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

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

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 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.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not critical of this Ferrari F-40 LM transaxle casting, its just that it looks so old, similar to the 50’s and 60’s castings. In comparison, the casting to a Porsche 911 Transaxle looks so much more refined where this is a crude old lost wax/sand cast type housing for a 500hp racing car. I like it, is has character and obviously gets the job done but a little old school none-the-less!

Here’s another article from when we had the Ferrari 512BB Transaxle out.

F40 Transmission

Even though the electrical solenoid worked, this 250 GTE overdrive would not engage at speed so we made the judgment call to remove the transmission from the car and send the overdrive to be inspected and repaired.

It turns out that the unit is totally worn out and nasty but luckily nothing is broken. Since this one is built under license of Laycock de Normanville by Bianchi, the odd sized rear bearing is $80 instead of $10 for the common sized bearing that fits the Laycock built units.

When John took the unit apart he found a pound of metal shavings trapped in the filter screen and recommended  disassembling the transmission because it appears that it was run without oil for a bunch of miles. The transmission shifted well and was quiet but it will have to come apart for thorough inspection and cleaning. More posts to follow when I get the transmission apart.

Bianchi Overdrive

Overdrive Ferrari

People have accused me of being too technical on this blog, they think that I should make it more appealing by showing great photos of the cars and making it more slick but this is my effort and the technical stuff it what interests me. I was going to work with a marketing guy to get us a nice image, capitalize on the sex appeal of these cars but it just does not work for me and I do not have the time to stage scenarios and have posed photos. What I am documenting is the day to day of what happens at the shop and why working on machines whether it be tractors, air conditioning units or classic cars, this is what I am interested in and hope that my readers can appreciate it.

Here is a slightly staged photo of a spectacular casting that like so many castings by Ferrari is both beautiful and a marvel of engineering. The forethought that went into making this to work as a transmission casting, differential housing, oil sump  as well as the surface to carry the engine is remarkable. It also carries internal porting for the scavenge and pressure side of the dry-sump oiling system for the engine. Since the transmission has its own oil pump, there is porting for pressurized oil system to lubricate the gears and bearings.  Ferrari spent so much time engineering this sort of part while selling so few cars that it seems that they should have been even more expensive to purchase when new.

I hope you can enjoy these photo. By the way, this part is huge, you could fit about 5 cats inside it.

Transaxle housing for Ferrari 512BB

Transaxle Casting Ferrari

A few posts ago I reported on a 1984 Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer that had a knocking sound in second gear. It sounded to me like a bad cluster or a bearing with some debris caught in the race. When I jokingly called my main man Geof at Partsource (http://www.ferrariparts.com/)  asking him what he could sell me to fix the problem without disassembling the transmission, he told me that I was the 3rd person in the last month asking for the second gear cluster!

He wanted me to get him the acid etched part numbers on the gears to determine if they were shaved or ground gears but I said, “who cares if they are shaved or ground, I want a matched set of ground”.  Leave it to Ferrari to have even thought shaved gears would hold up to the torque that these parts need to withstand. By the way, if the odometer and the condition of this car is correct, there are less than 10,000 miles on this transmission! Great stuff! I could not find any acid etch numbers to confirm that the gears were shaved but I am sure that they were and not the higher quality ground gears.

As you can see in the photos, the smaller gear has many pits from metal fatigue, not from abuse or lack of lubrication, just poor quality materials and process. What a bummer.   Geof just located gears from a Testarossa transmission that cost a prohibitave amount of money but at least this transmission will not be apart for months and months while we wait for gears to be re-made!

Ferrari Boxer transmission repair