Into the heads and the horrors continue

It has been a while since our last update. Time has been spent sourcing obscure parts and examining the internals of the engine. Just when we thought that the faults of the previous re-build were found we delved into the heads where there was a whole new batch of surprises. Most notable were the water jacket plugs where it was discovered that SAE steel plugs were used in lieu of the metric aluminum ones that should have been in there. Furthermore the 'FRESH' valve job had lash specs all over the place resulting in inconsistent wear patterns. Like all things before it, everything is being taken apart and being made perfect.

Modernizing the Dinoplex Ignition with help from a German friend

In life we all need some help from time to time. While we are pretty good at cleaning and painting parts one place we are totally useless is when it comes to electricity. Ohms, resistance, and impedance are all foreign terms for us and the only thing we know is that on an Italian car any electrical problem can be traced to a bad ground.

Luckily our fellow Dino friend Adrian from Germany held our hand through the process of updating the original Dinoplex ignition to modern Bosch internals. This is a much more reliable setup and, because it is totally hidden inside the original ignition case, it is impossible to know that the work has been done.

More information on this procedure can be found at: www.dinoplex.org and there are many more detailed photos at the following thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276251&highlight=dinoplex

Thank you Adrian for your help and we are looking forward to seeing and hearing the ignition perform when we first fire up the engine.

Now for some before and after photos:

A Special Christmas Card

Lucas from www.scarfonephoto.com sent us a nice Christmas card this year with a photograph of 01464 shot the day before we began the restoration. It was a nice gesture and a welcome reminder to wish all of our blog visitors a safe and prosperous holiday season.

A Masterpiece is Launched: The Dino Compendium

In previous posts you will have read of Dino 'Guru' Matthias offering up wisdom towards our restoration. Indeed Matthias Bartz from Germany is rightfully regarded as the worlds authority on the subject. It is with great pleasure that we announce the launch of his book which stands as the definitive source on all things Dino. Now everyone can have access to amounts of information never before available.

These projects are always a labour of love and we thank you Matthias for taking the time to share your research in print.

Copies can be ordered from www.dino-book.com

Photo credits: Marcel Massini

The doubters will fade but the mousehair won't. HVL dash material put to the test

When it came time to upholstering the dash we took the leap of faith (and followed the impeccable reputation of Henk at HVL Interiors) and covered it in his new reproduction mousehair. As outlined in an older post this material is a perfect reproduction to original with the advantage that it does not fade quickly in the sun the way the OEM material did.

A close friend of ours was more skeptical so he decided to put the material to the test. What better than on the dash of his pickup truck where he parked a piece of dash material for almost 3 months. Summer has been kind in Canada this year so it was exposed to sunlight for some 12-14 hours per day amplified by the effects of the windshield.

Today, upon inspection, the material was found to have not faded at all even after this less than scientific test of durability. Needless to say our friend is a believer and has decided to use it on his own car.