We have made jigs for re-producing the often rusted and leaking water pipes for Ferrari 250’s. These are not perfect reproductions but now that we have the tooling we can easily make an exact copy if anyone is interested. We are using Stainless Steel so they won’t rust away like the originals.
Ferrari tubing
250 water pipe
Fuel and oil pressure
Here are the two pressure gauges, the one I created, the BENZINA, and the one we based it on, the OLIO pressure. I used a thick acrylic urethane paint with lots of catalyst to make the needles white. It was done in the original fashion with a heavy build up of paint that I “floated” on the part.
The gauges are almost finished, I started on restoring these late last summer (ah, how time flies by) and as you may remember from a past entry, I had to make one complete gauge that was missing on the car. We had the oil and water temp gauges as well as the oil pressure gauge but old photos show that the car had a fuel pressure gauge so I had to create one from scratch. Since we had to make one, we had to re-make many parts of the other gauges so they all match which meant fabricating new beveled-edge jewels, bezels and faces.
The original faces were 60mm aluminum discs with an acid etch screen for the font. I used a different process of clear anodize the disc and laser engraving the font into the aluminum which gave an identical contrast to the originals. Using the oil pressure face as a template, a graphic artist created the art work to make the “benzina” and instead of 0-10 Kg/Cm2 we used a 1/10th scale of 0-.1 scale. He had to create the artwork on all of the gauges since the fonts are so unique and the laser engraver wanted Adobe Illustrator file instead of a jpg file.
The bezels were scratched and ugly we we had to make new ones, not so easy since they have to thread onto the case using a super fine 1.0 thread pitch, a 65 mm by 1.0 thread!
The Benzina pressure gauge uses a 1/4 scale movement and no one makes a low pressure mechanical movement so I had to adapt an electrical movement and install a special sending unit that could register the super low (5-10 PSI) scale.
A water jet shop cut out the delicate needles from brass sheet and I made a bunch of tiny spindles and pegs on our lathe to complete the package.
So many sub-contractors and suppliers to make a set of gauges work for this car, and I am so happy with the final product!
Fuel and oil pressure
Here some photos from our friend Bill Lockwood. He copyrights photos ©blockwood, and they can be seen on Mitsubishi Canada’s website, DC Shoes Rally Site, ESPN.com, and BNQT/USA Today.com. We are very happy that when he is in town he is just a few miles away.
http://blockwood.tumblr.com/post/280552569/212shoot
An old wooden box of hardware and a shop stocked with dedication make this shot of a one-of-a-kind Ferrari 212 even more unique.
Ferrari Red
A gorgeous Dark red that a prominent Ferrari Historian calls “mature”.
This is just out of the paint shop, no wet sanding or polishing on an overcast day. The camera is one of those heavy duty LUMIX point/shoots. The car looks particularly amazing right now because it basically has 3 finishes, the glossy red, brushed aluminum and black Excelsior tires from Coker. It is beautiful!
Here are photos of our jig to re-make a common sized water pipe on a Ferrari 250. We have been making flanges at the water jet shop and have a bunch of the large bell flanges that adapt the 1″ tubing to the larger thermostat housing.
This 304 stainless steel is great stuff, very workable, machinable, weldable.
To see the ones that came off the car click http://www.ferraricraft.com/2009/12/corroded-ferrari-water-pipes/
Fixture to reproduce water pipe
Reproduction water pipe in stainless steel
Jaeger Oil Pressure
When I had to explain why we had so many filing cabinet drawers full of suppliers and subcontractors to our bookkeeper, I realized how much we rely on other shops to keep these cars on the road. We try so hard to maintain good relationships with these shops through many long and arduous projects and feel blessed that we have some of the best people in the business as our ally.
This 212 gauge project is an example of the different suppliers that we use for the smallest of projects.
When we got the car to our shop we were missing the fuel pressure gauge but had the oil pressure, oil temperature and water temperature gauges. The fuel pressure should have the 1/4 pivot just like this oil pressure gauge and say BENZINA instead of OLIO and use different numbers for the lower pressure of the fuel system. We have to create an entire new gauge, new case, jewell, bezel, movement, needle, and the hardest part, the face.
To date I have bought a movement from an aircraft company, got fittings from a Ferrari Supplier, used a specialty shop to make hand ground beveled glass and used David to water jet cut a bunch of 60mm aluminum .030 discs. I sent the discs to get anodized, then to a laser engraver to have the script and graduation marks done. Another shop made the delicate thread on four bezels and make one complete case. I will then send all of the gauges to my friends who restore gauges to make sure everything is calibrated after I send them the correctly plated capillary tube!
Alright, all puns aside, the number of different variations of wheel nuts at RPM is astounding. Here are some examples and some more interesting facts about them. Firstly, Ferrari wheels employ singular nuts to fasten each wheel to each axle or hub. So, in your road car, you have generally 4 or 5 lug bolts or lug nuts that hold each wheel on – trucks have more. Ferraris more than any other make, use large racing style wheel nuts, quite similar to those in use on racetracks all over the world, even here in the US in Nascar. Many other Italian cars and some English cars used this method of fastening as well.
The big difference between the wheel nuts on current race cars and on vintage Ferraris? The method of removal. The current race cars use a large diameter socket, while the vintage cars have 2 or 3 ears extending off the nut. The method of removal is repeated smashing of these tabs by the standard equipment lead hammer found in every Ferrari – it isn’t just for fending off would-be attackers. The lead hammer packs a punch, and the softness of the lead won’t mar the finish of the nuts, just watch out for your fenders on the back swing. At RPM wheels are removed frequenly enough to destroy these hammers, so we have a mold to recast the hammer head.
On to the nuts themselves. The word “smontare” seems to be on nearly every nut. » Continue reading “KNOCK IT OFF – WHEEL GOING NUTS”
This photograph was taken just a few weeks ago, as Peter, Casey, Nate, Eben, and myself all made it in and out of the shop on a Saturday to lend a hand. We’ll be rolling out more pics and video of the 212 starting with the engine installed.
To see all posts relating to the 212 check here.
The 212 enjoys many hands.
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