The braided ground strap available now has a tin plating on the copper. An acidic solution of some type may desolve tin plating. Braided ground strap available here at www.mcmaster.com part# 6949k62 (for 1/2") other sizes available are 7/8" and 1" Hope this helps, Paul
Thanks Ron and Paul. I think I will order a couple of the Victoria British connectors. I can experiment with one on how it looks when the plating is removed. Ivan
Thanks Alberto for reminding me that I should post updates every so often Work continues, although sometimes not as fast as I would like. I will make several post; this first post shows the overall state of the car. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login
The rear cover received new leather as the original leather had cracks and could not be re-used. This cover is made of steel and has a polished aluminum trim that runs along the bottom edge. A rather unique design. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The original leather for the center tunnel, rear wheel arches and side panels were re-installed. As well are the original rear carpeting. Most of the carpeting will be re-used with the exception of the two front mats which were not present when I bought the car. I am in the process of matching the carpeting which is a very dense, rather thin, cut pile. The soft top mechanism was installed as were new leather pieces that cover the soft top when down. I have yet to install the fasteners as I need to wait until the soft top is installed. The window glassed are installed and work faster than on my Ghibli (which is really not very fast!). Originally the car had foam glued inside the door panels but I just could not see doing this and put in Dynamat instead. I am trying not to deviate from original but in this case that would be an invitation for rust in the type of climate I live. I am putting foam on the floors as original but I am using the type used on vinyl top which will not absorb water. You can see some of the foam on the lower left on the last photo. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Ivan, Thanks for posting and sharing, as you know I have a weak spot for these beautiful cars. Love the old tapestry and leather being used again, prevents the car from becoming too cosmetic! Keep up the good work! Ciao, Bart
Ivan, the car looks fantastic. I think it's great that you are using as much of the original interior material as possible. Did you replace the pinion seal on your differential? My seats are currently being rebuilt/recovered. I used Leatherique dye on my door panels and rear seat areas. I sent the dye back to them 4 times and they still did not get the color right. Do you have any recommendations on another source for dye? My seats are being recovered in a Mercedes ivory leather. Thanks.
Yes, I replaced the pinion seal. Talk to Joanne Price at Color Plus, (570) 686-3158, http://colorplus.com/, I have been using her leather dye for many years and it is superb. Ivan
This is how the engine currently looks. Slowly things are coming back together. The two non-original looking engine hooks on the cylinder head came from a Jaguar XJ6 and were used to help install the engine. Those will be removed before the engine is started. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I need help locating the proper oil hoses. My car has the oil filter mounted next to the radiator. Two rather large oil hoses are used to transport the oil from the engine to the filter, and back to the engine. On the ends of these hoses are metal collars and fittings (similar to the one below) are screwed into the hose. The same type of assembly principle is used for the oil gauge hose on most 6 cylinder Maseratis; except these are much larger hoses. I checked with several hydraulic hose places and they have never seen anything like this (no surprise). The remote oil filter was only used in some 1959 and earlier 3500GT, but perhaps someone has experience replacing these hoses and can give me some advice. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ivan, The Ferrari 250 uses these hoses for oil and fuel supply lines and they are exactly like the oil pressure line used on the Sebring and 3500 and were from the same original supplier back in the day. They have a distinctive spiral wire wrap that fits into the the collar of the end fitting. T Rutland has these hoses in about 5 different sizes and I am sure they have what you are looking for. Another try would be Re Orginials. The car looks great! Chris
Ivan, your engine compartment looks fantastic. Thanks for the information on the dye. I have the same oil system as your car. My oil hoses were replaced by the previous owner during the engine rebuild. He told me that they were sourced from a commercial truck company and they are capable of withstanding significantly more pressure than stock. They read SAE 100 R3 2RATON ANCHOR. They are secured at the filter with two heavy duty hose clamps. At the bottom they are secured with a single band clamp (not removable). I would be happy to take detailed pictures, if that would help you. They look like they will outlast the car. Here is a link to the company that made my hoses.....http://www.anchorcoupling.com/products.htm Do you know of a source where I can buy the inner choke cable?
Your engine compartment is looking great. One detail I wonder about is the cam cover nuts. I thought most of the early cars used the short nuts. It appears from the pictures you have the tall ones. The short ones are available from the Ferrari parts people
Gene; I bought the nuts from MIE and perhaps these are the wrong ones for my car. Thanks for bringing this up .... now I have another thing to correct. If you keep finding faults with my car I may have to mention the "fuel situation" with your Ghibli In all seriousness, if anyone sees anything that does not look correct please let me know. Ivan
Many years ago I purchased three new old stock 42 DCOEs from Kyle Fleming, still in their boxes. Back then converting the Lucas fuel injection to carbs was considered a positive thing, so I figured one day I would need them. Luckily I never used the carbs ... until now. I checked all the jets sizes and they are identical. Ivan
Good question. My goal is the end of this year but that is looking more "iffy" every day. I do not know if the car agrees with my goal and in the end the car will ultimate decide if she wants to cooperate. Many hours goes into doing what should be easy things. For example re-installing the carpets I am using the original screw holes to secure the carpeting as I do not want to be drilling new holes. This seemingly simple task actually adds a lot of hours. Ivan
RE hoses, I agree with Lussoman. I had an early coupe that had the original hoses and they were just like the early Ferraris. The hoses are rubber but have the appearance they were cloth wrapped in a sprial for the rubber to cure. This was true for the oil hoses and the water hoses. My 1961 Vignale also had these hoses. I even see the same finish on the heater hoses for my 1972 Ghibli. Some of the Ghibli hoses and some of the Mistral hoses used the German cloth covering as well. While you can get hoses from Gates and or Gooyear that have the cloth sprial wrap finish the sprial is not the correct demension. I belive Newco also has most of these hoses. There also is a company called MadEnterprises that makes these hoses for vintage Ferraris and has gone to great expense to make sure they are correct. Of course they are very expensive. BTW T Rutlands has the short cam cover nuts for $1.30 each if you buy 50. And I fixed the Ghibli ful system. I had to replace the loose nut behind the steering wheel.
Thanks for the information, and please post a few photos of your oil hoses. T Rutland was visited yesterday, as they are located in the Atlanta area, and they do not have the hose I need. They did have the shorter acorn nuts. Sorry, but I do not know a source for the choke cable. Ivan
I finished installing the instruments pod and gauges this morning. This is another one hour job that took two days to get done. The dash is very simple and unadorned, especially compared to the Touring coupes and production Vignale spyders. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
