I'm back. We did 102 Miles today to finish our trip with a century ride. I see I have boxes stacked at the door so I can get back to work. The dash is done and I will be picking up monday as well as all the door parts that were rechromed. Pictures on Monday.
Ok enough of this vacation we can't take anymore back here in the UK. LOl Get back to work on the Dino!
Okay. I picked up my dash, I think it came out really well. I know there are critics out there who don't like the black stuff but I think it looks good. It still has the vinyl pattern. I got the chrome stuff back too. I had the vent window surround rechromed as well as all the Misc. chrome door pieces. I put in a new rubber gasket in for the vent window which I thought would be easy. I thought it would come in one piece. It's 2 pieces and requires trimming. I put in new glass with drilled holes for the new vent latches, and powder coated the vent window trim. Onward and forward. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Jon, can I ask where did you get the new quarter glass window rubber or did you use the original rubber?? The chroming looks outstanding. I can't wait to see pics of your car further along it is truly incredible.
The rubber came from dinoparts.de. A bit of a bear to trim them and have it all fit right. Engine day Monday. Pictures to follow. One thing that has to be corrected though. I got a new starter, the high capacity smaller one. It fits fine except I cannot get the heat shield to fit. After examining things more closely, the starter needs to be rotated about 1/2 inch. The starter allows for no adjustment so new holes are going to have to be drilled in the base plate of the starter so everything will fit. I will take photos monday to show this. Has anyone used the smaller starter motor??
Jon, my starter needs to be rebuilt and I was considering the High capacity smaller one. This is the one on e-bay? (about $425)? I really would like to see the photos when you post them. Is the heat shield different on US models? Interesting issue since they advertise "no mods required"... Glad you are back. Pietro PS: Called GT the other day- they only carry solenoids and the started head - no brushes
Do NOT rebuild your factory starter! Use it as a door stop! The new gear reduction starters are FANTASTIC! My wife's Dino has had a long history (all bad) with the factory starter and hot start issues, Rosso Motorsports installed a gear reduction starter and now the car acts like it has fuel injection, it spins so much faster it fires right up with no possibility of flooding. And yes its true, no mods of any kind and you cannot see it, so if you show the car, it is unlikely the judges could see without it being on a lift. This is the single biggest improvement, IMHO, you can make on any vintage Ferrari/Dino. She took the Dino on the Crescent Classic run and ran it hard for four days, put over 1,000 on her 246GT with no issues.
Thanks Jon. I am looking for that part for my 308 but it sounds low probability that a place called "dino parts" would have them for my car..
IMHO they look awful and do not last that long. Mine had one and it was repalaced after a very short time. Perhaps you guys over in the USA get better results but i fitted the superformance starter, higher capacity than the factory, but looks indentical to the original. Spins the engine over much faster. Perfect. Why spoil the engine by drilling new holes, fit the upgaded starter and all you need to do is file away a slight amount of metal from the bellhousing, this is covered up by the access plate above. Tony
It did not require new holes on our install, and the gear reduction starter is warrantied for LIFE, as for looks, you cannot see it and its 1/3 smaller! I have only had mine for 6 months, but so far, soooo much better!
I recently installed one of the smaller gear reduction starters. It works great and cured the hot start problem for my Dino. I also had trouble getting the heat shield back in place with the starter mounted. On my second try I put the heat shield on first but kept it loose. There was just enough room to squeese the starter into place and then I tightened it all up and I havent had any problems since.
In the next couple of weeks I'm hoping to get it on a stand. There really is very little to do to finish it. A bracket has to be fabricated for the heat exchanger seeing how I got rid of the AC and the starter problem has to be solved other than that the engine is very close to being done.
Jon- I have a gear reduction starter in my '74 US GTS & have about 500 miles on my engine since I installed it. It has been just great and zero problems. I did not fit a heat shield as the mfg told me that the starter could withstand the heat generated by the exhaust manifold. I may have a new heat shield made up anyway. Jim S has a great guy out there that does first class aluminum work. He made me the trunk divider that is top shelf. I have also thought of putting that heat wrap aluminum foil looking material around it. So far I havent gotten to it. If the flange that is supplied with the starter and which it rests on had another set of holes drilled about 1/2 an inch off of the current holes it would make access & fitting easier. However, mine still fits great and you can pull it out without loosening or removing the rear exhaust manifold or even having to pull the manifold rearward which you are required to do with the original starter. I think it is an inexpensive fix for a problematic area. Some people may not like the look or sound though. Re the bracket for the heat exchanger after you remove the AC unit - pulled my AC unit and made an aluminum bracket. It was an idea that Corbani had & i got some measurements from him. It was a real pain to make, modify and grind / file to size. I had a body shop here create it for me but it took a bunch of time to get it just right and to fit properly. Since we are going to get into lousy weather on the east coast I can remove it & send it to you so you can copy it & save yourself a ton of time. It sure makes things easier to get to but you have to reconfigure the cooling hoses to fit into your water pump if you use the original set up for the heat exchanger & bracket. If you change the bracket to the euro spec then u cant later refit the AC without changing the brackets again. I can email you pics if it would be helpful. One of the other things I would have done when I had my motor out was to remove the forward facing oil filler housing. You dont need it& it just makes access more difficult. Please let me know if I can help...cuz you sure have been helpful to me!!
Jon, I posted this last year http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103072&highlight=060423___oil and it is still fine. You could trim the edges to match the cooler exactly but the holes are in the right position. Stainless fab with TIG welds is fast and easy. Parts milled or sheared to size and holes made on a mill or drill press. Welding is trivial since everything is self jigging for squareness. Powder coating would really finish it off if you want black to match the cooler. John
Thanks John. No work this week as I had to evacuate the fire area and am still in a hotel. Hopefully later today I can get back to my house. Some friends went out on a motorcycles yesterday to try and check on my house. Sounds like the fire just burned all around it but all okay.
Well thank god that you and your family are ok... Hope everything else works out for you and they get this under control soon... Or that it at least starts to rain really heavy there...
Jon: Time to move to Seattle. Lots of Dino guys are up here and you will never have to water your roof again as the big guy upstairs does it daily it seems. Of course, that limits the number of days you can drive your car but it's more cost effective that way. Good luck in returning to your house and getting back to work on the Dino. ...Keith
