Ferrari 412 Distributor Cap Position

Has the car been running that way?

 

I suspect at a service the distributor bases were installed 7-12 on right and 1-6 on left and caps wired accordingly. The distributor bases are mounted with unevenly spaced studs so I'd have to experiment to see if it could be done without some modification. The alignment dowels are often removed per Ferrari in an effort to reduce the possibility of oil leaks and that may provide enough room for them to fit. It may also be possible thats just the way they index when installed on the other head. Should be a simple matter to put it all back the way it should be.


1st thing I'd do is take 1-6 cap off, TDC the motor, see where the rotor is pointing and determine the cap/wire location and see if the caps are wired in the correct original way or if a new order has been used. The marks on the cap may not be correct or even present. The reason I mention the rotor position is on the off chance the cam extensions the rotor mounts to were replaced and indexed in the cam wrong.

 

Oh, good. This might be really easy.

 

There are aerosol gasket removers. If used be careful, many attack paint. They will not make it easy, just easier.

Those old grey gaskets get very hard with age and present a real challenge sometimes. I really do not suggest any power tool method for 2 reasons. One it can easily damage the sealing surface. The other is they are made of asbestos. Its why we no longer get them.

I have a drawer full of gasket scrapers of different shapes and sizes and I keep them very sharp like a knife, a good knife. Just be patient and try different scraper designs.

 

I’ve had good results with this.
https://www.permatex.com/products/gasketing/gasket-removers/permatex-gasket-remover-low-voc-formula-4-oz/

 

I do have a pair of wood chisels for that purpose. With a generous amount of gas-oil, works quite well.

Thanks for reminding us that these damn gaskets do contain asbestos