Hey guys, MORE PICS!!! But before I begin, I tend to think PV Dirk was joking about the controlled seepage. I've known him for awhile on the Mondial forum, and this was probably just his dry humor. In any event, the surface rust was limited to the distributers and will come right off. In all likelihood, it was the result of the owner washing the car and putting her away without running the car long enough to burn off any moisture that may have collected in the process. NOW ON TO THE PICS!!!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Way to go Joe- In a world where almost every other 80's Ferrari has "Deferred Maintenance" it's good to see one lavished with the proper amount of care. (And money) We'll see where TR prices go- but I think the bottom was 2009.
the pics are great, im very impressed with the pics on the engine out, your inside carriage, the body looks so clean, its very impressive - and i thought my car look great, your car is for sure the real deal looking like that - congrats !
How does the left side of your Differential Carrier look? Specifically the welds that hold it together. I would pull it and have them magnafluxed for cracks before going any further. (I believe Mr. Newman is gearing up for another run of billet carriers.)
Thank you for the suggestion. Funny you should mention this, I previously discussed the carrier with the service advisor. To the extent possible, I believe they will be visually inspecting the carrier if they haven't already using a boroscope (?) and have my permission to replace the diff carrier if their visual inspection warrants it ( one of Newman's carriers is actually available on Ebay). However, I am not going to go too crazy given this car's provenance and the reputation of the prior owner. FWIW, I have spoken to numerous mechanics on this issue and the general consensus is that diff carrier failures are found almost universally in cars that have been abused or have an unknown history. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT a common problem, but it can happen. Algar knew the prior owner well--who is now roughly in his 80s-- and serviced this car regularly. I'm not saying it can't happen, but I would be surprised if this car suffered a carrier failure.
Since you're into it this far, I would have it checked out. Visual inspection is good, but it won't reveal small tight cracks. You really need a die penetrant or mag particle examination to be sure. Probably not much additional cost at this point, and the piece of mind would be nice. Would make a good point on re-sale too.
Having seen 2 seperate diff carrier failures over the past year, we made a point to properly inspect before moving forward. My technician assured me all is well and no need to replace or weld any area. With that said, those 2 failures were the only I have seen in my 15 years at Algar. Up to this point, the service has gone very smoothly and ahead of schedule. Joe certainly found himself one of the finest TR's I believe to be out there. With any luck he will have it back to enjoy for a bit prior to our roads getting salted. Now the tricky part will be to convince Ferrari's Classiche Dept. to Certify the car despite it having leaf stuck in the rear diffuser. This certainly did not originally come with the car, and there is also the issue of the non-OEM papers found in the glove box. Keeping our fingers crossed... Mike @ALGAR
Replace it..it will fail. I have done 4 in the last 4 years..one a year. Get the Newman unit. great part. In fact I may buy one to keep on the shelf. When they fail, they fail big. They will blow out the side cover on the gearbox...bad news seeing as they are not easy to come by anymore. Your a dealer. Once these cars are out of warrenty you won't see the issues that we do in the independant world, because they are older cars. Goes with any other older car. I call dealers and order range rover hoses for stock, that they have never replaced!! Mean while they pop all the time!!
Thank you everyone for their concern. I've elected not to replace the diff carrier at this time. Believe me, Algar would replace the diff carrier if I wanted them to. This is my call, not Algar's and is not made lightly. I have done my research on this issue. the diff carrier is a problem area, it is not an epidemic. Ferrari made approx 7K testarossas alone. Most of those cars will enjoy long healthy lives without blowing up their diffs. Based on this cars provenance, the service history, and the condition as she exists today, combined with Algar's physical inspection of the diff, I am satisfied. I will be diligent in inspecting the diff as often as practical and will replace it at the first sign of trouble. There are enough diff carrier threads in this subsection...almost as many as the timing belt threads. Let's not start another one!
I agree.. if she checks out I would leave alone. If your planning on driving this car and plan on thoroughly enjoying her you should pay some attention to the electrical issues.. Fuse box being one.. its not "if" its "when". They all go and the more you drive the car unfortunately the problem will arise. The wire harness terminals is another issue and I am a stong supporter of the gold connector kit from Scuderia Rampante. Dave does the fuse box as well. Its a tough choice for you because if you want this car Classiche Certified these mods would probably cancel that out but if you want a reliable car these upgrades are absolute.. Especially the fuse box.. Its a catch 22 for you.. certification or reliability.. it would be great if they would still certify that car after upgrades have been made. Its also a good idea to have them check the brake calipers to see if any are seized from sitting and rust.. if this guy was always washing and garaging calipers are worth checking - brake pads as well. This is a great thread and I love what you are doing with this car.. Decisions decisions.. Be well R
Thanks! You have offered some great advice. At the moment, certification is more important to me as the fusebox and wire terminals have been examined and are currently in perfect working order. However, I know this is a weak spot and I will reassess my driving habits after a year. If I am driving her as much as I think I will, I will have to make some tough choices indeed, but I can certainly envision contacting Dave to supply me with the whole enchilada. As for the calipers...do you have ESP!!!! The calipers were rebuilt last year for this reason! In fact, when I first got the car the right front was sticking abit again from being parked and washed. However, after 100 or so miles, it began operating properly. Nonetheless, I had the calipers checked out again as part of the major just to be sure.
We are making great time... Here are some more photos... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
More updates. Tony's decided to replace the few remaining injectors that had been replaced at the last major. Still, we are way ahead of schedule on this job and I can hardly contain myself with anticipation. Now I'll shut up...MORE PHOTOS!!! First, a nice before and after Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
and here's some more fun... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Such great pictures. Now I want to do a service on a TR. All the marks on the cam gears brought back the fun memory of having my Mondi engine apart. The photos show what artistry there is in taking these apart and putting them back together. Am I too old to apprentice as a Ferrari tech?
It looks like you have new braided lines on the air injection. I've had trouble finding that, do they have a source or just have a spool in house? I had been told Porsche dealers would carry it but I've come up negative on calling 3 dealers. Maybe a different size, I believe my car has 18mm.
Good question! For those of you who like to play a game of chance with your timing belts...please know its not worth it. My belts looked "fine" however my tensioner bearings were pretty close to failing. By their estimation, at most, I was about 1000 miles away from having my valves and pistons becoming intimately acquainted. I stopped by today to check out their progress. Tony is doing a fantastic job!!! They replaced 7 fuel injectors and replaced all the fuel lines. They also did tons of other things, which are too numerous to mention, while still staying within the estimate given. I could not be happier with the workmanship, progress, and communication. I am hoping to have her back in a couple of weeks--keep your fingers crossed!!!
Exactly!!! How the belts look is irrelevant it is usually the tensioner bearings that fail. Were the injectors less than $25 a piece? When I replaced mine about three years ago the list was about 154 each and I picked them up for 18.00 each I think a recent thread had them at $2X.00 each
Don't worry about it. When I did my major on the TR I Used to have, it had maybe 5k miles on it? The engine, etc looked exactly as yours with a little bit of surface rust in the same areas. It is not an issue and is consistent with a car of this age. Your TR is in great shape & I look forward to watch the progress.
