Ferrari 348 engine out service

Please remember that I am an old man! Don't need a heart attack!!

 

Cleaned up the water pump housing by removing the old gasket and flushing the housing with water in my utility sink. I also wire brushed the studs to get rid of some of the corrosion.

During a conversation with the Ferrari tech about re-installing the motor, I discovered that he routinely jacked up the rear of his steel table to get the proper angle to line up the bolt holes. Since I only had a piece of 3/4" plywood to jack on, reinforcement had become a necessity. My buddy Reese cut the 4x4's in his well equipped workshop. I drilled 12 holes and installed the boards around the perimeter of the base. Should be safe to jack on.

I had an oil leak on the bottom of my AC compressor. Once I had determined it was actually coming from the compressor and after a discussion with the tech, I removed it today so we can inspect the seal. Since I was not smart enough to have the front end of the motor overhang the table, I followed the tech's advice and cut a hole in the table so I could get to the bottom rear bolt. To remove it from the motor, I removed the mounting bracket bolts to remove the compressor and bracket as one piece.

I began cleaning the engine bay today as well. During that process I replaced both of the fuel filters.

To make the triple seals fit, I cut a piece of plastic from the lid of a yogurt container. After wrapping the plastic around the seals, I used a hose clamp to hold the plastic in place. I am leaving it on overnight and will remove it tomorrow. Should be ready then to install the clutch release bearing and then the clutch housing.
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First up was installing the water pump. I picked up the gasket and the "o" ring yesterday from Daniel at Ricambi. We had talked on the phone a few times but this is the first time we met. His business is about 45 minutes from my house. Turns out he knew my car and said I bought a cream puff. Hope he is right.

Got the gasket and "o" ring installed and fitted the pump back on the motor. Took a little finessing to get the hose back on that is under the intake manifold. I tried to make sure that hose clamp was tight as it would be very difficult to reach once the engine is back in the car.
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Time now to install the cam belt. First I made sure all my marks were where they were supposed to be. I then began feeding the belt at the top around the water pump and the cams. Once I had the belt where I thought it should be, I used zip ties to tie the belt to the cam gears so it would stay in place.

I compressed the tensioner on my vice and used a tie strap to hold it. Initially, I had a hard time getting the strap to stay on. I noticed a small hole in the bottom of the bracket and threaded a sheet metal screw into it. This screw kept the tie strap in place. With the help of my son, we were able to feed the compressed tensioner under the belt and slip the bracket over the three studs. Once it was in place we could start the bolt and attach the nuts to the studs. It was now in place and all the marks still lined up. Success!!!

My grandson just turned 13 in September and, according to my son, is fast closing in on the time when he will be driving!! To that end he recently bought a 1987 Porsche 944 for his son. The plan is for his son to work up some sweat equity in the car between now and the time he begins driving. Mainly, it is something for my son to do when he gets home from work.

Since that car also has a cam belt and needs to be occasionally changed and tensioned, we bought a Staeger tensioner tool. I found it on eBay. You measure the tension on each side of the belt with the combined readings to be between 140 and 160. Initially we were a little light on the tensioner side so we loosened it and while Matt pushed up on it, I torqued it to 36 ft lbs. We rotated the engine through a few cycles and measured again. We had a combined total around 150 so we were good.

We also installed the Hill Engineering clutch release bearing.
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I also cleaned up the engine bay and the right front wheelwell. I removed the air intake hoses and scrubbed them in my work sink and then let them dry on my deck railing.
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Thanks for the suggestions but I will keep it stock. It goes plenty fast to get me into trouble with the law!!

 

It sure feels good to be putting parts on rather than taking them off. The spark plugs were the first item today.

The cam covers were next on the list. I installed the belt guides and allowed twenty thousandths clearance. The rest of it was simply bolting everything on.

My triple seals had shrunk enough to gently push the shaft in after I liberally lubricated the seals. They all seem to seat correctly.

Installing the clutch was relatively easy. I had to rotate the motor a couple times to get everything lined up and then it was simply a matter of applying some muscle.

With the clutch in place, I could re-install the mufflers. I had a heck of a time getting the left side seal off. I had to use a chisel and a grinder to clean everything up. After hitting the right side a couple times with the chisel, it came off as one piece. I will leave the supports under the muffler until we are ready to put the motor back in the car.

My new AC compressor arrived late today. Once I have it installed and the belts to both it and the alternator in place, I will be ready to put the motor back in the car. My son is off on vacation all of next week and, assuming everything goes well, we plan on putting the motor in on Monday. Followed by some driving time!!!
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Before I could install the new AC compressor, I had to remove the two main lines from the old compressor and transfer them to the new one. They had to be clocked the same so they would fit and hook up to the existing lines. Had to put the compressor's on the vice to hold them in place.

With that done I could install the new compressor. There are two bolts at the bottom and one bolt for the belt tension adjuster. I had removed the bracket along with the compressor and so it had to be bolted in place first. Once it was in place, I could insert the two bottom bolts that mount the compressor directly to the block. With the tensioner bolts in its fully released position, I could mount the new belt. It is adjusted by a 13mm bolt attached to the compressor mounting bolt on the bracket. This bolt is turned clockwise to tighten the belt. I used the Staeger tensioning gauge to set the tension.

The wiring on the new compressor was too long. I cut it to shorten it and them used a solder connection to re-attach everything. I secured the wire to the AC bracket.
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With the AC compressor in place, I now tensioned the new belt for the alternator. There is a 17mm bolt on the bottom of the tensioner wheel that is turned counter-clockwise to add tension to the belt. Once the tension is set, you then tighten the the 17mm bolt on the wheel. The belt guard that had been removed to install the belt must be re-installed.

Early in this thread, "348Jeff" recommend I install the ignition module covers. Did that today.

I also installed the new air cleaner in the air box.

I am waiting for the heater hose that attaches to the water pump housing. Somehow it was shipped to PA!! Should be here shortly. Once it is here, the motor will be ready to install. My son is leaving for vacation tomorrow afternoon so it will sometime after Christmas before we will have time to do the installation. This will give me time to get back on some projects on my Porsche 912-6 and to get the Falcon ready to sell. Plenty to do!!
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Since the cams were timed only a few thousand miles ago and all the marks lined up, I did not time the cams. I based this decision on a discussion with the technician who did the work five years ago. Primarily I replaced the cam belt for peace of mind.

 

I appropriated it quite awhile ago. Makes a great place to work on stuff. Don't cut up much food on it anymore as the food would likely taste like oil or solvents!!!

When I was restoring the Corvette, I applied some dressing to the exhaust manifolds. The instructions said to run the motor for a half hour or bake it at 300 degrees for an hour. Since the motor was out of the car, the oven was the only remaining solution. And she just happened to be out of town!! What great timing!!!
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It was leaking and I may have it re-sealed a to keep as a spare.

 

My son and I were going to put the engine in last Friday but his water heater decided to quit and he spent most of the day dealing with that. I did have some time to do some preparation on Friday that paid off today. In talks with the Ferrari technician he mentioned lowering the gas tank to make it easier to feed the plugs for the ECU's through the firewall. Buying four longer bolts was the first step. I supported the gas tank with my stands and then removed the bolts one at a time to replace with the longer bolts. There are two nuts on the firewall that also have to be loosened. Once everything was loose, I simply lowered the tank a little at a time with the jack stands. It was about an inch lower which made all the difference today when we fed the plugs through the firewall.

I also disabled the seat belt mouse by unplugging the wire at each seat.
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