Kindred spirits.  You all know the madness.

It was 1978 and I was walking past the Chinetti showroom in NYC. There it was, a 330GTC, and I fell in love.  It took a couple of months before I worked up the nerve to go inside and ask the price. $9,000. I couldn’t afford it.  This scenario was repeated over and over for about 4 months.  The sales guy became exasperated. He finally admitted the car was on consignment, there was nobody else interested, and if I was serious he would introduce me to the owner and I should strike a deal with him.  I met the man, a retired Designer, who advised that he bought the car second hand in Italy, loved it dearly but now needed to sell it. He was more concerned that his prize would be well treated. I immediately liked him. A deal was struck pending a test drive.  The car was taken to Chinetti’s Greenwich facility where I finally had the chance to try it out.  But first Coco Chinetti had to take me for a drive in it.  Under his feet it flew. When I got to drive it I noticed much blue smoke, no power, bad 2nd gear syncro and somewhat soft shocks.  Not a problem said Coco, and being a true gearhead with masochistic tendencies, I agreed. I explained away the blue cloud obscuring the garage to my wife, who nodded her understanding. SHE KNEW!  (Tom, take note)

I began the rebuild in 1986.  Taking the engine apart was interesting.  One piston had a cracked skirt and its connecting rod didn’t match the others.  It was also about 40 grams heavier.  The rod journals were 0.10 undersized, valve guides were elliptical, and on it went.

I took the car apart to the last nut and bolt.

Three years later, after untold hundreds of inquiries, pages of notes, purchases and trips to various suppliers (and to the bank) the car was ready for reassemble. A great fortune was finding Dick Debiassi who is an engine machinist and rebuilder very familiar with Ferrari. His shop is only half an hour from my house. New cylinders, pistons, a new, matching con rod, valves, seats and guides, rebuilt heads and block and a careful balancing job ( to say nothing of the numerous parts and gaskets) all found their way to my garage. The engine stand I had built neatly held the block. 3 weeks later I had the engine completed.

Meanwhile, I had the body redone and repainted using original Ferrari silver paint. Having taken it all apart made the painter’s work easier and I could also reinstall the glass with new gaskets. I chose to install all the trim myself.  This saved money and transferred responsibility to the ultimate dimwit if something was damaged during reassembly.

I stripped and rebuilt the carbs, and expected a long debugging period.  When I first started her up, to my shock, it ran beautifully, starting immediately and settled to a healthy lope. Timing and carbs were nearly spot on.  There was the oil geyser.  I hallucinated for a moment that this miraculously originated from under the car and would pay for the restoration. Unfortunately, it was the oil gage line which I had neglected to tighten.

13 years and a set of Allison electronic ignitions later, it still runs strong and continues to delight.
 

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