914 GT 3.6 Ferrari Build, - Mechanicals coming along, electronics soon! Options

[tygaboy]

Hi 914 World -
A bit of an intro, if you'll indulge me.
I've always been a believer in fate and karma. A believer in serendipity. A believer that the universe presents thing to us for a reason. Sometimes good, sometimes not. Fortunately, the journey of adventure I'm about to begin is one of the good ones!

Maybe a year or so ago, @Krieger Andy calls and says he has a buddy looking to buy a rear valance for a 914 and do I have one I'd sell. I said that I do, give my contact info to your friend. A few days later, this guy calls and we arrange for him to come by the Red Barn and see if the valance meets his needs. He arrives and we start "the dance of the car guys"! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) He talks about his car experiences, I talk about mine. We talk 356s. We talk 911s. We talk 914s. Obviously, we have a ton in common, including a love for my LS build. He pours over my car, noticing not only the big stuff, but all the little things I've done, too. On this day, he buys the valance and we agree we'll stay in touch. And we do!
Over the course of the following months, he stops by pretty regularly, I visit his place and it's clear that beyond the car stuff, he's a good guy, we get along well and we're going to be friends.

So, one day, we're chatting about RacerBenz. my 2001 Mercedes CL500, Corvette suspension, mid engine, center seat track car build. Yes, I know, a horrific waste of time and money. But anyway, I say "What would be cool is to build "Benzo Ferrari! Find a Ferrari engine and trans and..." He interrupts and says "I have one! From a 360 Modena. And the trans, harnesses, ECUs, etc. I'd love to see it get used for something. Why don't you come get it?"

Wait, what? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Fast forward to last week where I do just that. Here's what's in the Red Barn now: 3.6 liters, 400 hp and 275 lb/ft of Italian automotive porn.

[tygaboy]

The Milestone mornings just keep coming!
Yesterday, the chassis arrived. Today, my Ferrari-savvy buddy came by and gave the engine, trans and some other components the once over. Spoiler Alert:

It passed with flying colors! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)
He kept saying how nice everything looked, none of the typical corrosion on the various external surfaces, etc. Stop here if don't care about the details.

Details:
Up first, he outlined the maintenance services and related parts I need to take care of ahead of attempting to fire it: the most obvious being cam belts, pulleys and tensioners. He also advised on a couple other "while you're at it" seals and gaskets.

Then we pulled the plugs and borescoped the cylinders. So little carbon on top of the pistons that you could easily see the machining marks. Beautiful cross-hatching visible on all the cylinder walls. And the plugs all read "nice burn".
Then off came the induction and he did a quick inspection of the back sides of the intake valves. Nothing make you breath easy like hearing an expert say, "Wow. This all looks really nice..." (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif)
You already know this but I'll repeat it: The motor, she is good!

An additional bonus is he knows all the places to get parts and happens to be a dealer for some of the components I need.
It's things like where to get parts to re-core the water pump vs buying new, contacts at a place the modifies the clutch to make them last far longer, a source for a greatly improved throw-out bearing. The list went on.
It was great to have a knowledgeable person get me pointed in the right direction and even better to know we can proceed with confidence that we have a solid drive train.
A great day at the Red Barn! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)