Here's a pic of me pulling the engine out of my 612 yesterday!

Thanks fineito and KY Soldier.

I know a guy that does closed transport for $1.50 per mile if you ever need it.

On the H-car front, YES! It is all about having the core passion and interest to learn and thus be motivated and fulfilled by doing the research and feeling the satisfaction of solving tough problems as a result. With the charity I run, just about every car we repair has been very much neglected. Mostly by ignoring and always by poverty. Every 20th car has some sort of very complex problem that takes a "systems view" on an automotive and how it is engineered to actually find and remedy the problem. Those are the repairs I like best. They can take a while to resolve but that's where the learning and fulfillment and most customer value and satisfaction come. My Ferrari rebuild would have never been attempted by any Ferrari dealer or dealer tech. Not cookie cutter enough and way too much complexity and risk for them.

 

Thanks guys!

I got the driveline ripped out of the 612 that is in my shop today. Major issue appears to be axles but torque tube is suspect as well. I feel like a 612 expert now! Plus this car is a manual trans 612 so I am documenting what is needed to convert from F1 to manual if anyone is interested.

 

The Quattroporte sounds much better. Both cars have the Tubi exhaust but the QP's is just louder and makes more of a statement.

There is certainly a sound that the V12 makes upon hitting and thrusting through the powerband that is amazing. It is the sound of a lot of air "being drawn in and processed". It is thrilling but just isn't the same "here this beeaatch" sound of the QP. I suppose the Ferrari needn't not try as hard though! I guess the QP is the lesser of two gals at the the club. Must work a little harder to get comparable attention?!

 

Thanks!

I need to give the forum an update and some new perspectives.

This winter, I did a few projects on the car. I had to rebuild the water pump to take care of a coolant leak. I also purchased the 612 Sport Exhaust system used from Europe. Had is professionally polished and was also fortunate enough to get the entire pneumatic control system for it out of another donor car that I worked on. The exhaust sounds great. Just yesterday I finished wiring up a switch on the bottom of the steering wheel cowl which allows me to select "always loud, always quiet, or ECU controlled". It works great! So I went from "quiet" Tubis to the nicer sounding Sport Exhaust by Ferrari (see pics). Not sure which look you like better...

I also had some really bad issues with the traction control and abs fault codes coming on. I spent way too much time on pinning out issues, checking wheel pulse, etc. Ultimately I noted that my voltage was about 11.58 volts on my battery. I swapped out the battery and all was resolved. So beware of a battery which still starts the car OK but may be causing other issues due to dropping voltage!

Also put on new rack boots as mine were ripped.

I've also started my business and have been working on some Alfa Romeo rebuilds, Maserati 4200 Spider overhaul and a Ferrari. Having a blast!

- Jason
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Thanks! And now I am crazy enough to be doing this 9-5 instead in lieu of previous role as EVP-CMO of a Corporation. And I no longer hate getting out of bed every morning! In fact, I look forward to it!

 

I was able to get the OEM controls off a 612 and install them. Then I spliced into the wiring and added a three position switch to allow me to go ECU-FullLoud-Quiet modes.

 

Jerry, thanks for your kind words. Come by and see me anytime!

I've always got a pretty good set of projects going on at the shop. Right now rebuilding two Alfa 164's and always something from my fleet too. And of course we always have interesting basket cases in for the outreach work. It is amazing what you see (and learn) from cars that are subjected to abject poverty and long term neglect.

- Jason

 

For example, here's what I found inside the Alfa 164 engine yesterday!
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Yep! Never seen that before!

 

And on the other water stuff on the Ferrari, I knew it was fresh water. The two ECUs are so well sealed up, nothing gets in. The wiper module blew and I threw in a new "roof control module" for good measure as it saw water. All the other modules were fine and the wiring saw very limited tarnishing which has been fully addressed. Just a couple of gallons of water likely on into the passenger compartment. It's not like it filled fully with water.