It can be so demoralizing to work on old cars, even worse working on Ferraris! After overhauling the engine on the blue 330 2+2 and addressing a bunch of other issues, we drove the car and experienced a major vibration that is present under high speed. Whether the car is coasting in neutral or in gear, anytime you go above 50 mph the feeling is there. We suspected that the original Ferrari driveshaft with the rubber flex joint was the problem even though everything looked good so I sent it to be balanced and checked for run-out. The vibration was still there so I checked the transmission and rear axle flanges for run-out, both of which were perfect so after experiencing problems with numerous Ferrari driveshafts, I opted to make adapters to convert the shaft to a Spicer-Hardy U-Joint style. Nate installed the new shaft and guess what, still a vibration (although much less). Could it be a bent pinion shaft or bent main shaft in the transmission?

I assembled a Ferrari 250 engine and got to the cam timing today only to realize that the valve height was not set correctly, so all apart again!

A car deal blew up in my face as well, only because of a minor miss-communication no less.. I could really have used that deal to keep my quota up to maintain my dealer license. It is so hard to broker car deals and so rewarding to sell something that either we own or have at the shop. When the car is gone, there is so little control.

What else…. We have a low mileage 512BBI all apart for a major service which is becoming a major engine bay clean up, not such a big deal but how does a legitimate low miles car look so ratty? It won’t take much, a little paint here and there will tidy up things immensely.

Here is a photo of the BBI engine out and apart to replace the lower timing belt drive pulleys as well as a major service which includes valve lash and new cam belts.

Oh yeah, the brake shoes that we sent to be re-lined for the Monza are way to thick and the newly re-sleeved drums don’t fit over them! Ahhh!

BBI belt service

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

I got the transmission all buttoned up. It is in the car and I will get it on the road tomorrow AM. It shifts well from my little test on the lift, hope it feels as good on the road!

915, 911 transmission

An often missed detail when shops overhaul engines is drilling the plugs on the crankshaft to clean out the oil passages. When the crankshaft is being fabricated it is drilled to allow pressurized oil to be directed at the bearings but because of the shape of the shaft, many of the holes have to be plugged after the drilling process so the oil only comes out where you want it to.

When the crank comes out of the engine and sits on a shelf while waiting for re-assembly, the residual oil in these passages dries out and gets crusty which could plug the passages and starve the bearing of oil. Also, when if you have to grind or polish the crank, the grit will get into the passages and quickly wipe out those brand new bearings.  One more thing, if you are going through the process of overhauling an engine, it makes sense to clean it and inspect as thoroughly as possible.

Repairing a crankshaft

330 Crankshaft billet

everything

When I first drove this 1983 Porsche 911, I found the shifting to be difficult and it was grinding gears badly. My suggestion to the owner was to get in and replace the synchronizer bands before something breaks.

After taking it apart I couldn’t see much wrong and the synchros seemed used but not totally worn out. Like many other car manufacturers, the synchro for 2nd and 3rd gear is different than of the other gears and maybe someone put the incorrect part on the gears.

It wasn’t until re-assembly that I noticed that the dog teeth on first gear were chipped and remembered that the slider (operating sleeve, shift sleeve) for 1st gear has asymmetrical internal teeth to meet up with the corresponding dog teeth on 1st gear. The operating sleeve can be reversed  so the side that should engage 1st gear is incorrectly jamming into 2nd which makes engaging into either of these gears while under motion nearly impossible.

Lucky for the owner, I located a shop who can replace just the dog teeth (engagement teeth) for short money without having to spend the $2000 that Porsche quoted to get the parts. We sent 2nd gear  from a 901 transmission to the same guy for repair and cannot wait to see how they look and more importantly how they perform.

Transmission repair Porsche 911, 915, 901

901, 915, G60 transmission for Porsche repair

Sometimes the shop can be a pretty nostalgic place, a pack of 60’s cars downstairs, tractors outside, and a Deusy upstairs – upon arrival, a visitor could feel like the result of a successful time-machine test.

This picture is more timeless than most and embodies the outside of the shop on a cold winter day. The wreaths have been put away now and the icicles have been replaced with rains’ drizzle. The tractor is, of course, an Oliver. A 1954 Super 55 diesel receiving a full overhaul, from the mains on up. At the time, the Super 55 was Oliver’s first compact tractor with enough muscle to do a good bit of work.

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.

Last month we removed the transmission on a 250 GTE to have the overdrive that was inoperative inspected and rebuilt. When our friend John returned it to us, he mentioned that the filter on the overdrive was packed with metallic fragments that must have come from the transmission since nothing metallic matching this debris came from the overdrive. He told me that without removing, inspecting and super cleaning the transmission, there is no way the overdrive would last more than a few thousand miles.

I could not imagine what could have been a problem since it shifted well and was quiet when I drove the car prior to the tear down.

Yesterday I began to take the transmission apart and found that the Boccola ingranaggio, or 1st, 2nd and

250 Transmission gear

Bushing for 2nd gear

3rd, gear bushing style bearings are all torn up and the lead/tin coating has been wiped off the surface, probably from a low oil condition. I bet there was a pound of metallic sludge in that overdrive brass screen filter.