Dino Saga 061022 _ Dino Stratos | FerrariChat

Dino Saga 061022 _ Dino Stratos

Discussion in 'Corbani's Corner' started by John Corbani, Oct 22, 2006.

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  1. John Corbani

    John Corbani Formula 3
    Honorary Owner

    May 5, 2005
    1,153
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Full Name:
    John Corbani
    Dino Saga 061022 _ Dino Stratos

    Got two letters from John with a list of the changes to both the Dino and the engine. No more pictures and no OK to pass on ID. I encouraged him to join Fchat and add to the great body of knowledge and fable that is going on here. We will see. Wish I had a high resolution shot of the engine to finish this post but will just do a double sized effort on the story.

    The project has been going on since the 1980s. Los of starts and stops for many reasons. First change was wheels. They are Centerline 16 inchers, 8 inch wide in front and 10 inch wide at rear. Don’t know about offset but looks close to stock; 4” from mounting surface to inside of inside wheel rim. Tires are Pirelli P-7s, 225/50 VR-16 front and 265/50 VR-16 rear. Flairs are modifications of Hollywood Coach Craft flairs originally made for a Ferrari Datona. He was expecting the engine to be worth maybe 300 HP and figured that that wheel/tire/running gear would be a good match. The rear flairs added a just a little bit of muscle. Bumpers, side lights and parking lights were removed and light covers added to leave nothing but the basic beautifully clean lines of the car.

    Over the years all splash panels, chassis parts and body interior surfaces were stripped of black texture paint and refinished with black lacquer. All steel suspension components were stripped and powder coated black. A-Arms, stabilizer bars, links and springs.

    Interior was completely redone in black Italian leather. Doors, seats, dash, etc. No Vinyl anywhere including inside of roof panels. Roof hardware was all chromed. Wind wings were changed to Plexiglas. Rear view mirrors were stolen from a jet-ski and bolted to the new windows. Radio opening was enlarged and CD/AM/FM player installed. Instrument panel was redone to get tach close to dead center.

    Paint was a problem. Wanted real lacquer and the red that is only possible doing it the old fashioned way. Called all over California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Finally hit pay dirt in Boise, Idaho and personally drove there to pick up the paint. Looks great in the pictures. Wiring harness was replaced and new fuse and relay panel built. ATO fuses and Bosch relays. Alternator is Nipon Denso 65 Amp. Battery was moved to right rear fender. 15 lb Odyssey battery is plenty. Oil cooling radiator and a fan went where battery was. No water/oil cooler on engine. A multi speed switch controls the oil cooler fan. The Stratos manifold couldn’t supply enough vacuum for brakes so an electric vacuum pump was put in left rear fender. Polished stainless firewalls replaced aluminum in front and rear of engine compartment. A full aluminum belly pan finished off the body.

    Engine was built up with factory Lancia Stratos rally racing parts. Heads have 4 valves per cylinder. Magnesium intake runners support Weber 44IDF-27 carburetors. Valve covers and water manifold are magnesium. Custom exhaust headers are coated. Mufflers are Borla and John says the sound is impressive. Clutch is hydraulic with master/slave cylinders. Flywheel is aluminum. Ignition is Perma-Tune with Stratos racing Magneti Marelli distributor. 8mm plug wires. No smog gear.

    The project started in the early eighties. John had been looking for a Dino but prices were over $30,000 and just out of his reach. In 1982 he saw a Dino advertised in the Orange County Register for $24,000 and was the first caller. Told the lady that he would buy the car sight unseen and he did. Lady had driven it to work every day and it had 56,000 miles on the odometer. Metallic silver with red and black interior. A few dents here and there but ran fine.

    He drove the car for a while and had lots of fun, but… would it be possible to get more power? Talked to folks (Lyle Tanner, etc.) but was unimpressed with what they could offer. Wrote a letter to the Ferrari Club of Varenza, Italy after seeing their name in a sports car magazine found in London. This was in October of ’83 and he enclosed a picture of his Dino and a request for info on more HP. They sent the letter to Rosso Corsa Ferrari in England. Alex Moore, the company’s president wrote John describing the kit that his company was importing from the factory for Lancia Stratos rally racers. Moore owned the 1975 Stratos that was featured in the April 1985 issue of Motor Sport magazine. Bingo! John told him to order another kit.

    For 4700 Sterling John got 24 Valve Heads, High Compression Pistons, Webers, Valves, Springs, Competition Distributor, etc. John picked up the parts from Customs in March, 1984. That was the end of the stock Dino and the beginning of the dream car that is still in the works.

    Hope to get some more surprises in the mail. Will pass them on if I do. FerrariChat works in wonderful ways. Glad I got involved.

    John
    .
     
  2. need4speed

    need4speed Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2003
    1,616
    Pacific Palisades
    GREAT STORY JOHN. Keep'em comin'.

    Thanks,

    Manny
     
  3. racerboy9

    racerboy9 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 3, 2003
    2,499
    #3 racerboy9, Oct 23, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  4. manxman

    manxman Rookie

    Feb 9, 2009
    2
    France (currently)
    Full Name:
    Alex Moore
    It's very good to see the engine pictures and hear about the story again after so many years.

    Regards to all,

    Alex Moore
     

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