As the history of this car is compiled this document is still partialy
likely to change
And after reading this there is anything that you'd like to add please
contact
Andrew Gifford - email andrew.gifford@worleyparsons.com
The GWG/Ford was originally referred to as
the "Gollywog"
The GWG/Ford is an Australian built rear engine open wheel
special based on a Brabham BT18 chassis. The vehicle was built over two years
by Graham Wells Gilbert during 1966/67 and first commenced competition at the
start of 1968.
Graham was a businessman from Melbourne
who had an interest in motor racing from an early age & he decided that
"one day" he would design & build his own racing car. This
journey started in the early 60's when he started to frequent events at the
local race tracks in Victoria.
Here he met Bill Reynolds who owned a small engineering wk shop near St Kilda
in Victoria.
Initially Graham answered an advert for a partially completed Lynx chassis
that was being sold by Brian Beasy. Graham started to sort through this
chassis and before long had
determined that it was very out of date in design and the
he felt that he would be far better off building a car of his own design. The
Lynx chassis later went to the tip as scrap.
The initial GWG chassis design started in several ways. Bill Reynolds needed
glass fibre bodies and Graham then owned a protective coatings company that
also did glass fibre work. Graham required castings & machining work done
of which Bill was able to supply. Because Bill also worked on various other
people's cars & was also designing & building his own cars (WREN)
there were always several late model chassis in Bill's wk shop having work
done to them. Graham remembers one Brabham BT18 in particular having
maintenance carried out and this Taranuc design was the classic build of the
time hence the basis for Grahams design.
The pit component of Graham's racing was support by Mr Peter Tucker. Peter, a
design engineering consultant, was always enormously enthusiastic and
provided the essential backup on the day.
Graham Gilbert driving the GWG/Ford at
Sandown in Victoria
- April 28 1968 Image autopics.com.au
Initially the GWG/Ford was painted black with a white
stripe down each side and when ready for the track it sported a 3 main
bearing non cross flow Ford 105e derivative engine & and Cooper Knight 6
speed trans axle.
In August of 1967 Ford in the UK
had released the cross flow version of the Kent engine with flat head and
bowl in piston design engine. When Graham found out about this he had one of
these heads imported & he had Repco build a set of pistons for the
engine.
The new engine when installed by about April 1968 was a hybrid consisting of
a 5 main bearing block & crankshaft, the new head freshly ported &
polished & a custom built manifold for twin 42 DCOE Weber carburettors
plus the usual other high performance engine modifications done at the time.
Whist not proven it is believed by those who I've spoken
to, to be the first car in Australia
to compete with the cross flow head configuration. This was very much of
interest but not an issue in the beginning to others as Graham was in his
first year of competition, but as time went on & into 1969 it was told
that there was mutterings of whether the car was compliant with the then
rules.
Point to note is all 1100cc cars post Formula Junior & prior to 1969 were
of ANF2 class (Australian National Formula Two) Post 1968 this division
became ANF3. There was never an official complaint made about the cross flow
head engine & the GWG/Ford was put up for sale in mid 1969 & Graham
was setting about building his second chassis for the start of the Formula
Ford division in Australia.
This chassis is called the Corsair.
Graham was reasonably successful in the GWG/Ford notching up class wins and
places at Victorian tracks like Phillip Island, Sandown, Calder, Winton and
Hume Weir and included in those races which were names like P. Brock, G.
Cooper, P. Macrow, A. Constanzo, A. Moffatt, I. Diffen & P. Larner to
name a few.
The GWG/Ford was on sold to Terry Robertson Motors in
about July 1969 & driven by Stuart Anderson before being sold again to
Alan W Barnes in 1970 & shipped across the Bass Straight to Tasmania.
Bob McFarlane driving the Alan Barnes owned
Goblin/Ford
Symmons Plains ATTC round Tasmania
1971
Image www.oldracephotos.com
Alan Barnes I'm told was quite a character who owned a
myriad of racing vehicles of which he called "Goblins" So the
GWG/Ford became the Goblin/Ford. Alan only owned the car for about 12 months
before it was sold on.
The Goblin connection came up whilst I have been researching the car thanks
to the memory of Lindsay Ross of (www.oldracephotos.com) who had remembered watching
both the GWG & the Goblin racing but had never made the connection.
Lindsay then produced a couple of photos taken at Symmons Plains that indeed
confirm that they were both the same car. At some point during Alan Barnes
ownership the engine was modified to full F2 specification sporting the same
head & Weber's but with capacity of 1500cc.
In 1971 the car was owned by Phillip Walden, Phillip said
the he only drove the car at Symmons Plains at most a half dozen times. The
last being when a fuel pump issue assisted in going off line & spinning
& then being collected by a F-Vee. This rearranged the front right
suspension. Replacement parts for this were supplied by Bill Reynolds factory
in Victoria & the chassis repair carried
out locally in Tasmania.
The evidence of the bingle and it repair
is still evident on the chassis to date.
The car was sold again in 1973 this time to Peter W. Buchanan also of Tasmania. Now the
car was known as the WREN/Ford. The probable reason for this was the known
renaming of cars by A.W. Barnes, the fact that the car sported quite a few
Wren parts & that replacement suspension parts were sourced from WREN
in Victoria.
The design of wheels is the most notable Wren part on the car.
Peter blew the engine was blown sky high and then an all steel 1600cc
engine was put into the car and now it also for the first time sported wide
wheels, slicks & a rear wing. The gear box was changed to a Hewland
during Peters ownership as well.
Bob McFarlane driving the Goblin/Ford pursued by
a swam of Vees
Symmons Plains ATTC round Tasmania
1971
Image www.oldracephotos.com
In 1976 the car was sold again, this time to Bevin Wylie
who raced the Wren/Ford for a period before he bought himself an Elfin 622
F2. The all steel 1600cc pushrod engine with Hewland gearbox was removed
from the Wren & went into the Elfin. Bevin a long time competitor in Tasmania & the
mainland remembers the car as a very well handling chassis which in his
view responded better than the 622.
A competitor well know today 'recently retired' from V8 Supercars whom was
just starting out & was in the fields in Tasmania in 1973 onwards was
John Bowe in his Elfin F/F.
The car then sat idle in Bevin Willie's mechanic's workshop in Launceston Tasmania
until 1980. Peter Johnson (dec) was the work shop owner’s name.
An ex mechanic of Norm Beechy by the name of Bob Morton of Victoria purchased
the Wren on 10th January 1980 for the sum of $1900. The Wren was sold minus
the engine & gearbox. It was a some time later when Bob had the car
running again at various Victorian tracks & here he came into contact
with both Bill Reynolds & Brian Beasy and found the true identity of
the car and it was renamed back to the GWG/Ford.
Image from Log Book - mid 70's
Bob campaigned the GWG/Ford at various Victorian historic
meets in the early 80's before retiring the car for around ten years. Bob
replaced the 1600cc short motor back to it's 1100cc configuration before
the CAMS Certificate of Description
was applied for & the Historic log book was issued
in March of 1999.
As the GWG was found in Bevin Wylie's wk shop
approx. 1980
Image from Bob Morton
Bob Morton at Calder approx. 1981 Image from Bob Morton
Bob Morton at Calder approx. 1982 Image from Bob Morton
The GWG had been on the market for a while in 2004 &
during a conversation the Stewart-Richardson's of Perth whilst looking for a car for
themselves informed Neil McCrudden that it was available. Here Trevor Hill
purchased the GWG & it was picked up in Victoria
during Neil's pilgrimage to the historic meet to PhillipIsland
in March 2005. Trevor built new body work for the GWG and again the car was
sold 12 months later to myself.
The GWG wasn't without its problems by now. The 1100cc
engine was in pieces & when put back together it needed to rev to above
6000rpm to 9500rpm to produce any sort of power making it a very small
distance away from detonating out of the driving capabilities of the owner.
The chassis was quite worn & cracks were appearing. The roll bar was very
unsafe & in fact cracked through & all of the adjustable rod ends
were worn out.
Andrew Gifford at Albany Round the Houses - June 2006
At the VSCC vintage stampede meeting of 2006 during
practice one rod end broke on the rear suspension sending me spinning off the
track at about 140kph, so that was it, the GWG received a full rebuild in the
summer months of 2006/07. Here all moving parts were replaced or refurbished
& the chassis was completely repaired. Only a few of the old war wounds
remain for history's sake. The GWG/Ford today is reliable as ever, painted in
its mid 70's livery & is being campaigned at most local historic events.
Andrew Gifford at Wanneroo - April 2007Image from Vic
Soulios
Andrew Gifford at Wanneroo - July 2007Image from Circlework
Thanks goes out to Shane Gifford for the use of his wk shop, Neil McCrudden
for parts, advice & general help and Leo Wybrott & Sonny Rajah for
the assistance with set up advice and lastly my family for putting up with
me!!!
Chassis - chassis # NIL
Space frame by Graham Gilbert
Year Built 1966/67
Based on Brabham BT18 design
4 tube chassis / coolant through top tubes (now uses copper pipe along
bottom tubes)
Battery & radiator in nose, Dry sump tank in front of engine, Fuel
tanks each side of lower legs, fully rose jointed suspension mounting
brackets
Alloy floor pan curved part way up sides & riveted to chassis rails
Glass Fibre body panels (3 pieces)
Front Suspension
Triumph Herald uprights
Standard 10 steering arms
Renault modified Rack & pinion Tie rod ends (quick ratio)
Alloy wheel hubs by Bill Reynolds - Ford stud pattern
Shock absorbers - double acting adjustable - Armstrong
Un-equal length upper & lower A arms (all rose jointed)
Rear Suspension
Bill Reynolds Alloy uprights
Citroen Light 15 half shafts
Alloy wheel hubs by Bill Reynolds - Ford stud pattern
Shock absorbers - double acting adjustable - Armstrong
Lower "A" arm, top link & 2 radius links (all rose jointed)
Wheels
Bill Reynolds Alloy
13" x 5" front, 13" x 7" rear - Set 1
Steel rim & Alloy centres
13" x 8" front, 13"x10" rear - Set 2
Brakes
1-1/3" x 1-5/8" Girling type master cylinder with adjustable
toggle
Callipers - Ford GT Cortina
Rotors - Ford GT Cortina
Pads - Ford GT Cortina
Transmission
Holinger converted VW dog clutch 5 Speed plus reverse
Universal joints - set at gear box (Mk 1-2 Cortina) set at axles (????)
Flywheel - steel
Clutch - solid hub, sintered pads x 4
Clutch operation - hydraulic
Engine - No.1 (Spare)
Ford cross flow (Kent)
Block & short motor - Ford 681F - 5 bearing crank
Bore - 3.187" +0.040" Stroke - 2.100" Capacity - 1125.964cc
Compression ratio - 12.5:1
Pistons - Pattison forged
Connecting rods -Toyota 2S, machined for bronze piston bush, lightened,
polished & shot peened
Crankshaft - 1100cc tuffrited, STD mains, ground to suit STD Toyota 2S big
end bearings
Camshaft - Piper (UK), timing inlet 35°-75°, timing exhaust 75°-35°, approx
lift 0.410" lift @ exhaust, 0.420' lift @ inlet, 0.014" valve
clearance 0.014' (hot - inlet & exhaust)
Rev range - min 5500rpm to max 9500rpm
Cylinder Head - modified by Dick McQuaide, stainless steel valves,
Iskenderian double springs, Datsun 200B valve spring retainers modified to
suit head & late model Cortina collets Steel rocker posts
Extractors by Jack Mays - sand bent to suit Ford 1600 cylinder head
Inlet Manifold - Fabricated to suit ford 1600 cylinder head
Carburettors - 2x 40mm DCOE Webers
Ignition Nissan/Datsun 1200 Hitachi modified distributor, 12v coil
Lubrication - Dry Sump - pressure & scavenge pump through oil filter,
radiator to front main oil gallery External oil feed & flow control to
overhead valve gear
Oil ports drilled to lubricate oil pump & distributor gear on camshaft
Engine - No.2
Ford cross flow (Kent)
Block & short motor - Ford 711M
Bore - 3.187" +0.040" Stroke - 3.055" Capacity - 1640cc
Compression ratio - 11.0:1
Pistons - forged
Connecting rods - Carrillo
Crankshaft - Steel
Camshaft - Kent
Rev range - min 3000rpm to max 7500rpm
Cylinder Head - Ported & flowed
Extractors by Jack Mays - sand bent to suit Ford 1600 cylinder head
Inlet Manifold - Aluminium
Carburettors - 2x 40mm DCOE Webers
Ignition Nissan/Datsun 1200 Hitachi modified distributor, 12v coil
Lubrication - Dry Sump - pressure & scavenge pump through oil filter,
radiator to front main oil gallery
Oil ports drilled to lubricate oil pump & distributor gear on camshaft
GWG/Ford Rebuild Details
Full rebuild Dec 2006 to March 2007
Chassis:
Stripped, repaired, heat treated (normalised to remove stress), final check
& touch-up before cleaning & preparing for 2-pack painting. The
original system of the cooling water running through the chassis was
removed also at this time & top chassis rails sleaved with chrome-moly
tubing. A new chrome-moly roll bar was fitted as the original was
defective. The seat belt mount behind the seat was modified &
strengthened. Additional gussets put into rear section. Original dzus
fastener brackets replaced with new ones. Many holes that had been drilled
over the years have been filled.
Suspension:
Two new rear lower control arms were produced. (chrome moly and post weld
heat treated) All suspension components including sway bars & linkages
were re-chrome plated. (post chrome plating hydrogen de-brittlement heat
treatment for rear lower control arms)
Rod Ends:
All rod ends, jam nuts and spherical bearings on suspension & shock
absorbers have been replaced with new race series items imported from the
states. QA1 Rod chrome moly ends used primarily except for top of vertical
link on front suspension. Original size lower A-arm bearings are
unavailable. New bushes were made to compensate differences
Gearbox linkages:
New gear linkage rods. Replaced universal joints to remove excess play.
Chrome plated linkage shafts.
Components:
Oil filter relocated to side of engine instead of side of chassis. New
Holly Red electrical fuel pump & pressure relief valve included &
relocated to give cleaner appearance.
Fuel Tanks:
Tanks modified to allow new water pipe to pass through. 1/2" fuel
outlets added from the original 5/16". 1/2" Fuel line now goes to
repositioned lowered fuel pump to aid gravity feed. The fuel tanks were
foam filled at this point. The down side to the fuel tank mods is that the
total capacity is now only 18 litres (approx 6 litres less)
Water Pipes:
New 32mm copper lines fabricated to replace the original system running
through the chassis. Mountings were added to the chassis before heat
treatment. The location & use of copper allowed for ease of fitment,
very tight radius joints & within keeping of the clean lines of the
vehicle. New coolant recovery system added. Air bleed valve added near
radiator
Electrical:
Vehicle completely rewired by an aircraft technician using aviation grade
cabling. New electrical tacho replaces the unreliable mechanical unit.
Under pan:
Replaced the entire under pan area. This was due to old damage, excessive
drilling/cutting of holes & general wear. Added 2" additional material
per side to cover modified fuel tanks.
Rear firewall:
Modified & holes filled, strengthened where the seat belt is mounted.
Brakes:
Inspected and were all in good order. Replaced flexible lines with
stainless braided.
Front axles:
Inspected, cleaned & re-packed bearings with grease.
Rear Axles:
Inspected, cleaned.
Axles:
The axles shafts were chrome plated & new universal joints fitted with
grease/dust boots added.
Steering:
Rack & pinion pulled down & inspected. Tie rod arms re-chromed
& new grease/dust boots added
Gearbox:
Fully rebuilt & all new parts mid 2008
Engine:
The engine was left as it was at this time as it was not in need of any
work.
Oil catch tank:
New aluminium one replaces tied old broken steel one. Same basic design but
cleaner appearance. Oil now can be recovered & reused due to breather
filter.
Oil lines:
Stainless Braided oil line replaces most original lines.
Dry Sump tank:
Added sight glass in front. Cut out small section in front near belt pulley
to clear flat toothed belt drive style. Some baffles were removed &
breather repositioned further along fill tube.
Shock Absorbers:
No work was done to these. Cleaned & re-painted. Chrome plated the
springs. New rod ends, bearings & bushes
Body:
Repaired & new front & extended cockpit sides made. New fasteners
all round
Bolts:
Most bolts & nuts, washers etc were replaces with new aircraft
grade ones except suspension joints which are all grade 12
with nylock nuts
