I picked up all the parts from my machine shop so I could start reassembling the engine to the 330GT 2+2 I’m restoring. I decided to assemble this engine back at Francois’s shop in CT about a 90 minute drive from my shop in NY. It might seem like a long commute, but I plan to make this trip about once a week for the next several weeks until the engine is completed. Francois and I have still been working together on small projects, but I have not spent a lot of time at his shop since COVID, and I miss it. Although I have plenty of work at my own shop, I wanted to spend some time with my Mentor and build this engine together. It’s also nice to have a second set of hands and his years of experience double checking my work. I look forward to this build and the time I spend with the Frenchman!

Charlie Olsen sized all the bearings in the block and rods, along with fitting the new pistons to the rods, so I’m starting well ahead.

I pulled the main caps off and laid in the crankshaft in its saddle. Charlie had this original Ferrari billet steel crankshaft polished and it looks beautiful. It’s almost a shame to have to bury this deep in the bowels of this engine and not get to see this pretty piece of machinery!

I installed each main cap and torqued them to spec making sure there was no binding or excessive drag. The “feel” of drag was taught to me by Francois and I’ve committed it to my soul of Ferrari Engine rebuilding. The same goes for setting the end play of crankshaft thrust washers. We had a problem with the new thrust washers and spent time disassembling, checking, modifying, refitting, and reinstalling until we got it just right. There’s a spec for the end play, 0.076-0.180 mm, but Francois taught me how to feel that clearance by moving the crank back and forth. I’ve pulled out feeler gauges in the past to check, but have learned to trust our “feel!”

I installed the piston rings on the new pistons and stock rods. These rods may look small in comparison to modern high performance engines, but remember, this was what was high performance in the 50s and 60s, powering an engine that produced 250-300 horsepower. The pistons have some new technology with changes to the ring lands and coatings on the skirts, but the general shape is similar to the originals. We’re building a stock engine with marginal gains in horsepower, but we’re not building a race motor with high compression and the ability to spin faster than stock RPMs. I feel increases in this department is a waste of money for a street engine. Most dyno specs come at peak RPMs, where normal driving rarely sees. Spending that kind of money for more power is more for the benefit of bench racing for the owner, and the shop charging for the extra work!

Thank you everyone for contributing to tomyang.net the first week of my December find drive. It’s good to know you’re all still out there following along on this blog! I worry that this blog has become invalid because of all the other outlets for people to consume media. I love posting new videos on YouTube and even the occasional post on Instagram and Facebook, but those outlets seem so impermanent. Searching for information about Vintage Ferraris on those sites is so much harder and unpredictable, taking you to places that drives more traffic to their sites, than giving you the information you need. This blog and website is still searchable, and I use it all the time myself! I hope you appreciate the access, and support its future. Thanks again to my long time followers, and contributors, and I welcome the new viewers to this website to support this little corner of the web!

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