9/2/00 Back to Work

I had taken a week off from working on the Ferrari, but got quite a bit done on my first day back to work. I decided to make it a two part posting for Friday’s work, so I could tell you all about it.

Since the gas tank is installed, I turned my attention towards the filer neck. I needed to buy a hose that would connnect the filler neck to the gas tank. The first autoparts store I went to had a hose that was either too wide, or not wide enough. The hose was wire reinforced, so stretching it on was out of the question. They suggested trying a marie supply store, but I decide to try another autoparts store. I stopped by a local NAPA store. I often forget about NAPA because with all the discount autoparts stores, NAPA always seems expensive, but they usually have a great stock of parts. After some time looking in the back, the sales man found some gas filler hose that was a perfect fit. It fit very snugly on my filler neck, but was not wire reinforced, so I could stretch it very nicely. If you’ve ever replaced one of these hoses on a car, then you’ll know how much wrestling is involved in getting the rubber hose onto the hard filler neck, and having it very pliable really helps. They sell it by the foot, so I’ll have enough to change it again in 20 years!

Now that I have my soft hose for the filler neck, it’s time to clean and paint the filler neck. Not much of this filler will ever be seen, but if I’m going through all this trouble, I might as well keep cleaning and painting!

Speaking of cleaning and painting, I decided to start on the drive shaft. All the rust needed to be removed, along with the grease. I managed to remove most of it and deposit it all on my clothes, and hair by way of the wire wheel. It was better when it was a little cooler outside, because I could wear coveralls, but it was hot an muggy today, so shorts were a necessity. I must have looked like a coal miner!

A few months ago, I came very close to completing the parking brake sub-assembly, but was missing one simple piece. A short rod runs from the brake handle release button down to the brake mechanism, but it has a specific shape. I finally found one to copy from a car Fancois is currently restoring. He set it aside for me to see, but also said that he may have another one somewhere in his shop. My initial intention was to buy a steel rod, and bend it ino this shape, but Franocis warned that this material would need to be rally stiff so it wouldn’t bend under the stress of the lever. I’ll wait to see if he can locate the extra rod in his shop, but at least we have one to copy if need be.