Amateur Repairs



7/26/12
Amateur Repairs

hron brush

My last post was about fixing 330s and the little tricks and problems specifically found on some of these Vintage Ferraris. Kerry Chesbro, who runs the 330 Registry asked me to remind people about the care needed when dropping the steering wheel on these cars so the carbon brush doesn’t get broken. Not only does this happen with 330s, but most 250s have the same set up. I told him I considered telling people about this in the post, but how many people besides Kerry and I would experience this problem? What I do every day is a very specific job that many people may not be interested in, but I guess you wouldn’t be reading this blog if it didn’t matter?
330

Working on Al’s 330 has brought up several issues that he didn’t know about when he was assembling his car, and I’ve been making things right where I found them to be wrong. Just short of pulling the yellow Fender Shield off the car (Sorry Al, I couldn’t help it), I’ve been trying to fix the little things that I spot that Al would have never known since this was his first Ferrari. Don’t get me wrong, he did a spectacular job, but which washers to use, or how to route a wire may not have been done exactly right, and I’m helping get the car perfect.

I saw another amateur restoration last week that was worth mentioning at Gullwing Motors in Queens NY. They recently purchased a Ferrari 250 Lusso to sell at their dealership, and it was a car I’ve known about for several years. The previous owner started a restoration on this car himself a few years ago, and basically completed the work sometime this summer. I considered buying the car for one of my customers when it was offered to me directly from the owner, but I passed on the opportunity because it was not the “right” car. Interestingly, as I was down at Gullwing performing a PPI on a GTE for another customer, I saw Lusso “4437” sitting in the garage. I took a quick look under the car, and immediately found some minor errors in its assembly. Seeing these errors made me question what else was assembled incorrectly? When I restored my 330 America, I faced the same challenges knowing how things were bolted together, but I was lucky to have Francois as a guide. His 40+ years of experience was invaluable in getting it right. Looking back, I don’t know how I could have done it without him!

Quail Cocktail Party
Quail party

I’ll be out in Monterey again this year, and I’d like to invite you to an informal gathering of Tomyang.netters at the Quail Lodge on Thursday August 16th, 5:30-8:00pm. The cocktail party will be held behind the Lodge by the pool overlooking the greens where the big Quail show will be setting up the next day. It’s a great chance to put faces to names that we hear on the Internet, and meet some of the restorers, parts suppliers, and owners of Vintage Ferraris. I hope to see you there!

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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, and now it’s 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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