I received a project Daytona that a customer recently purchased. I won’t be restoring this car, but will be taking inventory to see what’s missing and the scope of the restoration. The 365GT 2+2 is one I’ve been working on for a while. The engine and transmission is rebuilt along with the brakes and many other components on this car.

Small items like the fuel sender were repaired to get this car fully functional for the road.

The problem I face now is getting the car tuned in the Northeast. I don’t have a fancy dyno in my shop to tune the carburetors, but do it the old fashioned way by road testing the car after adjustments. With snow on the ground, and temps hovering around 30 degrees, it’s hard to get the engine up to full operating temps to tune the carburetors.

I finally got a nice 50 degree day and took the car out for testing and tuning. Every time I drive one of these “Queen Mother” Ferraris, I’m reminded how good they are. They have plenty of power, are easy to maneuver with power steering, and stops well with modern vented brakes.

I have two 330s at my shop that belong to the same owner. One is a 330GTC that is heading out for stripping so it can get a bare metal respray, and the other one is a SI 2+2 that is getting a few upgrades.

I’ve been making a list of to-dos for this car while it’s sent out for paint. Some of these issues have to be corrected before the paint is applied, while others are parts that I have to source or repair.

One great find were the side window brackets that were rotted out. My initial plan was to cut the rotted steel pieces and weld in the old attachment hardware to the new pieces, but my friends at CPR had already made these brackets and had a set in stock. They’re exact copies of the originals, and they even went through the trouble of having the part cadmium plated! Not only did I not have to spend time cutting, fabricating, and welding, I picked these up in Arizona when I was visiting CPR’s shop, so I was able to take them home in my luggage to save on shipping. Win, win, win!

The interior door pieces on this GTC were in great shape and I plan to preserve them instead of restoring them. I’m leaning away from obliterating the past history of a car by completely restoring  a car that doesn’t need it. Some cars are too far gone to save, but whenever a part is too nice to restore, I try to save it. This is the case with this GTC.

The window felts on this car were even in great shape, not rotted like you would expect, but a couple of the pop rivets had come loose, so the felt was not secured well to the door molding. I drilled out the old rivets and re-secured the felts.

The other 330 is a very nice car, but the owner wants to make it a reliable driver. There are a couple of items in my opinion that really help make Vintage Ferraris more reliable, and one of them is to install a modern “High Torque” starter. These starters are smaller and use a reduction gear to start and engine with a lot let draw on the battery compared to the original Marelli starter. When a Ferrari starting system is in top shape, it can start with decent reliability, but as batteries get weak, and brushes get worn on a 50 plus year old Ferrari starter, things start going bad. The resistance caused by an old starter draws so much amperage from the battery, that it robs voltage from the ignition system trying to fire 12 plugs from two coils. It’s getting harder to find a good rebuilder for these old Ferrari Starters, and if the windings are shorted out, it becomes even harder. The easier solution is to install one of these modern Ferrari Starters.

Getting the old one out will be the biggest challenge, but if you’re lucky enough to have a split header like this 330, it makes life a little easier. Removal of the header on the right side of the engine will allow access to the monster starter, only to be replaced by a modern starter that is half the size. Don’t let the size fool you, the new starter will spin the engine at a higher speed, and draw less amperage than the original starter. If your ignition system is in good tune, you should hear your engine start with just a bump of the starter switch!

The Ferrari Club of America meet came to an end, the cars were getting loaded, but we’ll do it again next year. I can’t thank the guys enough at Exclusive Motor Cars of Arizona, and  Steve and Klarissa Mraovic, for helping me with the two cars I brought to AZ. The logistics of moving, cleaning, receiving, loading, fixing, tracking, and showing cars for an event like this usually takes a team of people, and I couldn’t have done it without the guys at EMC. Thanks Guys!

I also have to thank these guys. Ed Montini and Tom Mischke. They were a big help moving my 275GTS from the show to EMC. Thanks!

Tom owns Classic Performance Restoration in Gilbert AZ, and they have been making a mark on the Ferrari Concours Field with a 330GTC at Cavallino and now the FCA. I’ve known Ed for years back when he was working on his personal 330GT 2+2, and now he and Tom are restoring Ferraris together. They won a Platinum and a major award at this FCA meet, and look for Ed’s Ellena at Cavallino this January.

The Ferrari 275GTS I brought to the FCA was very close to a Platinum, but after last week’s fiasco with the tabulation of the scores, I guess a Gold award was still something to be proud of. The process of judging, despite the owner’s and restorer’s chagrin, is a little fluid. Rumor has it, I was 1/2 a point from Platinum on this car! Since receiving my Gold award, I’ve been going over the deductions, and strategizing how to get those points back. The process involves reaching out to the Chief Concours Judges and asking for a copy of the Score sheet. Depending on how busy people are, the score sheet can be obtained in a few days or weeks. The score sheet will let you know how many points you car scored out of 100 points along with notes on where the deductions were made and why. On scores in the mid 90s, you have a very good car, and corrections can bring this car very close to platinum, but on cars scoring in the 80s, judges often stop deducting. The score sheet offers a good road map to improvement, but I have heard plenty of stories where an owner corrected all the things deducted on the score sheet only to have it judged again with practically the same score! This can get pretty frustrating, but if the car has a bunch of things wrong with it, a new set of judges can easily find more that is wrong.

Once I get the score sheet, I’ll report what we’re going to do next!

The Ferrari Club of America Meet was in Phoenix this year, and I was showing a Ferrari 275GTS for the first time. This car has fought us all the way to this point, but it was finally delivered to Arizona to show the world the work Francois and I had done over the past few years. Steve Mraovic of Exclusive Motorcars of Arizona was gracious enough to receive the car from my transporter at his shop. Steve was the Concours Chairperson, so he and his crew were busy enough running the Ferrari show, so having them make room for the couple cars I was managing was a favor well beyond expectations. Thanks guys!

After checking in and making sure we all had the right credentials, it was time to catch up with some old friends. My first meal was shared with some pretty knowledgeable people in the Ferrari world, all involved longer than the scant 20 years since I bought my car! Jim Riff, Clem Simmons, and Brian Crall, were sharing the stories about Ferraris I love to hear!

The morning of the Concours had me driving the 275GTS from Steve’s shop to the show field. It’s always a little stressful driving a 7 figure car on public roads, let alone in unfamiliar traffic in the dark. Things got from bad to worse as the brakes that I’ve been working on started to give me problems. I pulled off the highway and examined the problem. I was determined to get the car to the show no matter what, so I pulled out the tool roll, and released the front brakes that were starting to seize. A new master cylinder was installed just a couple of weeks ago, and yet it was not releasing. Having no time to figure it out now, I managed to limp the car to the show with a combination of light braking and a lot of hand brake application. I don’t even want to share the harrowing experience, but I made it to the show field, and I asked what else could possibly happen!?

Despite the brake issue, I was ready to show the car. I knew there had been a couple points brought up that the judges were questioning, but overall, I was proud of the work Francois and I did. I wanted this car to do well in judging for a number of reasons. Not only to make the owner of the car proud, but Francois as well. Turning 80 last year, Francois told me this car will probably be the last car he will completely restore, so I wanted to showcase his career with a good result. I’ve worked along side my mentor throughout this project, and felt pretty good.

The Arizona show had a good turnout exceeding initial expectations on attendance.

The Daytona class was well represented, and although one of my customers shipped his car out to the show, he was more interested in taking his car to the track!

At the end of the day, the organizers would put cards on the cars that won an award so they could drive across the reviewing stand. Many of the cars in my class found cards on their windshields, but our 275GTS did not receive a card. Trying my best not to show my disappointment on the outside, I was in great turmoil on the inside. I knew there were a few points deductions that may have brought us out of Platinum contention, but was baffled how this car could be off the podium all together. I’ve heard this complaint for years from many owners that were in the same situation and decided to keep my mouth shut, and take what the judges decided.

After a sleepless night and horrible call to the owner of the 275GTS to give him the news that his car that I restored over the past several years would be coming home empty handed, I decided to go for long drive to clear my mind. I couldn’t stop reviewing the events of the day before trying to make sense of what happened.

My drive took me to the outskirts of Phoenix over looking the city, and I stopped by the track to look in on my customer doing hot laps in his Daytona. While I was in the paddock, my phone exploded with text and emails to contact Chris Current, the Chief Judge of the Ferrari Club. The messages informed there was a mistake and I should speak to Mr. Current.

Chris explained that during the awards presentation a 2nd place gold award that was for my 275GTS had not been given out! All the stress, angst, and self doubt drained away from me almost immediately. Chris apologized and offered to make an announcement at the closing banquet of the error, but I told him it wouldn’t be necessary. Receiving the award was all that I needed to prove I had the judge’s recognition of a good car!

The FCA Southwest Region organized a “Western Night” at a place in the desert. They did a great job and was a fun to get a feel of the local color. I had a good time, especially after the burden of “losing” was alleviated!

I spent some time talking to Charles Betz at the party. He and his partner (not pardner) Fred Peters are legendary restorers that have been collecting and restoring for over 40 years. I visited their shop nine years ago and it’s always good to catch up!

Chris Current slipped me the award I was supposed to get right before the Banquet the next night, better late than never!

I can see why this Ferrari Club Meet was so popular. There was such a variety of things to do so there was something for everyone. I drove up to Prescott and Sedona twice during my stay. The first time, I joined Donovan Leydon when he told me he was going for a drive though Prescott. I’ve made some great friends through the FCA, and it’s made better when we can spend more time with one another than just on the show field. Although we chatted cars most of the time, I learned a whole other side to Donovan I would have never known if we hadn’t done this drive together. Thanks for letting me tag along Donovan.

I took the drive north of Phoenix again with my friend and fellow Ferrari collector Stuart Field to do some hiking. The sandstone buttes surrounding Sedona were spectacular, and after eating an drinking for the last couple of days, it felt good to get out and scramble up some of the trails.

This area is known for some good 4 wheel drive trails too, and maybe one day I’ll come back to see the country side from the inside of a Jeep!

Always trying to squeeze one more activity into a day away from home, Stuart and I headed to the Phoenix Art Museum to see the “Art of Speed” exhibition.

There was a very nice collection of significant race cars at this exhibit and I’m glad I found time to see it.

The bonus was I met my friend Bill Pack who photographed the companion book to this exhibit. It was great to catch up and hear some of the behind-the-scenes stories about his cross country trip photographing all these cars in their collections before they were all shipped to Phoenix for this show.

The disassembly of the 330 GTC continued. After the doors were disassembled, I worked my way towards the extractor vents on the front fenders of the car. There are a bunch of fiddly little parts that hold these pieces together, and since they were painted before, I had to see if any original parts were missing.

The first problem I found was someone used speed clips to reassemble these grille pieces when they did a color change on this car. Speed clips are stamped steel clips that press onto a threaded bolt so you don’t have to use a nut. As their name implies, they speed assembly up, but since the clearance behind the grille wouldn’t allow these clips to spin nor would the studs the speed clips were attached to. I cursed the previous restorer or painter that took this short cut only to make my job that much harder!

Another short cut the previous body guy took was he or she used plastic filler to glue the grille pieces in place. Shame on you!

After seeing this kind of work, I’m beginning to wonder what kind of surprises I’ll find next!

The good news was since this car was “masked and sprayed,” the sloppy body work didn’t affect the way the side windows were installed since they were not apart since it left the factory.

Having disassembled a few GTCs in the last several years, I knew exactly where to find the screws hidden under the old gaskets and sealant.

I started making a list of “to-dos” that would need to be addressed when this car goes back together. One of them was to fabricate new side window brackets.

These brackets secure the windows to the cable system that raises and lowers the side glass, but the felt that insulated the metal bracket absorbed moisture through the years and caused the brackets to rust pretty badly.

Removing the grille was next after I pulled the front bumpers off the car.

The next short cut taken my the last person who took this grille off the car was they stripped a capture nut, so instead of repairing the problem, they replaced the original oval head phillips head screw with a flat head, and held it in place with a regular nut. Without a capture nut securing this screw the only way to hold the backing nut on this set up was to contort my arm through the turn signal lamp hole to reach behind the grille to hold the nut so I could unscrew the fastener. More cursing was directed to the previous person who worked on this car!

The front and rear glass was carefully removed. I cut the gasket out from inside the car, and carefully pushed and pried the glass loose from the window frame.

The chrome surround on this window will be sent out for rechroming after I remove the rest of the windshield gasket.

There was some signs of minor body work done to the nose and trunk area of the car, so I’ll be sending this car out for paint stripping to decide what kind of repairs will be needed next. Stay tuned!

I have a Ferrari 330GTC with Weber DFI carburetors that were missing cover plates that keep dust and debris from the throttle shaft gears. I checked with my usual sources and found these to be very rare and hard to replace. Finding one was going to a challenge, and three would be nearly impossible, let alone the price for a set when the seller knows how hard they are to come by.

I decided to try having these pieces made using 3D printing. Luckily, I had another car with a cover plate I could use to copy, so I sent it off to my Friend Steven Dibden at Additive Restorations. We talked about the environment these plates would have to live in, but he felt the printed material would withstand the heat from the engine.

I’ll have to get the correct oval head screw to secure the part, but the plate fit perfectly.  The color of the plates were a little lighter than the original die cast pieces, but was close enough to do its job. Luckily, with a GTC, there’s a large air cleaner housing that covers the carburetors so they’re going to be hard to see. This job was perfect to use new technology for a old problem of finding rare parts. Thank Steven!

A customer of mine bought this car several months ago with the intentions to have it re-painted. The current color was applied many years ago, from the condition of the surface, it was done cheaply and worn out. There is cracking and shrinking of the under layers, and it was time for a proper paint job.

A bare metal respray starts with a complete disassembly of the car. I started with the doors, and removed the chrome window frames and mechanisms.

From there I moved onto the door sills and part of the interior where I ran into the first of the normal problems in disassembling a car. A few of the sheet metal screws under the door sills were rusted in place. The phillips heads were quickly stripped, so I had to resort to drilling out the screws. These suckers were hard steel! These days, we’re so used to having soft mild steel for sheet metal screws, I was surprised to find these screws resisting my drill bit.

I eventually got them out and will deal with the broken off bit once I get the rest of the interior out of the car.

As I suspected, this car was masked and painted the last time it saw fresh paint. The grey paint under the door panels is what the car was the original color, and we will be going back to this when the car gets painted.

Grigio Fumo, or smoke grey, was the name of the color, without any metallic. It’s an understated color, but I think it’ll look great on this car.

I’ve worked on a couple of cars painted in this color. Both of them were original paint cars.

In bright sun, this color lightens up. This PF Coupe had a blue interior.

This GTE had a light natural leather interior.

I’ll have to research what color the GTC originally came with and help the owner decide what to go with.