7/1/11
Two More 330s, and GTE floors

I’ve got Ferrari 330GTs everywhere! Michael’s 330 America is at my house getting the heater core reinstalled. With the dash out, we’re having the dashboard painted along with all the other painted surfaces inside the car. Hopefully I’ll have these pieces back in a couple of weeks for installation.

The brake booster of 4969 is back from Karps and I mounted it in place. With the booster all nicely plated, the reservoir sure looked crappy. Any brake fluid that weeps out from under the cap ruins the paint on these reservoirs and this one is no different. We decided to take the reservoir out and get it refinished since the fluid was already drained out.

I had two other reservoirs that needed painting, so I decided to prep all three for paint. I took them to my powder coater to see what he had in a black semi-gloss finish that was impervious to brake fluid. He said he could order a bag of epoxy powder coating that would resist brake fluid better than regular powder coating. If this stuff works out, I could see doing the steering shafts in the same stuff. Stay tuned!

Although last week I found a Series II 330 that went on its way to Texas, a new Interim 330 arrived at our shop. Peter Sweeny, a Connecticut dealer that sells a lot of Ferraris, had this car in his inventory, and I got an early preview. I had a buyer interested in the car, so after an inspection, I advised him to buy the car. 

The previous owner had the wire wheels refinished along with some of the interior. The paint was fair, but very presentable. Interim cars are the best of the four headlight cars because of the true 5-speed transmission and the less complicated braking system. The new owner wanted a four headlight car, so I think this was the best choice.

The negative was the engine compartment could use some attention. Compression was good, but everything was a little greasy, faded, or rusty. My job was to get the engine to the same level as the rest of the car with some cleaning, painting, and plating. You can tell Enzo Ferrari cared about how the engine looked in all of his cars by the way everything was neatly arranged and detailed, and it will be fun to bring this engine bay back to her former glory.

One of the first tasks was to do a valve adjustment and get the carbs cleaned and rebuilt. As ugly as the engine compartment was, the tune of the engine was no better. Two of the accelerator pumps weren’t working and the car would stall at idle. I know this car will run a lot better after our major service!

I started making a list of things that will need to be fixed or sealed. The radiator was removed to check for leaks and a fresh coat of paint. The steering box is leaking (another one!), and a few other oil leaks will be addressed.

Switching gears to the other side of the the shop, the survivor 250GTE is getting some floor sections replaced, and Jay had fabricated the left floor sections for fitting.

He matched the beading of the original sections, and is checking them for fit. The original floors were pretty crudely attached to the frame sections, so we’re trying our best to match what they did in appearance, but improve on some of the welding and weatherproofing.

Reminder: If you have a Ferrari related project, car, or idea you’d like to explore, I’d love to talk to you. I can also help if you’re thinking of buying or selling. This website represents what I love to do, share, and how I make a living, so if you’d like to do something together, let me know. It all begins with an e-mail!

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