Dino Restoration

My shelves are starting to look empty so I know I'm getting close.

 

+1

sure would love to see it in Monterey! Should be THE feature car of next summer's madness!

 

As beautiful as this Dino is, I am more impressed by the attention to detail given this restoration. As one who does this type of work for a living, I can only admire you for not taking any shortcuts. The longer you work on a restoration, the more tempting it can be to take a shortcut or settle for something less than 100%. You have not done this and it shows.

Well done. Very well done.


Mark

 

Just finished reading all 99 pages... Great thread, great car and great job!

 

The Dino restoration is looking awesome. I can only applaud you on how your son is also helping you with this. It must really bring you guys closer together.

My father and I will be rebuilding a 1923 Ford T-Bucket, no where near the Ferrari, but hey, it's still fun!

Really looking good though, keep up the good work!


Andy

 

The problem with this thread is, when carrying out your own restoration, looking at Johns work you feel guilty if you dont at least try to achieve his standards of thoroughness and professionalism.
G P

 

This thread is so cool since over 100 pages. A very successful project so far & the light blue paint is one of the best decisions ever, no question!

good luck on the road with that beauty,

cinque

 

Well we NEVER have a 100% day, but made some more progress. We got the brake rotors on and the calipers. We made new lines which go from the caliper to the flexible brake line. All went well. We then began to bleed the brakes. The fronts bled fine and we thought we were looking good. The rears we had no luck getting brake fluid to flow to them or any air bubbles. Made a call to the experts here. The consensus was that the rear brakes can be a real pain in the rear to bleed. They suggested I open both rear bleed valves and take the tops off the reservoir and let it sit overnight. I also may try a pressure bleed system. So we were stopped in our tracks. Tomorrow hopefully we can finish with that and then we want to start the engine in the car.
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Jon,
Funny system in dual master cylinder requires both front and rear sections to be full of oil to work properly. Get oil out of some line near the rear before bleeding. A little pressure on right resevoir might help get things started. Opening lines near tee on rear crossmember would probably help. Might even blow oil back into resevoir to settle master cylinder. Sounds like things are going good.
John

 

Thanks John. Hopefully I can work it out tomorrow.

 

The project has definitely brought us both closer together, and i hope your restoration does the same for you and your dad! Good luck and make sure to take pictures for all of us to see!

 

Jon:

You might try a hand operated vacuum pump, you can bleed the car with one person. I have one if you want to use it (they are pretty cheap to buy, about $30 I think). I've had mine for years and it works great. Might help in your efforts. Let me know if you need it.

Alberto

 

Thanks for the offer. I bought one at Sears last night and hopefully it does the trick.

 

No photos from today (brakes tomorrow) but we did decide to start the engine in the car today. Drum roll..................Turned the key and NOTHING. So out with the continuity checker, voltage checker, alligator clips etc. First I checked to see if I was on the right lug on the switch. Sure enough it got power when the key was in the start position. Check that one off. Next checked the ground strap on the engine to the frame. Good ground, check off. Next checked power at the starter, 12 Volts there, check off. Next checked power at the solenoid with the key in start position, NO POWER. Next checked continuity from the switch to the solenoid, no continuity. Everytime I turned the key though I could hear a relay click in the fuse panel. Time to call the expert Jim Selevan. Phone call tech support all the way from Laguna Beach to San Diego. Jim had me run through a few things and realized the solenoid wire from the ignition switch was going to a relay first. Over the phone he surmised it was the relay for the switch in the drivers seat which doesn't allow you to start the car unless you are in the seat. We bypassed the relay and tried to start. Drum roll....................roared to life on the first try. First time the engine has been running in that car in 2 years. It sounded really good, no leaks (water or oil). All the guages work. Thank you Jim Selevan. He has been a great help and he has taught me alot. Tomorrow the brakes but a big step forward today.

 

Jon,

Congrats on starting her up! It's all downhill from here I imagine. I hope I get the chance to see this car someday.

 

I didn't know they had that in a car that old, you must have put it in with the new harness, anybody would have forgoten that, Congrats on the run today and hope to see pictures of the break job and wheels in place tommorow. Soon it will be on the ground waiting to be rolled around town...

 

Maybe a web-cast of the maiden voyage!

 

There's a relay in the seat? How cool! My '69 Dino doesn't have one - must be a later series addition. I'd love to know what sparked the need for that feature - must have been one hell of a good strory.

Congrats Jon, you are almost there!

...Keith

 

US cars had them. I think it also triggered a buzzer for the seat belt if it wasn't latched when you try to start the car. Mine was long ago disabled but the guts of the mechanism are still under the dash.

DM

 

i think this true for 99% of all us dino's

 

Only for year model 1974. One of those government regulations to make you buckle your seatbelt before you could start the car. If you didn't do it in the right sequence your had to hit the reset button in the engine compartment and start all over again.

Those rear brakes should not be that hard to bleed. You might want to check your fluid flow before and after the proportioning valve.

 

Not all things make all people happy. But if you didn't smile reading this post, have your next-of-kin contact the undertaker.

 

I just found this thread last night and read every page until 3.00am Tokyo time - needless I didn't make it the office on time. But what a great project that has been so well documented. I am impressed with Jon's humble attitude and the fact that his son is with him on this one. The only time my brother and I actually helped my dad as a child - he got angry because we dropped something, I think my brother even got a clip on the ear! I am envious - in a positive way if you know what I mean.

All the best from Tokyo!!

 

We now have brakes. We at first had a hard time bleeding the rears. It seemed we were getting no pressure to the rear brakes. I got a vacuum pump and it seemed to work fine, but something didn't seem right. I took off the master cylinder to check it. I found one of the seals was slightly larger than the other two. They all came together in the rebuild kit I got. I changed out that seal and tried again. Everything worked great without the vacuum pump. I think next we are going to put wheels on it so we can torque all the suspension bolts with it in a static position. Then off to Park City to get some skiing in for a week. Lots of snow there and it's getting dumped on right now. But oh so COLD.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You are totally toying with us. This is worse than waiting to find out who shot J.R.