Volume 2, Issue 5 - June 1995

Picnic at Osuna Ranch

if you weren?t there you missed out. on april 30th the fca and foc both enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of skeets and sharon dunn at their home in rancho santa fe.

as mentioned in previous issues, their home on the osuna ranch was part of the original land grant of 8,000 acres dedicated by governor pio pico of mexico for rancho santa fe. the osuna family built their home, one of the oldest homes in san diego, on the acreage in 1845. in the 1930?s the home was purchased by bing crosby, who lived there for 10 years. bing added the main house, cottages and the horse stables. around the same time, he also built the del mar racetrack. the home has had only five owners since 1845 and now sits on 12 acres of beautiful lawn and forest.

always a popular event, this year?s was no different. that beautiful lawn was covered in vintage and modern ferraris. in fact, there were so many cars i couldn?t note them all. at one point i counted over 80 (yes, eight, zero) ferraris on the grounds and that didn?t include the 11 or so that the dunn?s had in their garage! the cars ranged from 250 swb berlinettas and 250 gt california spyders to 275s, 330s, daytonas, dinos, testarossas, 308s, 328s, mondials, f40s, etc. there were even a couple f355s (one in skeet?s garage).

speaking of the garage, it is the kind we all lust for. it sports a total of ten double-car garage doors on a u-shaped structure that is filled exclusively with ferrari cars and art. all of the cars are beautiful, as is the art. i particularly liked a desk lamp made from a late model testarossa side-view mirror.

the event was a rousing success and proceeds were split equally between the fca, the foc and the san diego automotive museum. we would again like to thank the dunns for opening their residence for our use.

Oldtimer's Corner - Midden

by: ed niles

midden is one of those marvelously obscure words; archaic, arcane, medieval. it is used by archeologists to indicate a refuse heap, especially of a primitive habitation.

for years, there was a midden at the ferrari works at maranello. on this refuse heap could be found complete engines, or the remains of engines, especially super-exotic and experimental types. one used to hear rumors, and i would positively salivate at the thought of rescuing some of these esoteric trivia. what does one do, after all, with a 248 sp engine? but on the other hand, what a delightful object to have.

phil hill tells a wonderful story about how, years after winning the world championship for drivers, he found himself in italy, and went to pay his respects to enzo ferrari. after passing the time of day in his santa monica-accented italian, and just making conversation, phil asked ferrari what had ever become of the heap of old engines out back. as phil tells it, ferrari flew into a rage, accusing phil of visiting him only to try to spirit away some of those pieces in the treasure trove. needless to say, it was the end of the interview, and it was many years before they spoke again.

but somehow, shortly thereafter, anthony bamford succeeded in acquiring most, if not all, of the engines in the trash heap. as i recall, the selection included engines of such types as 206 sp, 246 sp, 248 sp, and the infamous 2-cylinder experimental engine.

the 2-cylinder engine, which bamford found in his assortment of goodies, was one of the most bizarre of the ferrari experimentations. this engine bears the number 61 in the official ferrari project register, but was referred to as a type 116 and also known as a type 252 formula 1 engine. its 2 cylinders had a bore and stroke of 118 mm x 114 mm, displacing a total of 2493.4 cc. when bamford first inspected the engine, he and his mechanics concluded that it was some sort of experimental 4 cylinder engine for the reason that, with 4 valves per cylinder, it had 4 intake and 4 exhaust valves, and the dual ignition completed the deception. in other words, externally, it appeared to be a 4 cylinder engine. it was only after the engine had been sitting around in bamford?s shop for many months that someone thought to tear it apart, and it was then discovered that he had the prized "one only" 2-cylinder engine.

so far as is known, this engine, which developed approximately 175 hp at 4800 rpm, was never actually installed in a car. the project was abandoned as a result of unexplained problems, but one can take an educated guess that it was one of the great vibrators of all time.

the discussion of the bamford find brings to mind the great 246/s fiasco.

in 1971, chuck betz sold me a derelict ferrari sports racer, which resembled a 1959 250 testa rossa. however, i was told that the car was actually a dino. its serial number was 0778tr. although the engine was missing (the car had been set up for a chevy engine) it did come with gear box, rear end, and most of its instruments. the body was fairly straight, although the car needed a total restoration, and of course, an engine. i didn?t quite know what to do with the car, although i was quite taken with its lines. i happened to mention that i owned the car one time when i was visiting the great french collector, pierre bardinon, at mas du clos. nothing would do but that he own the car, and we quickly struck a deal.

part of the deal was that i agreed to furnish what i had been told was the original engine, badly broken, together with a spare engine which i had hoped to acquire from anthony bamford?s pile of junk. i sent money off to texas for the purported original engine, and to bamford for the spare 246 engine.

these cars, of which only 3 were built, were campaigned with 2.0 litre and 2.4 litre engines. each was a 2 cam v-6 "dino" derived from an earlier<

Tech Tip - Track Preparation

by: gary bobileff

many of you have wondered how fun it would be to run your car in a club event with other ferraris. i say that if you have the talent, do it!

but first, you must insure that your car is fit for the track. it goes without saying that the demands that one will put on the car will be far greater than normal street driving. therefore, the preparation needed to run the car on the track becomes vital.

just prior to running the car the following items should be done to ensure your safety, as well as the safety of others around you. the brake system should be flushed with a high quality brake fluid such as castrol lma or equivalent. the fluid selected should have a published rating exceeding dot 3 and 4 specifications. anything less should not be used. be very careful of synthetics. only a few are truly compatible with the rubber seals that ferrari uses. some silicone synthetics have been known to swell the seals in the braking system so severely that once the brakes are applied they don?t retract and the car will not move. i have successfully used "motul" fluid from france, which can be found at better racer supply stores. the most important point is use fresh, high quality fluid in order to remove contaminants and moisture.

observe all suspension and braking pieces very carefully, while the wheels are removed from the car. any leaky item should be repaired at once, as well as taking no risks with any known suspension item. if you are unfamiliar with brake flushing and the proper way to check all suspension components, it is strongly advised to have a professional who is familiar with your car perform the above.

oil leaks should be observed, and corrected at this time. if your motor is not completely clean (not just the top) have it degreased and washed. give a thorough road test, recheck for any leaks and have them corrected at once. once you are putting your machine through the paces on the track, the oil will slosh in the pan and high oil temperature can cause the oil to thin, thus causing it to seep and leak much easier than during normal street driving. this can contaminate the track and be disastrous, or at least make you unpopular with the rest of the drivers.

a high quality fire extinguisher should be mounted within easy reach of the driver. do not accept a plastic mount. only steel or stainless will do. if you choose halon, try to find a "mix" of 1211 and 1301. this mix has proven to be 7 times more effective than straight halon. the problem is that it is now illegal because of poking holes in the ozone layer. so, the choice is yours, let the car burn and save the planet, or... you know the rest!

check all seat belt attachment points, making sure that each point is tight and secure. in the case of using stock belts, check for any frayed portions of the belt and replace the belts at once. also, be sure to check the seat anchorage points, making sure the hardware is tight.

remove any shifting items from the interior, including carpeting and mats. these items have been known to bunch up in the pedal assemblies with unhappy results.

coolant systems should be in top shape, as the high temperatures of the motor being put through the paces magnifies any deficiencies.

wheels should be retorqued to their proper specifications and knock offs rechecked for tightness. observe any road hazard damage and tire condition at this time.

if all the above checks are done, when you bring your car in for technical inspection you should pass with flying colors (rosso corsa, of course).

about the author: gary bobileff of bobileff motorcar co. has been doing the ferrari fix in san diego since 1979. if you have any questions please call (619) 622-1600. he is particularly interested in topics you?d like to have addressed in future tech tips.

Ferrari Art by Dave Maestrejuan

the artwork that you see on this page was contributed by fca southwest region member and artist, dave maestrejuan.

dave has been drawing since he was a little kid. in the mid sixties he became interested in auto racing through family hot rod projects, slot cars and the popularity of mid-sixties le mans. he started drawing race cars in school and quickly became enamored by the beautiful ferrari formula cars and p4s. he received several art scholarships and attended the los angeles art center college of design.

his artwork has been published in books, magazines and newsletters and can be found in many private collections across the country. he has done portraits for many club members, and/or their cars. he enjoys working on early ferrari cars as well as the other styling shapes. his ferraris include a 1978 308gts and a 1959 250gt which he is currently restoring.

dave works in many different styles, all depending upon the look desired. the bold look presented here was used so that it would reproduce well in the newsletter where we try to keep reproduction costs to a minimum.

we are fortunate that dave has offered to create original artwork for us to use to dress up sempre ferrari issues. this is just another example of members devoting time and effort to the club to make it better. look for his work to be a continual feature.

Software Review - La légende Ferrari

by: jeff littrell

those of you who get the ferrari market letter probably saw the write up by southwest region member charles betz on a new piece of multimedia software entitled "la légende ferrari." but, for those who don?t, i have it and thought i?d pass on a bit on information on it.

first, it is quite good. it runs on mac or windows and uses quicktime technology for video. it is published by arborescence, 113, rue anatole-france, 92300 levallois-perret - france, tel: (33) 1 47 57 38 38. fax: (33) 1 47 57 37 03. the content authors are christian descombes and alberto martinez.

it opens with a nice bitmap of a 250 gto partially under a car cover, as well as the sound of a motor starting and taking off. from there it moves to an interesting artistic black and white shot of enzo where different full-color road and racing models flash by in his sunglasses. kind of cheesy but overall effective. at this point you choose your language, english or french. from there it moves to the summary (or main) screen, which provides 4 main options: models, events, the man, and the game, against background music (which can be turned off).

models allows browsing information about the specific ferrari models. cars are grouped into 4 chronological groupings: early years, the myth, prestige, and modern cars. each grouping has a gallery with small pictures of the cars in the grouping. click on the car you want to dive into its details.

the early cars covers 125 s to the 410 superamerica. the myth covers the 250 gt to the gte 2+2, prestige covers 400 superamerica to 365/400/412 gt. modern has the dino 206/246 to the f355. obviously, there is a certain amount of artistic license taken in the groupings since the dinos should probably be in prestige and the 365/400/412 gt could be argued into modern (certainly 400s and 412s anyway).

diving into a particular model gives you 3 sections, an album of pictures, a write-up about the model, and technical details. the graphics in the albums are good, roughly 1/4 size of vga. the text in the model section is reasonable, with hypertext jumps to a pop-up glossary for items like pinnfarina, maranello, etc. each technical section sports an ignition key with ferrari key chain that, when clicked, plays a sound clip of the engine being started, reved, and driven off. these are not always accurate - all v-12s seem to share the same clip, for example. also on the technical screen are specs for engine, transmission, and dimensions (switchable through icons on a silhouette of the model). specs are fairly good (engine location, layout, construction, cooling, displacement, bore/stroke, compression, valve actuation, carbs/ignition, lubrication type, max power (hp), wheelbase, track, weight, top speed, acceleration (0-100kph and standing start kilometer), gearbox type, clutch type, frame, suspension, steering, brakes, tire sizes).

there are many small details that make this product interesting. for example, the scrollbars are a road with the thumb marker being a car that moves along the road as you scroll. the go back icon which exists on many screens is a small 250 swb that, when clicked, zooms off the page leaving a cloud of exhaust smoke. the icon to return to the summary screen is a gated shifter that shifts from 1st to 4th when clicked. there are also little tachometer icons for two features called "locate" and "compare" which make a motor noise and move the needle when clicked.

the locate feature displays a timeline of when the models where produced, with your chosen model?s production run highlighted. it is fairly accurate. the compare feature is very cool. it brings up a screen with an icon for your chosen model and two question mark icons that you click on to choose up to two other models to compare it to. as these are chosen, their specs are shown along side the specs for your car, allowing direct compa

April Meeting at Ogner's

the club is indebted once again to michael lederman and ogner motorcars for hosting our april membership meeting. michael seemed to do everything from organizing, table setting, and crowd control right down to even cooking. the ledermans, with help from rose cogan, cooked up a very fine italian dinner for all to enjoy.

as one member (who has been active for years in the foc) jokingly mentioned to me, "i?ve made up the cost of membership in the fca in free dinners alone!" lucky for us, this turns out to be very true. the club has been fortunate to receive the generosity of many people and organizations.

in addition to hosting the meeting, michael has also spent some of his own money to have a couple prototype fca southwest region jackets made up. these are great looking, quality jackets, made in the usa, and available at a reasonable price. please call michael at (818) 884-4411 to get more information on these and place your order. he needs to get a minimum number of people to order so that he can produce them economically. profit goes to the club.

thanks again michael.

Tech Tip - 512TR Brake Squeal Revisted

jeffrey wilson, director of technical services and parts for ferrari north america, has some concern about the solution for the brake squeal problem in the 512 trs, as recommended in a tech tip in sempre ferrari, volume 2, issue 2. the factory?s alternative approach is listed below:

"after contacting the ferrari factory?s technical department, i would like to provide our view as to the proper way to address the brake squeal in this particular automobile. we feel that this brake squeal, when it exists, is solely due to the overheating and/or the improper "bedding in" of the new brake pads. this situation can be cured by removing the pads, which should show signs of the metallic particles, scraping these metallic particles from the pad, cleaning and sanding the pad as well as chamfering the edges of the pad material and reinstalling the pad. following the proper run-in procedure, which also applies to new brake pads, that is, light braking at low speeds followed by light braking at moderate speeds and at high speed with braking pressure increased during this time. we feel that this should reduce the amount of brake squeal most vehicles exhibit, however, keep in mind that the configuration of our braking system does not lend itself to removing the squealing completely. however, it is, therefore, still possible to have a "groan" type noise just before the vehicle comes to a complete stop. this is due to the nature of the crossed drilled rotors on the vehicle."

the fca southwest region will submit all tech tip articles, which effect safety or emissions controls, to jeffrey wilson for his comments before they are published. we cannot stress too highly the importance of maintaining the integrity built into our cars by ferrari and complying with all federal and state laws.

we appreciate the support of ferrari north america and their dealers. we also value the independent service and parts facilities who help us with keeping our cars, especially older ones, on the road. our goal is to work with everyone who loves ferraris and helps to keep them running.

if you have technical questions about your car please write them to us and we will get the answers.