Frank, I checked with Fabio and Ermanno and they confirmed these radiator caps were original on some cars .. below is the response: "Ciao Ivan, I have just talk with Ermanno who told me that he confirm that the caps you have were used sometimes in the early 3500 GTs when the factory purchased some radiators from a different supplier than the usual. I hope this can help! Have a nice day! ciao Fabio" Please do not deduct 1/10th of point for the cap if you judge my car Ivan
I am still not convinced. However a period factory photo would convince me. For the sake of putting this subject to sleep I will be enjoying a big bowel of crow soup tonight for dinner. On the subject of Sig. Cozza whom I admire and hold in very high esteem we must remember that he is 90 + years old now and bless his heart. I have had known him since 1971 when we first met. It is my experience in talking with him - and I really hate to say this - but his memory on some occasions were not up to speed. For a person of his age this is to be expected. Hell, I'm 67 and I can't remember what I did yesterday. I am not sure it applies in this case or not, but just saying. Some of this can of course be chalked up to Mandaranos law #18 which states " a lot is lost in the translation" As to your 1/10 of a point you would need to demonstrate that you have a radiator of a "different supplier from the usual." One tough judge. Ciao, FGM
Oh ... but it is a special radiator and it is documented in the car's technical document. Do I get back my 1/10th of a point Sorry to hijack your thread. Ivan Image Unavailable, Please Login
No problem re hijack. Looks like it says right there in black and white. So, yes, you do get the 1/10th of a point back. FGM
Last friday I took the Latina on her 100 mile test drive east on Interstate 10 in the direction of Phoenix AZ. She drove as a new car and sounded like an italian symphony on song at 3200 RPM the noise was simply beautiful. But alas she broke my heart when the severe oil leak from the rear main seal could not contain the 50w Valvoline. She rebelled in her own passionate way by slipping her clutch which had now been soaked with oil. Sadly I took her home and tucked her in the garage next to her big brother Quattroporte and called the mechanic to make arrangements to replace the rear main seal. As many of you know the crank must come out to preform this operation. The good news is that the head will not need to come off and all the fasteners are fresh along with all the hoses and fittings. So the engine will go out and in very easily. At the same time I will have the tech machine new throttle shafts for the Webers and other fine point tuning and sorting. Is this a disapointment? Yes, but I promised myself that I would get this car right. Although she is kicking and fighting all the way in the end she will drive a 1000 miles in proper form, and do so with an engine so dry, it will only be dusty. Ciao, FGM The photos were taken out in the desert on the test drive where she seemed to be in her element. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Such a wonderful looking car and it suits the setting also. Too bad about the seal but I empathise with your issues and admire the perseverance to get it right.
What a shame about the seal, Frank. Still, she looks beautiful and you're 99% there. The desert suits that car and color particularly well.
The rear main and front seal have now been installed and the Webber's are getting new machined shafts as I write. We also installed new standard mains and rod bearings along with new thrust washers. The engine will be ready to go back in the car very soon. Ciao, FGM
The engine has been reinstalled and the car has been test driven by me for 3 miles then returned to the shop to flush the 10W break in oil and install the Valvoline straight 50W. At the same time they readjusted the clutch to give in more free play. I then drove the car for 50 miles took it home and parked it on a new sheet of cardboard. The photo shows the cardboard as i pulled it out from under the car the next morning. I am pleased to report NO oil drops whatsoever. This car is now finished and ready for more milage. Thats two down and two to go. I plan to drive it out on the freeway in the direction to Phoenix and return after 100 to 150 miles and put it back on the cardboard. Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
You may recall that while I had the engine out for the rear main seal replacement we discovered that the rods and main bearings were in very poor condition some with copper showing through and others were very dark in color perhaps over heated. I of course did the right thing and replaced them with new ones. Here below are photos of what bad bearings look like. Note Although you must remove the crankshaft to replace the rear main seal, it is possible to remove the crank from the engine with out taking the head off. The front seal on the other hand is a very easy job, simply pull the front pulley and slide in the new seal. Ciao, FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yikes those look almost as bad the ones from my race engine when I had a massive oil pressure failure. You might want to check the cam bearings too Frank. I found one set were damaged there as well.
The 3500 does not have cam bearings, but the cam journals were inspected very carefully. I am off now for a 6:00AM 100 mile test drive. Not much traffic and lots of cold desert air here in Palm Springs. FGM
Frank, Any idea what could have caused this? I wonder if the straight 50W oil contributes to the bearings wearing more. Ivan
Got up, got a coffee, went out to the garage and started up the Latina, warmed it up and noted the milage at 48,805 KLM. Headed off to Interstate 10 on route to Pheonix. Drove up into the hills above Coachella Valley keeping the revs to under 3000 rpm with some spurts up to 3500 and back down to 2800. Drove 55 KLM out and 55KLM back for a total of +-107KLM. The car ran beautifully NO slipping clutch, No popping, No backfiring, No seeping cam covers. I took it home and again parked it on the white sheet of paper. We will see how it does tomorrow AM. When we rebuilt the Webbers we replace the throttle shafts and bushed them in order to tune them properly. If you have not replaced the shafts you can never tune the carbs. They will always leak air. Most techs never do this. Note: the color of the tail pipes. I am very happy with the results and am planning to take the car to Riverside to Doug Magnon's Trattoria on Sunday the 16th for the Vino Rallye run to the desert and a visit to the Anneneberg Estate at Sunnylands. Hope to see you all there. Ciao, FGM 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
No none of them do I meant the in head bearings and caps. I had an oiling problem and I thought it was just the mains & rods but one side's cam bearing-in-head were wiped. Not nice. If those were OK great!
Congratulations on a successful maiden voyage. The car looks great. I notice that your side mirror is mounted in the exact same location as mine. I always assumed they were customer installed....perhaps they were dealer installed. I always thought that was an unusual location to mount it, because it is just outside the driver's reach.
Did you tune the a/f ratio as well for optimum at WOT? I can make my tailpipes clean as a ghost if I run it close to stoich.
