Barn find.... today

"Hey Hon... Big D says I can use the washing machine for these bellhousing castings"... its always easier on me when its someone else's idea.... whoa, is that a BUS?

The carbs... oh yes, they have a lovely fragrance. One apart and in the straightening jig with one heat cycle already done, the others come apart tomorrow. I think these carbs might get bearings on the throttle shafts rather than boring and bushing or O/S shafts. I have found 5 of the bearings and I know I have a complete set... just have to find the last one in my jetting box tomorrow and then I can decide. The decision was made to hold off on pulling all the lead plugs until I have had a chance to properly clean the carbs first. The first cleaning cycle should show me if that is really required at this time. Much to my surprise, most of the debris in the float bowls dissolved quite nicely without resulting to drastic measures.... pure luck I am happy to take at this stage!

I received a call this evening from J after returning from his trip, Joe is doing just fine, safe and happy at home. You know how they say everyone is Six degrees of separation away? Dad called at lunch today and told me J stopped by his house for a visit last weekend... in Houston!, J's brother lives down the road a few miles from Dad. I dont claim to understand any of this but I am proud as dickens to have fallen into the middle of it! J's life wasn't busy enough already, now he serves double duty visiting with Dad and Joe, what an absolute treat to be involved with this bunch. I still shake my head in disbelief, "expect the unexpected"... heck, what's left that can be UNexpected?

 

No, your safe, she thinks you and Elf hung the moon... she would find some way to turn it back on me even if you printed out the exact wash and rinse cycles to be used, she calls it "experience".

The unexpected: There is an odd way this car has been handing me challenges since the day I became involved with it. For some reason it keeps loading me up but around every turn there is a rainbow..... I dont get it but it sure gives me reason to chuckle and it is a very fresh change of pace for me. Things have been turning around for me since the car came into the shop. Years long problem cars are headed home as complete successes, things are just starting to fall into place. At the same time, just when one would lean towards getting cocky, like a fine Checking Standard I am reminded to remain humble..... a mear 3 feet further and the truck and trailer could easily have gone over the cliff!

Monday I went over to the pallet rack Jenni built next to the 330 to store all of the removed parts on, gathering the carbs/intakes and bring them to the bench to disassemble, while chuckling to myself about my planned payback to Kris for laughing at my idea to buy a bent plane. Still assembled as a unit with the soon to be replaced fuel lines holding all 3 assemblies together, not paying enough attention I picked them all up by the outer two carbs without noticing I had the cover screws removed from the center carb. As soon as I picked up the trio, the center carb body and intake fell towards the floor, a potentially catastrophic situation, played out at 1/100 speed like the mind does in cases of great stress. I quickly stuck my leg out to break the fall, resulting in the carb/intake hitting my knee, bounced from that and came to a rest on top of my foot, a foot from the floor. Pan back, the full visual would have me with the two and a half carbs held above my head, out at arms length to counter balance my leaning back, my right leg out at 30 degrees with a carb body and intake resting on the top of my foot. For a normal person this might be the expected end result, for me....a simple 'No' should suffice. The opening scene of 'The Jerk' has Navin Johnson dancing on the front porch of his families run down country shack, not the closing scene, the opening one! I remember when the kids were young and that movie came on the TV..... the kids were laughing hysterically as that scene played out and Kris said to them.... "THAT is how your father dances, someone saw him and made a movie!" Admittedly, I cant get a clap and a toe tap to match rhythm if my life depended on it.... and here I stand like a Circus Act balancing irreplaceable carbs on the tip of my toe, while dumping the vile smelling fuel out of the others right over my head, neck and chest.

I sat down at the bench, knees rattling, and had to deal with three separate emotions that overcame me at that moment. The first was the sense of relief, all was well. The second was a gratefulness that I had near just wrecked my own car, not one of a customers, lesson learned to slow down and be more careful..... sometimes you just get caught up in the rush and you get a reminder to take it down a notch. The third.... How in the Hell did Kris pull this off and turn my snidely little payback to her... onto ME? I return home to find Kris and her friend sitting at the kitchen table, alternating between chatting and cackling, and I muster up a smile, thinking to myself anyone that can pull off turning the tables on me without being present... I Best smile at! "Im going to take a shower and change cloths". "Hey Dave, your Cologne, that really isnt making it, maybe you should shower outside by the horse coral using the garden hose!". As humbled as I was at the moment, the resulting roar of laughter from those two....you can just hear it, cant you.... over the request I shower outside by the manure pile.... I could only think to myself, "Pick your battles wisely fool.... luck was on your side and all was well.... best accept that, be grateful and realize you are old enough to know better than picking a fight with TWO women at once... you cant win against ONE"!!! The self preservation Auto Reflex mode kicked in and the "Yes Dear" response blurted out without so much as a thought.... another day perhaps.

 

Heck... think more on the line of a cross between a fainting goat and a 3 toed sloth.... nothing near that refined. My knees didnt stop shaking for an hour. It doesnt happen but once every year or two but when it does... you just hope Luck is on your side. The scabs on my knee, shin and calf will give me a constant reminder for a time to come.... that choke lever had hide hanging from it by the time it rested on my foot.

 

When used as door stops!

You have NO IDEA Randy, I have all but given up. Four other shop owners I speak with on a regular basis... Have given up looking. It comes down to agrivating owners with a long wait or us making excuses why a car must come back multiple times. Collectively we have chosen doing it ourselves, taking less income from less cars going through the doors but doing what we do get done to the best of our ability. Others choose the production line in and out..... Who's right? Nobody, they are both flawed.
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Oh, they are good dogs with not so much as a single evil bone in their bodies, but Jenni's little rat thing... the jury is still out on that. This new dork Duke, he is only guilty of being TOO happy and excited. Given his early life and being abandoned for long enough to literally turn him to skin covering bones..... he hit the Lotto Jackpot when Kris found him! Kris is the little girl who would tie a rope around anything with fur, wearing its paws out dragging it home and telling her folks it followed her there. She went to the Humane Society to get a new Barn Cat.... and came back with this disfigured thing who's tongue wont even fit in its mouth. One tooth sticking out that his lip gets hung up on, tongue is 3" too long to fit in his mouth, nose is literally mashed in.....

Blamp.... this butt ugly doorknob is a Chick Magnet of a caliber I never even thought possible.... unprecedented. We took him alone up to Estes Park on a weekend outing to the Winery we like to go to on a nice summer day. I could develop a method to make a 355 major last 15 years between services while producing 800 reliable Horse Power.... even at that, I could make more money renting this fool dog out to single guys by the hour! He isn't a magnet, he's more like a vacuum and its foolproof... even with some old gray haired shlt holding the leash. I'm pulling the hoists out, throwing the testers in the dumpster, setting up a Lab and taking to attempting to clone this animal. Can I blame him for being overly excited? Hell No, he gets fed 27 times a day by a sweet lady, gets a nice soft bed and gets cooed at and petted for licking the Cleavage of complete strangers who stoop down to pet him. Before I met him I had other plans if you really do come back in an afterlife..... now.... those plans changed!

A REAL shame!

Jenni has the passion for the right reasons, it isn't a "look at me" thing, she really appreciates the design and truly loves learning how to make these make Exactly the right sounds. Yesterday we finished up undoing time and a plethora (I only get to use that word about once every 6 years...) of poorly executed repairs done over the years on a stunning 4 cam 275GTB. The 330 and the 275 are sitting nose to nose, one standing proud in all its glory and the other resembling Pig Pen on Charlie Brown... dirt jumping off the floor just to find a resting place. The key to ON, pump running for 15 seconds, 5 pumps of the throttle and it didn't crank for more than two revolutions before snapping instantly to life, cleanly on all 12. Crisp, clean... just ultra Snappy response. She heard it, smelled it...... she understood and felt it, and then turned to "Pig Pen" and just stared at it. I know that smile, I know what's going through her head because decades melted away in a single moment... I remember when my first efforts on a PF Coupe came to life. "This will sound and look like That"..... yes, your right, it WILL, and I understand her want to do restorations very well, its a passion and a blank canvas. Given I had just read to her one of the most glowing feedback reports on the afore mentioned F40 we had just sent home, knowing her love for that car even though it proved to be the Poster Child for "Problems".... When she heard its owners words about tire spin in 3rd gear at 80MPH... that same engine shut down "squeal" happened in the office. Now standing next to her latest 'quest', after hearing a 7 figure car spring to life in an angry way...... I didn't have the heart to remind her it is also the money pit from hell that has tried to kill us both since we met up with it. Even if I had I suspect I would have received one of those twisting twirly hand gestures followed by a "What ever, Old Man... just watch!". She has the sickness, full on, hell bent... I dont care what it costs... illness..... with NO Budget, this will end up becoming the Clash of the Titans before it sports a shine again!

 

Oh goodness... what a treat to hear from you! I miss speaking with your father and getting updates. He sure had a passion to get your car sorted out and enjoyed his time with it! Hope it has been behaving itself up there for you.

Tell him to call me, I need advise on this landing a plane thing. No problem getting one up and keeping it there but.... lawn darting it down will shorten my new found hobby if I dont change that! Seems I recall this was an area of expertise of his.... aside from R&R of fuel tanks in a 365.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with him. I sure enjoyed when your Mom and Dad stopped by here. I had your Dad almost talked into trading the Cad for a 456 6 spd we were working on at the time. Your Mom just shook her head, two of us were too much to tangle with. Top of the heap midwest folks!

 

Nothing I am able to prove at this point. I have run into a number of the owners back in the day who ordered the car stateside but took delivery in various countries in Europe, timed with a vacation over there. I have yet to find a way to prove that and basing the theory solely on French lights is a huge stretch. Kerry says the car was ordered through Chinetti, that much we know... the rest is still a project to come back to when pressing technical matters are behind me.

Stranger.... is that possible..... Naw, its expected now! The Quad light 330 my body shop is doing, the one that I spoke of earlier, the one that justifies making the frame jig..... It was 2 cars behind mine on the assembly line. Go figure!

 

"""Stranger.... is that possible..... Naw, its expected now! The Quad light 330 my body shop is doing, the one that I spoke of earlier, the one that justifies making the frame jig..... It was 2 cars behind mine on the assembly line. Go figure!""""

I now understand Kerry's questioning the engine number on our car. Out of the clear blue comes another local Quad 330, somewhat lost to time regarding the Registry, with only 2 cars between ours and the new find. The body numbers verify this to be a correct statement, the VIN numbers as well... oh but that pesky engine number, it still says this car got an early engine that was laying in the corner and then stamped with the VIN. Our car having a 456 engine number and the other 330 in question, only two cars behind it on the line, a 600 engine number. These small details would be completely lost to time had it not been for the efforts of Kerry who heads up the 330GT Registry. There are other small clues from this newly identified car that Might answer other mysteries with our's. As soon as I get permission to speak about this other car, I would enjoy Kerry jumping in on this thread, sharing his insight, debating theories that might answer questions.... heck, Identifying what questions we need to come up with answers to. His efforts have yielded incredible finite details that I feel it only right that these should be presented by him, with his efforts being recognized.

Carb update:

I started with the center car due to the fact it had a sizeable chunk of my knee and shin stuck to the choke lever, Jen thought that was a little too gross to leave in place. The base was found to be .022" warped due to decades of over tightening the base mounting nuts in failed attempts to eliminate vacuum leaks. NO (!) you cant put a flat file to these to correct them, yet 98% do. If its warped at the base ears, it is distorted in the bores and getting an accurate throttle plate fit, where transition holes are accurately exposed when the throttle is just feathered off of idle... is a virtual impossibility. When you want it RIGHT and free of flat spots in the transition circuit... they get straightened and corrected back to their original shape. In a perfect world I could pick up the phone, call Keegan and just order up a new set of DCZ6's and then beat him up to get the Clergy discount. Alas, the greedy crud must be Hoarding them because the reply usually starts with him questioning what I had for dinner the night before... "Bad Shellfish or Beans and Brauts... you OK, have you turned Blonde?". It's a ritual, one that needs to be worked through until the ultimate insult reins supreme and the other calls Uncle... and then I can find out if he has anything ratholed he is willing to let go of..... Hoarder! Yes, getting a little off track but never leaving a perfectly good opportunity to Diss him (oh how my kids hate when I talk hip.... avenge yourself, live long enough to be a PITA to Them!) on the way by.... back to the carbs....

It took 2 heat cycles in the straightening jig and this one (never assume, this is a process where one holds their breath for DAYS, waiting to hear a "clink" and find a mounting ear broken off) is now within .002" of straight in all directions... damn well good enough! The throttle plate bores are now back to as close to circular as they will ever get and we shouldn't have any flat spots in the transition circuits. Two more to go and then we can decide on how to deal with the worn throttle shaft bores. That makes about 2-3 more days of self induced oxygen deficiency as I hold my breather in hopes I don't hear that ugly sound, PATIENCE is your friend with this process! Back when you could actually BUY worn out versions of these carbs, before Brian started ratholeing them, I purposely broke a few in an attempt to identify how fluid old cast aluminum really is... Not.... talk about a pucker up!
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You Sir, are far too easily impressed... we will work on that when we can get your hands dirty stretching carbs. It has been suggested of late that it is all BullSnot, that too is a possibilty... "Only the Shadow Knows for Sure"...

This is so blasted much fun! In all my time I have never seen two production Vintage cars so close in Vin number, within spitting distance of one another on an assembly line near 50 years ago, just happen to be getting the same restoration at the same time, right next to one another. A TdF or a Lusso... sure, maybe that could happen BUT two Quad 330's, Please, that would never happen. Heck, look at the whole story.... an impossible set of circumstances that one would have a hard time even dreaming up but reality is stranger than fiction. I walk into the shop each morning now looking at the fool thing, and ask "whatcha got planned for us today"?

 

... and my kids tell me I am without talents

 

The time had finally come to start filling in the blanks for Kerry's database. With the 330 on stands in the corner I was able to get both the diff and the trans numbers to him. Being as the shifter stalk bushing had gone completely missing, making selecting a given gear nothing better than a roll of the dice... it was time to remove the transmission tunnel to correct this little evil. Thankfully this problem had not risen to the priority level that the fuel pump was at the time and a "quick change access door" was not installed on the transmission tunnel like it was under the back seat for servicing the fuel pump. The tunnel, carpet, padding and leather was all still intact and unaltered, even the original safety wire to the transmission plug was still in place but had been extended for the few times this was checked/filled during its time on the road. Good old soft steel bailing wire was the obvious choice to extend the safety wire because it was close at hand.... I would have expected no less from Joe. The fact it was still safety wired when most find that too difficult to do and just leave it off.... Good job Joe!

When a few more details are dealt with and blanks are filled in I will let Kerry speak to his findings RE all the numbers and how they fit into a sequence. Finding the sister car to ours, just down the road a piece, after being delivered originally to different continents regardless of what theory works out, that will be a great help in generating a host of new questions... and maybe answer a few. Frankly I dont care what the bottom line story works out to be, I just find it interesting to chase and uncover what it is. What ever that story plays out to be... something goofy happened during its building stage and it will be fun to lay out as many theories as we can all collectively put together and see which one holds the most water. In the end it doesnt matter one wits worth, we have what we have and need only to focus on an upcoming drive and then a proper restoration.

Digging a bit deeper into the carb/manifold restoration, prior to cleaning and media blasting the center intake manifold, we inspected it closely to see if there was any witness marks that could tell us anything. Normally details like this are over looked during the haste to get the hair cut and put some shine back on the parts.... once its clean... its gone, there is only one shot at documenting this. Being as this project is a teaching tool for Jenni to hone her skills on, these fine details have to be pointed out so she has them firmly planted in her memory for when an important car is being restored at a later date. If for this reason alone, this IS an important car, if only to a few of us, the devils in the details! Learn to do it 100% correctly on a Quad 330 and then when she has to do a TdF or a Lusso..... the documentation techniques and methods to correct problems are already learned and practiced.

Surely nothing can actually be learned from a filthy old intake manifold.... really now? Given what we have identified on one cylinder head, the fact it was milled and updated with guides that were not available at the initial build time... We know we have resulting issues with cam chain interference in the front chest, was this just an oversight on regular adjustments or are there other problems to deal with in the rebuild? The difference between a quick freshen rebuild and a blueprinted rebuild are Vast and its the smallest, easily overlooked details that make the difference. What can an intake manifold that is just bolted to the outside of this lump tell us? It says we need to re-level the 250 pound granite measuring plate and get ready to read in minutes of a degree and out to 4 decimal places on the Mic's. One bank has head to manifold contact and an expected port match that would be found on a production car intended for street use. The other bank has a gap leaving consistent carbon traces, the type of problems expected to be found when heads are milled on this type of engine. For a teaching tool this is Great, finite problems were shown by small witness marks that were documented prior to clean up so a repair game plan can be put in action. Will it make a difference on an old street car? Surely not by itself but on an important Race or Collector car will be driven in anger once again, its all the difference in the World! Will it make a difference on This car? By itself no, but when you combine that with the correct, long winded pucker up repairs to the carbs... you bet it will be easily noticeable seat of the pants. How will it be corrected and "What does a 12 cylinder engine rebuild cost"? Who the heck knows, we still have not even identified all the questions we need to find answers for.

From what I read these days I will be 20% of the time of a "complete rebuild" into this by the time 3 straight and true carbs are bolted on 3 intakes... and still I wont have the sump removed! Damn I am getting slow, Jen had best break out the big air impacts and the flame wrench so we can speed this up!
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