11/23/12
GTE sorting and 330 Engine Details

The carburetor service was finished on the GTE, but we still had to take the car out for testing and tuning. During our test drive, I noticed the water temperature gauge wasn’t moving at all. Ferrari 250 engines usually run very cool, so a brisk Northeast Fall day will often barely get the needle to move, but this was a little different. No amount of driving would move the needle, so I investigated a little further. Grounding out the sender wire moved the gauge needle, so I suspected the sender had gone bad.

Unfortunately, the new senders are not necessarily calibrated to the old gauge, but we’ll have to see where the needle ends up with the new sender installed. At the very least, we’ll be able see something move when the coolant reaches operating temperature.

While we were out on our test drive, I noticed a lot of cool air coming in from outside. The car seemed a little too drafty, so I took a peek under the dash to see what was going on. It was pretty obvious the vent hose under the dash was toast!

A familiar face was at our shop this week. You might remember this blue SI 330GT belongs to Yale. His car has been at another shop for a while, but when he stopped by for a visit, the radiator sprung a leak in the driveway! I told Yale the car wanted to stay for a visit, so I found some time to pull the radiator out to have the leak repaired.

The SII 330 engine we have at the shop for a rebuild is just about done. I installed the valve cover gaskets and carbs this week.

As they say, the devil is in the details, and there are a ton of little items that need addressing. Although they’re barely seen, a small detail on the distributor angle drive are the special bolts and nuts that secure it to the engine. These nuts and bolts have a higher shoulder to make it easier to reach with a wrench and are often lost or replaced through the years.

Before everything was installed and sealed, we checked valve timing and static timing. Getting everything perfect while the engine was on the engine stand was such a joy compared to when we had to do any of these procedures while the engine is in the car.

More details include black oxide nuts on the throttle shaft stands and cad plated acorn nuts for the valve covers. The carburetor linkage ends are also cad plated, but the spring clips are black oxide.

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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