We rarely have to repair rear axles and usually just clean and inspect the bearings and install new oil seals. Be it a Jaguar, Chevrolet or Alfa Romeo, it is rare that we see a ring and pinion that is damaged or bearings that are worn out. I hate to disturb the factory relationship between the ring and pinion gears so if the bearings check out ok, I keep the thing together.

Additionally, most car companies have figured out how to make the final drive robust and problem free because they are aware of the forces involved with the ring and pinion bevel gears – except for Ferrari. They used a deep groove ball bearing and sliding inner race roller bearing that cannot handle the axial loads on the pinion shaft. Other companies used tapered roller bearings that can handle a tremendous amount of this fore-and-aft thrust while spinning with ease but the Ferrari style comes apart and destroys the gears.

My solution is to replace the sliding inner race roller bearing and the deep groove ball bearing with a pair of tapered roller bearings. This photo is a 250 GT Lusso center section with the “chicklet” style limited slip differential. On some axles I’ve install tapered roller bearings to support the differential but on the later axles there isn’t much room to install this type of bearing and I have found the original ball bearing set up to be adequate. I have done this conversion to many cars that have gone many thousands of miles with no issues.

Final drive Ferrari

GT Ferrari 250 Axle Center section

After overhauling dozens and dozens of Ferrari transmissions I have a good idea on what to expect when the case is opened up and shafts are broken down. Whether it’s a 250 GTE 4 speed, a 246 GT Dino trans-axle or a 330 GTC/Daytona style 5 speed trans-axle,  synchronisers on Ferrari’s do not last many miles however, the rest of the components are over built and hold up well.. The bearings and gears are over built and the machined parts like flanges and shafts are impeccably machined using incredibly hard steel. The transmissions have oil pumps that pressurize the main and lay shafts to keep everything thoroughly lubricated so the bearings that the gears turn on are flooded in a pillow of oil.

This transmission out of this 250 shifted well but had the typical severely worn synchronisers so I was prepared to perform the “normal” repair of cleaning, inspecting and replacing the end bearings and synchros. This trans had been run without oil for a long time and the bearings in the photo were so wiped out that there was about .020″ clearance between the gear and bearing where there should only be about .005″. How did this thing work at all?

250 GT transmission overhaul

Transmission overhaul bearings

Bearings Ferrari transmission

The panels on this Aston DB-4 GT Zagato probably looked like the firewall on this Auburn Special Racer before being smoothed and polished to perfection. Can you imagine the time involved in filing and sanding all the welds let alone building such a complex body. Hello? Isn’t that what body filler and paint are for!

The Auburn firewall is super cool, made by someone who had the talent to smooth it out just like the Aston but chose to leave it rough for effect. These cars were photographed at a VSCCA event at Lime Rock Park last Friday.

Zagato Aston Martin DB-4

Firewall on Auburn SpecialAuburn

Ferrari 330

The power of the internet and the reason I do these blog posts became apparent on this particular project.

Similar to almost all of the other Ferrari shops in the country, we were having a hard time getting the head gaskets to seal on the V-12 engines. The gaskets that come in the gasket kits are ELRING brand that are very fancy looking and fit nicely but are too hard and do not compress and seal like they should. I am sure they work well on a BMW with a cast iron block and head bolts that torque to probably 100 lb/ft, but on a Ferrari engine you only go to 65 lb/ft and are working with a very flexible cast aluminum block.

The leaks we had experienced was not water getting into the combustion chamber but it allowed water to leak between the block and head and often times leaked water into the oil. Considering that replacing the head gaskets on one of these engines is a $4-5000 job, we had to come up with a solution which we now have.

2 years ago a man called me to talk about head gasket leaks on his 330, I explained that we had the same problems and that he should get the car to me to be repaired. The car was tied up at another shop and I didn’t hear from him again. Fast forward to February 2010, the mystery man rings me again and asks me to help him sell the car! He told me that the shop fixed the leaking gaskets again and the car is sorted and ready to go.

I had 3-4 immediate buyers for the car but upon close inspection I found that the gaskets were still leaking! We could have been the shop to repair the gsakets, get them right, and get on with it, but it turned out fine when I sold the car to a local man who asked that we overhaul the engine and set things right.

The car was described as having an overhauled engine and in need of nothing, but we found that wasn’t the case. With the wrist pin bushings wiped out, the pistons worn and overall sloppiness in workmanship from the multiple attempts at remedying the head gasket leaks, we were disappointed in the prior repair, but will set things straight. These photos show the water mixed with oil inside the cam covers.

330 head gasket leak V-12 Ferrari

V-12 Ferrari head gasket and overhaul

Still looking for someone to explain to us why Ferrari went from the compact light weight and wonderful shifting transmissions in the early 166/195/212/225 cars to enormous and heavy cast iron transmissions on the later 250/330/365’s. Here are photos of the 330 2+2 5-speed and a 166 5 speed. There is about 100 lbs difference in weight and a considerable size difference. Did Ferrari use some truck or tractor transmission for these later cars?

The blue 330 GT 2+2 that came in earlier this year ended up needing an engine overhaul but I was fortunate to be able to drive the car prior to breaking it down. The transmission shifted perfectly but on acceleration/deceleration the shift lever moved back and forth significantly. As some may remember, this same thing happened to a 330 GTC transmission a few years ago and it turned out to be a loose ring nut on the main shaft.

I was certain that we had the same issue on this 330 2+2 and when I took off the top cover, it was instantly obvious that the ring nuts at the back of the main shaft holding the gear cluster on were totally backed off. They are doubled up to jamb together to prevent loosening plus there is a locking tab for extra protection on backing off… but still, someone managed to mess this up. Thankfully no damage was done to the internals.

Huge Ferrari transmission

Early Ferrari 5 speed aluminum transmission

loose ring nuts on a Ferrari transmission

Here is a lovely Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 that just came in for some minor work and to put on the market. The owner has asked us to sell the car and we are happy to oblige since it is so incredibly nice.

It is a late model 2+2 with the 2 mount engine and power steering. It does not have A/C but would be an easy retro-fit since it has the rocker switches located to the left of the steering column allowing room for the evaporator under the center of the dash. We installed A/C in an earlier car with the rocker switches in the center of the dash and it was an effort to make the evaporator fit properly.

330 GT 2+2

330 GT 2+2 interior

Here are some more photos of the GTE transmission that I am overhauling. Everything else looks fine inside, we are replacing all of the bearings and synchroinzer bands. The main shaft and lay shaft gears are all in excellent condition.

Transmission

Gears for mainshaft and layshaft

but the gears and spacers are all good.

A California man is the proud new owner of the 330 GTC that was in a post a month ago, http://www.ferraricraft.com/2009/12/a-nice-photo-of-a-330-gtc-that-we-have-for-sale/ and now it is time for me to market another dark blue GTC. Similar to the last car we sold, this one had lots of cosmetic work done by another shop and when we acquired it, nearly every mechanical component needed attention!

There was a large oil leak at the engine when we first got the car, here is what we found jammed between the timing chest and the head! Once we removed the heads, we noticed bad bearing wear, terrible sand cast “el-cheapo” pistons and a plugged up cooling system. Needless to say, now the engine is completely overhauled and after a few years and 2-3000 miles, it is sorted and runs beautifully.

Here is another post I did on the transmission to this car. http://www.ferraricraft.com/2007/08/ferrari-330-gtc-transmission/

With a new radiator core, all new A/C components, axle boots, tires, clutch hydraulic components, this is an outstanding car!

Dark Blue GTC

Here is what thousands of hours of detailing a Ferrari Lusso engine looks like. It is dusty and not totally finished but getting close. If I had a driveshaft I would take her for a spin! Really looking forward to driving the car because we did some enhancements to the engine and installed a overdrive transmission to make the car that much better and faster.

Engine to the Lusso

After doing all kinds of work on a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC we are now going through the transmission. We overhauled the engine last fall and after our customer spent the spring and early summer driving the car he realized that the synchronizers were too worn for him to enjoy driving the car.

We are going to replace the bearings at the front of the transmission but all of the other bearings look great. All 5 synchronizer bands have been replaced even though the second and third gear synchros were the worst.

These transmissions are straightforward to work on provided you do not have to deal with the spacing on the pinion shaft.