I have two 330s at my shop that belong to the same owner. One is a 330GTC that is heading out for stripping so it can get a bare metal respray, and the other one is a SI 2+2 that is getting a few upgrades.

I’ve been making a list of to-dos for this car while it’s sent out for paint. Some of these issues have to be corrected before the paint is applied, while others are parts that I have to source or repair.

One great find were the side window brackets that were rotted out. My initial plan was to cut the rotted steel pieces and weld in the old attachment hardware to the new pieces, but my friends at CPR had already made these brackets and had a set in stock. They’re exact copies of the originals, and they even went through the trouble of having the part cadmium plated! Not only did I not have to spend time cutting, fabricating, and welding, I picked these up in Arizona when I was visiting CPR’s shop, so I was able to take them home in my luggage to save on shipping. Win, win, win!

The interior door pieces on this GTC were in great shape and I plan to preserve them instead of restoring them. I’m leaning away from obliterating the past history of a car by completely restoring  a car that doesn’t need it. Some cars are too far gone to save, but whenever a part is too nice to restore, I try to save it. This is the case with this GTC.

The window felts on this car were even in great shape, not rotted like you would expect, but a couple of the pop rivets had come loose, so the felt was not secured well to the door molding. I drilled out the old rivets and re-secured the felts.

The other 330 is a very nice car, but the owner wants to make it a reliable driver. There are a couple of items in my opinion that really help make Vintage Ferraris more reliable, and one of them is to install a modern “High Torque” starter. These starters are smaller and use a reduction gear to start and engine with a lot let draw on the battery compared to the original Marelli starter. When a Ferrari starting system is in top shape, it can start with decent reliability, but as batteries get weak, and brushes get worn on a 50 plus year old Ferrari starter, things start going bad. The resistance caused by an old starter draws so much amperage from the battery, that it robs voltage from the ignition system trying to fire 12 plugs from two coils. It’s getting harder to find a good rebuilder for these old Ferrari Starters, and if the windings are shorted out, it becomes even harder. The easier solution is to install one of these modern Ferrari Starters.

Getting the old one out will be the biggest challenge, but if you’re lucky enough to have a split header like this 330, it makes life a little easier. Removal of the header on the right side of the engine will allow access to the monster starter, only to be replaced by a modern starter that is half the size. Don’t let the size fool you, the new starter will spin the engine at a higher speed, and draw less amperage than the original starter. If your ignition system is in good tune, you should hear your engine start with just a bump of the starter switch!