Water Pipe for 2 cam 275 Ferrari

Water Pipe for 275 GTB, GTS

Here are some water pipes I just finished making for Ferrari 275 GTB and GTS, they fit all of the 275 series of cars except for the GTB/4′s. This piece connects the long pipe that runs under the exhaust header to the thermostat housing that’s bolted to the radiator header tank. Like all of the other pipes I make, these are 304 Stainless Steel so they will last forever!

Reversing direction of Jaguar XKE cooling fan motors

With a test light and a few long leads, I can diagnose most electrical problems on old cars without too much drama since they have very basic relays, lighting systems and motors. Figuring out electrical problems empowers me since there aren’t many places for gremlins to hide. This keeps me feeling productive.

A 1968 Jaguar XKE came in with worn out radiator cooling fan motors so I sent the old motors to a supplier as cores and they promptly sent me a pair of overhauled ones. When we plugged them in, they turned the wrong way. So, I called the supplier who apologized for the error and then regretfully informed me that the correct rotation motors are on back-order for months or more! The owner wanted the car ready for a show in a few days so we switched the wires thinking that they would turn counter-clockwise rather than clockwise but they didn’t! I disassembled the motors thinking that if I changed the magnet, maybe I would get the favorable result but it isn’t a permanent magnet, its an electro-magnet, the motor continued to spin clockwise.

After some head scratching, I realized that I had to reverse the wires internally to send current both through the armature and the magnet in the same direction. This got me out of hot water by cooling the old cat’s engine just the way she likes it. It took me some time to find the solution because I couldn’t believe that a simple motor like this needed internal modifications to change direction. Learning all the time…

These pipes are for the Lusso/GTE series of 250, but I can make a number of other styles from 166 up through the 275 cars utilizing my incredible and growing stockpile of bends and flared ends. Right now I am making a short run of the water pipe that connects the thermostat housing to the engine on a 275 GTB/GTS Two-Cam engine.

Water pipe for Ferrari

Water pipe copied for Ferrari

We also inquired about getting a new engine block for this project since the original may be compromised from all of the corrosion, but after hearing the price, I think we can fix the old block!

Water pump casting new and old

With corrosion this bad on these castings, imagine what the inside of the engine block looks like! We are pulling the sleeves right now in order to inspect the block and possibly replace the sleeves if the wall thickness has been compromised by the rust.

I ordered some brand new castings to replace these and am anxious to see how they look and fit.

Casting aluminum

Corroded aluminum

Flat fin radiator

Here is a brand new correct type flat fin radiator core all assembled with tanks and side brackets for a Ferrari 250 GTE. These cores are so nice and we will cover the core in cardboard to prevent bending the delicate fins. This radiator has the bottom tank that was all hammered and beat up and corrected and documented in an earlier post.

Ferrari Brass radiator tank

Ferrari radiators are a thing of beauty, huge thick flat-fin cores and beautiful pressed brass tanks. The lower tank typically gets hammered from lifting jacks, and curbs as well as tow truck hooks. This was a badly dented tank but not as bad as we have seen, after some controlled hammering, this tank looked perfect and is ready to solder onto the core.