400 Superamerica questions

Has anyone here had any direct experience with 400 Superamericas, either as owner or frequent driver? If so, I'd greatly appreciate feedback on what you think of the cars; pros, cons, etc. I'm especially interested in the later longer wheelbase coupes. Thanks.

 

I have worked on a number of the large grand touring coupes (410SA, 400 SuperAmerica and 500 Superfast). They are great for cruising on the highway and have gobs of low end grunt, especially when compared with a 250. Very comfortable at 80-100mph. They are fairly heavy and have boaty handling. No major problems that I can think of. Repair costs are comparable to other Ferrari's of the same era.

Brian Brown
Patrick Ottis Co.

 

Brian,

I am thinking about a Lampredi engined 250. What is involved in an engine rebuild and what are the particularly hairy aspects of the job? Thanks.

john

 

Brian - Thanks for your input. It's appreciated.

 

John,
Finding parts for Lampredi motors is more difficult than Columbo motors.
The actual process of the rebuild is not that different than the Columbo motor. As I am sure you are aware the Lampredi motor has no cylinder head gaskets. Each cylinder sleeve screws into the cylinder head. You have to have some way of clamping the head down and have a special socket to unscrew the cylinder sleeves. The cylinder sleeve distorts when it is tightened down into the head, so you must have a fixture made to screw the sleeve into to simulate the head when you bore the cylinder. It is a three person job to install the cylinder heads. The cylinders are screwed into the head, then all six pistons/rods are installed into their cylinders, then the head with pistons and rods is lowered into place onto the block and crankshaft.

Probably the hairiest aspect of the rebuild are the unknown demons of past repairs lurking inside the engine. The motors are so old at this point that they have usually been rebuilt multiple times. The last Lampredi motor we did almost killed our engine builder, it was so messed up from previous repairs. Some where in its life the cylinder heads were replaced with reproduction heads made by who knows who. After much investigation we discovered that the holes for the rocker pivot pins were drilled in different locations on different cylinders. The result being one cylinder having cam timing that was different from another. We had to figure out the differences in timing for each cylinder and have camshafts ground to compensate for the differences. Our cam grinder loved us for that one.

Brian

 

Brian,

Thank you so much for the explanation. I am bringing my Lusso in to you guys this Friday for a pre-purchase inspection. I'd love to meet you in person.

Wow, a mock up for cylinder sleeves. I wonder how the factory set up these engines?

john

 

But you have a Lusso already, John. Some guesses:

1. you are buying another one and doing a PPI on it
2. you are selling yours to finance something
a. 400 SA purchase
b. new electric sbstation/powerplant after the one in San Mateo exploded this week.
c. full 250 PF coupe resto
d. mistress/crack/flying lesson, what...?


None of my business, but since you had posted, enquiring minds want to know..

Luke\

 

John,

Lusso can go, your PF is prettier! Besides, the Lusso is "flavor of the month" - time to upgrade while you can.

Good luck on on the SA, can you share any details yet?

Regards,

Art S.

 

I guess the first solution attempted or looked at was to correct the incorrect rocker hole drillings ... seems the easier way from where I am sitting (?).

Pete

 

Art and Luke,

If and when my Lusso sells, I plan to buy a Lampredi engined car with the proceeds. As for which, I'd rather wait till my chickens hatch. Not to worry though, the brag that I am, I will let it be known as soon as possible.

I love my PF Coupe more than any car I've had, and probably more than any car I will ever have. The only thing that will separate me from that car is old age... DMV not renewing my drivers license that is. But I have a few years left till that happens.

Brian Brown's note about the Lampredi rebuild is enough to make your hair stand.

john

 

This has turned out to be a kind of peculiar thread. I started it off by asking for opinions about 400 SA's, and it seems to evolved into folks thinking that John is thinking about one. (Which he may well be, although his last post suggests otherwise.)

Anyway ... any other input?

 

About 25 years ago I had the opportunity to use a 410SA for a few weeks. It was a lovely, albeit BIG car. The brakes were not very good, the steering was a bit vague, but boy did it make nice noises and have lots of power.

I suspect that you can fiddle the brakes and steering into decent shape with enough work. All in all, no sports car, but a fine grand tourer. I took it on a weekend trip to northern Michigan and you couldn't have asked for a nicer tourer.

 

If you do decide to take the plunge, Tom Shaughnessy has all of the Lampredi engine bits, Michael Bayer

 

here is a nice Lampredi engined car. And so close to John. So what if the interior is a little funky.

http://www.fantasyjunction.com/search.php?dd=www.fantasyjunction.com:auto:FJ108

 

Yes, the 410SA has wonderful surge of power, resembling a freight train, from the lo mid and up. It sports a fantastic throaty growl and is geared a bit high so speed can be deceiving until you look down at the gauge. They are not built for larger people, I have to remove the seat cushion and sit on a folded blanket on the floor (6'5"). The handling as Erik has said, like all of the older cars, can be a little vague, but it can be encouraged to get around a turn in a fairlly impressive fashion, not on the tighter twisties though.

Now the brakes, on the series II cars 15" drums, stand on them and it may tend to slow you down, but I suppose that all of the old drum braked cars are similar. It's the combination of larger car, deceptive speed and largely ineffective brakes, that can be scary when you're driving a car of such value a little hot into a turn.

Regards,
Bill

 

Luke,

I think the yellow car at FJ is cute and unique. The color scheme is not for everyone, though I wouldn't mind it too much. If it lives in this color scheme for a long time it will become a legend of the sort.

john

 

People

We have the following parts in our system which are categorised for 400 SA...

20TH U/S C/ROD BEARING PAIR SA410 (PWM) £95.30
STD MAIN BEARING SET SA410 (PWM) £1,044.40
20TH U/S MAIN BEARING SET SA410 (PWM) £848.40

 

Erik and Bill - Thanks for your replies. Do you think the braking problems you mention would be alleviated in the 400 SA, which I understand had disk brakes rather than the drums of the 410?