I have a Dino 246GT that is at my shop for some service and sorting and one of the items to repair was the radiator. There was a slight leak in the core and on closer inspection, the core was replaced once before with the incorrect one. Ferraris, and Dinos, use a continuous fin core which is different from the more common core you see in most radiators.

Common core  but incorrect for Ferraris.

Continuous core, correct for Ferrari.

When a radiator gets re-cored, they melt the solder attaching the tanks on either side of the core, and order a new core. It’s really a matter of taking the time of measuring and ordering the correct core from a supplier that stocks the right core. If your radiator shop doesn’t have the ability to get the correct core, or care to try, find another shop.

The Dino core was re-cored in a week, and ready to put back in the car.

Another item on my to-do list was look at the slow electric windows. Ferrari electric windows were not great when they were new, and slowly get worse and worse. The factors involved can be old grease in the mechanisms that gum up the works, high resistance in the switches, or worn out motors.

After checking the ease of movement on the mechanism, I’m pretty sure it’s the window motor that is worn out. I’ve got a pair on its way to me to swap out.

Another issue with this car was the ignition system. Dinos had an early Capacitive Discharge System made by Marelli installed in their ignition systems. These ignition boxes have a tendency to fail over time, and there are a number of solutions to its repair. Since the original box is hidden behind a cover, I saw no harm in replacing it with a modern MSD ignition box. The modern system will offer more energy for the ignition, has a built in rev limiter, and can be easily swapped out if it were to fail.

With the new ignition system installed and wired in place, I had to jack the car up to set initial timing. The timing marks are on the front pulley on this transverse mounted V-6, but obscured by the right rear wheel and inner fender cover. With the timing set, it was time to take this car our for a rip!