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1949 Maserati 4CLT Grand Prix
by AN Owner
My 4CLT carries chassis number 1605 and has engine number 1602. It appears to be of completely standard 4CLT configuration having a tube frame chassis with coil front springs. The engine is of the most fascination being a 4 cylinder, two block, valve in block, 16 valve, single plug, twin state supercharged version of 1500cc displacement. There is some possibility that the primary blower is larger than that normally fitted to 4CLTs, but this has not been verified to my satisfaction. The type is variously referred to as 4CLT and 4CLT/48, but no one has ever been able to explain to me if there were actually two sub-models and what the differences are between them, if any.
This model was produced primarily in 1948 and 1947 as a logical development of the pre-war 4CL model which has a very similar engine, the primary difference being that it was single stage blown. My records indicate a total producton of 24 cars, 9 of which seem to have survived to the present time.
They were quite successful in 1948 and 1949 and won their first ever race at San Remo, Italy, in May 1948. This victory resulted in the 4CLT receiving the unofficial subname of the "San Remo" model. By 1950, Alfa and Ferrari became increasingly dominant as the, 4CLT was not being continuously updated and developed. By the end of 1951, they were usually relegated to the rear of Continental grids and many were exported to South America, New Zealand, and the US. Numbers of them could be seen filling the rear of grids for some years, though rarely was any success found.
I'm not certain as to my 4CLT's early history but do know that it was delivered to Scuderia Plate, the Argentine racing organization on 7th July, 1949. This group not only raced a variety of cars in Argentina but also sponsored Argentine drivers, such as Fangio and Gonzalez, in European events. My car was shipped to Argentina in July 1949, but little is known as to when it was run in Argentina, who drove it, or how long it was there.
It was subsequently acquired by Reg Parnell, in England, who had another 4CLT as well. Parnell sold both of these machines to George Weaver, of Thompson, Connecticut, some time in 1952. He intended to campaign them in Formula Libre events and Hill Climbs. Mr Weaver is believed to have used the other 4CLT extensively but my car was evidently either run sparingly or not at all. The other 4CLT has bronze blocks and distinctive non-original body modifications. This car still exists in totally dismantled condition, owned by his widow, and is not for sale at any price.
George Weaver sold my car in 1965 to Ed Jurist of the Vintage Car Store, Nyack, New York, who disposed of it to Cameron Millar. It was shipped to Mr Millar, in England, during February 1966. As I understand its subsequent English meanderings, Mr Millar sold it to Peter Newens who began the restoration but, in turn, sold it partially finished to Jeremy Delmar-Morgan. Most of the balance of the restoration was carried out during his ownership. At the point in time during 1972 when I heard it might be available, the car had been test run once at Silverstone where supercharger problems cropped up. It was then dismantled and the blowers sent out to be repaired. Replacement drive gears had to be constructed as the originals were badly damaged when it was run.
At that stage of the game, I was trying to acquire a 4CLT and offered Anthony Bamford a swap of my 1957 Ferrari prototype right-hand drive Testa Rossa for his 4CLT, which I believe was acquired as part of the Carl Bross estate. This particular TR was re-engined by the factory in 1958 with a 4.1 litre 4 cam V-12 and painted flat black for Alan Connell, the Texas driver, as a Lister beater for American sports car races.
This engine was later blown up and a 250 Tour de France motor substituted. I shipped the TR to England only to have the 4CLT deal fall through. At that point, Alain DeCadenet expressed an interest in having the TR in exchange for the Delmar-Morgan 4CLT. The swap part of the deal came to nothing but I succeeded in buying the 4CLT outright in late 1972 with the brake master cylinders and blowers off the car, but supposedly otherwise complete and fully restored.
The TR was subsequently purchased by an English dealer, repainted red and was run in the 1973 Le Mans historic race. I've lost track of it since then.
Upon purchasing the 4CLT, I, in turn, sold off the ex-Robby Baird modified 4CLT that had been brought over to the US from Ireland some years before. I believe this machine has since been taken to England by its present owner and is once again for sale.
Continuing apace with my adventures, the 4CLT sat in London from November 1972 to May 1973 when I finally got fed up with waiting for the blowers to be fixed. All the pieces were gathered together and the whole works was airfreighted over to New York. The tail got dented in the process but at least it was all near me so it could get some much needed attention.
Several people studied the blower problem and all had discouraging conclusions as to what needed to be done and what it would cost to do. The nub of the situation seemed to be a case of a bent rotor drive shaft causing the drive gears to get chewed up and destroying themselves. I finally had Larry Taylor of Storrs, Connecticut, take a look at the situation and he deduced that the real problem was actually the drive gear aligning keys had been machined off centre. He took the 4CLT to Storrs, made offset keys which took care of that little headache, assembled the blowers, put back on the brake master cylinders and got the car running. It was now mid-July and we decided to take it up to Lime Rock for a little Tuesday afternoon test session.
It appeared to run quite well at the track and I was quite impressed with it after driving only a few laps. Strong acceleration, immediate throttle response, and good handling with the exception of mediocre brakes.
Numerous problems cropped up at that time, the most serious involving the front tyre inside walls rubbing against the tie rod ends. This was caused by the front wheels being insufficiently offset to compensate for its wider than original tyres. The front wheels are 17 inch and used 5:00 x 17 tyres but Dunlop 5:25/5:50 x 17's are now fitted, being the only 17 inch racing tyres available these days. The extra width is what caused the rubbing problem. It was temporarily alleviated by shimming the wheels but the long term solution is to rebuild them with a greater offset to be certain of more clearance. As a side note, I am desperate for more Dunlop 5:25/5:50 x 17 racing tyres for both this car and my 1938 Maserati 6C Grand Prix. Can anyone help me out in locating some additional ones? This, and most of the other problems except an odd hissing sound from one cylinder, were ironed out in time for the 4CLT to take part in the Vintage race held in conjunction with the US Grand Prix, at Watkins Glen, on October 7th, 1973. Larry did the driving as I was unable to be there myself.
However, during practice for the event, which was actually the first occasion the car had been extensively run, a really serious problem arose. The oil return from the blowers to the sump had been blocked off, probably during restoration, causing oil to build up in the blower bearings under high pressure with nowhere to go. The pressure eventually forced the oil through the bearing seals and into the blowers and hence to the combustion chambers. The result was great clouds of blue smoke, no power, fouling plugs, and the usual oily mess.
It was also discovered that the main cooling passage bringing water to the exhaust valve seats was not operative. The reason for it not working was quite simple. The passage was part of a magnesium housing on the rear of the engine and had rotted out years before and been blocked off. This, of course, caused the engine to run excessively hot.
After concluding that these problems could not be fixed at the track, but modest running wouldn't worsen the situation, the decision was made to run it in the race. For a few laps, until the oil level built up again in the blowers, it demonstrated a fine turn of speed, but eventually Larry was forced to bring it in to the pits for good.
The decision as to what to do now was very simple. Pull the engine down and fix these problems once and for all. During the dismantling process, Larry discovered that the source of the hissing noise was broken valve seats, and therein lies an explanation. Originally, the Maserati supplied cylinder blocks for the 4CLT (two are used) engine were constructed of cast iron with the valve seats machined directly in them. I don't know what kinds of problems were encountered in these blocks, but many of the surviving 4CLTs have blocks made of other materials. As an example, the other Weaver car has bronze blocks also with the valve seats directly machined in them. My car, however, has aluminium blocks with bronze valve seats. These seats had been staked, possibly when the blocks were made, or because they became loose at some later stage. On one exhaust valve seat the staking or excessive heat weakened the bronze to a point where it cracked causing an inadequate mating surface and the hissing noise. This necessitated a complete re-machining and rebuilding of the blocks.
The teardown revealed that the last engine rebuild must have consisted primarily of putting in new rings as every other piece was old and untouched. The pistons turned out to be very porous and the bearings were quite worn. New pistons were ordered and the cams sent out to be re-worked.
With the engine out, the chassis was given a thorough looking over and it was decided to completely re-restore the whole car. It was then dismantled to the last nut and bolt. The frame was sand blasted and repainted black. All chassis components that were polished or plated were removed, properly buffed, stopped off and sent out to be plated. The front suspension was originally polished steel but it was both rusty and corroded, so bright plating was adopted as the wisest course, due to the difficulty in our humid climate of preventing further rusting.
All the aluminium or magnesium pieces, including the brake backing plates, differential housing, transmission case, etc., were bead blasted and then sprayed with clear epoxy. Hopefully, this action will prevent future corroding and discolouring. At this point, more than six months after such treatment, there has not been any discolouring. Usually with magnesium pieces the most perfect polishing job turns grey and murky looking within two months. Hopefully, epoxy is the long term solution. The body has been stripped to bare aluminium and has yet to be primed and painted though the metal is in exceptionally good condition. It had a set of peculiar hood latches when I acquired it, but proper ones of the original type have been procured.
At this stage, the chassis has been put back together as the accompanying photographs depict. The engine work is still in process and it is hoped that the car can be completed and made ready to participate in Spring 1975 Vintage events.
This article first appeared in the Winter 1974/75 issue of Trident
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