1971 McLaren M16 Research

[pje]

I’m doing research for a 1971 McLaren M16 project and I’m looking for detail photos. The area hardest to find photos of is the rear of the car. I’m trying to figure out how the gearbox surround that supports the rear wing is attached to the car. I have the usual sources like the yearbook, Road & Track, video, even some plans that I'm adding more detail to, but nothing that shows me any real understandable detail of the back of the car. If you have anything to share or can just point me to a source, I would really appreciate it.

Paul Erlendson

[Calvin]

This was on top of the google image search - you prolly already seen this?



8w.forix.com/ferrari-indianapolis-1970s.html

[Calvin]

[pje]

Thanks Calvin,

Yes, I do have the top two photos of one of the Team McLaren cars. Notice the two support rods attached to the roll bar that extend back and are connected to vertical rods at the transaxle. That indicates that this is a M16B. Either a M16A didn’t have any support rods for the rear wing or they were hidden under the engine cover.
I haven’t seen the third photo before. Thanks for that.

Paul Erlendson

[mjjracer]

Sept 25, 2013 0:56:04 GMT -5 Calvin said:

Is that Denny Hulme working on the plugs??

[indy]

Sept 25, 2013 19:17:11 GMT -5 mjjracer said:

Sept 25, 2013 0:56:04 GMT -5 Calvin said:

Is that Denny Hulme working on the plugs??

Is that a Penske patch on the mechanic's arm?

Jordan

[lance]

This is a shot of the m16a in an early test before the rear bodywork was added or numbers added to the car. The rear wing supports are later inclosed in the rear body work. The rear wing was adjustable and the rear bodywork moved with the rear wing Per the rules at the time, the rear wing needed to be part of the body.

[lance]

It should also be noted that the m16a had a narrower track than the m16b.

[indycals]

Lance, do you know what the rules were in 72 and 73 regarding engine covers and the rear wing? No cars really had wings attached to the bodywork in 72, but in 73 a bunch of them did.

[pje]

Thanks for the photo Lance. I had a copy, but not nearly as good resolution. In the photo there certainly seems to be a center support under the wing but are you sure about the rear wing being adjustable? According to the August 1971 Road & Track article about the 500 race, the author Mike Anson wrote: “A non-adjustable wing (the ride height of the car can be adjusted however to crank in more or less wing) satisfies the rules by being part of the tail piece.”

Michael, my research shows that USAC changed the rules for the 1972 season allowing adjustable independent rear wings. Then of course as we have discussed before in other threads as speeds increased, they narrowed the rear wings. I think that engine covers after 1971 were aerodynamic efforts by the designers and not something dictated by the rules makers.

Paul Erlendson

[lance]

Am not sure about when the rule changed as far as the wing being part of the body work. By the 71 Pocono 500 more teams started bolting on wings to whatever they had and often times they did not appear to be part of the bodywork. USAC relented and allowed wings for 72 that were not part of the body. Rear wings exploded to around 6 foot in length and were not allowed to be bolted to the suspension or be movable while the car was running. The cars that ran engine covers in 73 and later were only doing so hoping for an aerodynamic addvantage, some had them and some did not. It should also be noted that the engine covers used after 71 ere not molded to or rigidly attached to the rear wings.

[Bluespirit]

2013 ...... it's so far ...

I have 3 questions.

- Does somebody know the GY ,front and rear , tire sizes (xx.xx / yy.yy - 15) in 1971 ? Between 1969 and 1972 ,they change all years .

- Have you a good picture of the rear of the McLaren (1971),with the bodywork ?

- And , about the airfoil rule :
Eagle have wings inside the wheelbase ,and McLaren ,outside .Do they had the same width ( front track width )?

Thank.
Dominique.

[indycals]

"Eagle have wings inside the wheelbase ,and McLaren ,outside .Do they had the same width ( front track width )?" In in 1972 and 73 wings were allowed to go to the centerline of the rear tires, which typically was 63". All McLarens and Eagles had the full width rear wings in 72 and 73. After Indy 1973 rear wing widths were reduced to 55" (the AMT McLaren kit has the 55" wing). For 1974 they were reduced to 43". So if you see an eagle with the wing inside the wheelbase, you are looking at a pic taken in 1974 or later.

BTW, the Mark Donohue winner in the IMS museum SHOULD have a 63" rear wing, but has a late 1973 55" rear wing (yes, I measured it). When C1 - and later Replicarz - did the 1972 McLarens they went with the incorrect 55" size as a basis for their models (in fairness to Replicarz they were just using the tooling they got from C1).

[Bluespirit]

Thanks for the "wings evolution history" .

"So if you see an eagle with the wing inside the wheelbase, you are looking at a pic taken in 1974 or later. "

At 1971  Indy 500 , Bobby Unser's Eagle have 2 small low wings just behind the front wheels ,and a big one on the engine cover ,just in front off the rear wheels .

I don't know (exactlely) how was the rule ,at time ,about the width of them in this case :front or rear track (the centerline of the tires)?

It was true for the coolers for all cars ,but they didn't increase the speed as the wings.

Apart from 4WD front wheels limited at 10 inch instead of 12 inches for 2WD , in 1969 , (but ,GY built new tires with 12 inch tread width ,fit on 10 inch rim),was there a rule about tire width in .... 70 ? 71 ? 72 ? and after ?

In another hand ,Lance has written :

"The rear wing was adjustable and the rear bodywork moved with the rear wing Per the rules at the time, the rear wing needed to be part of the body."

That was on the paper , but , if you look well the McLaren rear wings (for the race) , you can see that the rear wings where not the same than for practices .

On P.Revson car ,it was more camber and the stips were not paint (the rear part of the engine cover was new).

On M. Donohue car , it was a little lower ,but the wing was a little more curved at the rear end ,and ..... in aluminium  ,and the engine cover was in glass fiber .

It "was part of the body" ,but was not "monobloc" or realy the "same part" .

Between the two parts , it was possible to do ...... all what you want .      .... I think .

Dominique.