11/23/13
330 Radiator Cover, and 365 Details

The Nose Pan for the 330GTS was finished by our fiberglass guy. The same pan fits on a GTC so if you need one, let me know.

The fiberglass pan is a copy of the original one that fits below the front valance protecting the radiator that sits pretty low on the car. Although it might not protect the radiator from really hard hits, the fiberglass cover will keep light bumps from perforating the radiator. 

Some of the front mounting holes were still there on this car, but I had to drill out a couple that had been filled by the painter during its last respray.

The rear mounting holes attached to the car with these tabs that were welded to the radiator support frame, but the other one was missing

I could see the remnants of the tab on the driver’s side and used it as a guide to fabricate a new one and have it welded in place.

With all the mount holes and brackets ready to receive the new nose pan, the cover was bolted in place. 

The owner asked me to check the heating system on this car as well when it was at the shop, and after fixing the heater pipes I found a big hole in the air duct leading through the heater core. With a new hose installed, and the heater hoses plumbed correctly in place, there was now heat inside the car!

Mark’s 365GT came back to the shop after our upholsterer finished some more interior work.

Even though this car won a Platinum award at the last FCA Event, Mark wanted to improve the car even more and refurbishing the center console was on the list. One of the previous owners of this car must have been a smoker, because small burns in the center console were all over the vinyl cover. With such a nice interior on this car, Mark always wanted to correct this problem.

The pleated headliner was also coming apart and needed some attention. The foam beneath the original pleats crumbles over time, and rained down powder all over the inside of the car, especially when the windows are open. A new headliner, windshield header, and sun visors to match was really the best solution.

We had a couple more details to fix on Mark’s car and one of them was to install a check strap on his car. I can’t believe I missed this detail the last time the car was at the shop, but I’m glad the judges didn’t notice either at the last FCA Show! Fabricating one for the 330GTS reminded us to make the same one for the 365.

It’s funny how conversations on my forum often bring up the same issues on cars I work on at the shop. Mark’s left door’s check strap broke at the attachment point to the body, and needed welding to close the hole. The same discussion was happening just last week on my forum and pictures of other straps with the same failure were posted!

I headed down to the Panel Shop this week with a little project in hand. The spark plug wire tubes to the 330 engine rebuild had a set of loose mounting tabs. Instead of welding them in place, they used pop rivets, and with the paint stripped off these tubes, now was the time to repair these parts correctly.

Mark at the Panel Shop showed me the original tabs were aluminum soldered in place. I was not familiar with this technique, and he explained that it was just like brazing when the filler material was brass alloy when joining steel parts, but in this case the filler material was something that had a melting point lower than that of the aluminum that was being joined.  The joint was very strong, and eliminated the risk of warping or burning through the aluminum tube. Keeping the inside of the tube smooth and clear was important when feeding the spark plug wires through.

Mark used what he had at the shop and TIG welded the tabs in place. There was a little extra material inside the tube when we was finished, but I can file it off when I get the part back to the shop.

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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