Update report - August 15, 2023

Rebuild of tail panel assembly
Disassembly of rear bumper/ fuel tank mounting assembly	Installation and repair of fiberglass floor, footwell and firewall panels
	Seam sealing of floor pan, footwell and firewall pans
Floor assembly, footwell and firewall primed
	Inside of rear quarter panels, tail panel, and interior close out panel primed
	Trunk floor panel support brackets, fit, primed and ready for installation
Rear cowl panel primed and ready for installation

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Update report - June 16, 2023

Rocker panel installation
Rear quarter panel repairs
Rear wheel close out panel installation
Seam sealing inner rocker close out panels	Fitting doors, rear quarter panels, and tail corner panels

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Update report - March 9, 2023

Trunk floor construction
	Right rear quarter panel repairs
	Previous primer failure after media blasting
	Preparing chassis for primer
Chassis primed

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Update report - February 14, 2023

Fitting of new engine bay close out panels
New flange panel for rear cowl panel
Rear wheel well close out panel construction
Trunk floor reconstruction

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Update report - January 4, 2023

Continuation of rear roof and cowl sub panel repairs
Rear wheel well replacement panels
	Left engine bay close out panel reconstruction

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Update report - December 13, 2022

Engine bay close out panel reconstruction
Rear roof and cowl sub panel repairs and fitment to body
Rear wheel arch panel removal
Rear shock tower gussets and installation

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Update report - December 8, 2022

Rebuild of outer rocker substructures
Inner rocker cover panel replacement
	Rear Shock tower cover panels
Engine bay side panel reconstruction
	Engine bay side panel
Engine bay close out panel
Rocker Substructure reconstruction
New nose panel fitting and repair

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Update report - October 18, 2022

Body panels refit to the chassis for evaluation prior to panel work

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Jake has now almost completed his repairs of the Superleggera tubing at the front of the chassis. Several sections of the old tubing have been replaced with new 4130 chrome-moly steel.

Plotting the location of the upper shock mount	Forward picture frame has been removed for repair
This section has suffered damage from both impact and corrosion	New lower engine bay brace fabricated and welded in place
Forward picture frame has lost its symmetry
Frame is now symmetrical, straight and sound
	Double walled chrome-moly tube now welded in place for rear shock mounts

The following sequence of photos show the transaxle rebuild underway and also Jake repairing and reinforcing the front and rear shock mounts.

Transaxle will be fully rebuilt
	Upper front shock absorber mounts will be repaired and reinforced
Removing the front right mount revealed minor rust lurking behind	All surface rust was ground away before being sealed and coated in Wurth Body Wax
Jake welded a piece of angle iron behind the shock mount panel to add strength
Welding the reinforced panel in position
Rear shock bar has been reconstructed using new, heavy walled chrome moly tubing
Using infrared beam to ensure rear shock bar is perfectly straight and level

Lots of progress in the engine shop and the CJ Coachworks.

Setting cam timing	Restored oil pan and baffle
	The first new panels being fabricated
	To be continued!

I am delighted to report that Jake now has the Ferrari body restoration underway.

Assembling the short block and installing the rebuilt cylinder heads.

I am pleased to report that we have now completed all of the machine work for this project and rebuilt/assembled both cylinder heads.

Honing rod wrist pin bushings to size	Hanging rebuilt rods on the pistons
Torque plate honing the cylinders to final size	Pressure testing with custom head gaskets trial fitted
Balancing the flywheel and clutch	Assembling the cylinder head and setting valve lash
Heads now full rebuilt and ready to install

We have now received your custom forged pistons. It's always fun to see the finished product when so much work has gone into the design and production behind the scenes.

Corey has been busy designing and machining a piston mold from which a new set of custom forged pistons will be made.

Custom Ferrari V12 torque plate	Heating block in oven to aid removal of seized studs
Squaring main caps prior to performing a much needed align hone	Setting up for align hone with cylinder heads bolted in place beneath block (essential)
Magnaflux checking rods	Honing rod housings
	Setting up to hone new pin bushings
	Rods now fully rebuilt
Preparing to trial fit main bearings	Surfacing one of the cylinder heads
Honing new valve guides	Machining for new valve seals
Measuring head cc	Pressure testing the engine block

Damaged oil pan spends a little time with Jake in the CJ Coachworks...

Weighing connecting rods after cleaning	Ferrari rods of the era had the weight stamped on them - in this case 514g
Complex timing chain idler sprocket	Water pump bearings and gear badly worn
Timing gear idler assembly	Damaged timing gear
Scary looking banjo bolt	Custom torque plate
Crack in oil pan rail	Badly installed thread repair for oil pan drain plug
Oil pan has several previous weld repairs
Several cracked/damaged fins will be welded and reshaped
Repaired pan looking virtually new once more

We know from service records that this engine had been rebuilt back in the 1980s and has been driven very few miles since. Unfortunately, the quality of the rebuild leaves much to be desired, and we therefore have a full rebuild underway.

Inappropriate valve springs were used, resulting in coil bind, the valve stem to guide clearances are huge (over .004"), and piston skirt clearances range anywhere from .004" to .009". One of the most telling signs that this car did not receive the engine rebuild it deserved was the presence of a knurled piston. Knurling pistons is an old school practice designed to give extended life to worn pistons. Knurling a piston skirt actually helps 'take up the slack' in the case of loose skirt clearance, but the high spots created by the knurling process wear very quickly, so the remedy is very short lived. Despite the use of the knurled piston, the skirt clearance in that particular cylinder was .009", or .005" out of spec.

Disassembling the cylinder heads
All the valve seats had different widths and heights	No to valve jobs were the same!
This line clearly visible on the bottom coil is evidence of coil bind	Pressure testing cylinder heads
This cylinder had .009" skirt clearance!	Knurled piston is cost saving old school practice
Stem to guide clearances were huge	Valve stems measured inconsistently

Engine tear down underway in the CJ machine shop.

	Strong fuel smell in oil pan
First head removed
Amazingly slimline V12 block	Signs of fuel wash and scuffing on pistons and cylinder bores

I was very pleased to come across the very first Ferrari 330 GTC prototype on display in Las Vegas last week. Chassis number 6431 was originally built on a 275 GTS chassis and was apparently regularly used by Enzo Ferrari himself. The car has dozens of detail features not seen on any other 330 GTC.

Koni have done a stellar job rebuilding your original shocks	The prototype Ferrari 330GTC

We have now received the restored fuse board and superb quality wiring harness that was made for us in Italy. It really is a very impressive piece of kit.

The original fuse panels have been restored and completely rewired
	Every terminal has been carefully labeled

Front suspension rebuild underway - and some beautifully restored Borrani wire wheels...

Suspension and brakes will be completely rebuilt	Separating the springs and shocks
Road springs will be replaced, Koni shocks will be rebuilt at the Koni factory
	The Borrani factory in Milan have done a fantastic job with your wheels!

Back from being media blasted to back to bare metal, a few minor rust issues are exposed, and also evidence of some sub-standard 1960's Italian bodywork.

Preparing the Ferrari for blasting back to bare metal..

Removing the fiberglass dash and floor pan in order to gain full access to the chassis..

Fiberglass dash/firewall is first to be removed
Panel has slight damage around transmission mound that will be repaired	Framework of the dash exposed
Hundreds of rivets hold the floor pan and front and rear bulkheads in place	Panel beneath rear window is aluminium
	Removing rear window panel/upper rear bulkhead
	Rear panel now removed
	Main floor pan now lifted away
Removing pans was essential to gain full access to the chassis	Many rivets were broken or corroded
Chassis will be blasted back to bare metal, repaired and refinished to new condition
Unusual view from beneath the car with the floor pans removed

Time to remove the engine and gearbox...

Lowering the 5 speed gearbox to the ground	With the gearbox out of the way, removal of the engine is a simple matter
Chris Scarborough carefully extracting the compact V12 from the engine bay	Engine is angled in order to clear the firewall on the way out
	Almost clear...
	With the engine on the ground, the mechanical tear down is almost complete

Tear down continued, a glittering new Borrani wheel, and unspent shotgun cartridges hidden beneath the gas tanks...

Front suspension now removed
Removing rear suspension
	Note thick bondo lurking behind front bumper
Left rear strut mount	Right rear strut mount slightly damaged and pushed upward, causing car to ride low in right rear
Strange assortment lurking beneath gas tanks	Unspent shotgun cartridges, Italian newspaper clipping, glue, lipsalve and screwdriver
	Glittering new RW 4039 Borrani spare wheel

Tear down, continued...

The only significant rust so far..
Drain hole in left bumper tube requires minor rust repair
	Next task is to remove the rear suspension