9/20/10
Old Friends, New Friends

An old friend got delivered to Francois’ shop last week. It’s David’s Ferrari PF Coupe SN1747. She’s come a long way since I first found her in Oregon two years ago. Since David bought her from the previous owner of 33 years we’ve been sympathetically maintaining her orignal details. He’s taken 1747 on the Mountain Mille, showed her at Cavallino this past January, and plans to take her to the 2011 Ferrari Club National Event in June. I’ll be preparing her for this event over the next few months, so look forward to seeing what’s in store.

On the same truck from Florida, a 330GTC was unloaded. This car was recently purchased by another David. I believe the story is this car was it partially disassembled for paint, but was left languishing after the paint was applied. A well known West Coast purvayor of Ferraris bought this project, assembled the car, supplied some of the missing pieces, and sold the car to its current owner. David sent the car to us to try and sort some of the issues to make this a reliable driver.

The first order of business was to pull the hydraulics on this car. The clutch master cylinder was leaking, and making a mess of the paint under the dash. The brake booster was not working properly, and needed to be rebuilt, and the master cylinder can be sent out at the same time.

The booster on these cars is no fun to remove, not to mention the care needed to not get brake fluid on any painted surfaces. The nuts securing the booster are not easy to get to, so some contortions and creative language always helps.

I’m not a big fan of these new “gear wrench” type wrenches being sold. I’ve rarely found a time only these wrenches will work in an application, but today I found one!

The limited space behind the booster was perfect for the gear wrench. I could have taken the nut out with a regular wrench, but the ratcheting wrench made this job a little easier. I may have to break down an buy a set for my own shop!

The fourth nut required partial disassembly of the inner fender splash shield and heater assembly, but I finally got the booster out. It will be sent out for rebuilding and gold cadmium plating. It was no wonder it wasn’t working, it was half filled with brake fluid!

When I went to remove the inner splash shield, I found something different. What is normally an aluminum splash shield, I found a hard rubber piece that resembled a mud flap. It certainly serves its purpose, but I’ll have to see if we can find a proper shield for its replacement!

The soft hoses on this car looked new, but we decided to check the calipers. The seals look fresh too, and the bores look nice and clean. I think the brakes will be fine once we get the booster and master cylinder refurbished.

While I had my head under the rear wheel well trying to sort out the rear brakes, I saw a problem with the rear half shaft. The rubber boot is split all the way around, and will need replacing. The half shaft will have to come out, inspected, and packed with new grease inside a new boot.

The parking brake cable is seized, and I’ll be sorting that out next. While the handle is out, we’ll clean it up and grease the mechanism.

Reminder: If you’re looking for a Vintage Ferrari, or have a Vintage Ferrari for sale, please let me know. I would be happy to help you in any way that I can. I am not a broker, but occasionally hear of a good car for sale and love gettting them to the end user!

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