1972 March 729 Formula Ford

[Mike42]

This March FF is currently at Bills home in Lompoc, CA
(Updated - Price Reduced / Trades and Offers Considered)
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me
text or call 951-764-2468 or email lateapex42@gmail.com

Bill Will Consider Offers, if you are at all interested give him a call
The following text is from the owner Bill Pierce
Bill Can be reached at 805-588-8787


For sale. 1972 March 729 vintage Formula Ford.
This car was built in 1972 in San Diego by Wayne Mitchell Engineering under license from March Engineering of the United Kingdom. Jim Johnson of Seattle bought the car as a basket case and restored it and raced with Sovern until he crashed heavily and stopped racing. The car was basically rebuilt from the ground up with meticulous attention to detail. I have Jim's account of the rebuild which I will be happy to share. The engine was rebuilt by Jay Ivey in 2015 and had one race weekend on it when the accident occurred. The engine was sent to Ivey and the lower end was rebuilt and the entire engine was dyno'd. I have copies of the dyno sheets on request. The transmission was also rebuilt after the accident as well. I have only run the car for three weekends since I owned it. That is the best I can do in terms of hours on the drive train. Since buying the car I have done the following. All new master cylinders and calipers rebuilt. Brand new custom fitted fuel cell by Harmon Racing Cells. Moved the shifter forward two inches. Relocation of the fire system. The car, under my ownership, has been race prepared and maintained by Dwayne and Mike Anderson in Temecula.
So, why sell? A few reasons. Some years ago I was injured in a Formula Ford at Buttonwillow. Since then, I cannot fully straighten my right arm which makes shifting very difficult. We have tried to solve the problem many ways (hence the forward placement of the shifter). It is better but still difficult and often painful. Secondly, I will soon be 71 years old and close open wheel racing, which typifies Formula Ford competition, may be in the past for me. I still like to go fast but we can't all be Bob Hatle, can we. I can tuck the car in here at home and smile at it whenever I see it, or, sell it to someone who can drive it as it was meant to be driven.
The body of the car is nearly perfect. It runs extremely well. There is a tiny invisible leak in the transmission case. Dwayne has been looking into this for me and tells me that several people who are very knowledgable have strongly recommended against attempting to weld on the case. It is literally a few drops per session. We have tried epoxy but have not run the car since the epoxy was applied. To my knowledge, it is the only issue with the car.


Spares include 6 gearsets, body molds for the nose and engine cover. A new unmounted set of tires, 4 steel rims, miscellaneous suspension parts and other odds and ends.


Please check out the links to a wonderful article on the car done by British Racecar magazine when Jim owned it. There is also a video of me in the car at Buttonwillow.


The car is for Sale or Trade. My interests tend toward vintage cars and motorcycles. I really like racing vehicles but would consider something street legal.

Also Check out this beautiful article from the previous owner Jim Johnson

Here is a YouTube video of Bill driving at Buttonwillow

[Mike42]

Quoted from and email from Jim Johnson who helped with the restoration

Post wreck, the March was hauled from Spokane back to the Seattle area by friend Ken Dye of DnD Fabricating and kept at his shop. My friend Tom Balzarini and I hauled it up to his shop closer to my home. We tore the car down completely and shipped the engine down to Ivey. The engine had undergone a complete rebuild by Jay in the winter of 2015-16 and had one race weekend on it prior to the wreck. It is my understanding they pulled the bearings from the bottom end and found some wiping and replaced all of them, then inspected the rest of the engine, re-assembled it, and ran it on the dyno to make sure everything was good.

Ken Dye and his son Tracy rebuilt the frame and fabricated replacement suspension parts. They also went through the gearbox and rebuilt it. Tony Garmey at Horizon Racing rebuilt the steering rack. Tom and I did the fiberglass work and Frank Martinez finished it up and got it ready to paint. Al Murray of Murray Motorcars did the final paint. All these guys are SOVREN members, and I wanted to spread the work around. Tom and I then put everything back together in his shop.

[scorp997]

That is a fantastic car and the repair work was top notch all the way. I’ve run with Jim for several years and the car was consistently fast and reliable.

[marchsv]

Glad to see the car again!! I’m still cleaning fiberglass from my tools!

Best of luck with her she has been on a journey!!

Tom

[scorp997]

Tom, you have always done great work… you should swing by the track sometime and catch up

[wjpierce]

Tom, you have always done great work… you should swing by the track sometime and catch up

We are planning to bring the car to the VARA race at Willow Springs April 19,19 if anyone cares to see it.

[Rick Iverson]

That ain’t no race car. That’s a piece of art.

[racerxlilbro]

This car is exceptional. Someone above called it a work of art. That's not an exaggeration! Someone buy this car!!!

[amorrison]

It is definitely a cool car! I had a the pleasure of racing with Jim, the previous owner, for many years and spent a lot of time looking at this car up close from all angles :-). Here's about 8 minutes of pre-HD race video from 2009 that features a fun battle with this March: https://youtu.be/vc6iVDgW_eo

Cheers, and good luck with the sale.

[marchsv]

To the future owner of this beautiful car. There is a “trick” to installing the engine in this car. The engine and transaxle must be installed as a unit WITHOUT the motor mounts. The upper right water hose (shown in the 9th picture) needs to be attached on both ends before you go any further in the installation process. This will save several hours of cursing!!!!

Best of luck with the sale!

[scorp997]

my old RP16 had a similar sequence.. the removable upper engine frame HAD to be loosely in place one the engine/trans before installation since it couldn’t be installed one the rear crossmember was inplace. Before installing the rear crossmember, the rear discs had to be installed to the mounted calipers (no way to access them once installed, the starter went on after engine placement, and yes, the elbow to the water pump inlet had to be positioned to slide on as the engine was dropped… many choice words spoken during my first install, usually at each of the steps above when I had to go back a couple to go forward!

To the future owner of this beautiful car. There is a “trick” to installing the engine in this car. The engine and transaxle must be installed as a unit WITHOUT the motor mounts. The upper right water hose (shown in the 9th picture) needs to be attached on both ends before you go any further in the installation process. This will save several hours of cursing!!!!

Best of luck with the sale!

[provamo]

than new!

[Mike42]

Give Bill a call, he is motivated to make a deal on his beautiful FF

[wjpierce]

The car was sold and will be competing in the Crossflow Cup.