Ferrari Mailing List: Really nice victory, was: Small victories

[Rick Lindsay (rolindsay]

Hello Friends,

Yesterday I wrote, and I now add comments:

> The brakes are new all around so it was rewarding 
> to find no leaks and feel a nicely firm pedal.

Bled them again today, starting at the longest corner
and ending up at the left front.  Pedal is now even
better.  Adjusted the handbrake but got it too loose. 
I need to tighten it up a bit.
 
> I now need to remount the wheels...

Wheels painted, tires cleaned, splines greased and
wheels reinstalled.

> ...check/adjust the tire pressures...

They're pretty close but I'll set them correctly
tomorrow.  21psi front, 24psi rear 

> get 'er down off the stands,

Yep, did that.  I'd forgotten how low it sets!

> reconnect the carb linkage, balance the SUs

Did that too.  The carbs were running WAY too lean.  I
hadn't adjusted them since the rebuilds so they were
just at the static post-assembly settings.  Once the
mixture was set on each carb I balanced the air flow
and locked down the linkage.  I discovered that one of
the throttle return springs was overly weak and was
not consistently returning the rear throttle to fully
closed.  That resulted in an unpredictable idle speed.
 Now repaired and the car idles at smoothly and
consistently about 800rpm.  Set the fast idle speed on
the chokes.

> ...and go for a careful test drive or two or three.

The test drive was a tiny trip down the street and
back, as the temperature was 95 degrees out today and
I was melting.  Tomorrow morning before the blast
furnace we Houston, comes alive, I may take another
short jaunt around the block.

I now need to tie up loose ends - like a broken
passenger window crank, that handbrake adjustment,
etc. and I can start venturing further from the house.

I can now get the M-B 180b ponton into the garage and
out of the killer sun.  The sun is the enemy.  We hate
the enemy.

Regards,
 
rick

'08 M-B C300  -  my daily driver
'03 L-R Discovery  -  Nancy's daily driver
'96 BMW 740iL  -  son's daily driver
'79 Ferrari 308GTB  -  big toy, beautifully restored
'70 MGB Tourer  -  little toy, on the road again
'61 M-B 180b  -  new toy, not road worthy - yet