Joining the vintage club - 1967 330GTC

Onno,

How much 'added fun' tax do you pay for all this in Holland?

What was the cause of the vapour lock? Since you mentioned it occured on the way back and the mention of rain the whole way the ambient temps were probably not too high, and driving at speed your under-bonnet temp couldn't have been that high. I would also assume that at speed there is a fair amount of fuel going through the lines and enough air through the carbs to cool the system?

I'm glad you're enjoying the car so much and are doing her justice by actually clocking some miles up! Did you notice her getting 'better' with the excersise she's receiving?

 

Onno,

The GTC has a fairly weak mechanical fuel pump. I often surmised this is the reason the electric pump was added.....but that is just my opinion and not based on any facts that I am aware of. On my 1st GTC I removed the mechanical pump and re-built it. In addition I very slightly shaved the fiber spacer between the pump and the engine. The mechanical pump uses a small hammer that operates a rocker in the pump. As the car heats up the efficiency drops pretty dramatically. By shaving the spacer in effect the hammer had a bit more throw to operate the rocker.

You might also need to check on the operation of the electric pump. Over time they too lose their efficiency. If the previous owner never got into a hot running situation he might not have suffered the lack of pressure in the system.

I am in process of re-building my engine. When it goes back together I intend to replace the Lucas radiator fans with something with more efficiency. Another FChatter mentioned using Fiat fans. My mechanic and I have yet to get to this decision juncture. Will let you know what we decide. Actually the Lucas fans have been refurbished and operate the way the should. But in hot running conditions they are still not strong enough. I realize replacing the fans will not be original. But I am after better driving and don't really care about losing points in a show.

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip. I am glad you had a great time with you new baby. Maybe one day I'll ship my car to Europe to do some traveling. I'll call on you to report on the routes you traveled.

 

Onno,

I second SCantera's comments. If you had autoflux on when you had the vaporlock, you need to examine both pumps. Whenever I had this problem, turning on autoflux quickly fixed it. I often just leave the autoflux on if driving during hot weather or other problematic conditions.

Regards,

Art S.

 

Fantastic trip, fantasic experience, fantastic car!!

Congrats.

 

Congratulations Onno!! She is simply gorgeous.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. I, like many here, appreciate it immensely.

Regards from an Italian Ferrari-nut

 

With everything rebuilt on my car and with a recored radiator with the lucas fans it would still run somewhat hot in traffic but immediately cool down on the open road. I always kept the electric fuel pump on and never had an issue with smooth running.

 

See you Saturday then

Gr. Martin

 

Personal experience:

I NEVER switch on the autoflux, and i have NEVER had any fuel problems. I have NEVER had any heating problems either, spirited driving sticks the temp at 90 - 95.

I fully trust my GTC (can't say that about my other Ferraris).

In four years of ownership, my only problem has been the damn mechanical clutch: the cable broke on me twice. I found out that driving without a clutch is painful but possible.

As for European roads, allow me to mention Spain: Population density is very low, and European funds have given us an extraordinary country road network.

Cheers,

Julio

 

When I first got my 330GTC (1984) I had the same problem with vapour lock and fuel starvation. If I drove in town in the summer, 90-100 degrees F, I would get vapour lock and if I was driving very hard through the gears I would get fuel starvation. I rebuilt the mechanical fuel pump. This had no effect on the problem. If I left the electric pump on I would not have these problems, but I did not want to run the electric pump all the time, so I installed a high flow facet electric pump in line and have not had a problem since.

Terry Phillips

 

Onno, welcome to the GTC club. 28 years on I still enjoy mine!

Not sure about your comment about switching on the fans though. I have a late model (#11333) supplied to the UK market and the fans are therrmostatically controlled. They come on automatically when the temperature rises and then cut out after a few minutes. Do older cars have a manual control?

And by the way, the electrics can be a bit 'iffy', so don't switch on the heated rear screen, heater blowers, wipers and lights simultaneously! I found out the hard way and needed a new wiring loom.

John

 

Onno,

After checking that everything else is in top order (fuel pressure and delivery volume, mixture, ignition timing) I would certainly consider wiring the fans to come on thermostatically controlled. When you hit slow traffic, your attention will be on the fools around you, and not your temp gauge.
A tiny relays, a switch strategically placed and a few wires will do this and could be conceiled easily.

I think your problem is elsewhere though.

Happy motoring!
Jack.

 

In a 275 the Dr and Dl switches do control the fans for the interior and not for the engine.

ciao
Oscar

 

Those swiches control the right and left interior heater fans. This is shown in the owners manual on pages 13-17. Also on page 24 is a picture of the radiator fan switch mounted on the bottom of the radiator. Enjoy.

Tery Phillips

 

Onno,

As the others have noted DL and DR switches are to turn on the interior fans that are located in front of each wheel well. They are squirrel cage fans that boost air to the footwells when the left and right damper switches are set in the middle position and to the windshield when the levers are in the full down position. The dampers are shut off in the full up position. Heat is added to these interior ducts when the temperature control switch in the middle of the dash is set to red. Even when the fans are in the off position air will still enter the compartment if the damper switches are in either of the on positions.

Living here in FL my dampers are always in the closed position. Even when the temperature control switch is on [blue] cool so much engine heat enters the ducts that any air coming in is hot. Guess this does not happen in cold temps, but that does not happen here in FL. However like the heater control valve it is wise to operate them in all positions on occasion lest they get stuck in one position.......usually just when you need them!

Both Lucas electric radiator cooling fans are switched on when the radiator mounted thermostatic valve reaches temperature, closes the contacts and switches the fans on. The opposite happens when the temperature cools. These thermostatic valves are prone to failure and not operate.....again especially when you need the fans to come on. They are cheap to replace. I recently saw them on Ebay for $25. I do know there are some owners that install a bypass switch to manually turn on the cooling fans. Of course if this method also bypasses the thermostatic switch then you will have to be diligent about watching your temp gauges.

As an aside the right radiator fan should automatically come on when the air conditioning condenser is operating.

I have perfectly working and operating Lucas fans as I rebuilt them a year ago. However here in FL in my opinion even with a recored radiator this is still insufficient. Summer temps here are always 90 degrees [33 C] or more. At the same time I want to use the A/C putting further load on the engine. I am embarking on a plan to replace the Lucas fans with more efficient fans to provide better radiator cooling. I think the key here will be to install fans that have a surrounding shroud to force more air through the radiator. The Lucas 3 blade fans scatter too much air volume since they are not enclosed.

I would suggest you test your cooling fans to see if they are switching on properly. First turn on the A/C to see if the right fan comes on. Next let the car idle or drive it until the temps come up. If the coolant temp gauge reaches the 90 C mark the fans should be coming on. If they don't it is time to do some further diagnostics.

ciao
Steve

 

A previous owner of 10767 was an electrical engineer. He installed two new toggles to operate each fan on/off/auto, auto being the setting for thermostatic control. He also installed two lovely little orange jewel lights that come on when the fans are operating.....not factory but certainly effective (and as the hot rodders used to say, "sanitary") and part of the history of the car, so they stay.

Jack.

 

Hi Onno,

Oscar, Terry and Steve are correct about the switches being for the interior. On my car (7919) the radiator fan is thermostatically controlled (though I have seen several set-ups where this has been converted to manual).

I think 100C is OK for spirited driving (based on memories of my drives). However, we'll see what mine does now that my engine is rebuilt (once the while you are in theres are completed...).

Regards,

Art S.

 

DL and DR: Demister Left and Demister Right?