gemellocattivo.com

Hi - I thought I should introduce myself having been here for some time while wading through all the posts on the various FrankenFerrari threads (where is Part 2?). I now understand the basic ethos of the site, and think that I may well fit in here better than on any other site I can think of (cars, bikes, guns, girls, house-building...).

So - to my story... I'm an ex-motor racing engineer (cars/bikes/trucks) who now lives in semi-retirement (yeah, right) in rural southwest England, UK. I've spent the last decade building a shooting truck out of a derelict Land Rover - it's now more made out of stainless steel than that nasty stuff which rusts.

As a taster of the kind of thing I do, here's my little sprint-hillclimb racer. It was built to perform on British hillclimb tracks - which are most unlike their American namesakes. Typically about a mile long, they are held on uphill paved tracks with numerous hairpin bends. The most important part is to fabricate a nice padded box to put your brain in before you go to the start line, the second most important part being to try to reach the finish line before waking up in hospital (something that I wasn't very good at).

After passing the age of 40, I realised that I didn't bounce very well any more, so when life got in the way I didn't fight it, and left it parked up for a very long time. After much bullying from friends, however, I finally gave in and went back into competing with it - this time on straight line sprint/drag tracks. To this end, I fitted a Quaife magnesium six-speed gearbox and added eight inches into the wheelbase so that it wouldn't spend its entire life doing handstands. Then covid hit, so it got parked again...

Anyway - my reason for posting here is to seek advice. I have a 1972 246GT Dino that is rotted beyond any reasonable hope of 'restoration'. Being an engineer, I'm not really a restoration type of guy anyway - if I see something that IMO can be improved, I'll do it, something that would send any normal rivet-counter into meltdown. In other words, I know that I'd get assassinated on most Ferrari-related websites...

One of my 'motivational problems' is that I have a motorcycle sitting in front of me in my man cave (Aprilia RSV-SP) that has more horsepower than the Dino, and as a result it doesn't inspire me to fit the original V6 engine. The chap who stuck a 300 bhp 328 V8 engine in a Dino did, however, and then pressed my buttons again when he got paid to stick an 'un-turboed' 400 bhp F40 engine in another one for a customer.

My thoughts are to put something along the lines of a 458 engine in. I'm told that most of that family require 34.5 inches between the axle centreline and the firewall, and if I move a couple of tubes, I can get 35.5 inches - so on the face of it, the idea is do-able. And no welding up the block to move head studs, etc!

Life has a domino-effect of stuff between me and my starting the project though - mostly involving my having to sell another car to finance everything, but I also have several other things that need finishing too (including many Lana-style job sheets). But I would like to get the ball rolling so that I can start planning (mostly to help get me through the hard times). The guys on here appear to be singing from the same song sheet as me though, so I thought it'd be the best place to expose myself to public scrutiny.

So - the thoughts currently go roughly:
Dino chassis with all the appropriate improvements to brakes, wheels, etc.
458 engine
Hewland transaxle (?)

Now I should make it clear that this would be more about building the car than driving it. I'm well aware that the hp at full chat would make it undriveable on anything except the drag-strip (hence my wanting a 'valet mode' switch!).

I have similar workshop facilities to Mark - mill/lathes/MIG/TIG/arc, etc. and can do most relevant operations (although my paint spraying sucks).

Ideally, I'd buy a front-end destroyed car and rob it of all the relevant bits, but I'll clearly have to wait and see how things turn out.

My main question would appear to be 'Which of the 360/430/458/488 family would best suit my purpose?'. Thoughts please!

Welcome!.. I fixed your account so your posts will come right up now.

You did your H-D backwards from how I did mine...I started with a long wheelbase for hillclimbs but in dirt


Then then shortened it for roaderacing



I saw a video a while back for a Dino with a turbo built by Norwood in TYX but could find it in a quick search, I did however see the car I think you were talking about. I don't want to talk you out of a 458 engine but every conversion I've seem on a Dino keeps the transverse engine which makes me believe that is the easiest path to victory. A 308 or 328 transaxle with a 308/328/348 engine so everything pretty near bolts together. For hp use a 4V version, maybe a 360 crank, then porting and cams and you've got 400-500hp. Easier yet is a turbo or 2 on any of those engines for 400-800hp.

At the end of the day though its your car so if you want a longitudinal 458 engine I'm guessing there's a way..or is there a gearbox to get in in the car sideways?

That's lovely!

Many thanks for approving me so quickly, BTW!

Apparently I did it wrong though, hopefully its fix right now

Also, come on man! How do you not post a pic of the abused 246 so we can fully appreciate the task ahead of you? Engine swap is a solid car is usually pretty straight forward but a car needing a lot of repair first, well that almost begs for thing like a flares and a cage

I have every intention of posting some pics, but thought I'd better see what sort of reception I got here before thrusting my way forward too soon! The car is, however, currently buried at the back of a crammed garage, so the short-term photos will be somewhat compromised by that.

I do have most of a brand new body shell for it though - what you guys on the other side of the pond refer to as a 'front clip' and a 'rear clip' (where on Earth did those terms come from?).

The chassis frame tubes have the usual Dino disease - i.e., the bottom half is missing in many places, but fixing that doesn't worry me - indeed, it actually provides a hidden advantage in that it means the car is so bad that anything I do will be an improvement!

Body mods: In order to get the necessary rear wheel/tyre width, the usual solution is to go for the 'chairs and flares' option. Since I think the factory flares are distinctly naff (does that translate to US lingo? If not, it means awful), I am seriously considering cutting the car in half longitudinally and adding in the necessary extra width. That way, the beautiful bodywork lines would be retained. For anyone who hasn't seen the factory flares, they basically look as though someone just welded on a flat strip of steel to cover the tyres. Which is, of course, exactly what Ferrari did...

It would, of course, mean a custom windscreen (OK, 'windshield') and mods to things like the steering rack, dash and various ironmongery underneath, but I don't see any of that as being an issue (all part of the fun).

As for me fitting a cage - no, no - that wouldn't look original...
...
...
Of course I'd fit a cage - wild horses wouldn't be able to stop me!

clip - as in to cut, as in front the front off the car.

Where do you get a custom windshield? just lexan or you me custom glass?

Yes, the "flairs and chairs" includes pretty ugly flairs.....simple fender lips were a thing in the 60s I guess, I had a '65 vette that had been given a similar treatment. Body work is not my thing so I'm not even going to comment on the best way to get wide tires on it. I made clearance inside the stock body to avoid going out but I guess I cold have done GTO parts but I could never make them on my own and have it look anything but bad.

Finding a manufacturer who could make me a glass windshield would clearly be a challenge - I'm more worried about the noisy bits at the back though!

I hear ya, but remember the old line

How many parts does it take to get the car running?


All of them

Agreed!