I am reasonably sure that your block is T37 but not T37A ! You need a T44 block for T37A.Unless you intend driving long distances I would not waste money on a new tank.As far as the dash is concerned,if Bunny made it then I would keep it but convert it to T37A by the cutting of a magneto tray hole.You will of course need lots of other expensive bits to go with the magneto such as the scroll drive,and belt and pulley for the tacho drive.I would [were it my car] leave well alone.I would like to see an air pump on the dashboard to pressurise the tank,I had thought that this was always fitted on T37s.It has always been considered "bad form" to keep racing numbers on a car used on the road,and in fact in the UK I believe it is not allowed by law.If you want to drive a Bugatti with racing numbers then go racing !That is after all what the cars were intended for.

I don't wish to seem disagreeable, but I think the block is Type 44; hence the water rail on the exhaust side.
Type 37 and 37A both had the water manifold on the inlet side, but T37As had the pump moved to the exhaust side and a manifold with its pipe running across the front of the block. Personlly, I think the car's history as a conversion makes the retention of the present layout -being an adaptaion, rather than a "down to last detail" replication- quite appropriate and if it were mine I wouldn't change it. Besides, the present arrangement directs the incoming cool water under the hottest part of the engine so it can serve first the needs of the exhaust ports/seats. I agree with Lazarus regarding the ignition, cheaper and easier to leave it as it is. The T37A used a quite unusual form of the Bosch unit used on T35s. Bugatti used magnetos on the 37A because it was a serious racer and the saving of dynamo and battery weight was worthwhile. For general use today the distributor does a perfectly adequate job. The car has a unique history which is reflected in its distinctive mix of parts, so why not retain that character?
Rod Amos

You are of course absolutely correct Rod and I was wrong.I should place less reliance on my failing memory and more on my photographs of the many T37's that i have built ! Please feel free to correct me at any time.I do not regard this as disagreeable,more friendly. We seem to be in agreement about the car,I stick to my guns though about the outside "flashy" gearlever gaiter surround.Too"old" pebble beach,and amaturish.But what a lovely toy this car is.The time to think about changing the block is when it ever needs replacement.

No apology necessary, I assure you. We are in absolute agreement about the car, it is a super thing (except perhaps for the gear lever aperture trim)
Rod Amos

Guys,

Thank you for the feedback! I do plan on racing the car, possibly at the 2010 Wine Country Classic, and for sure at the U.S. Bugatti Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, and the 50th Anniversary of the American Bugatti Club. As a result, I will need to put some racing numbers on the car for this.

I will take heart to your advice. Most likely, I will wait to change the block, until I need to. I am inclined to eventually change to Magneto ignition, but probably not for awhile.

I also received some advice that I should keep the Touring steering box, and not switch to a Grand Prix steering box. Why would you recommend this? As I will be racing, I do want to make sure he Touring steering box is perfectly safe.

Please let me know.

Thanks,

Andrew

I dont suppose that many GP owners have had as much experience of driving GP Bugattis fitted with touring boxes as I have.Yhe steering is delightfull especially if you have racing tyres on the car.I think maybe the best thing would be to try another car fitted with the little box.There are no safety issues.The T54 used the larger box.

The gearlever surround is part of the Bunny Phillips body style with the very special (non Molsheim) louvres.
Change the surround to make it Molsheim but then also the louvres....
I would immediately fit a GP steeringbox as you need the quick action for racing (provided you use the car for what I call racing!).
I would ask Jim to properly fit the distributor housing as it is fitted upside down.
Lazarus is right, all T37's had an airpump as fuel was air pressure fed. To improve originality I would get rid of the electric petrolpump and reinstall the pressure system including the engine driven airpump.
For the keen eye it is obvious that fitting the blower was not done like Molsheim converted a T37 to 37A but I would not bother about that these details as in the mean time they became part of the history of this car.
The consequence is however that this car is a T37 fitted with a blower and not a T37A.
Enjoy the car and use it as it was meant to be used!
Bugwrench

One thing that should be done before undertaking any serious motoring or racing would be to check there is adequate crankcase ventilation. The original breather went when the water pump was moved and, as T P Cholmondeley Tapper tells us in his book the consequence of not adding T37A breathers can be for crankcase pressure to push the oil out whever it can.
Rod Amos

leave the steering box,the large box is a delight.It was used on the GP T54 as well as the T53.Remember [ I didn't] that the fitting of an electric pump requires a hole in the petrol cap or some means of letting air enter the tank to allow the petrol to come out.If you refit the correct air system this hole must be blocked up.Failure to do this will result in no air pressure in the tank.Hugh Conway managed to take 5 photos of my T37 leaving the start line at prescott.Just to rub it in he sent them to me ! It ran beautifully on tickover but as soon as I accelerated nothing happened.[ I had fitted an electric pump ]

I believe the bonnet is original, as it was not changed in the 1949 tranformation from grand prix to roadster body, and when Bunny Phillips converted back to Grand Prix, the roadster body went to Erik Koux, but the bonnet was not included. As a result, the undertray may be from Bunny Phillips.

Which "louvers" do not look Molsheim, so I can focus on the ones that may need to be changed. Also, is there a way to fix these louvers with using the same undertray?

The gearlever surround is something we can look at changing. This should be rather easy (or at least easy for me to say!)

I will also ask about the air pump, and adequate crankcase ventilation.

Certainly, the car was originally an "unblown" Type 37, and then the supercharger was added in 1949 by the owner in France, at that time.

Any other thoughts? Thanks!

Dear Andrew,I would certainly try to correct the louvres without the expense of making a whole new piece.You need a copy original louvre and then to get a small press tool made.

Can you please identify the louvers that need to be changed? Are they the ones on the undertray only? Are the Bonnet ones OK? thanks!

can you put some photos on [ for bugwrench of course ! ] maybe after molsheim 100 !!

Do these pictures help?

I also found this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRO0rQspgbw. If you can't pull it up, then go to http://www.youtube.com and search "Bugatti at Bench". It shows a Type37, with the same Gear Lever Surround, that was mentioned earlier. Did Bunny Phillis do this car also, or could it be that this gear lever surround did have some history around it?