My TR's engine finally DONE! Lots of PICS... | FerrariChat

My TR's engine finally DONE! Lots of PICS...

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by carguy, Nov 2, 2003.

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  1. carguy

    carguy F1 Rookie

    Oct 30, 2002
    3,402
    Alabama (was Mich.)
    Full Name:
    Jeff
    For those who may have been following my exploits of doing a full service on my Testarossa, I would like to submit the latest pics showing progress made so far.

    Yesterday I made new plug wires, cleaned the dist. caps, and assembled everything onto the motor. I bought wire in bulk as well as the crimp connectors locally - now there's a switch! Instead of using the old wire lengths I placed them on the motor itself and cut them to the length that gave the cleanest installation. Then brought everything into the house to sit in front of the TV and watch my favorite car-related shows. It is quite a time consuming job for a TR. IMPORTANT TIP: After making each wire I measured the resistance to see that everything was okay, normally you'd think that would be sufficient. But when I screwed the wires into the dist. caps the connection was not always good, on 5 out of 12 wires I had to snip and re-attach them until I got a good ohm reading. I also had to source a carbon button for one cap as it was practically disolved. I got one from a Mercury Tracer cap and had to sand it slightly to fit, and made a spring from a ballpoint pen. Again very tedious work but cheap...rare on anything Ferrari. The last thing to do on the motor is make and install gaskets for the oil return lines at the bottom of the cam covers.

    I have 2 exhaust systems, one will be left stock. The other I'm thinking of hacking up into a free flowing system the hollowed precats and cats, and then going out the back of the car...havent' worked out all the details yet.

    Please excuse the messy shop as I've been so focused on getting the motor done I haven't made time to clean things up.

    Also note all the new fasteners...and the old crappy ones. I had to buy new as you just can't get first rate results any other way.

    I would like to describe each picture with text, but the "preview post" option doesn't seem to show the pics in the post text as in the old system, so I'm not sure how to manipulate them...so I'm spelling it all out here with all the pics below...I hope!
     
    matteo likes this.
  2. LRPMAN

    LRPMAN Formula Junior

    Oct 31, 2003
    383
    Aiken S.C. & FL.
    Full Name:
    George Pavlisko
    WOW! :D
    How long did it take you? Saw the jackstands how did you raise the car? Floorjack? What paint did you use on the air box?
    Again a beautiful piece of work!!!
     
  3. carguy

    carguy F1 Rookie

    Oct 30, 2002
    3,402
    Alabama (was Mich.)
    Full Name:
    Jeff
    So far it's taken about 3 months, but for over one month I let it sit. So I would say 6 to 8 weeks for everything...including all the detailing, painting, and sourcing new parts. LOTS of hours and late nights!

    On the air intake box I used Plasticote brand black crinkle paint. Using crinkle paint can be difficult as it took me two tries to get it right. You need to do 3 heavy uniform coats about 10 to 15 minutes apart in the right temp and humidity. The hard part is getting the coat to be "uniform" as the second and third coats are hard to tell visually. And the stuff is hard to get off if you get it wrong and have to redo it. I am happy with the results on my air box.

    For lifting the car I simply used two floor jacks, one on each side just in front of the rear subframe attachment points. You must go very slow and carefully. Once the rear was as high as I could get it, I lower the front down to within inches of the floor to get the rear end to pivot upwards and gain maximum clearance. And with the rear bumper removed the motor rolls right out the back on the dolly. I removed the front wheels to allow the nose to go as low as possible and the rear as high as possible. It's a bit tense as you watch the nose get so close to the floor...you must be very alert at all times. A helper would also be good as a 2nd pair of eyes may see something your missing.
     
  4. pma1010

    pma1010 F1 Rookie

    Jul 21, 2002
    2,559
    Chicago
    Full Name:
    Philip
    Looks great.

    Funny how we all end up with buckets of old nuts and bolts isn't it!

    On your point on jack stands. I agree, it doesn't hurt to be really methodical. I have nearly had the car off balance 2x over the last two years and have become very diligent about raising and lowering the car as a result. Nearly all my issues have been on lowering from a high level on the stands.
     
  5. 348paul

    348paul Formula 3

    Dec 27, 2002
    1,098
    Kent - UK
    Full Name:
    Paul Hill
    Jeff,

    Superb – absolutely wonderful - you must be over the moon! :p


    A work of art.


    Paul
     
  6. Boxer12

    Boxer12 Formula 3

    Jun 1, 2003
    1,672
    LOOKS GREAT! WELL DONE!!
     
  7. 97GTS

    97GTS Rookie

    Nov 2, 2003
    5
    Beautiful Job! :eek: Must be extremely satisfying to complete all the work yourself. Gives me great inspiration. Outstanding........
     
  8. beast

    beast F1 World Champ

    May 31, 2003
    11,479
    Lewisville, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Guess
    Great job there... BRAVO

    Rob Guess "The Other Rob"
     
  9. carguy

    carguy F1 Rookie

    Oct 30, 2002
    3,402
    Alabama (was Mich.)
    Full Name:
    Jeff
    Thank You Everyone! Yes, I am very happy with the results of my work so far. Tonight I installed the engine back into the car. I only bolted up the subframe for now. It's a lot of...up....down...check this...check that....down...up....well you get the point. Not an easy job for one person using hand tools and floor jacks, but it's in. Tomorrow I will start hooking up the various systems, hoses, and wires. Even though I cleaned up the engine bay,the motor just doesn't look as good in the car as it does out of it!
     
  10. 328GTB

    328GTB Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 4, 2002
    305
    Texas, USA
    Full Name:
    Carmine
    Congratulations!!! You have done a supeb job!

    What' your source for the metric braided hoses?
     
  11. stevetr

    stevetr Formula Junior

    Sep 29, 2003
    379
    Surrey, UK
    Full Name:
    Stephen
    Jeff, it looks so impressive... a great job! You are giving guys like me a lot of confidence to tackle the smaller jobs ourselves and one day, who knows, we might follow in your footsteps. Fantastic!
     
  12. Doody

    Doody F1 Veteran

    Nov 16, 2001
    6,099
    MA USA
    Full Name:
    Mr. Doody
    we are not worthy!

    very impressive. very impressive.

    doody.
     
  13. carguy

    carguy F1 Rookie

    Oct 30, 2002
    3,402
    Alabama (was Mich.)
    Full Name:
    Jeff
    Well...for the hoses I kinda cheated a bit. I looked high and low for metric braided hoses with no success. I was in my favorite local autoparts store walking past the machine shop when a machinist saw the hoses and said "Hey....we don't sell that stuff to the public...that's only for the big trucks we repair!" And I said these came off my car....are you saying you have this type of hose? Well they had "similar" hose in inches, so I bought the closest size they had. I then had to use a hole bit and drill to ream out the hoses at the ends just slightly, gotta be careful doing this! I then cleaned them out very good and that is it. The crankcase vent hose that goes to the air cleaner was the most difficult one. I could barely make it fit and then only after lots of wrestling with it. So I will probably change this for the correct one soon. There is a European Auto repair shop a little over an hours drive from me, I plan on taking a trip up there soon to get the right ones.
     
  14. Dale

    Dale F1 Veteran

    Oct 7, 2003
    5,211
    uk
    Full Name:
    Dale Juan
    Very nice job jeff and im sure you will get a lot more pleasure driving it knowing youve done it all yourself,
    pity i dont live next door jeff id love to give you a hand back in with the motor,trouble is im about 3000 miles away,anyway thanks for posting the pics jeff
    Dale.
     
  15. 328GTB

    328GTB Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 4, 2002
    305
    Texas, USA
    Full Name:
    Carmine
    My local AutoZone has the smaller metric sizes for the fuel vapor lines. Also, www.pelicanparts.com (a porsche, BWM parts) has them as well. I was told that Grand Touring Car Parts Inc, in Phoenix, AZ 623-780-2200 may carry the thicker sizes.
     
  16. barabus

    barabus F1 Rookie

    Aug 22, 2004
    4,777
    12 Cylinder Village
    Full Name:
    Si
    Your engine looks magnificent mate, Hearty congratulations, I'd like to do that to mine but my balls aint big enough.
    Mine dont look too bad tho (engine that is not balls) LOL
    Cheers .........Simes
     
  17. Chiaro_Slag

    Chiaro_Slag F1 Veteran

    Oct 31, 2003
    7,789
    CA
    Full Name:
    Jerry
    I saw this thread a while ago & was impressed. Now that I own a TR, I am doubly impressed! Congrats on excellent work & a job well done.
     
  18. steve f

    steve f F1 World Champ

    Mar 15, 2004
    12,119
    12cylinder town
    Full Name:
    steve
    How about a free holiday to the uk for a month in my garage and you can do mine you will be well feed and watered and i will heat the garage let me know when you are avaliable
     
  19. The Mad Hatter

    The Mad Hatter Formula Junior

    Feb 27, 2004
    257
    Maryland
    Full Name:
    The Mad Hatter
    Jeff,

    That is TOOOOOOOOO cool man! I would kill to have my engine look that clean...just beautiful man...congrats and happy driving!!!

    Cheers,
    Travis
     
  20. stevep

    stevep F1 Veteran

    Jan 19, 2004
    8,345
    Geordie Land
    Full Name:
    steve
  21. khayes

    khayes Formula Junior

    Nov 1, 2003
    591
    Austin, TX
    Full Name:
    Kelly Hayes
    That engine looks as good as new! Great job Jeff.

    By the way, what tires do you have on your 87 TR? They look like Michelin Pilot Sports? Also, what size wheels are you single splines?
     
  22. HUTCH91TR

    HUTCH91TR F1 Rookie

    Nov 7, 2003
    2,894
    Charlotte, NC
    Full Name:
    Hutch
    That is gorgeous!!! You are very meticulous, and it shows!!! Superb job Jeff!!!
     
  23. vincent355

    vincent355 F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 8, 2003
    6,321
    Wine Country
    Full Name:
    Vincent
    Jeff,

    That's awesome! thanks for the pics!

    You must be excited to be so close to running her again.
     
  24. mondial86

    mondial86 Formula Junior

    Nov 1, 2003
    298
    MA
    Full Name:
    David Holmes
    Speaking as a home dIY guy too you ROCK !DRIVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
    DAVID
     
  25. snj5

    snj5 F1 World Champ

    Feb 22, 2003
    10,213
    San Antonio
    Full Name:
    Russ Turner
    beautiful work - looks terrific!~
     

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