only a few straw bales seems the slightest bit interested.

The second is once again back with our Consul. The fact that Barry is now in the lead only distracts from the spectator seating arrangements.

[kiwi285]

Wal - you are to be congratulated for taking on this project and I am sure it will be beautifully presented when complete (even if it has some of George's quirky methods still employed).

Really looking forward to seeing this car on track again. Another peice of NZ motorsport history.

And yes the old Mk I Consul was pretty close to the track.

[GD66]

Gee, those Lexington colours look just as striking now as they did way back then. Presumably that's Bert Hawthorne's Brabham in the pits in front of the Gordon Edwards Rorstan mini. Also wonderful to see a pic of Brent Hawes, a hard charger and a great loss.
No wish to hijack, so must add that shot of the M8 protoype at the Goodwood test contains every member of the McLaren think tank, not the sort of thing you'd see trackside these days...thanks for sharing, Wally.

[Kwaussie]

I'l start this thread in the here and now, and as I become accustomed to posting photos I will build on it with what I have.


I have several conflicting views on the colour of the car. The last thing I want to present is an 'orange' car, and yet in some of the photo's I have it appears that way.
Others disagree and say that it was away more orange. By the time it comes to final painting I hope 'we' have resolved that.



Wal,
From what I can remember the McBegg colour was either Yellow or Lemon Chrome which were both tinter colours at the time.

[Wal Will]

Although a few of us had talked about the 'idea' of resurrecting the car it didn't move past the talking stage until, when on a visit to Jay Esterers workshop in Canada I discovered he had an M6 body that he no longer needed.
The M6 'replica' that he bought out here to New Zealand a couple of years ago was so far from an original car that the organisers in the US of A would not let him run/race it, and so he decided to covert it into a 'replica' M6GT and road register it. leaving him with a sports car body surplus to his requirements.
Armed with photo's of the McBegg it was modified over there before shipping.

[Wal Will]

The chassis was not such an easy problem to solve. The work involved in making jigs and patterns - just for a one off - was a bit more than I wanted to take on (bearing in mind I didn't/don't want this to be a 5 year project).
There is a small father and son business in England called Autotune Ltd that have been looking after and restoring McLarens for some time, making the occasional McLaren chassis to order . Richard (the son) is very passionate about Mc Laren cars and their history, and when asked if they could do a one off chassis with the peculiarities of the 13" wheel car, they jumped at the chance, and I was very surprised at the information they already had at their fingertips, including photo's I had not seen before.

In the following photo's of the chassis being built on their jig you can see what I mean about the work involved in the bulkheads.
There were quite a few tubes/rails in this car that were square as opposed to round in the production cars.
The reason for this was to make it easier to attach the flooring, dash, and firewall behind the driver.
In house this car was known as 'The flat floor car' as for the first time we tried to get a very large smooth underside to the chassis in an attempt to increase down force. Also unique to this chassis was the Mallite composite material used for the floor,dash, and firewall.

In the photo of the mid section, the corner bent top rails behind the cockpit were blanked off in the middle with a plate, and originally the water to the radiator ran forward down the passenger side and back on the drivers side.

[Wal Will]

The chassis and body officially met at Rick Michels (Evolution Motor Sport) workshop in Invercargill, where he has generously given me some space, the use of his equipment, and a substantial amount of his time.

[Wal Will]

I find it away more difficult to build off a few photos that to just go ahead and create as one sees fit. I must have had at least three goes at that #4 pipe trying to get a roughly equal lenght and the shape right.

[RogerH]

I can confirm that Digby Taylor (Wellington) raced it 1970-73 but don't recall the colour - I have a vague feeling it was in a darler colour than the works yellow. I believe it was then sold to someone in Christchurch. This was when the regs limited engine-size to 2 litres, so if it raced at all it would have been with a smaller engine of some sort. (The next name on your list, Brian Middlemass, was Dunedin-based)

Digby Taylor is still around and involved with the design of a catamaran for use on Lake Taupo - see this TradeMe listing with his contact details : http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/motorboats/auction-418754033.htm

[Wal Will]

The sports car rear uprights stayed the same casting from the M1 through to the M6 - only difference on the M6 aplication is that the bottom radius rod pickup was moved from the boss on the bottom of the casting and onto the bottom whishbone. George went with the M6 setup because he had bought home M6 wishbones.
Luckily Ray Franklin of Vintage engineering is turning out an extremely good copy of those uprights.
The original Girling brake calipers have become almost impossible to find (especially if you need 4) but a company in England are making a good sandcast copy.

[kiwi285]

Wal, you are certainly pushing ahead with this project. Do you have any timeline in mind for completing the car ?

[Murray Maunder]

Fantastic effort Wal. Look forward to seeing the completed. And loved the presumably never previously published photos at Teretonga.

[Steve Holmes]

This is a fantastic thread Wal! Great work.

[Wal Will]

Really hoping to have it at the February meeting at Teretonga. Working 10x7.
Chassis was stripped bare over the weekend and is off to be blasted and painted in the next few days. Murph's law says that I must have missed at least one bracket that needs welding when I start final assembly.
George built the thing in about 6 weeks - but he had a few more helpers.
If it is not running I will take it to the meeting as a static display.

[Wal Will]

Those 'stick on lumpy bits' on the nose section of the McBegg were there when George bought the body. You can see them in that Goodwoood photo. Put there because when we cut the 2" out of the profile the radiator connections stuck out.

[Wal Will]

Well apart from a couple of leads this has not produced any of the photo's that I thought might be lurking out there somewhere.
Just because I can - here is one of the 'McBegg' chassis at Silverstone with Chris driving it. As you can see by now, its second meeting, it has 13" fronts and 15" rears.
Back in the days when cars were allowed to make noise, and people were allowed to take risks.

[Michael Clark]

Indeed Chris in car #29 was on his way to second place. It was quite a good days for Kiwis - Denny won and Bruce was third...

This thread is just fantastic!

[Wal Will]

Thank you Michael (and you Steve).
This project has been a labour of love, putting me back in touch with those good times and George with whom I had lots of laughs, and a great deal of admiration for what he achieved.
This newspaper cutting is worth posting as well.

[Wal Will]

I've found another of that first weekend. As I said earlier, I think George didn't get the spring rate right 'straight out of the box'. She looks about ready for take off by half way down the straight - and I can only say again that Barry (Keen) showed large testicles on that day.

[Wal Will]

Just for the record I'll post here the parts that have been collected that as far as possible have been verified as off the original car. I have used the parts that are/were servicable after crack testing and evaluation, the rest will remain as part of the car and its history.

[pallmall]

Brilliant thread Wal, thanks for recreating some Begg history.

Probably the only photo I took of the McBegg when Geoff Mardon dropped it into the fence at my feet, Pukekohe March 1969.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i275/Checraft/1%20Begg%20F5000/McBeggMarch1969001700x317.jpg

[Grant Ellwood]

Murray, Wally Willmot's McBegg restoration is a great diary of a unique (although typical) Begg project and worthy of a documentary, you are the right guy to do it!!

Fantastic effort Wal. Look forward to seeing the completed. And loved the presumably never previously published photos at Teretonga.

[Wal Will]

Great shot Ta. It would be good to get a copy off that from you for the records.

[pallmall]

Great shot Ta. It would be good to get a copy off that from you for the records.

Sure thing.

[GD66]

Is that the HCM disappearing out of shot in front of the spinning McBegg, Gavin ?

[Wal Will]

George wrote (quite scathingly) of a coming together with a certain D.M.
I am sure there are 2 sides to a 'racing incident', but by the look of the damage the car hit something quite solid?

[Murray Maunder]

Murray, Wally Willmot's McBegg restoration is a great diary of a unique (although typical) Begg project and worthy of a documentary, you are the right guy to do it!!

Thanks for the show of confidence Amerikiwi! Didn't know I had a friend in Virginia!

I actually met the renowned Wal on Oreti Beach about 4 years ago when directing/shooting the TV show of the first Burt Munro Challenge. He had been involved with work on the replicas used on "World's Fastest Indian" and of course his work was held in high regard. I talked very briefly about my work with the Bruce McLaren Trust and hope that we would one day get the chance to talk of things McLaren. Without hijacking this thread I would say I have wanted to fulfil this hope but the McBegg idea may just be one project too many to have on the backburner. The M8A has consumed enough time (and years!) and still we haven't made the track.

Certainly looks like Wal is powering along on this restoration and I look forward to seeing it on display, racing, demonstrating or whatever it's destiny - Wal?

[pallmall]

Yes, that is the HCM.

I am not sure if there was a coming together, or if he just lost it, was a long time ago. The car hit the horse track outer rail fence, which had thick timber along the bottom about 24" high. No damage to the fence. It was a long haul for a couple of laps.

[Wal Will]

Good news, Bob Homewood has just come up with this photo of Digby Taylor. I am amazed that he is still using those rear wheels that were past their useby date when they were thrown in the scrap at McLarens in 68.

[Wal Will]

We are on a roll now, Bob has just found another one. Was Digby quite a tall person?
He appears to sit very high in these photo's.

[David McKinney]

I don't recall DT being especially tall. Perhaps he just like sitting forward...

[Wal Will]

Here is a 'back to the begining' while the paint dries.
We have to be careful about what we read. The person who submitted this article could not tell his America from his England, or his Chev. from his Oldsmobile.
The photos were Tylers, but taken in the Colnbrook workshop of the McBegg chassis being built. you can see the 13" wheels.
In the right hand photo you can see the 'Flat Floor' extending right back under the ZF gearbox, and at this stage there is no gear shift linkage. There are metal strips instead of shock absorbers that are being used to check the supension travel.
The car is still in it's gestation period.

[Wal Will]

The chassis arrived back from the painters on Monday and the (hopefully) final assembly has begun.
Motor and box are back in, and the corners are back on with just a bit of fine fettling to be done there - cutting bolts to length and stuff like that.

[Shano]

Absolutely stunning and very exciting. Can't wait to see it run. The country can't have enough big V8 sports cars with the sort of heritage the McBegg has.

[kiwi285]

Stunning looking restoration Wal. Really looking forward to seeing it on track and the speed with which it has happened in a real credit to you and your helpers.

[Wal Will]

Working away on this thing and I have to keep remembering the message George had up on his workshop wall and it said.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence

Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not: for unrewarded genius is almost a proverb

Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan “Press on” has solved, and always will solve the problems of the human race."

It keeps me going.

[GD66]

All of this productivity, and you still find time to keep us updated daily on the net, Wally : incredible, and much appreciated.

Maybe we forum members could club together and sort out a two-litre can of "Press On" for the blokes building the M8 for the McLaren trust : that'd have to have been on the go for ten years or so by now, glacier-like progress compared to Wal's blistering effort we see evolving before us !

[Wal Will]

Bob sent me this/these via email and with his approval I post them. W.

Wal,
I have really been looking as hard as I can for photos for you ,these photos are amongst a whole lot I was given recently ,I believe knowing where they came from they would be early
1972 ,as I have found some of the car from Puke ,Bay Park and Levin ,some of them are too faded to copy ,but it appears to me the car was in this colour scheme and the perhaps by the Bay Park Easter meeting ,the nose had changed to the deep blue ,well that's my deduction it looks like the nose might have had a repair in that time ,I can remember the car running at some of the meetings but it never ran cleanly and I have memories of it overheating ,leaking rocker covers etc letting oil onto the exhausts,which one of the photos confirm. I am pretty sure I have got the story right in spite of being told today I haven't got it right and that's not the McBegg !
Its not helped also by the fact that its not listed in the Bay Park Program ,but I never rely on that being right as I know I am not listed in some of the Bay Park meetings even though I entered on time and like wise I am missing from some of the Levin ones ,so it never makes it easy when you are chasing history Hope this is of help ,I'm trying to piece it together Best Regards Bob Homewood

[Wal Will]

As I was saying to Jenks the other day...........
+49 years
One of my heros of the day.

[bry3500]

Great pic of you and Jenks Wal..I am sure he would be loving the Mc Begg restoration

[woody]

In this mornings NZ Herald the car supplement on page 25 has a photo of Wal.

[Jerry Entin]

Here is a story or as they are called Thread that I have done on another Forum about Wally. I hope the Roaring Season members enjoy it:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=105883&hl=wally+willmott

[Wal Will]

On one hand the days don't seem long enough. On the other they are a way too long.
I received the bulkheads and flooring/undertray back from the painters this morning and have now started to bond and rivet these to the chassis.

[Wal Will]

This photo just turned up yesterday from Barry Keen. He thinks that it was taken as the car exited the pits for the first time.
Barry said that George was a bit worried about cooling the motor and had made the air inlet scoop quite large. As a result he managed to scoop lots of gravel and grass.

[Kwaussie]

I think that I was standing very close to that position. Hope that you stay with the green tint perspex Wal

[bry3500]

Barry doesn't look too keen :) ....how close of a colour match do you think that photo represents?..looks pretty much like Mclaren orange..a bit lighter maybe

[Kwaussie]

The colour in the last photo is amazing - I think that Brian Nicoll who is in Invercargill will remember.
I am sure that Brian told me at the time that George wanted the same hue or strength of colour as McLaren orange but in 'Begg yellow'.
I still think Brian said it was a tint colour as in Yellow Chrome or Lemon Chrome.
Wal must be in contact with Brian N.

[Wal Will]

Yeah that green always looked good on those cars. The one that I got with the body from Jay was unfortuneatly broken. Probably make a mold and get them slumped down here - but definatly green.

[Wal Will]

I was talking colour to Barry yesterday and he sticks with 'Yellow'.
I have not been in touch with Brian - but I must - it is so yellow in some photo's and orange in others.
I just don't want it close to 'McLaren Orange' (which has become a bit like 'British Racing Green' where everyone has a version).

[aussiemonza]

Hi Wal,

Fantastic project, looking forward to the finished article, always have been a fan of the big sporties. Met you briefly back in the 70 - 72 AMR Days at 711 Malvern Road/Toovern Motors when I was doing "school work experience", I was cleaning sumps and sweeping floors.

[Wal Will]

This stuff is all the Mc part of the McBegg so I have taken the liberty of doing it 'as it was done in the day'.

[Shano]

Beautiful job. (Beautiful - is that appropriate for a hairy chested sports car?)

Well, it looks **** hot.

[105angria]

some nice things about you on the TNF Wal , and i can see why the quality of your work is peerless fantastic

[Wal Will]

I was told once that if you ever had to eat an elephant the best way to tackle it was just one mouthfull at a time.
The gearshift tube had to take a bit of a detour around that No.8 exhaust. I figure that George would have approached that nice and simple.
'Radiator/nose mount/air intake box' is back on, brakes are piped. Just keep on chewing.

[Wal Will]

Another pearl to the string. This one came from Georges daughter Jacqui over in Brisbane.
Barry suggested that the smoke behind the car came from wheel spin as he changed gear, I'll leave you to make up your own mind on that.
It looks like a yellowy orange again!

[Oldfart]

Is that left rear wheel tucking in a bit? The tyre patch looks quite strange.

[Wal Will]

The whole thing is not all that aesthetically pleasing at this point in its history.
In a way it looks as if those rear springs are so soft that the car is getting torque wind up.
Maybe Barry is right and that is wheel spin.

[Wal Will]

The Chevy swap almost done, Wal stepped back in the borrowed Invercargill workshop and picked up his camera.

[Wal Will]

There is an old saying in motor racing, "If it wasn't for the last minute nothing would get done."
It's a forgone that the last week will be a 'sh*t fight'.

[Marty]

You probably knew it would be the day you started the project, its part of the fun.

We all thrive on the pressure.

Looks like a water leak to me.

[glkd]

You don't appear to have lost your "touch" for building neat stuff! What a great project with which to be involved. Building something like this up correctly is a huge challenge but you appear to be up to the task. Looks like a "runner" isn't too far in the future. I'll be watching....

[Jerry Entin]

6088
Gary Knutson and Tyler Alexander working on Bruce McLaren's engine
This was from 1968

For the Forum members who don't know who GLKD is, it is Gary Knutson. One of Wally Willmott's dearest friends. Here is a story I did on another forum that will explain who Gary Knutson is:
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=104816&hl=gary+knutson

[Wal Will]

"I love deadlines. I especially love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by" Douglas Adams

[Wal Will]

With only a week to go the amount of work George and his team managed in such a short time really hits home.
Those who wish to find fault with the complete accuracy of this car compared to the origininal will be able to find plenty.
I wanted to get an original Smiths water temperature gauge this week and was quoted around $400 compared to $30 for a gauge made in the country that new Zealnd buys most things from nowdays. What would George have done - right so it has a cheapie for the moment - I'll get a Smiths one later. I do have a Smiths Tacho but it is need of a service and the Christchurch company I have always used for work like this have still not opened their doors after the 'shakes', so that will also come later.
We have brakes, gears, water, fuel.
Oil hopefully finished in the next couple of days.
Still a bit to be done on the right hand side pod, and heaps to be done to the body/mount.

[Wal Will]

One of the most valuable pieces of equipment I have had for this project is the welding torch George gave me a month or two before he died. It is one of the things that he kept with him through all his moves, and he had it at his house at Hervey Bay. It was used in the building of most of his 18 cars.
I was very surprised when I was told that over in the U.K. gas fluxiing is no longer permitted.
I have used the gas flux and nicklel bronze (and Georges torch) on all the components I have had to remake.

[RogerH]

What sort/style of Smiths water gauge are you after. I have a few and it may even have come from McLaren as they were from Peter Bruin's collection of parts, jigs etc (a couple of trailer loads) which I acquire after he died.

[Wal Will]

Roger, just a full sweep mechanical water temp gauge similar the the 'cheapie'I bought and sitting to the left of the Tacho in the photo.
It ideally would have about 1.8m of tubing, but it could be lengthed (at some cost) if it was only short.
Ta for the offer.

[RogerH]

Roger, just a full sweep mechanical water temp gauge similar the the 'cheapie'I bought and sitting to the left of the Tacho in the photo.
It ideally would have about 1.8m of tubing, but it could be lengthed (at some cost) if it was only short.
Ta for the offer.

Here is a photo of the ones I have - the only one with full tubing and a sender is the dual oil and water one. If any of the other are of use to you let me know and I will send it down.

6164

[Wal Will]

What a lovely collection, you could have people beating your door down for some of those. Unfortunatly not the one I need among them.
It is not a problem at all for the moment the one I have fitted will work, I can slow down and do some refining after next weekend.
Once again thanks for the offer, much appreciated.

[Wal Will]

Barry Keen came in this afternoon to check on progress. By this stage I had Jay (Esterer) at work shortening the doors.

To make the body off the M6 fit the M1B chassis George made the alteration by cutting the back off the doors.

The period correct Dunlop tires arrived from England yesterday and they were fitted to the rims this morning.

This afternoon I managed to finish off the collectors and tail pipes, and if the auto electrician arrives tomorrow morning we have a good chance of getting some noise out of the motor by tomorrow night.

[Steve Holmes]

God, this is an amazing thread Wal. Really enjoying it. Re the colour, I know the shade seems to vary from photo to photo, but wouldn't George have painted all his cars the same shade of yellow up to when he switched to black on the FM5 in an attempt to improve his teams luck?

[Wal Will]

Steve,
I'm going to try to pick a colour this afternoon so we can throw a quick rough paint job for the weekend. body will have to come off for fairing and a good coat after the weekend, so we get a couple of attempts here. I'll have the first pick and it will be no trouble to alter it for the final.
People (who see it in the flesh) can have their say and we can go with the majority opinion.
I never saw the car in the original form so the fisrt coat will be an 'outsiders' opinion.

[rawill]

The photos are more than a thousand words. The work on this car is just breathtaking. And after all those hours in the workshop how you manage to find the energy to write for this thread I'll never know.

Well done Wal.

/R

[Wal Will]

Doesn't seem to change no matter how many times you do it - the buzz you get when a collection of inanimate bits burst into life for the first time.
Rick Michels, Jay Esterer, and myself on hand for the first burst of life.

The next big step is when it goes down on the ground on its wheels and seems to shrink to 1/4 size. Hopefully tomorrow.

[kiwi285]

Fantastic Wal. The car look absolutely stunning and great to see so many people pitching in to help out. Jay seems to be enjoying himself - makes a change from just driving them.

Looking forward to seeing the photos of it on track.

[Carlo]

Magic effort Wally, I am looking forward to seeing it this weekend.

[Wal Will]

Close, but no cigar.
We made it to the stage where it is on the floor and running with everythng working and all that remains are 'little jobs', but lots of them. So it won't run this weekend, but it will be at the track on display.
It's definately 'Yellow' and we will throw it open to comment at the track. I like it.
We didn't get a screen with the body and so have had an aluminium 'mould' made off which we can produce screens.
For the moment we have just sprayed it flat black.

For the rest of the weekend I am going to have a bit of R & R, and drive my Wee Star car.

[rawill]

I would say some R&R is much needed,

it looks simply amazing.
I love the colour.

/Rbn

[Fred.R]

Wonderfull thread, what brand is Georges torch ? would it be posable to see a photo of the gas fluxing unit , i hope the shake down goes well

[Kwaussie]

Choice!

[Wal Will]

The gas fluxer I have been using was bought second hand through Weld Plus in ChCh. a couple of years ago, along with the flux. They are not rocket science, and basically the gas from the bottle just goes to the bottom of the container and bubbles its way to the surface of the fluid, before exiting to the torch. Thereby picking up the 'flux' on the way through. I have seen many 'home built' ones made out of all sorts of containers that apparently work well, but I have always used a 'manufactured' one. The flux lasts forever to a point that the 'spare' fluid eats its way out of the tin can long before you need it.
The knob on the top allows you to bypass the fluid and use the torch for welding without the flux, but in reality the lines and torch gather so much flux that you need to burn it for a long time before the tell tale green flame disappears, and personally I have found that you need to rinse the lines and torch to get rid of all traces, so it is easier to have a dedicated setup.

[Wal Will]

Early this morning (check the length of the shadows) the track rescue truck very kindly called at the workshop and picked up the car and delivered it to the track, where it was put on display.
There was a majic moment when Barry Keen dropped by to check it out before he went to fulfill his roll as a volunteer 'first response' marshall.
What is it about motor racing that keeps us all coming back year after year?

[woody]

Wal, I used a fluxer years ago (about 68). Cant remember if the flux comes through the acetlyene or oxygen line. We threw our hoses out after using the fluxer. I was brazing mild steel tube.

[Oldfart]

There are words you are not allowed to use on public sites, so "@#$%^&* awesome Wally"
I do have views on replica,/ recreation/ restoration, but in this case who cares?

[Wal Will]

Through the acetlyene woody, and you're right it eventually eats the hoses (probably why it was baned in the U.K.)

[bry3500]

[QUOTE=Oldfart;10319] "@#$%^&* awesome Wally"
...Yep!

[Steve Holmes]

Stunning effort Wally. Take a bow! I've really enjoyed following this thread, seeing the car come to life. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. You've done an incredible job. How was the car received on the weekend? Any comments on the colour?

[Wal Will]

Nobody wants to change the colour so far.
The car attracted a lot of interest and quite a few people who were not aware of the rebuild taking place - but had seen the car back in period - were really kind with their comments, and all are pleased to have another in the line of Beggs back on track.

[Carlo]

It sure looks good in the flesh, the colour is a bit lighter than my associates remember but we agree that this was probably the shade that it should have been painted.

We are looking forward to the March meeting Wally.

Cheers

[T54]

Brilliant piece of work, nice going! :)

[Jerry Entin]

For the Forum members who don't know who T54 is:
He is Philippe de Lespinay and he is the one who restored the Cooper Indy car that Jack Brabham drove there and he has also restored many Gurney Eagle Indy cars.

Here is the story on how Philippe saved the 1961 Kimberly Special Cooper:

http://www.tsrfcars.com/toys-full_size_cooper.htm

[Michael Clark]

The only Begg currently painted 'Begg yellow' that I can think of is the twin-cam car (number 6).

I'd be very surprised if the yellow on that car was much different to the McBegg that I watched being loaded onto that truck in Invercargill last Sunday morning.

The twin-cam lives in the far north these days so it may take a while to get parked next to the McBegg for a comparison. Having said that, it is now 5 years since the big Begg long weekend at Drummond and Invercargill. George died two months later but already minds are at work as to when the next celebration should take place - with a feeling that another five years might be too long...

[DJMcD]

Aaah those were the days Wal! Barry's best moment, and mine, 1967 International meeting and YEARS before Rindt, Rosberg and now many others who try it, was swooping around the outside of Andy Buchanan in the 250LM in the Loop. Many people years later think it is a move that is clever today but B. Keen was the first to successfully pull it off. Car was Begg workshop yellow, always told George they looked a bit rough!

[Wal Will]

DJ, have you any knowledge of the car/bits around the period of time that it was reported to be owned by Brian Middlemiiss? It seems to have fallen off the radar screen after Digby.

[Horizon]

Hey wal......happy birthday :cool:

[DJMcD]

Wal we are trying to figure whether Brian actually owned car/bits and don't think so. He might have been doing some work on it while still at the Queenstown Motor Museum but it probably was owned by someone else at that time. Certainly Gillian cannot remember any mention of a Begg during the time he was working on his own as Middlemass Automotive. Mind you, our memory is the same colour as our hair, a bit grey! Sorry can't be more help.

[Wal Will]

Thanks to Terry Marshall here is another photo of Digby. First one I have seen where he has sprouted a wing.
Car is looking quite tidy.

[Kwaussie]

Aaah those were the days Wal! Barry's best moment, and mine, 1967 International meeting and YEARS before Rindt, Rosberg and now many others who try it, was swooping around the outside of Andy Buchanan in the 250LM in the Loop. Many people years later think it is a move that is clever today but B. Keen was the first to successfully pull it off.
Don't want to go to far off topic and with all respect to DJMcD. Frank Shuter I think was the first to do the outside pass in the Loop at Teretonga
At the 1958 November Gold Star Meeting he went around the outside of Ross Jensen who promptly went down a gear and bent a valve.
Frank Shuter was in Maserati 8CM about 20 years older than the Jensen 250F!

[Wal Will]

Terry Marshall has again come through with some great photo's. It is great to see it 'in use'.

[OCTARD-USA]

Stellar shots, of a good looking car. Thanks for sharing all of this.

-Chad

[Steve Holmes]

I second everything OCTARD-USA just said.

Love the Terry Marshall shots. I wonder what effect that wing would have had. Would that have been of some benefit Wal?

[Wal Will]

Difficult to know Steve. It would be interesting to hear what Digby had to say on that. It does not look to be all that well braced in a sideways direction in the early shots, and then it is not there in 'the spin'. The photo's could have come from different events.

[Wal Will]

Unusual for Invercargill but we had a very wet and cold final Club meet of the season today and Kevin Thompson (Southspeed) kindly presented me with a lot of photo's he took at the February meeting. These two jumped out at me for a start.

[Steve Holmes]

Difficult to know Steve. It would be interesting to hear what Digby had to say on that. It does not look to be all that well braced in a sideways direction in the early shots, and then it is not there in 'the spin'. The photo's could have come from different events.

Thanks Wal, yeah it'd certainly be interesting to know. I know aero aids can be effective when done correctly, and the mid to late '60s were a fascinating period as relative freedoms in single seater and sports car racing allowed teams a lot of experimentation. I know many didn't really understand them, but still, its fascinating to study the directions people headed in during this period when the rules allow complete freedom.

[pallmall]

From the photos found on a rubbish dump thread. Sorry they are the best these are ever going to be.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f155/gavinevitt/tflyerLargee-mailview.jpg

[Wal Will]

Bob Homewood came up with the photo's and program showing the car at Pukekohe on the 12th of March 1972 and wearing the same paint job, but the number 224. In these photo's it looks like a 1 has been put on to change the number to 124 and it has sprouted a new (different from the Terry Marshall shots) wing. Anyone got a lead where these last photos were taken?
She is starting to look a bit tired and must be nearing the end.
That is a much more serious wing Steve, I would think that it would be making a difference now.

[David McKinney]

Anyone got a lead where these last photos were taken?

Looks like Timaru to me, Wal

[Carlo]

Looks like Timaru to me, Wal

I agree with you David, taken from the embankment at the end of the esses off start / finish straight.

[Wal Will]

So was this a race as part of a series?
Any sequence/dates here?

[Carlo]

This one Wally, I will see if I can dig up some results next time I am out at the circuit

NZ Sports Car Championship
(NZRDC 1960/72; SCANZ 1973/86; 2-litre limit from 1974)
1986 Jamie Aislaibie (Sid III)
1985 Jamie Aislaibie (Sid III)
1984 Lester Reader (LJR)
1983 Lester Reader (LJR)
1982 Bruce Turnbull (Fronzelli)
1981 Bruce Turnbull (Fronzelli)
1980 Bob Homewood (Rhubarb 3)
1979 Jamie Aislaibie (Sid)
1978 Jamie Aislaibie (Bray)
1977 Charlie Bensemann (Rhubarb 3)
1976 Colin Smith (Rhubarb 3)
1975 Bob Hyslop (JRM)
1974 Ian Bisman (Begg)
1973 Jamie Aislaibie (Sid-Jaguar)
1972 Gary Pederson (Gemco-Oldsmobile)
1971 Grahame Harvey (Elfin-Chevrolet)
1970 Jim Boyd (Lola-Chevrolet T70)
1969 Grahame Harvey (Elfin-Chevrolet)
1968 Andrew Buchanan (Elfin-Chevrolet)
1967 Andrew Buchanan (Ferrari 275LM)
1966 Jim Boyd (Lycoming Special)
1965 Barry Porter (Lotus-Climax)
1964 Barry Porter (Lotus-Climax) and Johnny Riley (Lola-Ford)
1963 Barry Cottle (Lola-Climax)
1962 Barry Cottle (Lola-Climax)
1961 Malcolm Gill (Lycoming Special)
1960 Malcolm Gill (Lycoming Special)

[David McKinney]

There were two championships in 1971-72-73
You have listed the winners of the Over 3000cc series
Under 3000cc champions in the respective years were
1971: Gary Deakin (Heron)
1972: Danie Lupp (Rorstan)
1973: Dave Waldron (U2)

Wal: I think the likeliest date for the Taylor Timaru photo is 23/10/72. He was a non-starter there in both previous seasons

[Wal Will]

Thanks David, I am just trying to get the sequence of those later photo's right. We still havn't got to the point of it's final demise - but this thread has been a great help and an enjoyable ride.

[Wal Will]

Well today - 44 years, and a few months later, I managed to get Barry Keen (and the same crash helmet) back to Teretonga.
Apart from a bit of a leak from a rocker cover gasket, and some quite old and hard rear tires, every thing went very well.
With those rear tires you might as well leave 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear out of the box, and still be gentle when you step on it in 4th.
I put quite a few laps on it without the body, just to check for leaks.
Putting the body on changed the car from a go-kart to something that feels quite well mannered.

[GD66]

Amazing. Wal, you're a star.

[markec]

Those series of Proof photo's would appear to be from around 71, as the rally photo's seem to be from the 71 Heatway.No guaranties though, Wal you have those Pics on a disk I sent you. I also asked Wal a few months back regarding the where abouts of where those garage pictures were from and he did not know, as most of the photo's seem to be from the Timaru / ChCh area it would seem plausible that they were taken in this area. But there are some from the south so its any ones guess unless the location is recognized.
The car is looking a picture Walter, its a credit to your ability.

[Wal Will]

Thanks to Fiona Michells I received some more photo's from yesterday. This thing is one serious go-kart. Fiona was quite fascinated by Barry's helmet.

[rawill]

Great work Wal

Thank you for allowing us to see the progress.
A great piece of Motor race history preserved for the future

[Wal Will]

Time to confess. It is a well know fact that 'work expands to fit the time available', with the deadline of February past I relaxed a bit and spent more time than George took building the car originally, just finishing off the 'bits and pieces'.
Hopefully it will eventually gather its own character.

[Rod Grimwood]

Just pure majic Wil. It's a credit to yourself and all involved.

PS how did it feel with no body, bit breezy. Bet you wish you had longjohns on.

[Wal Will]

Nah, c'mon, it is Invercargill/Teretonga.
The feel after the body went on was that of a completely different car. I guess a lot of that is 'being exposed to the elements' but the whole thing (maybe me as well) became a whole lot less nervous with the body on. It is very light and responsive, to the point that I will probably wind a bit more castor into it, but it initially feels that it will be quite 'friendly'.

[markec]

8809

[Steve Holmes]

LOVE there photos Wal, thanks so much for posting them. How wonderful it is that Barry still owns his old helmet!

[DJMcD]

8809

Who is that young man in the Yardley Mc shirt???
Seriously Wal, what a treat to stick Barry back in the thing, doesn't he look a tad pleased???
Nice helmet that, car looks great with new screen too, bugger the colour discussions, it's a fabulous looking car, enjoy it.

[Jerry Entin]

https://i.postimg.cc/ZYHRtMf3/canamtest2.jpg
Gary Knutson checking tire pressure and George Begg refueling the Mk 8 McLaren in pre CanAm season testing for the 1968 CanAm series.

photo: Gary Knutson collection
Tyler Alexander photographer

[OCTARD-USA]

Great photo, Jerry! Thank you, Gary Knutson and Tyler Alexander for taking and sharing.

-Chad

[Steve Holmes]

Jerry, thanks so much for posting this, what a beautiful photo!

[jamie]

Congrats Boys that is one Cool looking car?? Much Nicer than the car I worked on All thoes years Ago Jamie A

[Jerry Entin]

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/8779/canamtest3.jpg
Denis Hulme and George Begg at Silverstone for test of Mk 8 McLaren

Chad and Steve: I am glad you are enjoying seeing these photos.


photo: Gary Knutson collection
Tyler Alexander photographer

[Steve Holmes]

Beautiful photo Jerry, thanks so much for posting this. Wasn't that M8A a handsome beast with its clothes off!

[Oldfart]

Beautiful photo Jerry, thanks so much for posting this. Wasn't that M8A a handsome beast with its clothes off!

And much smaller than we think too!

[Jerry Entin]

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/521/canam2.jpg
Gary Knutson and Teddy Mayer and George Begg pushing Denis Hulme

photo: Gary Knutson collection
Tyler Alexander photographer

[Oldfart]

Another great pic Jerry, is Denny really that bored?:)

[Jerry Entin]

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5921/jayfirstpractice.jpg[
Jay Esterer getting ready to take the McBegg out for practice
Wally Willmott looking on.The motor ran well and strong, and everything else works fine.
This comes from Wally:
We have been making alterations each session trying to get rid of some ‘snap’ over steer it has.
Work in progress at the moment.

[Kwaussie]

Looks great Jerry, lap times look good.
I think the colour is just great. It has the depth of colour that George wanted - but in Begg yellow. Well done Team JayWal!

[Steve Holmes]

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5921/jayfirstpractice.jpg[
Jay Esterer getting ready to take the McBegg out for practice
Wally Willmott looking on.The motor ran well and strong, and everything else works fine.
This comes from Wally:
We have been making alterations each session trying to get rid of some ‘snap’ over steer it has.
Work in progress at the moment.

Jerry, many thanks for posting the update. What happened to the car on the weekend?

[nigel watts]

15207

[Wal Will]

How nice it was to have the car run at Hampton Downs, and have Paul Radisich take it for a drive in the afternoon demonstration period.

[Wal Will]

Paul.

[Steve Holmes]

Wal, how did Paul enjoy the car?

[PhotoSmith]

How nice it was to have the car run at Hampton Downs, and have Paul Radisich take it for a drive in the afternoon demonstration period.

very cool photo - great line-up.

[Wal Will]

Paul was most complementary, saying that it felt like a nice new car, with everything like brakes and steering working well.
The big problem that we had over the weekend was that the hybrid dry sump system we had fitted would take all the oil and not return it when the motor was running above 5500rpm. Anything less than that and it worked fine with no problems.
The other issue was that it was getting unsettled at the top of the rise of turn 3 and a couple of times Jay lost it when he backed offf on the throttle at that point, and it snapped into oversteer - scaring the crap out of him.
Nothing that can't be sorted, and both he and Paul think that it will develop into a nice beast once we tame it.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Wal. It was great to see the car there, and I really hope the field of NZ owned Can-Am cars continues to grow.

[Kwaussie]

From the Southland Times today - click on the link below also updates on sidebars
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/8306471/McBegg-carries-a-big-heap-of-history

[openwheeler]

One of the most valuable pieces of equipment I have had for this project is the welding torch George gave me a month or two before he died. It is one of the things that he kept with him through all his moves, and he had it at his house at Hervey Bay. It was used in the building of most of his 18 cars.
I was very surprised when I was told that over in the U.K. gas fluxiing is no longer permitted.
I have used the gas flux and nicklel bronze (and Georges torch) on all the components I have had to remake.

Georges first fluxer was made from scrap steel tube with top and botom weled and bolted on ,one tube in nearly to the bottom, out let at the top. this was the norm untill the fm5 early 70s {based on my 6 years at working at the workshop.
the

[openwheeler]

the car is a thing of beauty. didn,t that car have a monocoque chassis

[rogered]

Georges first fluxer was made from scrap steel tube with top and botom weled and bolted on ,one tube in nearly to the bottom, out let at the top. this was the norm untill the fm5 early 70s {based on my 6 years at working at the workshop.
the

this fluxer sound interesting, how does it work and what was he using as a flux?
im doing some nickle bronzing on an old chassis at the moment. and cannot see how they got the factory welds so dam good. is this fluxer possibly the trick

[Jac Mac]

Pretty Simple, plans on the net, I have it 'saved' somewhere, but so damn well I cant find at moment.:)

[woody]

It was a vapour flux that came through the acetylene hose. A cast bottle as the third bottle on the set. No need to dip rod into flux powder.

[Dale Harvey]

Pretty Simple, plans on the net, I have it 'saved' somewhere, but so damn well I cant find at moment.:)

A link to the plans would appreciated.

Dale.

[Dave Silcock]

Rick Diehl built PDL Mustang 2 with a fluxing torch made out of an old truck remote mounted oil filter. You put the acetylene in one side and a pipe near to the bottom of the filter body, which was filled with the liquid you bought, mixed it all up as a gas and it came out the other side and burnt with a lovely green flame. I have brazed with one and it's like night and day, you can see the crap being washed away as you are heating the work. Not having to re dip into flux is a big help as well.

[openwheeler]

of course the trick is, un coated rod ,clean metal, heat cherry red, drop and flow, its just that ease

[southspeed]

163451634616347163481634916350
Wal Willmott stretching the legs of the McBegg during the lunchtime demonstration - Classic Speedfest - Teretonga park 2013

[southspeed]

16351
Wal Willmott stretching the legs of the McBegg during the lunchtime demonstration - Classic Speedfest - Teretonga park 2013

[Howard Wood]

Rick Diehl built PDL Mustang 2 with a fluxing torch made out of an old truck remote mounted oil filter. You put the acetylene in one side and a pipe near to the bottom of the filter body, which was filled with the liquid you bought, mixed it all up as a gas and it came out the other side and burnt with a lovely green flame. I have brazed with one and it's like night and day, you can see the crap being washed away as you are heating the work. Not having to re dip into flux is a big help as well.

Any remote oil filter will do the trick, the acetylene just bubbles through the flux on its way to the torch and you can run the weld continuously. Best to have a dedicated acetylene set with this set up though because the hoses etc become contaminated with the flux and there will always be some residual. Pretty hard on hoses too if I recall correctly.

[Wal Will]

I cannot add a lot to the gas fluxer info other than agree to what has been posted. I was lucky enough to pick up this commercially made unit second hand in Christchurch several years ago. It has a bypass valve at the top but so much flux remains in the system for such a long time, that yes you really need a dedicated system.
A friend in Auckland made a 'fluxer' that is just a auxilary oil filter unit complete with oil filter cartridge that he 1/3 fills with flux, then passes the gas through the in and out fittings. The filter 'wicks up' enough fluid that the passing gas comes out 'fluxed'. The flux is highly corrosive, and the filter has to be changed often.
When I first went to England in the early 60's 'Gas Fluxing' was the way everybody built their tubular space frame chassis ((in Italy they seemed to electric weld - badly - at that time).
Wishbones - gas fluxed - were then Cadmium plated.
In England last year I was surprised that gas fluxing was not allowed. Cadmium Plating of course was banned many years ago, and I tend toward Nickel nowdays.

[Jerry Entin]

42270
Happy 76th Birthday to Wally Willmott
Wally in his youth

photo: Kirby Guyer

[Steve Holmes]

Thats a really coo photo Jerry. Thanks for posting.

[Michael Clark]

Good work Jerry

I texted Walter this morning with birthday greetings. You may be interested to learn your old pal Howden and I took Wal to lunch last Monday down in Invercargill - where the sun shone, as it had since we'd arrived four days earlier!

[Jerry Entin]

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y525/JerryEntin/wally%20and%20howden_zpskv4v15qz.jpg
Birthday boy Wally and Howden

[Michael Clark]

We were heading off to lunch and dropped in on David Brown. Howden is leaning on the recreation of 'Big Ed' that he and Wal built originally in the mid 60s!

[Rod Grimwood]

Wal,
inregard to above photo can you please contact Grant.
think you will be very interested.
cheers

[GD66]

I don't know what the strange combination of camera/settings/light/film have confluenced together in these pics from Teretonga 1970, but the soft hue is really quite remarkable. There have been a few others from the same set on TRS over the last couple of years including two Begg FM2s sitting side by side, Ron Grable in the pits and a few pics from the left hander at the end of the main straight. Very nice.

Bert Hawthorne's Lexington Brabham and Gordon Edwards' Rorstan mini in the pit road ?

[Roger Dowding]

Barry Keen driving at Pukekohe 1968 GP meeting in January
42371

[Kwaussie]

I don't know what the strange combination of camera/settings/light/film have confluenced together in these pics from Teretonga 1970, but the soft hue is really quite remarkable. There have been a few others from the same set on TRS over the last couple of years including two Begg FM2s sitting side by side, Ron Grable in the pits and a few pics from the left hander at the end of the main straight. Very nice.

Bert Hawthorne's Lexington Brabham and Gordon Edwards' Rorstan mini in the pit road ?

Cheers GD. Maybe the fog from Bluff created the soft hue!
Was it Pierre Phillips from Portland rather than Ron G ?

[Jac Mac]

I don't know what the strange combination of camera/settings/light/film have confluenced together in these pics from Teretonga 1970, but the soft hue is really quite remarkable. There have been a few others from the same set on TRS over the last couple of years including two Begg FM2s sitting side by side, Ron Grable in the pits and a few pics from the left hander at the end of the main straight. Very nice.

Bert Hawthorne's Lexington Brabham and Gordon Edwards' Rorstan mini in the pit road ?

If your talking about the pics from the 'Ian Peak' collection IIRC these went thru conversion from slides to disc etc.... its a long time ago but I think we occasionally commented on some movies/slide shows that Ian put on at monthly ESCC meetings that some car colours needed a double take to identify, possibly a fact of life for film quality available back in the day!

[ERC]

Film quality 'back in the day' shouldn't really be an issue! Although some makes were preferred to others, I have a colour transparency of my parents taken at their wedding back in about 1941, where the colour is excellent.

The company dad worked for, for over 40 years as Production manager, were Commercial, Industrial & School's photographers, with several branches throughout the UK. He did extensive testing on films used and they settled on Ilford for black and white and Kodak for colour film and colour slides. When automatic machines first came in for colour processing, he would insist on a test strip then manually correct each negative by adjusting the yellow, magenta and cyan, until he got a picture quality he was happy with.

I did my own back to back testing in the mid 1960s and Ilford colour film wasn't a patch on Kodak. A few years later, and early Fuji film was also dreadful. There was a lot of cheap film around in the 1970s in the UK when there was a boom in photolabs offering a 'free' replacement film with your processing. Often the film quality wasn't too clever.

Film colours can also fade, so when scanning, there is often an option to compensate for dust, fading, graining and even backlight. I suspect that many of the pics posted on this site, and others, could be enhanced considerably - but it can extra take time and care of course. Using Photoshop to get rid of scratches or dust spots after scanning can take even longer.

[GD66]

Cheers GD. Maybe the fog from Bluff created the soft hue!
Was it Pierre Phillips from Portland rather than Ron G ?




No :cool:

42394

42395

Was thinking about Phillips yesterday though, Kwaussie. Came out to the first Bay Park Formula A meeting with the Lola T140, came back and drove the Begg, then came back again and drove a Titan FF. All with a fairly low profile.



Found the Begg FM2s as well. I don't know Ian Peak, but these are magic. There was a pretty good lineup of talent that season as well.

42396

[Kwaussie]

There have been a few others from the same set on TRS over the last couple of years including two Begg FM2s sitting side by side, Ron Grable in the pits and a few pics from the left hander at the end of the main straight. Very nice.

Read your post as "two Begg FM2s sitting side by side, Ron Grable in the pits and a few pics from the left hander......"

Thought what's GD putting Ron Grable into one of the Begg FM2's ? Sorry mate

[GD66]

My fault buddy, poor punctuation. I am still in touch with Ron, who remembers his Tasman days with great affection. He was pretty much a hero of mine with his performance at Bay Park in December '68.

[Kwaussie]

All good stuff!
Is the new McBegg doing much racing in 2017?

[Oldfart]

All good stuff!
Is the new McBegg doing much racing in 2017?

Can be seen in Hayes Hardware in Invercargill every day!

[Paul Kirk]

Without getting into a debate on the accuracy of 'Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand' Graham Vercoe laments the McBegg having being sacrificed to make an OSCA car. From memory Viva sounds right....

I'm getting older and memory's failing but the only Osca car I remember that was built using racing car components, (in those days) was a Datsun 180b owned by --------------? (I'll remember soon, or Rod McElrea knows).
The car had the front and rear suspension, transaxle, and Chev engine with crossover Crower inlet manifold and Lucas mechanical injection (which I set up/tuned on the car) out of a F5000 McLaren (I think). Maybe it was from the Begg!
I remember being very concerned about all that engine weight being supported by the nice shiny (and weak) tubular wishbones from the single seater!
Sadly the owner was killed in a testing acident when the clevis pin fell out of the brake pedal.
PK.

[Jac Mac]

It was Kelvin Cameron, IIRC ( and like you Paul I get a bit of delay in the memory now n again :) ).Wish I still had all the old OSCA newsletters, its probably in them. Would not have been from a 5000 car Keith Laney had? Steves pic below it has Cameron on W/screen

[Steve Holmes]

This is from the John Brewer Collection posted elsewhere on here. Is this the car parked next to the Camaro?

42774

[duncan fox]

That sounds like the car built from the ex Pederson M18.