77 308 GTB Major Service & Mini Restoration

With all the parts restored it was time for final assembly and tuning. The engine went in without a problem and all hoses and cables were carefully re-installed and routed. New ignition cables were fitted and the engine started right up. Carb balancing and setup took a little over an hour and the car was allowed to go through a few heat cycles before giving everything a thorough nut and bolt check before considering the job done. One eye opener was how much fluid went into the car. With the cooling system totally empty some 5 gallons of coolant went in. The oil system was equally dry eating (from memory) about 7-9 litres and the gearbox consumed almost 5 quarts of RedLine MTL. Even the brakes got in on the action with over a liter flushing through.

The new exhaust sounds just awesome with none of the rattles of the old one. The carburation seems quite good too with very crisp throttle response and a butter smooth idle. I'm actually just putting the car away like this until spring when I will fill the A/C system and give it one last looking over before putting it back on the road. Installing the airbox, wheel arches, ducts, and rear bonnet will only get in my way now so I'll just cover up the carbs and store the car under a cover till later.

I think that's about it for the updates but I'll happily answer any questions. Now for some final assembly photos.

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Good spot

Yes the new toy is a 2003 Lamborghini Murcielago. 6 speed manual and of course V12 so that will be a new ownership experience for me. Here are some more photos of the car:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/new-murcielago-owner.566426/

 

For now the car is pretty much done. The only thing left to do is re-charge the A/C and then put the airbox and rear cover back on. I'll do this in the spring so there is not a lot to report right now.

As for the aluminum castings we have never tried wet media blasting. All cleaning was done with glass bead at a very low pressure to avoid damaging the aluminum. Coarser castings like the rear cam cover were chemically cleaned with an aviation aluminum cleaner called Alumabrite.

 

I use Loctite Anaerobic 518 on all gaskets and machined mating surfaces. It is a great sealant that flows well and cannot clump and accidentally block an oil passage. Also any material that squirms out is easily wiped away with a rag making for really clean installs.

The only exception is any part in contact with gear oil. In those instances I use Permatex Gear Oil RTV sealant which is resistant to the friction modifiers used in gear oil. Follow the directions and just snug the parts together, wait an hour, and then torque to spec.

Lastly on the subject of sealants I will also comment on gaskets. ONLY use the green Klingersil brand gaskets. They are far and away the best and most reliable. Some suppliers offer cheaper gray or black gaskets and they just do not last and leak.

 

Superformance does offer the green Klingersil gaskets for the 308. No issues there.

 

Braided hose is available from Wurth. They have lots of different metric sizes rated for gasoline but the downside is you need to buy a whole spool. If you need a small amount I may still have some on the roll. Message me and I'll be glad to have a look. I'm also in Toronto