Mechanical Items

There were some mechanical and cosmetic issues to deal with too.

The first was installation of some good seat belts. Click here to read about that.

The shifter bushing had broken at some point and needed replacing. Here's how to do that.

The steering wheel had gotten cracked in two places. I ended up gluing the cracks back together with carpenter's glue and clamping it overnight. In order to get the glue as far as possible into the cracks, I would put some glue on the crack and then use the blow gun with the air pressure set pretty low (~20 lbs). Then just use the air to push more and more glue into the crack. You can get it deeper into a much smaller crack than using a knife blade or needle. After the glue was dry, a light sanding, 3 coats of spray polyurethane varnish with steel wool used between each coat did the trick. Then a lot of polishing the aluminum spokes by hand shined it up.

There was some interior work to be done. The first was to remove the Japanese cassette radio and install a period radio. Click here to read about that work.

When the console was re-installed, the electric windows weren't working properly. I determined that the switches were flaky.

Who would believe that there were so many parts in a 'simple' switch. However, after cleaning the contacts and reassembling them, the electric windows would go up (with help) and down. It turns out that they work fine when the engine is running and providing higher voltage. Of course, half of the spring clips on the sides that hold the switches to the console were gone, so more things to make. It took several tries before I figured out the maximum bend one could make in the spring steel before it would snap.

Some 330 GTs came equipped with MicroTecnica switches (or the originals were replaced). Anyway, a fellow 330 GT owner cleaned his and did a nice write-up. Click here to download it (PDF).

I had to install the radiator overflow tank. But before I did that, I decided it needed cleaning up. Click here for the details.

Another part that gave up the ghost was the windshield washer pump. I took it apart and cleaned the pump part (gear section), but all it did was draw a lot of power and not turn. As the motor was not made to be taken apart, I drilled a couple of holes to squirt some WD-40 in where the bearings were. That got it turning, but it would slow down after a few seconds. So I decided that a replacement pump was needed. I took the old pump and bracket down to the NAPA store and explained that I needed a pump that would be about the same size and fit. At first they wanted to look up the right part. After I mentioned that it was for an old Ferrari, they gave up on the idea and just brought out their entire stock of replacement pumps. After opening a bunch of boxes, a Balkamp #665-1593 washer pump looked to be the best fit. It did need a strap fabricated to hold the pump to the bracket. This picture is of the one that Lowell Brown fabricated when he had to replace his pump (I forgot to take pictures of mine). Plus his bracket is much nicer, being cut from the back of an old mailbox!

An update on the windshield washer pump. Ed Montini found a BMW 2002 pump that looks almost identical to the original. The part number is P7050-21282 and can be bought from www.autopartsimport.com. Here's a picture from their website.