Under the front engine area

Floors from an XKE Roadster

Drivers door bottom, solid

It looks very good to me, solid and straight. There is more “top rot” on the car than deterioration on the undercarriage.

Childrens car, Ferrari 330 P2

Can anyone find some video clips of these cars racing when new in 1966? It was raced by children in the Vingt Quatre LeMans, 24 minutes of LeMans which was an opening preview for the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Ready to be blasted

These parts are going to be sandblasted and re-finish in the Dove Gray paint used on Ford 8N tractors. Some of the later machines had a more “tan” or “buttery” gray paint when the earlier machines used a cooler shade of gray. We are currently working on the exact shade of red for the undercarriage which should be a little more tomato orange than blood red.

About 5 years ago I took a photo of this car after it showed up unexpectedly from Louisiana. Out of sight, out of mind the adage goes, we put it on the back corner of one of the buildings and after asking the owner what he wants to do with this XKE, he informed me that he wants to sell it. Does anyone out there want this thing or is Gullwing Motorcars going to pick it up! Later this week I’ll get it up on the lift and check out the car but I think its solid and complete except for the soft top frame. Even though the owner had the brake system gone through awhile ago, there isn’t a firm pedal and the clutch doesn’t work but I pulled it around the shop in gear and the engine turns and we should be able to do a accurate compression test.

Once was ivory, now is red, a solid XKE

Series II 4.2 liter Jaguar E-Type engine

What other machine out there can be described as Mass Produced, Economical, Beautifully Made and Iconic? This Ford 8N tractor is magnificent in its simplicity, its build quality as well as overall clean appearance with a wonderful color combination. The 8N tractors are affectionately known as “Red Bellies” because the drive-line castings are a deep vermillion red matched to dove gray sheet metal. This tractor was passed to the current owner in PA from his uncle here in VT who was the only one who ever drove it. The sheet metal is perfectly straight and all the parts like the original lights, gauges and tires are still on the tractor which is testament to the careful usage by Uncle Edward.

Well Preserved 8N

Ford 8N Final drive casting

Differential and Ring Gear for 8N Ford

Hi Jack, to answer your question, the car came to us as you see it and was transported by our creative and hard working friend Tom Munier from Exotic Car Transport in Orlando Florida. He and his driver are Saints for dealing with this move which as you can see is bulky and cumbersome with two 4″ by 8″ by 4″ tall crates and one slightly smaller crate. The car was on the “rotisserie” which seems like a well made unit but is the most awkward and impossible thing I have ever tried to move. Tom’s Car Transportation Company is one of the best in the business and I recommend everyone call him if you need a car moved (after you call me first).

We have to repair some things on the body and address every little part that bolts to this car. One of the guys spent the week categorizing many worn and broken parts and it seems that we have nearly everything especially the hard to find stuff like castings and interior trim. Some of the exterior trim is a little trashed but overall, we are starting from a complete deck of cards.

I have always liked the appearance of Maserati Castings because they looked like they were inspired by the human skeletal system. We had a Maserati A6GCS at the shop awhile ago and the rear axle center section casting looked like head protection for a man in armor. The A/C compressor bracket is a light and amazingly strong aluminum piece of beauty with rib like reinforcements and an odd use of negative space to keep things interesting.

Maserati V8 engine block

Ghibli Spyder sleeves and crankshafts

Ghibli SS engine parts

And it looks outstanding. We haven’t installed the front seats because we are working on a better set of seat belts but check in later for photos of the complete interior. The headliner looks amazing too, but Jim cursed the project because the material is much thicker and extremely difficult to work with, you’d never know by looking at the arrow straight pleats and detailing

Ox blood leather Ferrari

Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 ox blood red leather

The orders keep coming in for A/C systems for 330′s so here are some photos of the process. The top photo shows the fabrication of the compressor brackets which use extremely thick steel as a substitute for proper engineering. We joke that well before the brackets are going to flex or distort, the studs that secure them to engine will break off. Anyhow, we copy parts accurately but can see that they are way overbuilt.

We also make the evaporator housing which holds a very dense core and squirrel cage fan. The original housing is made from steel but we make it from aluminum since it’s so much easier to work with and the part has a bunch of bends and needs huge holes drilled in the sides.  Since the part is buried under the dash, no one will ever know the difference especially if we give it a coat of light gold paint.

I have all the other parts coming in soon like the condenser, the compressor, drier bottle and all the fittings to complete the kit. It’s such a huge collection of parts and I have lots of stuff in stock but there is always one things that is missing. When its all together I will take a photo of the complete set up. I have a higher amperage alternator to send off with this kit, it’s an 80 amp unit from a 365 GT 2+2 but the 330′s with A/C originally came with Lucas 60 amp alternators

A/C System 330 GTC Evaporator

Ferrari Air Conditioning system

Housing for A/C Evaporator