Dino Saga 061015 _ 4 Valve Heads | FerrariChat

Dino Saga 061015 _ 4 Valve Heads

Discussion in 'Corbani's Corner' started by John Corbani, Oct 15, 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
    #1 John Corbani, Oct 15, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Dino Saga 061015 _ 4 Valve Heads

    What if you had a GTS and most bits of a Stratos engine? There’s such a guy and I have a few pictures that show what’s happening. Rob never mentioned it but there are a few “bennies” in being named a “consultant” on FerrariChat. Folks wander through search engines looking for Ferrari info, find FerrariChat and start browsing. There is so much here that they don’t know where to start and wind up looking for folks who have been through the mill. I qualified and got an E-Mail wondering if I could recommend a source for a distributor cap.

    Called and talked to a nice guy named John who had a story. He told me that he was near the end of building up a 4 valve Dino engine and had dropped the distributor cap. One plug turret had broken off and when he tried to run, the engine was misfiring.

    4 valve heads? Right! OoooKay! Sounded interesting so I gave him a couple of sources and said that I had an old cap that a mechanic had said was junk. Came from the time just after I bought my Dino and I was as green as grass. I bought anything that was “needed” back then. A couple of years later I looked at the cap and it looked just fine. Been in my goody box about 18 years. Bottom line, I offered the cap to John to try. If it worked, he would send me a check. Two weeks later I got a check and a batch of 4 x 6 drugstore photos.

    Turns out he spent time in Europe and picked up a lot of Lancia Stratos bits and pieces. He was building up his Dino to do justice to an engine using those Stratos bits. Now this sounds like the Dino I wish had been developed. Scanned the pictures and did what I could with the editor. His Dino was going through a transformation. Nothing subtle involved. Looked like a full-on race car in the making. Very little was sacred.

    Encouraged him to send more pictures and join Fchat to let others see what was going on. Got some digital pics of current status. 480 x 320 teasers! Asked him to try again. Got some more at 640 x 480. Better but still awfully soft. Finally a batch of 15 but again at 480 x 320. The pictures showed the car coming very close to being roadable. He has a new digital camera and a big learning curve. He is still trying to get decent stuff from his camera to the Internet.

    The attached pictures show all I know so far but sure are interesting viewing. I enlarged everything to 800 x 600 and sharpened. Not great but you can see a lot of details. I hope the pictures keep coming. I will pass them on and hopefully get a story to go with them. The pictures appear to cover a significant time span and the car changes all the while. Lots of details to ponder. Have fun looking. Almost everything has morphed a little. WOW!

    John
    .
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  2. Crawler

    Crawler F1 Veteran

    Jul 2, 2006
    5,018
    #2 Crawler, Oct 15, 2006
    I can hear the purists gasping for breath!

    I'd be real nervous about those unfiltered velocity stacks. I'm sure it sounds great, but looks like a surefire recipe for what the late, great Henry N. Manney III used to call a "Cucamonga rebore".

    I find the concept of a stripped-down Dino with uprated engine to be really interesting. What's the nominal horsepower rating on the Stratos engine, 260 or so?

    I like it! I'll bet it goes like a bat outta hell!
     
  3. synchro

    synchro F1 Veteran

    Feb 14, 2005
    9,294
    CHNDLR
    Full Name:
    Scott
    #3 synchro, Oct 15, 2006
    Extensive upgrades, but it looks like he retained the stock brake booster and master cylinder?
     
  4. Crawler

    Crawler F1 Veteran

    Jul 2, 2006
    5,018
    #4 Crawler, Oct 15, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  5. old nart

    old nart Rookie

    Aug 31, 2005
    11
    Irvine, CA
    Full Name:
    John Clinard
    #5 old nart, Oct 17, 2006
    Wow! I'm excited to read about this. I have a Dino coupe with Stratos 4-valve heads and I'd love to hook up with the owner (John?) and compare notes. I live in Los Angeles area. I note a California plate on the Dino GTS. Maybe we're not far from each other? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. John Clinard
     
  6. ferrari sulla pellicola

    ferrari sulla pellicola Formula Junior

    Jun 21, 2004
    621
    Los angeles
    Full Name:
    Richard
    #6 ferrari sulla pellicola, Oct 17, 2006

    yeah those stacks are definately begging for sceens before some kid decides to make it his personal coin toss game.and i must admit those wheels are a little bit too superfly for my taste but ill admit that combo probably makes winding it out through 3rd and 4th gear the most fun one could have with their clothes on.. ..id love to know what he has the redline set.
    it reminds me of this Dino coupe we bought from Al Mohr back around 1988 which had these huge webers that were so tall the engine lid had that same type cutout for the aircleaner to clear.when i mentioned that the first thing i planned to do was restore it back to the original config Al kinda chuckled and told me forget shipping it,that after driving it back to LA that i would forget all about the purist aspect when i got home.He advised me to take Carmel Valley Road down to Greenfield..the man was right cause those carbs made it flat out scream!
     
  7. dignini

    dignini Formula 3

    Aug 21, 2005
    1,348
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Luigi Marazzi
    #7 dignini, Oct 17, 2006
    Could you expand on "Dino coupe with Stratos 4-valve heads" maybe in a new thread? it is something that always seemed a worthwhile modification, that and injection and intercooled turbos...........
     
  8. need4speed

    need4speed Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2003
    1,616
    Pacific Palisades
    #8 need4speed, Oct 17, 2006
    Hi John,

    I'm in the LA area also and would love to check out a 4-valve Dino. Either yours or the subject of this thread.

    Manny
     
  9. JCR

    JCR F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 14, 2005
    10,006
    H-Town, Tejas
    #9 JCR, Oct 17, 2006
  10. John Corbani

    John Corbani Formula 3
    Honorary Owner

    May 5, 2005
    1,153
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Full Name:
    John Corbani
    #10 John Corbani, Oct 18, 2006
    Got some more info. Will post something this Sunday. Look at the carbs in the last few pictures. He has a plate between the carbs and the trumpets, has 4 posts coming up from that plate, and a red plate with a rolled edge just above the inlets. Rocks would have a hard time getting in but air does fine. The more you look, the more you see. John has been working on this since 1982. 24 year labor of love.

    John
     

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