'The Ratarossa': The Testarossa Spider Rebuild Project

finally ..... is this one from a TR ?
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Its great figuring out where these parts go, it enables me to finish off sections of the car and move on to another area.

Nearly finished the passenger front wheel area now, suspension all done, previously did all the bushes and fitments, just need to find some bolts for this lower panel under, a bit of riveting to secure the arch then some black sealant and its complete ...happy days.
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Cleaned up all the other panels and started to give them a copy of coats of paint to make them a little more pretty. Before fitting them in place I will also clean up the area.
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I hope these are the fuel tank panels, because I've just spent a couple of hours cleaning them up
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Thanks John, glad you enjoy the thread

 

Hi Shamile

That was my old house, but yes it was really surprisingly good. I had no issues with it in the 5 years I had the cars in that garage. As you can see I did a lot of work on the Ratarossa during that time with the granite floor, also did an engine rebuild on my old porsche and over the years spilt and dropped numerous fluids and items but the floor held up to everything.

 

NEW
I bought them from a guy breaking a later 90 car, so could explain the difference, maybe Ferrari changed the design slightly. When I check the part number it also cross references several times.

Will offer them up and see if they fit once Ive completed this current job.

 

Thanks John, this picture is extremely handy. From my box of goodies ive yet to fit I can see I am missing these 3 front under panels.

I will need to somehow source them or fabricate some.

 

Continued working in the front wheel arch area again today, need to start completing areas before moving on.

First job was to fit the brake are duct. But before doing that I gave the area a clean up while it was accessible.

Next was fitting the access panel.

Only thing to finish in the area is a bit of sealant, but that job will wait until I'm happy with everything ion the area and trimmed a bit of glass fibre in the trunk area.
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Moving then onto the passenger rear arch. A couple coats of satin black and its looking a bit better.

Clean up the ECUs and their housing panel and test fit them in place.
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Updating the prancing horse on the car

Imagine if I actually put it on the car !!!. It would be like one of those Ferrari MR2 kit car replicas where they go way over the top with loads of Ferrari badges as proof the car is obviously the real deal


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On my Testarossa parts hunt I stumbled across a brand new LHD dash in the correct brown colour, what are the chances of ever finding a new one again !!!

So I've done a deal and bought it.

I know the car is 'Rat' look and the current dash is in keeping with this patina theme, however the dash is in really really bad shape not just the leather finish and all the rips, thats not really the issue its more the actual fibre glass structure thats cracked hanging apart and all the fixing mounts are broken, so it has always been a job to fit and I've never been able to get it all in the car correctly, especially the glove box and radio and heater vent housing. This new one comes with both which will make life much easier.

As a bonus, should I or a future custodian of the Spider ever deviate from the 'Rat' look, there's a perfectly good dash to start with.

Can't wait until it arrives.


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Cleaning up the last bits before fixing the passenger rear arch in place.
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The Rat is mega low at the front

Zero ground clearance, I better adjust it up some more
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So I had a really nice bit of luck today while doing this rear wheel arch refurb.

I had cleaned up this box (still not sure of what it’s purpose is, I will research). I was about to bolt it back onto the metal arch before putting back on car, but I thought ... no I’m going to finish it and give it a quick lick of paint. I was only going to mask up the connectors and then spray it black, but for some reason I just kept going and stripped it apart to avoid any spray getting onto parts.
When I opened the box there are two relays,I noticed one was not seated at all well in its connector from the loom,anyway I presumed it had just happened when I took it apart and thought nothing more of it.

Put it all back together, the arch in, riveted it in place etc then connected everything back up. I needed to turn the car around to start the other side.

Normally when I start the Rat it chugs then cuts out a few times and eventually after a min or so it will start to idle and then get stronger and stronger until after a few mins it’s more or less ok. Also when I would blip the throttle there was a massive lag before it picked up. I just thought this was bad injectors or a pipe split and was on my list of jobs to do and bits to replace.

Not today though !!!
The Rat fired straight up, strong and healthy. Never heard it this good before.
Whatever that relay is, by connecting it up just fixed my cold start and rough running
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