Hello Everyone, I am the proud new owner of Ralphs 365 gt4 2+2, s/n 18539. The car will continue to reside in New Jersey, USA. While new to the group, I already have a few thanks to offer to some members. First, thank you to Ralph for providing me the opportunity to experience Ferrari ownershipI will strive to maintain s/n 18539 in as good of shape as you have during your tenure. Thanks to Boyd to providing the spark that ignited the flame. Lastly and certainly not least important, a special thanks goes out to Brett for his patience and wise counsel as I navigated my way to ownershipa true gentleman in every sense of the word. At this point, my participation in the forum will most likely be more in the form of questions than answers, so Im asking for everyones patience in advance. With that as a lead in, if anyone has any information about s/n 18539, including prior ownership history or otherwise, that they can share with me, Id greatly appreciate receiving PM. I look forward to making new friends on this forum, virtual and otherwise. Best regards, Gregg G
Congratulations Gregg...and trust me, you are ahead of the curve on this one. she really is a beauty.
Gregg Where in NJ are you? I'm in the Medford area, off Rt. 206 (no exit for me) north of Hammonton. You are welcome to stop by and we can exchange experience and I have a good garage with lots of tools to work in. Ken
Gregg, Any thoughts on the "smoking upon acceleration" that Ralph claimed was prevalent? Were you able to do a leak down to isolate the problem away from the rings? David
Welcome aboard! How's the Dino coming SlickMurphy? I'd wager the rings might be sludged a little bit?
Ken, I'm in the Short Hills area, just off or route 78...probably about 1.5 hours from you. Thanks for your gracious offer. Once I get my legs underneath me with the car, it would great to get together. David, I've only driven the car twice thus far--home and a leisurely Sunday trip. The car does emit some white(ish) smoke from the left bank, but once she runs for a short while this clears up. Ralph mentioned that he only drove the car a few hundred miles during his ownership (a 2 to 3 year period). So, I plan to drive it a few more times and reassess at that time. Power is good through the rev range, but she does run a little rich. Exhaust (without smoke) is quite potent, but I would assume this is typical, although I have no other point of reference to confirm. This is a long way of saying that I'm not sure if it just needs to be run a little, if a tune up is necessary, or if it requires a valve or a ring job (or both). I'm talking with Brett to begin the diagnosis and if it requires any major overhaul, the car will be on its way to Gran Turismo; anything short of that, I guess I will look locally for a qualified mechanic, as my skills are limited. I will try to take some pics this weekend and post as requested--she's a real beauty.
with this little to go on, my gut tells me you've got coolant entering a cylinder on the 7-12 bank.as a race bred motor that is understressed in this application, i'm doubting a warped or cracked head at this point. as per our talk on Monday, pull those plugs when you get a chance and let's see what they look like. i think they'll tell us what we need to know. the beauty of this is that you'll what to treat the car to a valve check anyway considering there was no service history (as of now...but F-chat is powerful) that came with the car and the tolerences on these are quite tight even when in spec. therefore, if the biggest problem you have from there is a head gasket replacement then man-o-man did you ever move on a beauty because from there you're good to go...and as i said before, you're just ahead of the curve on this one, even if there is still work to do.
Gregg, Congratulations on your purchase! I'm about 40 minutes from you in Princeton. My advice is to drive it a little more (maybe put some fuel system cleaner additive into the fuel), then have the care tuned and adjusted - retorque the heads, adjust the valves, flush the fuel tank, adjust the carbs. Also, although Brett is becoming a 365/400 specialist, you may want to consider someone closer (if the currency exchange holds, the cheaper Canadian dollar may offset the shipping costs and other inconveniences of the long distance relationship). If you want to stay relatively local, I would not go to the local dealer or Classic Coach but I would recommend Francois Sicard (assuming his waiting list is not too long - he is rebuilding my 330 engine and it is taking quite a while) and Bill Pollard, both are in CT and are Ferrari V-12 masters. Also visit www.tomyang.net as a lot of DIY owners are there and may be a useful resource. Regards, Art S.
"My advice is to drive it a little more (maybe put some fuel system cleaner additive into the fuel), then have the care tuned and adjusted - retorque the heads, adjust the valves, flush the fuel tank, adjust the carbs. Also, although Brett is becoming a 365/400 specialist, you may want to consider someone closer (if the currency exchange holds, the cheaper Canadian dollar may offset the shipping costs and other inconveniences of the long distance relationship)." Art S. - 2008 that is precisely the major he is referring to...and the one i am recommending to him, if F-chat does not turn up a verifiable service history. your absolutely right about the wait times for service. i've heard horror stories about that down there and while the conversion is great right now, it is actually about a great deal more than that. least importantly, our labour rate is always only $60 Can/hour, but that is only for Mike's time and he is the expert, not me. my time, with which a great deal of dismantling, cleaning, blasting and painting is done, is only $25Can/hour. we have a great facility, very low overhead, and we not greedy...that gets passed along. most important is our passion for the marque in general, and the "400" series in particular. lastly, i've just added a Suburban and a 20' car trailer to the mix so shipping is not an issue. we bring the car over the border by posting a Temporary Importation Bond. no duties, taxes, etc. Sorry Gregg, i didn't intend to hijack your thread. Congratulations again. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Brett, I didn't mean any slight or offense in my post and I am looking forward to seeing more of your projects. In fact, on my next car, I may take you up on the $25/$60 per hour rates + low cost shipping! My main point was that, there is a nice feeling that comes with being able to hop on a train or hop in a car and check up on what is going on at the shop. In today's environment, all else being equal, your shop should do quite well! Regards, Art S.
i absolutely did not take offence. honestly, not at all. i just took the opportunity to highlight some additional reasons why someone might choose to send work here beyond the advantageous money conversion at present (well it usually is, the past year was abnormal). did my post come across as defensive...rather than just a shameless plug ? all the best buddy !
Art, Thank you. The Princeton area is great, and it also happens to be equidistant for both Ken and me. Maybe next summer, assuming that Francios is done by then, we can meet in your neck of the woods, to the extent you are interested. Thanks for the advice. I'm aware of Tom's site and also of Francios and Bill. Assuming that I could get an appointment, I would definitely consider using them for routine maintenance, but, for the reasons Brett notes, I think I'll get more bang for the buck at his shop if major work is necessary. Also, it's great to have someone whose so enthsiastic about the marque. Regards, Gregg
whew, that's a relief...and hey, afterall, a girl gots ta do what a girl gots ta do ! put some miles on her Gregg, pull those plugs and we'll evaluate after that. thanks.
