3/30/13
330 Cooling and Seats

I mocked up the installation of the new fans in the 330 this week. The new fans are larger and fit a lot closer to the radiator core than the ones I found on the car.

I moved the condenser to the correct position closer to the radiator so the new fans could do a better job and directing air through the radiator. You can see from this picture I took of the old installation, the new setup put everything a lot closer to the radiator.

The new owner had a complaint about the driver’s seat and how it seemed like it he was sitting in hole. Even though the seat looked newly upholstered, I suspected some of the under structure was falling apart.

My suspicions were confirmed when I found the original straps still being used to support the bottom cushions. These straps had lost all their elasticity, and despite an added layer of foam, the straps weren’t doing much to add support to the seat bottom. I ran this seat over to my upholsterer to see what he could do to make this seat right.

With the driver’s side seat out of the way it gave me easy access to the transmission fill plug. The owner found the second gear synchronizer in the gear box to be a little slow, so I suggested we first try changing the gear oil in the transmission to a synthetic lubricant. Although synthetic gear oil will not eliminate the problem with worn synchronizers, we have found a definite improvement over conventional gear oil during gear changes on cold gear boxes, and slight improvement when things warm up. These benefits are less apparent on the track when synchronizers are really put to the test but may be just what this gearbox needed to help shifting on a street car.

Adding $60 dollars of synthetic gear oil is a much cheaper alternative to a gearbox rebuild that can cost several thousand dollars, even if it offers minor improvement.

Save the Date! May 4th 2013

6th Annual Radcliffe/Tomyang.net Spring Car Show
12340 Owings Mills Boulevard
Reisterstown, Maryland 21136
Register to show at the Radcliffe Website or call  410-517-1681

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 I would be happy to help guide you through the Vintage Ferrari world so if you’d like to do something together, let me know. It all begins with an e-mail!

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