Restoration tip: Indexing the flywheel to increase ring gear life

In life you never stop learning and this little tip is an example of that. Recently a very experienced mechanic clued me in that the flywheel on a 6 cylinder engine will always stop on one of 3 approximate places when the engine is turned off. As a result every time you go to start the engine, the gear on the starter motor engages the ring gear not randomly on the flywheel but on one of three areas. Once we removed our flywheel this was perfectly visible. There was engagement wear on the flywheel in exactly three locations and everywhere else the teeth were factory fresh and like new.

Now for the money saving tip. If you find excessive wear on your ring gear it can be removed and turned by a sixth of a turn (or turned one bolt on the crank if re-balancing the engine) exposing brand new teeth to the starter motor. In our case the wear was so minimal that it was not necessary but if you ever priced out a ring gear from Ferrari you will know how useful this tip can be.

On another note the butcher mechanic of the previous owner showed his colours again. This time it was in the form of Grade 8.8 bolts that were used to hold the flywheel in place. For those not familiar with bolt grading, using these bolts in this application ranks up with using wooden tooth pics as nails in the framing of a house. Way too weak and we were lucky to catch the fault before a catastrophic failure. Needless to say appropriate new bolts have been purchased and they will be going  on.

The first yellow paint: Building the front spindles

Today the first yellow paint went on the Dino but sadly it was not on the body. Instead it was a small amount applied by brush to the castle nuts on the front steering spindles. Ferrari later went on to use yellow paint to indicate that fasteners had been tightened but when 01464 was born this practice only applied to the spindles.

Another Ferrari mystery as to why this is the case but many restoration shops apply yellow paint to bolts and clamps on Dino's and while it looks impressive, it is not historically correct.

A hot water bath: Restoring and testing the radiator fan switch

We decided to restore and test our radiator fan switch rather than replace it figuring that if it worked well there was no reason to change it out. First step was to restore it. This was easily done with some elbow grease for the hard grime and a low pressure blast with glass bead to give it its final finish.

Below the grime we revealed the operating temperature for the switch and tested it using heated water, a thermometer, and a continuity tester. The switch works in a very simple way; it is screwed into the radiator and comes in contact with the engine coolant. When the coolant reaches a pre-determined temperature, the switch is activated and completes the circuit to the radiator cooling fans thereby turning them on. When the coolant cools enough the reverse takes place and the fan motors are turned off.

Another part done and ready to join the soon to be painted radiator.

A most knowledgable man: Meeting Dino expert Matthias Bartz in Germany

In multiple posts I have referred to Matthias from Germany as one of our primary sources for information in restoring our Dino. Last week, while in Germany, I had the chance to meet up with him to discuss Dino's and the wonderful experiences that he had in putting the famed Dino Compendium book together over a period of 2 years.

After this encounter I am quite confident in the belief that Matthias is certainly the worlds foremost authority on the subject of the Dino marque. It was a real pleasure to spend some time with him and for that I am very thankful.

Our meeting did leave me with a moment of pause. The German people are often seen as stern and regimented but, as seen in our second composite image, it appears as though some Italian exuberance has rubbed off on Matthias as his expressive gestures would suggest that it is he rather than I that is of Italian heritage.

These cars really bring out the passion in you.

A conversation with an old friend reveals an almost 30 year old photo of 01464

Today we made a most unexpected discovery. A visit to an old friend revealed an even older envelope that had not been opened in almost 30 years. Labelled with the stamp of the local dealer of the time, inside was a brand new copy of Prancing Horse magazine; the Ferrari Club of Canada publication. Leafing through it my friend said 'here is a photo of my friends Dino that was black and gold'. Sure enough some quick questions filled in the blanks and there was a pic (seen in the background next to another Dino) of 01464 before it was yellow sitting in the dealership floor at Gentry Lane. A little more digging on Google Earth shows that the building which once sold Ferrari's now sells Mitsubishi's and is about a mile away from my house. A small world indeed.