De Tomaso 103 F2 Restoration Part 2

www.QV500.com - De Tomaso 103 Restoration Part 2

Work over the Summer has moved on albeit slowly as Paul Fox and his team at Foxcraft Engineering in Stockbridge have had to concentrate on other more urgent projects for the 2004 racing season. The aim of the restoration programme is to deliver by late Spring 2005 the car in a condition in which it could (if we so wish) race in historic Formula 2. To achieve that end we will initially install the 1600cc Cosworth BDA series engine running on carburettors and delivering 211bhp - we now know it fits. So far as the Ford FVC engine that was installed when we got the car, in due course we may swap that for the rarer but correct fuel-injected FVA similar to the one that would have been in the car originally. The gearbox has been stripped and is ready for re-assembly. Shortly the fuel tanks will be made for insertion into the cockpit sides. Given the lovely way in which so much of the car was originally engineered, the suspension mountings were a disappointment - they seemed so flimsy and poorly manufactured. Perhaps they weren't original. New ones have been fabricated and mounted on the monocoque sides which look far more robust. All the rose joints are being replaced too.

The car came with a really ugly front nose which bore no resemblance to any of those with which it originally raced in 1969; a new one is being fabricated by Paul using the contemporary Vallelunga photographs as a guide. Initially we will run the car with a full rear wing (using a spare we already have), but the intention is that it can appear with or without front and rear wings - 1969 was very much the time of change in this respect. Apart from the cost (do these things ever end up cheaper than expected?) one of the biggest challenges has been the issue of originality versus practicality and safety. Our guiding principle has been to try to ensure that the car ends up as original as possible or capable of easily being reverted to original spec, but not to allow something which will compromise driver safety. A good example is the roll-over hoop. The original was very low and had no brace for added rigidity. Thus, so as not to destroy the look of the car but still giving better protection for the driver, two alternative roll-over hoops will be able to be bolted on, one for racing, the other for display. To be continued...