Tech Session at Scuderia Rampante

The tech session was a great event, just hanging out in Dave’s shop and listening to him impart his knowledge, wisdom and strong opinions was entertaining. It’s no wonder Dave has such a great reputation, one that comes from an inquisitive and critical mind and most of all, EXPERIENCE.

Some of the things I took away are below. Some are obvious but worth repeating. If anyone has anything to add or correct, feel free.

The discussion started with the subject of PPIs. PPIs are difficult to do by techs, especially when they are for a sale out of the area, because if one little and insignificant thing wasn’t found, even in the context of an overall assessment of the working order of the car, the buyer could come back and complain about the missed item. This all can create a headache for the tech performing the PPI.

The discussion made its way to the availability of parts or the lack thereof. Even for models only two years old, parts can be difficult to find. This has led techs to look into rebuilding parts instead of replacing them and several techs around the country are in an ongoing study as to the best methods of rebuilding parts.

Additionally, parts from Ferrari aren’t guaranteed to work out of the box and the more experienced techs have found ways to improve the performance of Ferrari parts.

Different models were discussed and the 360 came up. The aluminum frame on this model (as with the F430) presents special challenges for techs because special care must be taken to not expose the aluminum to steel elements whether it’s steel fasteners or even steel flakes embedded in tools used on steel cars as the flakes can become embedded into the aluminum and cause galvanic corrosion in the aluminum. Separate tools that are used only with aluminum can be used and the car should be worked on in a separate area in the workshop.

Dave had a funny story about a test driver at Fiorano who was testing the 360 mule. He drilled a hole in the aluminum roof to add an antenna for communication with the pits. By the end of the test session, the antenna had fallen through because the hardware and tools had caused the aluminum to break down.

If you are looking at a 360 for sale that has had stereo work, look out. Holes drilled in Ferraris are always a bad idea but especially so with the aluminum models.

Fuel was discussed and the subject of gas with ethanol came up. Techs are finding that ethanol can break down fuel pumps and rubber components in the fuel path. The best thing to do is to avoid as much as possible gas with ethanol added, though it is hard to find. I asked about using Techron fuel additive to clean out fuel injectors (separate from any ethanol related issues) and Dave was OK with this. He also mentioned Red Line and BG fuel cleaner products as possible options.

Below are some pictures of the shop and some of the bella machina.

-F
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