11/10/13
330 Engine and a Check Strap

The work continued on the 330 engine. All the connecting rod bearings were worn pretty badly with copper showing on all the surfaces. This amount of wear was definitely one of the reasons for the low oil pressure on this engine. As the softer bearing surfaces wore away, the clearances between the crank and the rods increased. Larger clearances meant lower oil pressure, which only let the bearings wear more.

Before disassembling the main bearings, I checked the numbers on the main bearing caps to make sure things were correctly installed.

With the crank removed, I could see the main bearings did not suffer the same fate as the rod bearings, but there was some scoring from dirty oil or contaminants.

I wonder if this scoring could have been from the excessive bearing material circulating in the oil, or simply dirt. If there was bearing debris in the oil, it would have been filtered out before the oil got back on the mains, right?

I removed the pistons from the rods and made sure all the parts were marked so each part could be checked against one another by the machine shop.

On the other side of the shop, I buttoned up the 330GTS engine after a valve adjustment, and noticed a crucial part missing from the hood, a short check strap. Most 330 hoods, from GTSs to 2+2s are held up with a short prop rod, but they also have a check strap that keeps the hood from flipping open too far.

The strap should be long enough to allow the prop rod to flip back in position but not long enough for the hood to over extend and bend sheet metal. I saw this happen a few times on cars at car shows when a gust of wind catches a hood and bends the front of the hood against the hinges. After fabricating a new check strap with wire rope, this GTS is safe from damaging the hood.

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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