Here is a video of the engine running on the test stand to check for leaks and the adjustment of the ignition system and carburetors. This engine has German made Solex/Zenith carburetors, an Italian produced Magnetti Marelli distributor in combination with a French S.E.V Marchal Alternator.

Here’s a youtube link to see the engine running on the tabletop

Rebuilt 911 engine

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!

Testa Normal

Bassimento 250 GT Ferrari

Here is a early Porsche 911 Engine that Casey has finished and will hopefully be running later this week.

Want to seal an Italian car? Treat it like a German car.

Rob is a frequent visitor to the blog and asked a great question on what we use to seal up Ferrari engines.  As far as I’m concerned there aren’t any mysteries to assembling a Ferrari engine, the tolerances like piston clearance, valve lash and cam timing are very similar to other engines. Like all engines, cleanliness is close to holiness when putting them together, something we have seen countless times is an engine that is assembled without cleaning the crankshaft passages or bead blast abrasive that hasn’t been cleaned out thoroughly.

The real magic in assembling these cast aluminum engines is sealing them up to prevent leaks. We have come up with some great techniques mixed with praiseworthy products to make these engines tight. One technique is to have the early engines modified to use a lip seal instead of the “slinger” at the back of the crankshaft and another is to assemble the engine and let it sit on the bell housing overnight with red ATF or Marvel oil to check for leaks at the rear rope seal area the next morning.

Rob asked what we use for sealers and commented that he purchased “Hylomar” from his Harley Davidson dealer. Hylomar is made under license of Rolls Royce and is a waxy material that can fill voids and remain flexible. I’ve never been overly impressed with this product but it’s probably because I think Rolls Royce’s cars are a total joke and anything affiliated with them must suck.

We use a product from ELRING called Dirko (http://www.elring.de/index_en.php), lame name, amazing product. Like Hylomar, stays pliable to maintain a seal as castings move as they heat and cool but unlike Hylomar, it’s more of a silicone RTV that can fill large gaps easily which is necessary at the timing chain cover area. Hylomar is great in allowing you to reuse gaskets and the Dirko isn’t so sticky that it tears gasket paper but we never reuse gaskets anyhow. I guess if you were stranded it may be necessary to reuse.

Typically, you don’t need to coat the surfaces of the gaskets with a sealer, just hit the corners. On 308′s and 512′s they have a bunch of blunt ends of the gaskets at the cam covers that need a good smear of sealer similar but the main runs of paper are fine to leave without extra sealer. But, since we run a shop and hate to do things twice or have someone unhappy with a leak who is 8 hours away, we put a light smear on the entire gasket to be safe.

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