Ferrari Mailing List: HNY

[Rick Lindsay (richardolindsay]

Happy New Year, my friends!

Nothing much going on here on the south coast. The Testarossa sits quietly in storage where its been for too long. I've gotten another couple of cars out, cleaned them up, and given them a little exercise. I need to put a starter on the TR then it will be back to the little British cars.

Looked at classic car prices lately? They have really turned around. Check Hagerty's Valuation guide next time you're bored! Ferraris are going insane. :-o

I think I told you that I have added another car to the scuderia. If not, its a 1978 Lotus Esprit S2, in James Bond white/white. The car sat unused for about 18 months so the fuel went stale. Evaporation left gum in the carburetors. 

I recently rebuilt the carbs, gaining experience with Dellortos. They're side draught carburetors not unlike Weber DCOEs. And in fact, the DHLA45s are physically interchangeable with DCOEs. But where DCOEs are more of a racing application, the DHLAs handle progression much better. That translates into better low (engine) speed drivability. Here's how they look on my Esprit. 

http://aubard.us/Esprit/HPIM1655.JPG

A friend on the Esprit e-mail list recently bought a '77 Esprit S1 that had suffered an engine fire. Yea Clyde. An engine fire. I volunteered to try to resurrect the crispy Dellortos, having just rebuilt mine. Here's how they looked upon arrival at my door.

http://aubard.us/Charro/20141222_114738.jpg

Yea. Yuck!

Here's a picture of the rear carb, restoration-in-progress. Its going to be just fine.

http://aubard.us/Charro/20141228_144807.jpg

The front carb was the source of the fire, or at least, the locus of the fire. I believe I can save this carb too but the job is monumental. At $800 a piece for new, its worth a try.

http://aubard.us/Charro/20150103_160614.jpg

http://aubard.us/Charro/20150103_160550.jpg

http://aubard.us/Charro/20150103_160604.jpg

So that's the car update from Houston. How are your winter projects progressing?

Best,

-rick