ferrari and timing belts

1973 Dino 308GT4

 

I guess you could throw the 365BB in there as well. Not sure which one hit the market 1st.

 

Technically, I'd have to agree that that's the first "Ferrari" - ZING!

The Wiki articles state that they were both at the 1973 Paris show.

 

So they used timing chains before those models? And returned to them for the 430? Lesson learned I guess.
Greg

 

And the 599 , that's correct.

The 612,456,550,575 all have timing belts.

 

Is there an inherent advantage to belts?

 

yes, less rotating mass
so your car should also better handle with belts instead of chains.

I have had a Mercedes in the past and the timing chain snapped on that one. and the mileage was not that high

 

More "cushioning" under torque/acceleration and less noise. This one of the main reason Harley Davidson use Kevlar belts for their final drive.

 

IIRC when the engine expands belts maintain perfect cam timing.

I'd like to confirm everything we said here.

 

Belts cost less. And for the conspiracy theorists in the group - belts need much more frequent maintenance = $$ for service dept.

Never could understand why they put belts that have q3-5 year lifespan, into a car that needs engine out to access them.


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NASCAR drives the cam in their ohv motors all day long at up to 9500 rpm with a belt. 355 cu making 800+HP. 599 lowered its red line when it went to chain drive. The belts get changed every 5 years and the whole lump gets a good going over for hoses seals,tensioners and what not. Nice off season project. GTS Bruce



over

 

Amazed no one has designed a belt with a 10 year guarantee.

 

Subaru STi belts are good for about nine years or 105,000 miles. These are 7000-rpm turbocharged engines with 300 hp and more torque than a 360,and they are frequently modified to much higher power levels. So I am sure that a ten-year belt can be designed.

But give me a chain.

 

Many

 

The lesson learned was they were tired of hearing people ***** about spending actual money to maintain their cars. Belts have many advantages.

 

I was wondering about that but never got around to looking it up.

 

Plenty of manufacturers had started to quote 10 year/ 70K; 80K; 90K mile etc., belt change intervals here in the UK over the recent years, only to start getting cars coming in with engine damage due to belt failures.

Overnight they suddenly went back to 4 year/ 35K; 40K; 45K belt changes because the claims for damage were getting too high and regular!

 

The only advantages i can think of that rubber cam belts have over timing chains are lighter weight and less noise. Are there others?

 

Every car on the grid at Martinsville this weekend is running a timing belt because they are more accurate than the chains they threw in the dumpster.

 

Ok, so they are more accurate. Didn't know that. What about the mileage factor? Say, over 30k miles will one stretch more than the other?

 

BTW on the front engine GT cars like mine you don't have to pull the motor. On a certain English car program where one guy buys and sells and the other does the body,mechanicals,interior. All the work except part sourcing I remember a mid engine F car that got a belt change with the engine in the car. Of course on TV it took 5 minutes. GTS Bruce

 

So next year it will be due at a 5 year interval. No where close to 30,000 miles since last change. Belts,hoses,plugs,all fluids,battery,tensioners,tires ........ and whatever. Have 6 months to complete over the 4X4 winter driving season. Save your pennies and make the car pristine like showroom every 5 years. So every 5 years you spend your piggy bank money and the car is like brand new again. Think of what you would have to go through if it had distributors,mechanical valve adjustment, Multi carbs to tune.........Now that would be a mechanical nightmare however offset big time by the value of the car. Whish I could afford one and pay someone else to keep it properly maintained and tuned. GTS Bruce

 

Any reason Ferrari did not want to use gear driven valve train as the Cosworth DFV engines of F1 fame. I would think it would provide spot-on timing, easily adjusted and very little mait. I'm sure it is noisey, but some noises sound very nice.

 

Very noisy and if you add noise to a car you have to take something else away because it has to pass the test.