Restauro do Testarossa! :D | FerrariChat

Restauro do Testarossa! :D

Discussion in 'Portugal' started by rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013.

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  1. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    Following the idea of Rui Gigante's 328GTS restoration thread - which I have hijacked too many times - I have started this thread for my '85 Testarossa restoration. Why on the Portugal section? Simple. Because that is where my Ferrari friends are!
     
  2. portogts

    portogts Formula 3
    Owner Project Master

    Aug 31, 2008
    2,343
    Maia-Portugal
    Full Name:
    Vitor Sousa
    I'm sure it will be a great thread!!
    Looking forward to see all the work done on that beauty!!!
     
  3. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #3 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Hello Friends,

    Some of you know the history of my '85 Testarossa. For those of you who do not, I'll post a shortened version here.

    The car is a fully-European specification car, built in 1985. It has the single lug wheel hubs. The wheels have been replaced with correct Ferrari wheels in Imperial size. The speedometer and odometer were changed to read in miles but otherwise, the car is still fully European. I like that. My 308GTB is also a Standard Specification car with NO modifications to USA standards!

    The TR had engine trouble back somewhere in the late '90s and was rebuilt by Ric Rainbolt, including new pistons and one new liner. Everything was done correctly and beautifully. Sadly, Ric could never get the twin K-Jetronic fuel injection systems to operate properly so he removed them and installed an aftermarket Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI).

    In the early 2000s, Ric bought a 360 Modena and lost interest in the TR project, leaving the newly installed EFI in place but not tuned to the car. As such, the car would not run. And that is how it sat for another decade.

    I bought the car with the EFI removed and the Bosch systems in cardboard boxes in the boot. A month later, the engine was back together and running fine. Ric's problem was not really his fault. The earliest TRs did not include a balance pipe between the CPRs so the two K-Jetronic systems ran totally independently - and often oscillated as they tried to compensate for minor differences between their settings. If you look in the parts and service manuals today you will see that they include a pipe between the control pressure lines on the CPRs so the two units remain in sync. The addition of this pipe, made for me by Rui, solved all the idle instability problems that plagued Ric.

    Today, I addressed an air:fuel mixture adjustment. Here in south Texas, our petrol is diluted by 10% with ethanol. Not only does that change the ideal air:fuel ratio, but its also a waste of ethanol! :-o Anyway, I added 1/4 clockwise turn (90 degrees) of the mixture screw on each fuel distributor. Doing so enriches the charge, but by how much I do not know. Rui Gigante reports that a quarter turn applied to his 328GTS took it from correct to overly rich, so the adjustment is rather sensitive.

    With the system set as it is now, the car starts easily and idles just fine. A test drive tomorrow will reveal whether the setting is correct. Today is rainy and as we all know, Ferraris, being sweet as sugar, melt in the rain. :-o

    I also made a small change to the air metering boxes below the fuel distributors. The holes for access to the mixture adjustment were blanked with 6mm hex bolts and sealed with copper washers. That arrangement worked fine but removing/installing the bolts was difficult because of minimal clearance with the fuel distributor. I replaced the bolts with socket head cap screws. Their round heads made for better clearance and the hex-socket head allows for better access. I've attached a few pictures below.

    For a photographic history of the whole restoration process, please view the pictures at:
    Index of /TR
    Please be advised that this is not a published website but rather, it is just an off-site repository for my pictures where they can be shared.

    -Rick Lindsay, in Houston, Texas
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  4. portogts

    portogts Formula 3
    Owner Project Master

    Aug 31, 2008
    2,343
    Maia-Portugal
    Full Name:
    Vitor Sousa
    More photos!! More photos!!! More photos!!!! :) :) :)
     
  5. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #5 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Okay, it takes very little encouragement for me to write and post pictures. So here goes.

    Below is a collection of pictures regarding the engine alone. As the thread evolves I'll post the pictures of the interior restoration. The exterior restoration is just two pictures; One as I received the car and two, after a long day of paint polishing and waxing - which you have seen in the introduction to the thread.

    So let me start with a picture from Ric Rainbolt, of the engine right after removal from the car, sometime around the year 2000. At this point, a piston and liner were damaged and the rebuild was about to begin.
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  6. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #6 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Sadly, I have no pictures taken during the rebuild but I will ask Mr. Rainbolt if he has any he can offer.

    Jump forward about one decade and here's a picture of the car arriving in Houston on a rainy spring day. The old guy on the right, looking on, just might be me...
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  7. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #7 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  8. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #8 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  9. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #9 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  10. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #10 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Next came the fuel injectors. I had to invent new soft mounts for the injectors because the injector openings in the inlet runners had been enlarged for EFI injectors. After a bit of measuring and a lot of worrying, I realized that laboratory stoppers are made of neoprine and can be found in the correct size! A little modification to fit the diameter of the injector and they fit perfectly. I installed the injectors into the stoppers with a little added vacuum grease, just to ease the installation and to provide an even better seal (although it probably wasn't needed at all as the fit was quite snug). Here's how the assemblies went together.
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  11. FerrariBoyCb

    FerrariBoyCb Karting

    Aug 24, 2006
    195
    Portugal
    Full Name:
    Joao
    Best Wishes for the work in a model so Historic!
     
  12. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #12 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    With all of the injectors installed in the runners, everything was offered up to the engine. This picture is right before connecting the fuel pipes to the injectors.
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  13. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #13 rolindsay, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The plenums went on next but as I wrote earlier, the entire cold start injector system had been defeated. I had to make a new wiring harness for the injectors. Fortunately, the fuel pipes were in the box so I simply had to install them. And with that, the engine was back together (sans air cleaner) but it was ready to test. Obviously, it worked beautifully but you can see in the last picture that there is no balance pipe between the CPRs. That was discovered later. Must dash. The story will continue.
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  14. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #14 rolindsay, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Last summer, when Rui, Ana and Rita were visiting us in Texas, Rui told me that Vitor would like to see lots of pictures of my '85 TR. Rui probably gave those pictures to him, but just in case he didn't (or I forgot to copy the files to memory stick), here are a few of the pictures that Rui took. This series is of the exterior.
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  15. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #15 rolindsay, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  16. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #16 rolindsay, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  17. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #17 rolindsay, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  18. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #18 rolindsay, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  19. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #19 rolindsay, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  20. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #20 rolindsay, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  21. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #21 rolindsay, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The radio was missing and the 'door' hinge was damaged. In the first picture, the hinge has been repaired with metal inserts and JBWeld. Also, the trim around the left tweeter was missing BUT found in the glovebox! At this stage, the leather had not been 'fed'.
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  22. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #22 rolindsay, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The passenger footwell looked like serious tampering but the maze of wires were only speaker wires. I cleaned this area up, rewired the radio, installed the metal plate and carpet, and all was well.

    The console was only dirty, with the exception of that little clock-like thing - now removed. The electrics were functional after cycling the switches and controls a few times.
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  23. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #23 rolindsay, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Left over from another project, I had a pair of good speakers but they were a little too small for the TR. A little creative mounting solved that issue. Besides, who needs a radio in a Testarossa? It would just interfere with the Italian music! In this installation, I saturated cardboard with urethane to make it stiffer and waterproof. The cardboard came from the speaker shipping box! It sounds just fine and is stable.

    With the carpet cleaned and the vinyl grill treated with leather/vinyl conditioner, the speaker assembly was ready for re-installation. I repeated the approach on the passenger side too.
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  24. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #24 rolindsay, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here's how the speaker baffle looks installed. Notice the dead pedal also refinished with black bumper paint and reattached. I probably should paint the chrome attachment screws using the same black paint, so as to 'hide' them, but that's a trivial issue.

    The second picture shows the passenger side installation awaiting nothing more than toe-board and floor carpets. Well, the picture was taken before shampooing the sill carpet so you can see that it is a little soiled. It is now as clean as new.
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  25. rolindsay

    rolindsay Formula 3

    Jul 14, 2006
    1,022
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Rick Lindsay
    #25 rolindsay, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here's a look at the new radio, as installed. Its a self-contained unit with CD and BlueTooth so my phone connects to it - not that I could hear it over the exhaust! Without the glare of the electronic flash, the installation looks very clean as if original. All of the leather has now seen several applications of Leatherique's Rejuvenator.

    And finally, the last picture is of the interior as it sits today. This may be the first picture I've posted looking directly at the steering wheel and dash. Both are now excellent having needed nothing other than a few applications of Rejuvinator.
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