I finally have 50679. | FerrariChat

I finally have 50679.

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by bjwhite, Apr 16, 2014.

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  1. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    #1 bjwhite, Apr 16, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    After 8 years of watching this car in California and then Canada, I finally have 50679. I drove it home from Vancouver BC today--home being Seattle. Those if you that know me will find that funny after all these years. Aiden Parte, Dave Stacy, John Ashman, etc. :) In fact, if you search in some of the threads, Aiden says (referring to 50679) "That has Brian White written all over it!" That was back in 2008 if I remember right. I'd been watching it since 2006. I posted here about it. Anyway.

    Took the train up this morning, drove it back this afternoon. The trip was uneventful except for me freaking out when the coolant temp hit 110 in traffic in Vancouver. Once on the highway it came down to 100, but then I read it should be 90. I stopped to do some topping off and it was fine for the remainder of the trip. Remember the other prospective buyer (thread titled, Should I Buy or Not?) noted a coolant leak. I will investigate this shortly.

    Lots of little project stuff to take care of...I will be assessing that in the upcoming days and weeks. That and needing to start collecting some minor parts here and there, mainly interior stuff. The heater switches seem either broken or seized. One visor clip is broken. Windows don't work--no click, no motor.

    The solenoid for the hood works, but the one for the trunk and fuel flap do not. There is a cable routed to the interior for the trunk, and then that allows you to open the fuel flap.

    The fusebox needs attention. The wipers keep coming on and off. As well, I'm not sure the headlights are operating as they should (when they flip up, when running lights are on, etc)

    Car runs strong at full throttle, but the idle is way high at 1700 rpm....totally annoying. Also, at that idle it seems to have a slight miss--and when you driving along it sounds like it slightly misses too. But wide open throttle is strong. No black soot that I can see on the rear, but it was rainy today. It doesn't smell bad unless the car is cold and just starting up.

    Anyway...new project. New stresses. New feelings of love but remorse at the same time...that feeling of "What have I gotten myself into."....finally I just had to say, "What the ****?" haha.

    Some pics from today.
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    dkyranakis likes this.
  2. 3500 GT

    3500 GT Formula 3

    Nov 2, 2008
    1,397
    USA
    Full Name:
    Gentleman Racer
    Nice!!

    Congrats to you!!!

    How was the Jack in the Box in Blaine???


    :)
     
  3. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 5, 2002
    31,629
    MA
    Full Name:
    John
    Congratulations on taking the plunge! Sounds like you have a lot of projects to keep you happy as you get everything sorted out. Enjoy the ride!
     
  4. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

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

    Congratulations to you! Enjoy your car in Excellent Health!

    Cheers,

    Sam
     
  5. kaiser

    kaiser Karting

    Dec 17, 2011
    73
    johannesburg
    Sounds great. Congrats!
    A couple of points.
    a. Check the fans in front, if you are overheating in traffic.
    b. Seems like a lot of steam out of the container.
    c. is that the red line on you rev counter, or are you red-lining it?

    I would check coolant for water and oil for water. And then I would check the spark plugs, just to be sure they all work and the leads. Start the car in the dark, and you can see if the sparks are jumping from the spark plugs/leads. They are known for being able to do that
    Also check near the distributor cap.
     
  6. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    Typical oil in water and water in oil is the oil cooler seals typically right? I will check that. It's had lots of work on heads and the like in the past, but it was time wise a while ago. early 2000s.

    Not sure of question c......I haven't touched redline yet...just reved it up on the highway to about 4500 or so. It's been raining and wanted to get home simply so didn't feel the need to go after it.

    I tested the fans yesterday, they are working......
     
  7. aidanparte

    aidanparte Formula 3

    Jul 18, 2004
    1,222
    Brian

    Glad you finally put your money where your mouth is! Congratulations, it is a wonderful feeling being an owner at last.

    Aidan
    PS Something else for your job list - the gear knob is wonky. Doesn't happen with automatics!
     
  8. alastairhouston

    alastairhouston Formula Junior

    Apr 19, 2009
    575
    Largs Scotland UK
    Full Name:
    Alastair Houston
    Hello Brian
    Congratulations its a great feeling really nothing like it it makes driving 'normal' cars totally uneventfull these are truly fantastic cars.
    Regards
    Alastair
     
  9. gt4me

    gt4me F1 Veteran

    Sep 10, 2005
    5,637
    UK
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    Lewis Mitchell
    Looks great, is that clear indicators or are they just faded?
     
  10. 400iGuy

    400iGuy Formula 3
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 26, 2004
    1,055
    Central Florida
    Full Name:
    Al
    Congratulations! Do check the ignition in the dark. I recently found a distributor cap crack doing that.

    Looks like it was built not too long after my 50605.
     
  11. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    Clear indicators. Yep..money where mouth was Aiden.....or.......holy crap what have I done. haha.....
     
  12. tajaro

    tajaro Formula Junior

    Mar 22, 2009
    685
    Gulfport Florida
    Full Name:
    Erik V
    I think he means your tach in the pic looks to be at 6500...
     
  13. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White

    Ahh, no that's the redline mark. The needle is hidden by the wheel. haha.....That's funny.
     
  14. Tassie

    Tassie Formula Junior

    Dec 17, 2009
    349
    Tasmania, Australia
    Full Name:
    Wayne Clark
    #14 Tassie, Apr 17, 2014
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2014
    Brian,
    Welcome to the exclusive 400 Manual Owners Club.
    They are a class act.
     
  15. kaiser

    kaiser Karting

    Dec 17, 2011
    73
    johannesburg
    I was told that the two happiest days in a Ferrari owner's life is the day he buys the Ferrari, and the day he sells it again.
    Yes, I was talking about the rev counter, but I suspected the needle was hidden.

    And regarding the oil/water, water/oil, I didn't get that quite right, but there seems to be no edit function.
    Anyway, I think the meaning was clear.
     
  16. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 5, 2002
    31,629
    MA
    Full Name:
    John
    There are three main reasons why there might be oil in the coolant, listed in order of least severity and greatest likelihood:

    1. O rings beneath the oil filters have hardened up. This an easy and inexpensive fix that could be done by a careful DIY (keep track of which o ring is which, they look identical to the naked eye but they have different part numbers and are easy to switch) or, better yet, your mechanic.

    2. The oil sealing ring at the front of the water pump. This involves a lot more labor but can be changed with the engine in the car.

    3. Blown head gasket. Self explanatory.

    Of course, you would know immediately when you topped up the coolant if there was a milky brown color in the coolant that would indicate that oil has infiltrated the coolant. If your coolant was normal looking, then it could simply have been the coolant level was low to begin with. Do not overfill as the expansion tank should be empty when the engine is cool, otherwise it will piss out. Also, check that the pressurized cap is on the expansion tank and not the radiator fill neck, which is opposite of typical practice on most other cars.
     
  17. kaiser

    kaiser Karting

    Dec 17, 2011
    73
    johannesburg
    There is at least one other cause, and that are plugs in the heads, that can corrode.

    Where can I find more info on the O-rings beneath the oil filters?
    I think I should maybe just do this while the car is being fixed in any case.
     
  18. Ashman

    Ashman Three Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 5, 2002
    31,629
    MA
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    John
    There is a pretty good DIY explanation with lots of photos in this section posted within the last 2 years or so. If you search you should be able to find it.
     
  19. kaiser

    kaiser Karting

    Dec 17, 2011
    73
    johannesburg
    thanks, I'll find it!
     
  20. aidanparte

    aidanparte Formula 3

    Jul 18, 2004
    1,222
    True. Us automatic owners are the dregs of society.
     
  21. Ak Jim

    Ak Jim F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 23, 2007
    8,450
    North Pole AK
    Well I wouldn't go quite that far. :)
     
  22. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    #22 bjwhite, May 7, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    A beautiful day in Seattle today, so I took 50679 out for a drive after I gave a good wash. First wash since driving back from Vancouver in the pouring rain.

    Cleaned the leather to prep for a good conditioning. Then fixed some non-operational or wonky electrical stuff like the trunk release, the window switches, the headlight stalk and one of the upper fan switches. This was all just dry or corroded contacts probably due to non-use for quite a long time. The car showed almost 71,000 way back in 2006--and now shows high 74k....so it's not gotten a whole lot of love and use since then. I still need to sort the rear fog lights and the "flash to pass" lights. Neither work.

    I finally registered it with a vintage "Year of Manufacture" plate....so it has a Washington license plate from 1984. Never have to pay any fees from here on out so that's awesome. I have three of my cars like that. 81 Lancia, 79 Alfa and this.

    One of the shames about the car, is when I first wanted to look at it back in 2006, it was in the Bay Area. The dash was not shrunk..I have pictures showing it intact. Well, since after mid-2006 it went to LA and stayed there until 2011, during that time probably outside a lot in the hot LA sun, the dash leather shrunk and created a small tear by one of the vents and a separation at the seam on the right side.

    I mean, many of them do this, but when I looked back at the pics from 2006, it was like..ugh....I should have bought it back then. :) haha....

    Anyway, a good day. Just spending on quality TLC time with the thing. It's still idling high....I tried adjusting both big screws on the K-Jet. If I close them all the way it still idles at 1700-1800 when warm. That's my next tackle.
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  23. kaiser

    kaiser Karting

    Dec 17, 2011
    73
    johannesburg
    Looks good! I like the colour of those leather seats!

    And, does the engine smoke? (water in the oil? oil in the water?) Or everything good?

    I think you must try the screws again. They determine how far the butterfly in the throttle body can go to closed on each side.

    You should be able to get that right, because you should be able to close them almost completely, unless the cable is too tight.
     
  24. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    The engine does not smoke at all. Yeah, I will continue to work on the idle thing.
    Yeah, the color combination of this car is really what made me want it.
     
  25. Ak Jim

    Ak Jim F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 23, 2007
    8,450
    North Pole AK
    Maybe the linkage is out of adjustment and one side is holding the other side slightly open. Try disconnecting the throttle linkages and then adjust the idle speed, then reconnect and see what you have.
     

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