Worked on a Ferrari GTO 250 (worth $30 million)
07-19-2013, 09:55 PM
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Worked on a Ferrari GTO 250 (worth $30 million)
With the vintage grand prix this weekend, our shop has been quite busy with older stuff. Lately, I've been bringing a TR3 up to snuff, but something much more special came in today. A 1963 Ferrari GTO 250!
Bought at auction for a bit over $30 million. This actual car, on our rack.
It showed up on a flat bed today, bad master cylinder. So they brought the spare, and we pushed in inside. My buddy Mike worked on pulling out the old one, while I finished up my waiter brake job. After I had cleaned up, and got the Triumph back together, I went out back for a smoke, and heard "Scott, get over here and fix the damn Ferrari!"
Well, I hadn't planned on working on the thing, as expensive as it is and all, but I walked over to take a look. Mike had swapped the master, and bled the rear brakes, but there was still no pedal, and the fronts still had poor fluid flow. Worse yet, the front bleeders didn't seem to be dropping the level much. After about 30 minutes of bleeding, my diagnosis was a bad internal seal in the spare master.
So now we have 2 dead masters, and no brakes, and the car is supposed to be racing the weekend. We're trying to source parts, it's a GM part, but there's no part number to speak of, and no external markings. Mike is waiting to hear from the owner, who has his cell. If we get the call tonight, I'll be heading down to the shop to rebuild the master, any time, period. I told Mike I'll be next to my phone all night, so if need be, I'll be rebuilding it at 4AM. Odds are, it'll be attending the vintage via flatbed.
Pictures are worth a thousand words......
Bought at auction for a bit over $30 million. This actual car, on our rack.
It showed up on a flat bed today, bad master cylinder. So they brought the spare, and we pushed in inside. My buddy Mike worked on pulling out the old one, while I finished up my waiter brake job. After I had cleaned up, and got the Triumph back together, I went out back for a smoke, and heard "Scott, get over here and fix the damn Ferrari!"
Well, I hadn't planned on working on the thing, as expensive as it is and all, but I walked over to take a look. Mike had swapped the master, and bled the rear brakes, but there was still no pedal, and the fronts still had poor fluid flow. Worse yet, the front bleeders didn't seem to be dropping the level much. After about 30 minutes of bleeding, my diagnosis was a bad internal seal in the spare master.
So now we have 2 dead masters, and no brakes, and the car is supposed to be racing the weekend. We're trying to source parts, it's a GM part, but there's no part number to speak of, and no external markings. Mike is waiting to hear from the owner, who has his cell. If we get the call tonight, I'll be heading down to the shop to rebuild the master, any time, period. I told Mike I'll be next to my phone all night, so if need be, I'll be rebuilding it at 4AM. Odds are, it'll be attending the vintage via flatbed.
Pictures are worth a thousand words......
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07-19-2013, 10:50 PM
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It would be an absolute honor to be able to even be in the presence of one, but to work on one! Honestly, I don't think I'd want to. I'd be stressed the **** out to even put the bitch on the rack. A normal car, get a scratch on the undercarriage, no biggy. This ************, a scratch on the bottom is worth what, $10k? Nah, I'll pass.
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07-19-2013, 11:10 PM
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It would be an absolute honor to be able to even be in the presence of one, but to work on one! Honestly, I don't think I'd want to. I'd be stressed the **** out to even put the bitch on the rack. A normal car, get a scratch on the undercarriage, no biggy. This ************, a scratch on the bottom is worth what, $10k? Nah, I'll pass.
Granted, it was a honor to work on, and see. Honestly I would have never charged him anything, even if the fix did work. The trust he gave to our shop, is worth more than any labor charge.
I took the triumph out for a spin too, to try and get some of the fresh gas circulating. It's a blast to drive, even with two bad tie-rods.
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07-19-2013, 11:14 PM
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Honestly, it's something you kinda need to hear in person. It'd be hard to record the true sound, and presence, of the car.
I could see being in a "Saw" movie; and being told I have to sync the carbs up.
Throttle response is brilliant thought. Normally the older carb's stuff, even free reving, requires a roll into the gas to make sure it doesn't go lean on tip-in. Not this baby, jumped up in revs like a fuel-injected car.
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