365 GT4 2+2 Suspension Pictures Request | Page 2 | FerrariChat

365 GT4 2+2 Suspension Pictures Request

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by samsaprunoff, Jun 16, 2019.

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  1. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2004
    4,160
    Edmonton, AB Canada
    Full Name:
    Sam Saprunoff
    Good day Ken,

    I have been called far worse ... actually I like the term "Particular" :) ... On my car, you have to remember that it sat for many, many, years (last registration was 1995 or so) and so a lot of things needed to be done before the car could be driveable or even licensed in my area. Our Governmental licensing department is so strict (for out of area initial inspections) that if anything and I mean anything is not working (even as little as the interior lights not working, cracked mirror, sunvisor not staying in position, etc) they will deny registration and I will have to repay to try again. So... since I have to go through everything on the car anyway, I thought I might as well sort everything out and restore/refresh it along the way. As for originality... I do like to keep the car as original as I can in order to preserve the way it once was. Reusing and replating the original hardware is not that big a deal and in the end it really just costs me some time and I do not mind. My belief is that if you have to do something, do it to the best of your ability. Besides I find it a lot more fun to install fresh and clean parts and hardware, then ones that are not. Personally, I am one of these people that enjoys the journey more than arriving at the destination and so doing all this work to me is fun and at the same time challenges me to learn and improve my mechanical skills. Now, if my car was more of an actively used driver when I got it, then I probably would not have to go to the lengths like I am doing now. Case in point is my Boxer... It sat for about 7 years prior to my ownership and only needed some basic refreshing to make it ready to be licensed. It still needs a lot to make it a really nice driver, but I am not worrying about it now and simply drive it when I can as is.

    Speaking of driving... good for you that you will be able to take your car out! I am so jealous and perhaps later this Summer I will have an opportunity to take my car out.

    Have fun on your weekend drive!

    Cheers,

    Sam
     
  2. SouthJersey400i

    SouthJersey400i Formula 3

    Mar 14, 2007
    1,591
    Romulus, NY (Finger Lakes)
    Full Name:
    Ken Battle
    Sam
    Maybe my history of owning 3 Lotus, one a complete ground up restoration got me to look for improvements. Lotus was a design house but every part was supplied by the low bidder. My '69 Elan Plus 2 was total rebuild and electrical was my biggest change. Instead of 4 fuses I ended up with 16 (2 spares) and lightest gauge wire was 14 not 18, as an example of doing things "better".
    One way to tell what part of my Ferrari was last worked on is to see what is the cleanest area of car. I like you hate to reinstall anything dirty or even work in a dirty area.
    Best!
    Ken
     
  3. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2004
    4,160
    Edmonton, AB Canada
    Full Name:
    Sam Saprunoff
    Good day Ken,

    Indeed, I agree that originality has its limits when clearly the original way of doing something has issues. As for electrical systems... do not get me started. On my Boxer the fuse blocks are notorious for issues and mine were severely damaged (see pic) at some point and the Ferrari dealer installed bypass fuses for the affected circuits. One day I was driving and I had major issues... back firing, loss of power, etc... My spidey sense knew the first thing to check were the fuses and low and behold the fuses for the fuel pumps were loose, etc. At that point I got annoyed and decided to see what I could so. I spent some time researching and analyzing this issue and found that the same issue plagued the 308 series as well. There were some non oem solutions, but I wanted a modern solution that looked OEM and so I designed my own... which I sold a few at close to cost as a service to the community. If you interested in what I did I created a dedicated thread in the Boxer section:

    https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/boxer-fuse-block-upgrade.140216/

    With that said I will be deviating from some original items where I can see some clear issues/problems. However, whatever I do I will try and make everything look OEM (f needed) as well as ensuring that the changes I make can be reversed if anyone wishes to do so in the future.

    Cheers,

    Sam

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  4. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2004
    4,160
    Edmonton, AB Canada
    Full Name:
    Sam Saprunoff
    Good day All,

    The last of the plating is done... The last bits were the black finished items. For the most part I thought these pieces were finished using Black Oxide, which is pretty common... but for some reason not in my area. I tried for a long time to find a shop to do black oxiding and I struck. Just by chance my Yellow and Zinc plater was doing a black-silver-zinc process for a customer and if I wanted I could try this method. I did and I was very impressed with the results. Th result is a very dark black and apparently, the silver in the process makes the hardware very, very, resistant to rusting and thus why it is used. For whatever reason the half moon half shaft plates were speckled a bit. I am unsure if this was because of the process, base material used, or if I did not strip away the old finish well enough. I am not going to worry about it, as I am simply going to lightly scuff these items and paint them.

    As for my plater... I am simply amazed at how fast they did these for me. I took them in on Thursday morning and Fridat morning they were done! I have to say I am very impressed with their service and vert grateful that they are local to me.

    Cheers,

    Sam

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