6/20/08
The Long Road to Starting the PF Coupe
The PF coupe that has been at François' shop is getting real
close to startup. I spent the morning getting the exhaust installed,
and roughly bolted in place. We're still waiting on the correct center
pull style exhaust hangers, but I hung it with with some of the old
hangers just so we could get the car on the ground and ready for the
initial start up.
François and I had a list of things to complete before we could
start the car, so while François went out to get some fresh
gasoline, I tried my best to complete our list. When I got to filling
the radiator with coolant, I came upon our first problem. Coolant was
found leaking by the rubber hose coming out of the water pump housing.
Thinking it was just a loose hose clamp, I cinched it up with a
screwdriver. The leak persisted, so it required a closer look.
Crawling under the car to have a better look, I noticed the coolant on
the hose was actually coming from the pipe and dribbling down the hose.
The arrow shows a small pinhole leak from the pipe. The only choice was
to drain the new coolant, disconnect the hoses, and remove the pipe
from the water pump to have François repair the leak with some
brazing.
As I working on reinstalling the coolant hose after François
patched the leak, I heard him exclaim the next obstacle to starting the
car. Of the three keys that came with this car, none of them fit the
gas filler door! This car has seen two owners since the last time she
was driven, so the whereabouts of the gas door key could be anywhere.
As François was on the phone with a previous owner looking for
the key, I decided to try my luck with picking the lock. I made some
tools from some hose clamps, but had no success. I understood the
concept, but did not have the technique. It looks so easy on T.V.!
I decided to try another tact, so I opened the trunk to see if there
was another way into the gas tank. I soon realized that the catch for
the lock was bolted from inside the trunk, and within a few minutes, I
had the filler door open. It helps to be slightly smarter than the lock!
It was 5 o'clock and we were ready to give it a shot. With the battery
hooked up and François at the helm, he turned on the ignition,
and started the fuel pump. My job was to look for fuel leaks in the
engine compartment as the carburetors filled with fuel. Unfortunately,
even with the fuel pump pumping, no fuel was reaching the carburetor
bowls. Something wasn't working right. After all the hurtles we
surpassed, we ran out of time and energy to start the car today. She'll
just have to wait another day!
Just a reminder, I'm looking for a
new Vintage Ferrari Project. If you have, or know of a restoration
project, please let me know. It would be great to restore another car
on this website! My E-mail.
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