Ferraridoc, In the boot there is an aluminium collector that each tank feeds by hoses. The hoses get brittle and split and if there has been water in the tank there is a possibility of the collector having a pin hole on the bottom. All need checking. Turf all the centre mufflers. More ground clearance and better sound. When you have fixed everything else, put a manual gearbox in and REALLY enjoy it. Have fun.
He's got his ears closed on the manual 'box......... oooops,sorry.....it was his chequebook that's closed.
Thanks Wayne. I was thinking it might have been a vent pipe, or something, but I had a time window to pick up the QV (160km away), so took the 400 up and drove the QV back. It would have been next on my tinker list anyway, as I don't want it to burst into flames (yet). I noted the collector tank on the parts diagram, but didn't realise it was in the boot - so possibly a more urgent problem. There is one centre muffler left, but I don't know what brand/type it is. I assume the rear one is a bespoke one, as it comes with the complex tube bending and tail pipes - so I might delete the last centre one and add a couple of X pipes, a la Newman, and see if that improves things. Before over capitalise the car with a manual conversion, I'll drive a few and see if it's worth the trouble, expense, and probable decreased resale.
I was extremely fortunate to drive Al's 400i over the last few days in the open speed limit zone in Alice Springs. I must say, what a very nice car they are to drive at speed! It was very comfortable and it's definitely a mile eater out on the open road. The steering was tight on his car, so definitely get the steering looked at mate. I don't remember the brakes on his car being an issue, I thought they were very good. Sort one thing at a time and you will have yourself a wonderful 400i Doc.
Thanks, Pap. The car's at Gizzi's at the moment, until Marc can fit it in, so he's checking out a few things for me. The A/C has had the royal order of the pork sword, and will need a new compressor. Unfortunately, due to packaging, you can't fit a Sanden compressor in there, so a new York will have to do. Apparently these things are known for the radiators to get full of crap, so hopefully a clean out there will fix the overheating. The list just gets longer...
A friend, a block away minding his own business inside his house, described my car as sounding like two tuned XU1's racing each other. He asked if we were testing a car up the hills near his house, didn't see it. X pipes gives additional mellowness (at least that is what it did on my 550 - not tried it on the 400's) and takes the bark out. I would not do the X pipe again. Replacing centre mufflers gives ground clearance without increasing decibels significantly, replacing the last muffler seems to have most effect on volume. I have not tried it but I am reliably informed that removing all mufflers gives an acceptably noisy exhaust on small throttle openings and wakes the dead at full throttle. Have fun, I have entered for Targa next year.
Well, I'll have a little tinker with the exhaust, but I don't want to over-egg the pudding. Was that car a manual carby car with straight pipes to the last mufflers? It keeps me off the streets
Cool man. Gizzi will definitely get that a/c sorted for you. Al was just telling me about these radiators over heating engines and blocking up because of their crappy old school truck design. I had a real good look at a radiator at his place last week. I think Al said something along the lines of people having the radiator cores replaced with a more modern design. Perhaps run that past mark or contact Al and see what he thinks. Wouldn't be hard to have it removed and a professional weld in a new, bigger core. That's what I would do mate, last thing you want is that big V12 to overheat on you. Talk to Al in regards to the exhaust note also. He showed me an amazing fully stainless exhaust he has there for one of his cars. He also showed me and started up one of his 400i's with one of the rear muffler sections taken off and it really livened the engine sound up. Sounds like there are a few simple things you can do or try to make the engine note come alive in these cars. Have fun with it and keep posting pics and updates please mate. Let us know how Gizzi goes with the a/c.
T/CCI manufacture the York replacement, great compressor, used in lots of heavy duty applications. T/CCI Manufacturing, the original York compressor manufacturer, produces 7,000,000th compressor - TCCI Manufacturing/Que Products I paid around $350 AU for one several years ago, it was better and cheaper than rebuilding the OEM compressor ( which is an Italian Aspera unit built under York licence, worth keeping for future originality) I run Hychill ( not R134a ) so a/c performance is great. M
Thanks Mike I run Hychill in the QV - much colder, less pressure, and larger molecule, so the old hoses are fine. I think Gezim will only have R134a, but I'll be happy to get it working - I can fine tune after I attend to other things, like brakes and steering.
Actually a sanden compressor easily fits. I installed one on my car and have seen others with this swap.
Entered in the 38 Dodge but may end up running the GT2. Slight difference in performance but hey, what the heck. I won't be driving it like Jim though. More challenge and fun in the older car but more comfort in the modern one.
I have posted pictures here on this board before but I'm not sure how to search for them. There is a standard bracket to put the sanden in place of the York. The most difficult part for me was the hose fittings were facing the wrong way. I went to a shop that made hoses. I put two 90s together and the original hoses lined up. The original belts did not even need to be changed. When working on the front part of the engine compartment I would highly recommend taking off the hood, this makes it really easy to work on it.
Here is the link to the post with some pictures. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/365-gt4-2-2-400-412/417530-rotary-c-compressor.html
Thanks Jim. If I were doing it myself, I'd probably chase that up, but new Yorks are quite cheap and plonk straight in, which is a simpler job for the A/C guys, and there's quite a bit of work yet to do on this car.
New York compressor installed. Now looking at fans/radiator/condenser. Has anyone ever upgraded any or all of these? Before I throw good money after bad getting the old brass radiator cleaned out, I thought I'd explore some other options...
Nothing wrong with stock cooling system, the radiator or fans provided they are all working properly. The biggest issue I've come across in these cars is a damaged fuse box ( fans don'r run) , clogged radiator ( cheapskates running tap water instead of coolant) and the radiator cap and reservoir cap reversed ( you already had that ). I've run my car in 38' degrees heat stuck in Melbourne traffic with A/C and while it got hotter than usual, it never came close to overheating. The 15 litres of oil in the sump also contribute to keeping the engine cool. M
