YELO 550 - a Tribute to Steve (GS) Johnson

Hi Wally,
very sorry for your friend (and our friend of chat) Steve....
Life sometimes is very unjust!
Why when one man built his dream the life bring out ...?!
i'm very sorry, i not know from alive Steve, but from his posts i felt his passion for his car, for the mechanical things, that is gasoline for the life, that do smile in the morning when get up ....
I'm not good with the words, but perhaps in this case there are no good words for this...
I lost my father one year ago (cancer lung, 10 months), he was mechanic and he teached me all he knew ... I really miss he.
My father was 80, so his life is crossed, but Steva was very young .....

Please bring to his daughter my condolences.

Fabio

 

Not what I was expecting when I came to check for updates on this thread.

RIP

 

Changing the title of a thread is easy if you're a moderator.

I wouldn't mind seeing the title of this thread changed to something like "YELO 550 - a Tribute to Steve (GS) Johnson" but it should be Wally's call.

 

RIP

 

This is very sad news. My condolences to Steve's family.

Barry

 

John, I like this idea. If the moderator could do that it would be great.

I do intend to finish the car and send some updates and pics as we move forward. Once we get the clutch and trans back in, hopefully we can drive it to my place and work on the suspension, steering ecu, big brake kit, wheels and a few other mods he had in mind and had parts for already. His daughter would like us to finish it as he intended.

 

I asked the mods to change the title.

 

Can Steve's subscription be transferred to Wally so that he has full access to everything in order to best search and finish the car?

 

This is such sad news. RIP and condolence to his family, Steve will surely be missed.

 

Been very busy with work, but have a vacation week after Thanksgiving. Buttoned up a few things and hope to get the fluids all filled and the car back on the ground. Plan to ship it to my home shop to finish the rest of the project as I have a lift. And the 2 hour drive up there in after work traffic is not the most productive.

Will send some pics when it's out in the open, currently hard to visualize the hood and fog light treatment from garage angles.

I want to send out a big Thank You to John for supplying the steering ECU. Been pouring over Pete's Workshop Manual (Thread) to get read for next steps. It also helped me ID some parts he had laying on the workbench. Guess I get to do control arm bushings too.

There are a lot of small parts in Ricambi bags that I have no clue about. But also clues as to what other fixes or maintenance he had in mind. Hoping Ricambi can help if I send them some part #'s.

 

Thanks so much for thinking about that. But I subscribed to make it easier and to be able to post pics I think you will want to see.


Current Status from what I can tell, before fire up:

Belt job appears to be buttoned up nicely. Odd to me he did not fire it up right after.

Still on 4 Jack Stands.

No Oil
No Coolant

No Trans Fluid, but filter changed. Banjos to the cooler hanging. Bet I find some new crush washer in the Ricambi parts box.

Bleed Flush Brake lines and Clutch
Exhaust Cat back removed.

Could use some quick advise on the following Though:

O2 Sensor wires and probes dis-connected - Would like to know if they plug in side to side from the origination point...OR .do they criscross sides like some other cars ( Z06)

Axles back in - Need Torque Spec

Rear Calipers back on and brake lines hooked up - Could use the Caliper bolt TQ Spec.

Any special notes on Priming the engine after the oil is added ?. On a couple of my cars we just put the gas to the floor and it won't start, but will crank till pressure build up. If not, maybe there is an easily to get at fuel pump relay or fuse to pull ?

The under tray pans I found, but I cannot find the bolts to attach them. He had some stuff out for zinc plating for another car, Anyone got a pic of one of the bolts or washers, even a good shot of a bolt head on the car would help. BTW those pans are huge. Won't fit in my X5 driver I doubt, so figure I ought to just put them back on for now.

If anyone knows better about where he stood on certain projects that were not in his thread, It might be helpful. Still a bit nervous he had not started the car after the belt job.

Thank You.

 

Wally, you're more than welcome. It's what Steve wanted.

I'll forward you some of Steve's & my offline correspondence; it may provide some clues what else he was planning to do. I'd also encourage anyone else who corresponded with Steve by email to do the same, as it may help Wally finish the car as Steve intended.

 

Hey Wally. My car is currently in the air so I took a couple of pics for you. At the rear, the O2 sensors and thermocouples stay on their sides of the car (no crisscrossing).

At the front, there's a cover over the harness, so I can't tell. Let me know if you want me to pop that cover off and check - should only take a minute.

Tom
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Thanks Mink the pics are very helpful. Now I know what to do with that silver shroud.

Got a lot done today, but a couple issues, before I get her on the ground and bring it to my home shop with lift.

1. Water leak on drivers right side rear of head area below the cam cover is damp and drips on top of the cat, very slowly, about a drip per 10 mins. Appears the only water lines run down under the intake, looks dry where I can see near the front. Ideas?

2. The most BAZAR issue was I went to bleed the brakes ( he had the rear calipers off and axles loose for the impending clutch job). Re-installed all, and when I go to bleed the brakes ( 2 man method) barely anything comes out , like one 1-2 inches in the clear line. I have to open the bleeder about 2 turns just to get that, very odd. The pedal is very firm and barely moves down, if at all. I tried to open both at the same time and one by one. Nothing worked. The pedal should have gone to the floor. I had a big stack of rags under it, so we would not go too far on low system. But ended up removing them, too no avail. I am at a loss.

Went all the way around and the pass rear I could not get anything to come out at all. OK, what am I missing ?, I have bled brakes hundreds of times on many different cars, never had this before. The battery is disconnected, key off.

3. Last issue, the battery was pretty dead, got to 4 dots of 8 on the Cetek. Connected it to open the trunk. Dome lights on as normal. Trunk switch and gas door worked fine. Tried the headlights, got a click and all is dead now. Still 4 lit dots on the Cetek. Note. un-plugged it before connecting the ground. Where is the fuse panel located on the 550? Sorry I do not have a manual or owners manual. I now he had them, but have not found them yet ( not in the garage ). Ordered one, but not here yet. Please let me know your thoughts.

Steve had the battery protected in heat reflection material. To me that means he thought is was a good battery, but been sitting for 10 months without driving. I will bring my load tester next trip. IN the meantime anyone know the group size of the battery or have recommendations on the battery, like lead acid or AGM.

 

Wally, some ideas:

1. Feel the hoses leaving the coolant expansion tank. Maybe one is loose, but the drip is running down the hose and it just looks like it's coming from the head area.

2. Emailed you about the brake bleeding, and neglectful previous owners (not Steve). Carl (FBB) is one of our master bleeders here and he may have some hints how to clean out the lines and get them free flowing again.

3. Fuse panel is in passenger footwell. Pull up the carpeting & you'll see the hinged door to get to it. BTW, factory service manuals are free for downloading @ All Ferraris.

4. Many of us like & use the standard size Interstate batteries. I went to a little Odyssey AGM on a previous hotrod, and then came back to the Interstate, as the AGM just didn't have enough capacity for a hard starting car with an aftermarket ECU. Just my opinion, and there's probably just as many of us who'll swear by the AGM's. Sorry but I've forgotten which Interstate P/N fits the 550 best, but if Taz reads this, I'm sure he'll have that information.

 

Rest in Peace, Steve...

How cool that you're finishing the car for him, Wally. Great tribute.

 

Batteries that fit are MTP-91H6 and MTP-48H6 from Interstate.

 

Wally,

Do not jump start 550s ever! Airbag does not like voltage spikes.

Check where leak really from. Very small hose back of head right in that area is one possibility. It is hard to reach and easy to improperly install or miss altogether. It is about 2.5" x 3/4" . Then check to see if GS used all SRI branded hose. The lettering is all over them. That would give clue of whether rear of head hose was changed or misinstalled. Also, there is little 6mm hose right under plenum goes or overflow tank. Sometimes a 1/4" sae line is used but the nipple on the ferreri male is not rolled enough so sae 1/4" line does not really fit. I have seen leaks there or hose clamps really tight cutting the hose or deforming and not sealing.

Caliper problem is on one rear or both rears?

Did gs have the head off?

 

First a quick Thanks to John and Taz on the battery part#'s.

Note: I spoke with a JCI friend on the batteries as none of the usual sources even catalog F Cars at all. They told me they would put someone on it to get them cataloged. That way at least a part# and link will come up when you google search it. BTW Sears Die Hard, Interstate and Duralast are all made my JCI (Johnson Controls) to virtually the same specs, the differences being the way the Good Better Best options are spec'd. The Best in all brand I am told are the same, just different labels.


Carl some good stuff to check, going to try have to attempt some hand yoga to find those hoses with the intake on. Too bad I don't have a grandson with small hands.

Water Leak:
I do not believe the heads were off, I know the cams were out based on earlier posts in the thread. The Hoses are not OEM type rubber, they are a silicon type as shown in the (pic below). They look to be the same material under the intake as far as I can see with the intake still on. Also a pic of a bag of hoses on the bench, appears he ended up using a different brand hose. ( Pic of the leak area) , drivers side rear of head. The blue in the pic is the flashlight.

Battery/Electrical:
I have not attempted to jump start it. Let it charge in the CETEK 4.3 all day. Hooked it up and dome lights worked, trunk and fuel door worked. Put the headlights on and a click, but no lights and the dome lights went out. Would think the domes would have still worked, but maybe that load was enough to kill the weak battery again. Put it back on the CETEK and will go back this eve to check and bring my load tester.

Brakes:
The REAR calipers were in a box with the cross over hardline attached and a rubber nipple on the end to keep the fluid in. On the car the rubber lines were clamped and had a nipple on the end of the open line. The fronts had not been removed. I can see how the clamping may have deformed the rubber line ( yes, clamps are off ) . But puzzles me that the fronts won't bleed either, no pedal drop.

When I went to bleed Driver Rear, very little fluid came out and had to turn the bleed screw about 1.5 turns to get anything to flow. Using the track day bleed bottles with about 12" of tube, only about 6" of fluid came out. Pedal remained firm, did not drop much, maybe a 1/2 inch.

On the Pass Rear, I could not get anything to come out.

Pass Front also nothing coming out.
Driver Front, very little, less than the driver rear, but some fluid.

The fluid that did come out looked normal, not gummy or dark, actually pretty clean. Some air bubbles in the Pass Rear. Also odd the fluid I did get to come out was side to side, not front/rear circuits.

Thinking my next step is to crack the bleeder on the Master (pic), assuming if the pedal drops, any blockage is down stream. If it stays hard the Master is the culprit ?. (pic of MC bleeders) . WIll report back, unless this info stirs other ideas.
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On another note, for those not too captivated by my mechanical woes.

Some in the thread were interested how the Fog light project turned out. Here are some pics with the, Fogs, Mesh, Tow hook and some Winglets.

Will get better pics when she is off the jack stands and out in the open.
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Remove the bleeders completely on the ones that will not bleed and see if they are clogged. also remove the transfer tube and check for clogging. Both are very common problems when the brake fluid is not changed regularly and that terrible fluid Ferrari suggests is used.

I really doubt the clamping of the line is the problem.

 

What you are all doing is truly a tribute to Steve and to all of you. A rare and admirable undertaking on your part. Frank

 

Here is a pic of the MTP 48/H6 I just put in my 575. It is a good fit as the holding bracket sits lower than the clamps attached to the posts. I also looked at the AGM version but it was taller than this one and I was concerned about fitment.
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On brakes, maybe get under car and disconnect rear flexible hose and see if fluid flows out by gravity from hard line. I had a car where the flexible hose swelled inside and blocked the fluid.

 

I know that Steve would want me to say this and he would come back with some snarky retort:

I love everything he did and every mod but those winglets are just pure crap. They look like something he bought from pep boys. Wally, tell his daughter that if she doesn't like those, it's okay to take them off. I think Steve would have taken them off after 2 weeks max.