Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Carb cleaner and tuning

[francis newman (francis]

Yes Lash - more pics when I get time.

Although because I am on so  many forums I am going to post a blog on my 
ferrarimania.com website, which I haven't updated for probably over 10 years, 
so I can just link to that.

Just so busy - I'll do it in due course whe  I find an hour or two..

Ha about the roads!. Trouble is that I have to drive the car down one of the 
dodgy ones to get to where it lives!

My headlamps are not that more modern. The outer ones are just new similar ones 
from CIBIE. All lamps have more modern bulbs, and they are now wired direct 
from the battery (a new battery) controlled by relays next to thr lights. So 
just much brighter and work as intended.

So sort of roiginal except for the wiring

Best

Francis

On 11 Jun 2014, at 19:23, LS wrote:

> Francis, please forward more pics.
> 
> Rather than give up the lowered CG and better looks of the lowered 
> suspension, maybe find better roads?
> 
> Did you switch to modern headlamps? 
> 
> LS
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> central
> wines-spirits   est 1934
> 
> 625 e street nw
> washington, dc 20004
> 
> centralwines.com
> 
> facebook.com/CentralLiquors 
> 
> 202-737-2800
> 
> 
> 
> From: francis newman <francis [at] fntn.co.uk>
> To: LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com> 
> Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com> 
> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 1:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Carb cleaner and tuning
> 
> Hi Rick and all
> 
> I dont have the time at the moment to start fiddling with carbs (though I 
> have done a lot of reading to understand how they work), and the shop I am 
> using (who have looked after the car for 15 years) really do know what they 
> are doing. The guy there was sure the previous owner had put in bigger jets, 
> the owner didn't remember it, but they had a conversation and the previous 
> owner did then agree that  they had worked on it together on a rolling road 
> (gave an impressive 240bhp) when they had put in bigger jets to give max 
> power (which is what he wanted).
> 
> What I want is a smooth runner under all situations, and no fouled plugs. I 
> am not too bothered about maxiumum power as I am not trying to race it and 
> will very seldom get anywhere near 7K revs. I don't need bragging rights.
> 
> So we went back to spec jets and having just driven it back from the shop the 
> difference is enormous. Whereas before if I put my foot down at say 1500 it 
> was jerky and didn't really want to know now it pills smoothly all teh way up 
> with absolutely no fuss. Much less popping and baging on over-run. Just all 
> feels so much better. I'll pull a couple of plugs after a mini rally I am 
> doing on Sunday and see how they look.
> 
> The mechanic was great. Just swapped teh jets fot others he had in his jets 
> box, kept th eothjer ones and inlt charge me for parts. My sort of guy!
> 
> Splt boot (gaiter) also fixed. I would have liked to try it myself but no 
> time at the moment and didn't want to do too many more miles with it like 
> that.
> 
> Was out in the dark last night. The headlights were a revelation. It helps to 
> be able to see where you are going!
> 
> Loving the car more every time I go out in her. 
> 
> The car has slightly lowered suspension and it worries me when I scrape the 
> floor (somehwere under my bottom) on rough roads. Have to go really careully. 
> It does look good like that though. The guy in the shop says he could raise 
> it slightly. Not sure whether to stay with the nice look or raise it. Need to 
> get underneath and see the state of the floor and what damage is being done.
> 
> Francis
> 
> On 31 May 2014, at 13:14, Rick Lindsay wrote:
> 
> > Hi Doug, Rob, Francis, et al.,
> > 
> > Doug asked,
> > 
> > > Say, what did you use to soak the carb in?  I used to be able get Mechanix
> > > Brand stuff in a gallon can with a little screen gizmo.
> > 
> > Rob lives in California where environmental regulations are stiffer than 
> > most other states, so I can't answer for him, but I use Chem Dip.
> > 
> > http://www.berrymanproducts.com/products/eco-friendly-products/berryman-chem-dip-carburetor-and-parts-cleaner/
> > 
> > Its not the same formulation as the older stuff sold under the same name 
> > but it is really good. And as Doug wrote,
> > 
> > > Open the can and drop birds out of the air - yeah man, that stuff WAS
> > > goooood.
> > 
> > It was evil incarnate! It had a yellow-green color that coated (and 
> > stained) one's rubber gloves and the smell made the Texas City refineries 
> > smell like a rose garden. But it was a fabulous carb cleaner. The new stuff 
> > is also good but takes longer.
> > 
> > I disassembled my Webers (one at a time because some parts shouldn't be 
> > interchanged) and soaked all the bits, including the carb bodies, in new 
> > Chem Dip for 45 minutes to an hour. Following that, everything was washed 
> > in hot soapy (Dawn Dishwashing detergent) water paying particular attention 
> > to small parts. Air dry on a clean shop towel.
> > 
> > That last bit said; There is a large aftermarket supply of Weber parts, 
> > should something get misplaced. I use these guys but a Google search will 
> > reveal other options.
> > 
> > http://www.piercemanifolds.com/
> > 
> > Reassembly is just as Rob described. It will only go back together one way. 
> > All the tubes and jets are unique to their locations. Rebuild kits, 
> > available from the Weber parts vendors, are not cheap but they are correct. 
> > 
> > On the 308 engine, I recommend replacing the heat isolators under the 
> > carbs. As original, the insulators have integral gaskets so installation is 
> > easy.
> > 
> > One last bit of advice: Be VERY careful to not drop anything into the open 
> > manifold runners! There are spacers, little metal tubes about 6mm long, 
> > that set between the carb top and the air cleaner. They control the amount 
> > of compression of the air cleaner gasket by the lower half of the air 
> > cleaner housing. They often lift up as the air cleaner base is removed, 
> > placing them perfectly aligned to drop into the carburetor chokes! Horror! 
> > Still, all may not be lost if this happens.
> > 
> > It didn't happen to me - because I was paranoid and hyper-careful - but 
> > others have suffered this woe. They avoided a top end tear-down by NOT 
> > touching the throttles, and thereby keeping the butterflies closed, then 
> > retrieving the errant spacer with a slim magnetic pick-up tool. The spacers 
> > are steel so the process can work. If I ever faced that peril I would hold 
> > the butterfly closed via the linkage while 'fishing'.
> > 
> > So Francis,  Rob is right. The rebuild is simple if tedious, because of the 
> > extra care these tiny machines deserve. The real work happens after 
> > everything is rebuilt and bolted back on the engine.
> > 
> > Tuning Webers is not carburetor adjustment. This is done with parts; jets 
> > and tubes. And unless someone has buggered with the bits, a rebuild will 
> > put everything back as new. The work is balancing the eight chokes! I 
> > learned a few lessons while doing this. The only real cost was my time, and 
> > a few toasted fingers.
> > 
> > The process is simple, in design, and if followed, will produce great 
> > results. Short cuts cause one to start over. Here's the abbreviated plan.
> > 
> > 1. Using an airflow meter with the engine at idle and warmed up, balance 
> > the airflow between the chokes of each carb. This step corrects any tiny 
> > variations in manufacturing, across the body.
> > 
> > 2. Adjust the linkage between the left and right carbs of each bank, until 
> > all four chokes are balanced.
> > 
> > 3. Adjust the linkage between front and rear banks until balanced 
> > 
> > 4. Measure everything again and repeat the whole sequence, as required.
> > 
> > 5. Set idle speed and do step 4 again.
> > 
> > The key step in this process is to do all of this on a warmed up engine! 
> > That is how you want the engine balanced because that is how you drive the 
> > car! There is enough thermal expansion of the linkeage to upset a cold 
> > balance, just from engine heat! Learned that one the hard way. And of 
> > course, this is the bit where fingers get toasted.
> > 
> > Robbie, et al., have probably shared this same information but sometimes 
> > it's good to reiterate. So Francis, once your rebuild and/or balancing is 
> > complete, write to us and describe the performance; at idle, at cruise, 
> > accelerating and in over-running. Subtle variations of those conditions 
> > tell us which little tweaks are needed to the carb setup. Once everything 
> > is right, as my 308GTB is now, the car is dream to drive, under all 
> > conditions. I just can't keep the smile off of my face and at times, I even 
> > want to giggle. :-o
> > 
> > -rick
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