Countach Downdraft 1985 to 1988.5 | Page 393 | FerrariChat

Countach Downdraft 1985 to 1988.5

Discussion in 'LamborghiniChat.com' started by joe sackey, Oct 25, 2015.

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  1. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    The engine room, rebuilt and ready for tuning & testing.

    Behind it you can see two units, one of which is a ground-shaking engine from a race-winning 512 BBLM!

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  2. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    If you are a nut like me and want original components, you can still find original ventilation hoses and proper cad-plated cotter-pin clamps

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  3. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    I'm afraid it was a last-nut-and-bolt affair, I know nobody will ever see half the stuff that was done, but I recorded it so I know it's there

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  4. RPMMarcus

    RPMMarcus Karting

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    Looks great Joe, all nut and bolt restoration, fantastic. i love the pictures from this car, i noticed the decal in the trunk is hand written "bordeaux speciale" was this done at the factory like that? I suppose you done a bare metal paintjob (especially because you want it all so perfect), do you have pictures from the bare metal body, love to see these! It also would be interesting to see pictures from the engine with the heads off and from the heads when they just came from the engine.Have you replaced the complete pistons too? How much miles are actually on the car now? One last question, this car was tuned at the factory for mr Mimran, if yes, what exactly was done? Great threat, please keep the pictures comming, great car!
     
  5. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

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    Fascinating seeing her in this form.
     
  6. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

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    Fantastic detail
     
  7. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

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    Precisekg what does it mean to have an engine “blue printed”?
     
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  9. Rossocorsa1

    Rossocorsa1 F1 Veteran

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    Sorry guys. I appreciate your attempts to explain it but I’m now more confused than ever.
     
  10. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    #9810 joe sackey, Nov 26, 2018
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 27, 2018
    To blueprint an engine as it related to Nuova Automobili Lamborghini SpA circa 1986 meant to have one of the master engine-builders prepare the unit to specific equal tolerances & clearances, include weight-balancing the components.

    This had the effect of producing a more efficient and powerful unit.

    This was done for a number of VIP clients, and of course it cost more.
     
  11. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Marcus, let me try and answer all your questions!

    PPG paint decal - yes, the paint color was hand-written in the allotted space at the factory, I have photo-documented multiple cars with original stickers showing this this and posted same within this thread.

    Engine - I have posted images of the engine's top-end apart in this thread and perhaps I can re-post them or add some new ones from my archives. That said, the car's pre-restoration compression & leak down results were impressively good & remarkably consistent across all 12 so there was no need to delve into the bottom-end or even think about replacing the pistons. Naturally, I'd rather not replace special components in a factory-tuned engine unless absolutely necessary! This engine is one really bulletproof unit and unless I do something really stupid, it should stay that way.

    Factory tuned engine - yes, it has been confirmed to me independently by both Patrick Mimran and my factory sources that GLA 12997 received a factory-tuned engine, I have this documented from the aforementioned in writing. Basically the Mimran Countach Downdraft has a blueprinted engine with sport camshafts and a supplementary oil cooler.

    Bodywork - when the coach-builder started the bodywork I was in London so I didn't get to record much of the paint stripping and bare-metal stage but I will post some stage images as I can find them below.

    Mileage - since the restoration, I have done @ 1,000 miles, but this includes the testing by the restorer and Valentino Balboni. I drive it every chance I get, although sometimes it's only a 20 or 30-mile drive. At the point of the restoration from late 2015 to @ late 2016, GLA12997's mileage as bestowed upon me by Raymond was @ 70,659 kms (43,905 miles), see image below

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  12. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    As I said I don't have many of these but I'll keep looking

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  13. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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  14. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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  15. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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  16. raymondQV

    raymondQV F1 Rookie

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    Blueprinting doesn't only mean to use components of same weight and balance the crankshaft, but also to eliminate all flow related obstructions in the in/out of the engine. F.e. you can improve the valve shape, use harder springs, sport cams with longer opening times and higher lift.
    Basically to tune an aspirated engine you have to improve the flow of the mixture from the carbs to the exhaust.
    Even the length and diameter of the headers have an effect on power-delivery, the longer they are the more torque at low rpm, the shorter the more at high rpm - said simplified.
     
  17. joe sackey

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    #9817 joe sackey, Nov 26, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2018
    Bordeaux Speciale with clearcoat prior to polishing.

    Marcus hope this helps illustrate the car's bodywork process, largely uneventful, and without any issues just slow!

    And before anyone asks, yes we put in L-shaped brackets near the radiator apertures to prevent future cracking, so far so good.

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  18. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Correct, and the differences in power and performance can be very significant.
     
  19. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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  20. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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  21. RPMMarcus

    RPMMarcus Karting

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  22. RPMMarcus

    RPMMarcus Karting

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    sorry, something went wrong on last post..i don't post very often. not so good with computers.

    Thanks for your answers, interesting the PPM paint decal was hand written but i can amagine for example the pink countach also had a hand written PPG paint decal.., from which colours you have photo-documentation, just interesting to see, according all post you make here.. you must have a MASSIVE archive

    Unfortunaly i missed the top-end images, please repost them if possible, i guess nobody will complane seeing it for the second time! Can you actually see the work done on the porting/heads, is there visual difference on the cams like special stamping, other numbers? Maight it be possible this car came with higher compression aswel? would be great to have it on a dyno and see the difference with a stock DD and off course with a FI car..

    A shame your paint shop didn't make images from the bare metal body, i would say this it pretty important to proof the car had a bare metal job, especially with all these images from the restauration and all other stages the bare metal should not miss! I had a very good look at the picture from the doorpost but it looks like there is still paint on the outside, the doorpost was covered by a plate there and perhaps it was nessesary to take all paint of because of some corrosion (?), i don't know, just thinking.. i mean who knows your paintshop repainted the outside without having it bare metal while you wasn't there and you think it was a bare metal job while it wasn't.. I would say your paint shop ALWAYS had to make some pictures! But however, the paint looks increidible nice!

    Good to see you enjoy this wonderfull car from time to time!
     
  23. Rossocorsa1

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  24. Rossocorsa1

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    Joe - great photos and detail. Thanks for sharing.
     
  25. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    #9825 joe sackey, Nov 27, 2018
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2018
    I think you mean PPG, not PPM, yes, initially the color names were indeed traditionally hand-written for many years, by the advent of the 88.5 and 25th, they were machine-printed.

    Several PPG paint stickers are posted in this thread, meanwhile I've no idea about the so-called pink Countach, I haven't inspected it's PPG paint sticker.

    Yes, I do have a significant image archive of my own but please bear in mind that a substantial portion of it is proprietary material that I use for business or hope to put into an exclusive publication one day, so I'm not going to post everything here, that said, I try and share as much as possible.

    I'll repost the engine top-end images again in due course, happy to do so, that Downdraft engine is a thing of utter wonder & beauty!

    The sport cams were calibrated and documented by Dugan, and he measured & documented the car's compression, and finally, all the engine's numbers where photo-documented by myself. I'll be using that material in a proper publication venue at some point.

    We have dyno'd a number of Downdrafts in comparison with Fuelies, again, to be shared in the right venue in due course.

    Please don't assume our coach-builder didn't take images of all aspects of the car's bodywork, they did, from stripping to painting and finishing. I did also, and my archives are filed away safely somewhere. My feeling is this car's restoration should be part of a proper publication so I'd like to reserve much of my archived material for that purpose. Basically, I post whatever I feel is appropriate for this venue, meanwhile there are a number of bare-metal images already posted in the Downdraft thread.

    GLA12997 had zero corrosion anywhere, the body was actually in beautiful condition pre-restoration and no repairs were necessary, the whole process went smoothly & uneventfully. The coach-builder carried out his mandate (without any deception as you suggested may be the case) exactly as instructed and planned, and the final results speak for itself - one of the best paint finishes I have ever seen on a Countach anywhere, and I have seen a few. A year-and-a-half later and quite a few miles, I am still thrilled with the work done.

    Rest assured I will post many more bodywork images in due course.

    Meanwhile, I should point out that just showing images of a Countach in bare-metal is no proof that the resulting repaint will be high-quality. The pre-paint preparation stages are essential to the success of the repaint's finish, that's why I posted the 4 stages or pre-paint prep above to underscore the dedication to a good finish. Bear in mind also that this is the 4th classic Lamborghini (2 Miura SVs, 1 Countach LP400, and this Downdraft) which I have fully-restored to a concours standard in the past 25 years, so I've learned and gained some experience with this process along the way. I oversaw every aspect of the Mimran Downdraft's restoration, and I kept Patrick Mimran appraised of it's progress. I was also personally involved in sourcing parts and hands-on with refurbishing all the car's lights, switches etc.

    Thank you for the compliments on the car, we enjoy having it immensely!

    By the way, besides the paint, unlike a lot of restorations we have seen where this is often overlooked, I instructed the coach-builder to dedicate significant time to refinishing the interior & chassis to as-new condition, which is shown below

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