Lola T496 Build

[ChipH]

Hello All,

I'm Chip, A long time lurker, first time poster.

I am posting this thread to document and show progress as I build my project car, a Lola T496.
I said build as opposed to restore as I do not have a wreck, barnfind or donor car.

So, how did I get to this point? I have worked in construction management my entire career and like to build all sorts of things.
Step one: choose a car to replicate/continue/build. In my case, I had several criteria:
1. I wanted a Lola
2. I wanted a sports racer
3. 70s-ish vintage seemed right
4. I really wanted a Cosworth BD motor

When you boil it down by these criteria, you come up with a list that is pretty short:
1. Lola T290 series
2. Lola T496/7

The T290 series would be my first choice, but is wayyyyyy too expensive for me.
The T496 seemed much more doable. It shares many parts with the T492.

Step 2 was finding documentation for the build and there I had a major stroke of luck. I live in the Twin Cities Metro area in Minnesota. And it just so happened that a gentleman in the same metro area was restoring a T496. Not just restoring, but also committing the entire chassis to CAD. We met and came to to a meeting of the minds, I would buy the plans from him and also the tub panels already laser-cut and mostly folded. Oh, and a body as well.
Since then, I have sourced the Cosworth BDH (1300cc, approx 170hp) I had the engine built with twin Weber 45 DCOEs as opposed to the original Lucas fuel injection system.

So that is how I started this process. I know the obvious flaw in the plan is that when I am done, I will have an exact replica, but no chassis plate. This car will never have the value of an original car, but Lola only made somewhere around 10-12 total of the T496/T497 models, so maybe that rarity works in my favor.

I have been documenting everything to date with photos and will include as many as I can.

I hope that this process and documentation is some interest to people, but the other big reason for posting is that I want to be able to tap into the huge knowledge base that is Apexspeed. So, let's start with some pictures of the very beginning and see what happens...

Building the shop in my basement (feel free to comment and/or mock me). This has the advantage of being warm in the Minnesota winters and close to hand. The intent is build up the chassis and then transfer to the garage (which is NOT heated) at some point.

I am further along than this progress would indicate as I have built up a backlog of photos and progress. I will spread out the next updates in the coming weeks and then, hopefully stay on steady progress.
I designed and built the work tables you see and tried to utilize space as efficiently as possible. Now let's see if this thread uploads......

[mikey]

Very cool! I will watch this one closely and help where I can. I’ve got a Lola T91/50.

First question, where did you get the Lola flag? I’ve been looking for awhile without luck

[Charles Warner]

Contact Dennis Eade. Many moons ago he had a 492 with all sorts of info and panels. He may have had a 496 - I'm not sure. He's in your area.

Last number I had was 847.209.4850 (mobile)

[Mesamaui]

Very interesting Chip a scratch built 496 Im almost done with my 492 restoration with YB Cosworth power plant
looking forward to see yours

Maui

[He49]

Hey guys! I’m Hayden Eade, Dennis Eade’s son. My old man has Parkinson’s now so I’ve been taking care of everything around the shop. And yeah we do have a Lola sports racer tub. I believe it’s a 492 I’ll have to look at the data plate. It’s seen better days but it is there haha.

[E1pix]

Hello, Hayden:

Very sorry to hear of your dad. I did some sign painting for him at Road Atlanta in about 1985, and at the June Sprints in 1979, and he was super cool to me.

All the Best to you and he.

[ChipH]

Very cool! I will watch this one closely and help where I can. I’ve got a Lola T91/50.

First question, where did you get the Lola flag? I’ve been looking for awhile without luck

Mikey, I found it one of the vendors at last year's Redman/Weathertech vintage races at Road America.

[GreginCanada]

Hi Chip that sounds like a great project. About the only potential flaw I see in your plan is the jump into the deep end of the pool with the Cosworth power plant. Landmark engines for sure but they are also a bit demanding of both expertese and expense.
I assume quite a bit of your motivation in building a replica Lola rather than buying an existing project car is a limited budget. Nice as any the BD series engines are, I wouldn't consider any of them budget friendly.
From the looks of the components on the bench I expect the car will turn out very nicely !


Greg

[ChipH]

Hi Chip that sounds like a great project. About the only potential flaw I see in your plan is the jump into the deep end of the pool with the Cosworth power plant. Landmark engines for sure but they are also a bit demanding of both expertese and expense.
I assume quite a bit of your motivation in building a replica Lola rather than buying an existing project car is a limited budget. Nice as any the BD series engines are, I wouldn't consider any of them budget friendly.
From the looks of the components on the bench I expect the car will turn out very nicely !


Greg

Greg, thanks for the comment.
The cars originally came with the 1300cc BDH, which are pretty hard to come by. But by luck, I found one in Illinois and had it re-built. You are completely correct, it was not an inexpensive exercise, but it was a fair deal and I am very happy with the builders and the results. I hope that if I am careful and keep revs mostly below 10,000 (9,500 max maybe?) it will not eat me alive. It is scary for sure.
I REALLY wanted a BD motor and now, for better or worse I have one.
Limited budget was the idea.....but you can guess how that went.

[GreginCanada]

Like yourself I also like sportsracers a lot . And Cosworth BD's are iconic. The sound alone is like few other racing engines and shouts
1970's and 80's motorsports.
But I have a strong feeling that if you run them reasonably close to their potential they get very expensive .
Bring a trailer had a fantastic BD powered, Ft gearbox Royale sports racer on offer about a year or so back.
Part of the documentation provided with the auction was a very detailed record of what the owner had spent over the years keeping the car on the track.
And I can only say it was a pretty staggering total. If I ever had any illusions of running anything other than a crossflow or a Pinto they vanished then and there. At least until I win a decent sized Loto.

Best of luck with your project ! Those cad drawings would be interesting to many of us. I hope to do something similar with my Lola {T492}, time permitting. At the least it 's a great reference should disaster happen to the car at some point. Something you hope you never need , but makes a great back up for those of us who can't really afford to just order up a replacement tub.

Greg

[ChipH]

Like yourself I also like sportsracers a lot . And Cosworth BD's are iconic. The sound alone is like few other racing engines and shouts
1970's and 80's motorsports.
But I have a strong feeling that if you run them reasonably close to their potential they get very expensive .
Bring a trailer had a fantastic BD powered, Ft gearbox Royale sports racer on offer about a year or so back.
Part of the documentation provided with the auction was a very detailed record of what the owner had spent over the years keeping the car on the track.
And I can only say it was a pretty staggering total. If I ever had any illusions of running anything other than a crossflow or a Pinto they vanished then and there. At least until I win a decent sized Loto.

Best of luck with your project ! Those cad drawings would be interesting to many of us. I hope to do something similar with my Lola {T492}, time permitting. At the least it 's a great reference should disaster happen to the car at some point. Something you hope you never need , but makes a great back up for those of us who can't really afford to just order up a replacement tub.

Greg

Greg, where I can, I am building jigs and fixtures to produce the spaceframe components. I will keep all the jigs/fixtures that I make and people are welcome to use them if they want. I am working to as close as I can get to the dimensions on the drawings. Everything seems to be working out dimensionally, so that's good. I will post some photos later tonight.
Cheers
Chip

[ChipH]

As was typical of sports racers in the 70's the T496 had a aluminum monocoque joined to an engine/transaxle carrying mild steel subframe. This join is at the bulkhead at the back of then tub, This bulkhead is mild steel, joins the two parts and is the base of the main rollover bar. So it seems kind of important.
My thought process is to completely build the subframe first so that I can jig it up and build it completely square, plumb and level. Once it is complete I will align and add the tub panels to complete the chassis.
The first step was to turn bushings and engine mount tubes on the lathe. I will post pictures of that process later.
The next step was build a simple sub-assembly, the engine mounts. The two engine mounts are each a 4 piece assembly consisting of a tube, a 3/4"x1.5" 1018 mild steel rectangular tube and 2 1018 mild steel "ramps" . These "ramps" kicked my butt for a long time. I cut them out of rectangular tube stock, I cut and folded them out of sheet stock. I cut some more. I made them wrong every way that is humanly possible. Finally I able to cut the angles pretty close to right and file, grind, sand and swear to get them to fit. As I had to make two of these, I built a small fixture so that I could get accurate and repeatable. Once I got the parts fitted, I had to make the hole that would contain the mount tube. The drawings showed the hole as a cutout in each of the three rectangular pieces. In my infinite wisdom, I figured that it would better to assemble the three pieces in the fixture and drill all three simultaneously. I tried an annular cutter that you see in the photos. It didn't work very well, so I switched to a hole saw and that worked. In the end I got what I wanted, which was a tight, concentric hole through the three pieces that my welder could work with.




I will try a lot of things, but I know that I will never make a good weld so I found someone who could. Through a friend I was turned on to a custom bicycle builder in Minneapolis. He specializes in thin wall TIG welding and I am very happy with the results. He loves to weld and only weld. So our deal is that I fabricate all the pieces, jig or arrange them so that all he has to do is weld and we are both happy. This is when I found out that he HATES wood jigs, but more about that in a later post. I have more photos of the finished product and will post when I find them.

So these were the first products and I am happy with them. Next time I will post some of the lathe turned bushing and then on to the "legs" that come from the bulkhead to form the engine bay.
All of your comments, thoughts and ideas are appreciated.
Hopefully this is of interest to you.
Chip

[J Leonard]

You may as well have these also.

[Jerry Kehoe]

Oh for the original $3000 price for a BDA kit when they first came out...………...

[ChipH]

3k for a BDA kit! It seemed like lot back then.
I remember watching the late 70's Formula Atlantic races at Road America, those were the coolest cars ever...ever.
It's funny the stuff you learn undertaking a build project. For instance, I thought all the BD series were based on the Ford 711 1600cc block. But the BDH is based on a similar Kent block with a different deck height. This block was for 1300cc Kent motors apparently used in Ford of England cars. The difference in deck height is like 7/16".

[ChipH]

You may as well have these also.

Thanks for the .pdf's. I do have them, but it's the thought that counts.

[racersonly]

Many years ago, I restored a FF in the attic of my best friend’s carriage house. Had to cut a hole in the wall to get it out. We lowered it onto the top level of my open stacker trailer. The local paper came out to witness the event. I understand that something like that runs in my family. My great uncle once built a boat in his basement. Had to remove a wall to get it out.

[ChipH]

Many years ago, I restored a FF in the attic of my best friend’s carriage house. Had to cut a hole in the wall to get it out. We lowered it onto the top level of my open stacker trailer. The local paper came out to witness the event. I understand that something like that runs in my family. My great uncle once built a boat in his basement. Had to remove a wall to get it out.

We built this house about 3 years ago. I got the walkout basement but not the architectural overhead door (or even French doors) that I wanted.
The HOA said no dice.
Maybe this is what Sawzalls are for.
The rollover bar is bolted to the tub/subframe bulkhead, so right now the thought is that I can build the chassis in the basement and without the rollover bar I can tip the chassis on edge and get it through the door and up to the garage.
We'll see

[billtebbutt]

We built this house about 3 years ago. I got the walkout basement but not the architectural overhead door (or even French doors) that I wanted.
The HOA said no dice.
Maybe this is what Sawzalls are for.
The rollover bar is bolted to the tub/subframe bulkhead, so right now the thought is that I can build the chassis in the basement and without the rollover bar I can tip the chassis on edge and get it through the door and up to the garage.
We'll see

I kept my 492 tub in our rec room for 5-6 years (brought it in sideways, through the door) until we moved houses. We decided over wine one night that we wanted a pool table in the rec room, but since the 492 was there, my wife suggested we move to a larger home.

And we did.

cheers,
bt

[dereklola]

https://historicmotorsportcentral.co...rth-bd-engine/

[Thomas Wirtz]

my wife suggested we move to a larger home.

And we did.

And now, the rest of the story. Is ???

Don't leave us hanging, what happened to the Lola ???

[tlracer]

Don't leave us hanging, what happened to the Lola ???

If ever you see a Lola T492 with a green baize underside to the tub...

[jaweakley]

Well, I enjoyed this string of reply’s. As I prepare my add to sell my loved 75 Lola T324 and thinking back on all the work previous owner and myself(on a budget) did, just wanted you to know , I put a six foot hole in my basement to get my car in the 900 sqft room and rebuilt a small formula car... I could barely get around it, but it was in my basement and only a stair case away... wife did get upset when I started the new rebuilt motor in the basement.... lol Keep going.....

-J

[billtebbutt]

If ever you see a Lola T492 with a green baize underside to the tub...

You do realize that every North American who read your response had to look up the word "baize", don't you?

cheers,
BT

[billtebbutt]

And now, the rest of the story. Is ???

Don't leave us hanging, what happened to the Lola ???

Oh, it turned out pretty good:

[Joefisherff]

Guilty

You do realize that every North American who read your response had to look up the word "baize", don't you?

cheers,
BT

[Frank Monise]

My Dad raced a 496 for several successful seasons. Great car.

[tlracer]

You do realize that every North American who read your response had to look up the word "baize", don't you?

cheers,
BT

Ha, ha! Nice car though... and the body would have matched the baize...

What is a pool table covered in, on that side of the pond?

[ChipH]

Here are some photos of the first steps from a while.
I figured that learning how to run a lathe would be a good idea. So I could make all the needed bushings and have spares.
I shot some of the bushings along with the drawings I was working to. Looks really good and sort of arty until you look closer and see the difference in the bore size between the part and the drawing. After I had made 4 I realized that turned the bore to .375" instead of the .315" on the drawing. I have gotten better with subsequent parts, but for the life of me I cannot seem to part the pieces on the lathe. I have seen a million Youtube videos and it seems straight forward enough, but I can't get it right. So I cheat by cutting the parts to an approximate length, do the turning and the turn the ends to the correct length.

[ChipH]

Here is some early work fabricating the four "legs" that extend from the bulkhead to form then engine bay. I had problems making the shallow angle cut until I made a little jig to hold the pieces. Due to the size of my bandsaw, I had to raise the work piece high enough so that the bearings for the blade would clear the piece. Took me a loooong time to come up with solution, but in the end it.

I will post more on the leg jig later.

[GreginCanada]

For those bushings it's best to bore slightly undersize and do a final cleanup to size with a reamer. You end up with a more acurate I.D..
Long, angle cuts like that are definitely tricky without a milling machine. I always find it is hard to keep the blade on that style of band saw true to the vertical plane. The more you work with metal the more useful the specialised metal cutting tools become. But for a one off project like yours ingenuity , and adaption will also work. And none of us really keep track of the time spent to achieve satisfactory results, unlike a commercial workplace. You just keep at it until you are happy with the result. It looks like things are progressing nicely !
That looks like a great set of drawings you are working from. Your drawing guy must have spent considerable time preparing them .

Greg

[ChipH]

For those bushings it's best to bore slightly undersize and do a final cleanup to size with a reamer. You end up with a more acurate I.D..
Long, angle cuts like that are definitely tricky without a milling machine. I always find it is hard to keep the blade on that style of band saw true to the vertical plane. The more you work with metal the more useful the specialised metal cutting tools become. But for a one off project like yours ingenuity , and adaption will also work. And none of us really keep track of the time spent to achieve satisfactory results, unlike a commercial workplace. You just keep at it until you are happy with the result. It looks like things are progressing nicely !
That looks like a great set of drawings you are working from. Your drawing guy must have spent considerable time preparing them .

Greg

Greg,
You are exactly right about using reamers. I read Sport Aviation and the last two issues had articles about drilling holes. The last issue had to do with making certain your drilled holes are square to the surface. The previous issue talked about the use of chucking reamers to finish holes. If you look at the photos I posted you can see a lot of scoring. So, I'm glad (?) that I have to do these over so I can get it right this time. In his article, Budd Davison the author made the case for getting a set of reamers that are each slightly undersize and slightly oversize. His drills his holes all undersized and finishes with the reamer. He also mic's all his hardware to determine which reamer to finish with.

As a newbie, there is so much to learn, but I am enjoying it.

With all my mistakes, when I'm done I will probably have built two cars.

Thanks for the tip.

[J Leonard]

The benefit of your follow rest would be better out at the end of your part, not by the chuck.

[ChipH]

The benefit of your follow rest would be better out at the end of your part, not by the chuck.

You are certainly right. Newbie mistake. I have had the hardest time with the lathe. There is so much to learn.
My issues (all on me) were:
Aligning the chuck and tailstock. I tried and got it close but it seemed as though I couldn't get it exactly aligned.
Using the follow rest. I have had issues with aligning and tightening the 3 rests. Too tight, too loose. Too close to the chuck as you noted.
Cutting speeds and tools.

My point is that a person can learn only so much by reading and Youtube, but in the end it's experience that counts. Really understanding and having a feel for the machine. It's a time and repetition, trial and error proposition. There is a LOT to know to turn out good parts. I understand that and am willing to put in the time to do it right.

This is huge learning experience for me. So please keep coming with the comments, corrections and suggestions.

Chip

[ChipH]

Oh, and getting runout on the part to acceptable limits....oh boy.

[ChipH]

Many of you have mentioned the drawings I am working from. They are the product of Greg and Kermit Wold.
Greg is restoring (it's on its wheels and running now) Fred Schilplin's (sp?) old T496.
When they got the car they drilled out every rivet and disassembled it completely. At this point is when the committed the car to CAD.
These CAD drawings are what I am working from.
If anyone is interested in contacting Greg, PM me and I will pass on his info.
Here are some pictures of his resto.

[billtebbutt]

Ha, ha! Nice car though... and the body would have matched the baize...

What is a pool table covered in, on that side of the pond?

We are boring here - would refer to it simply as "felt" I think.

cheers,
bt

[tlracer]

Thanks Bill - a common language with completely different words

Though I'm glad this is a US website, not French...as there's a very similar word in that language (baiser) that could have caused some concern!!

(Apologies for hijacking the thread...I'll shut up now)

[Rick Kirchner]

On the subject of engines - Was at Monterey years ago and there was a Lola BSR running there that had a much deeper sound than the rest in his group. Strolled over to his paddock after the session to find a YAC in the back instead of some other Cosworth configuration. He told me he was spending something like 1/4 of what he spent on the other engines, having a blast just enjoying driving the car.

If you want to go way overboard Cosworth makes an aluminum pinto block. One could build an all-aluminum long-rod Pinto or YAC and still be thousands ahead in both purchase and maintenance....

[Mesamaui]

On the subject of engines - Was at Monterey years ago and there was a Lola BSR running there that had a much deeper sound than the rest in his group. Strolled over to his paddock after the session to find a YAC in the back instead of some other Cosworth configuration. He told me he was spending something like 1/4 of what he spent on the other engines, having a blast just enjoying driving the car.

If you want to go way overboard Cosworth makes an aluminum pinto block. One could build an all-aluminum long-rod Pinto or YAC and still be thousands ahead in both purchase and maintenance....

Thats what I did I’m hoping to run the Car here on the west coast by the end of the year
Maui