[tazandjan]

Onno- She sounds great. David is going to love her, if I have my story straight.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by tazandjan

Onno- She sounds great. David is going to love her, if I have my story straight.

I think David will love her, but won't get her! If I'm understanding correct David is soon to be custodian of #18431 and Onno is holding on to #17977? I think....

[tazandjan]

Barry- Entirely possible I got it backwards. Thanks.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by tazandjan

Barry- Entirely possible I got it backwards. Thanks.

Equally possible I got it backwards too.

[JazzyO]

David will take over the LHD Boxer, #18431. The one in this thread, the RHD one, I will sell on in due course.

Originally Posted by Barry

+1!

...And I think it was closer to 6,000 rpm

Ahem - yes, I noticed later on too! That darn leaden foot!


Onno

[Barry]

Originally Posted by JazzyO

Ahem - yes, I noticed later on too! That darn leaden foot!


Onno

Easily done Onno, easily done.



Let you away with just a verbal warning on this occasion

[tazandjan]

Barry memory: 1
Taz memory: 0

[Barry]

Originally Posted by tazandjan

Barry memory: 1
Taz memory: 0

Taz Ferrari knowledge: 100
Barry Ferrari knowledge: 0

I'll stick to the 'remembering things' Terry

[JazzyO]

So, over the past 2 days I've added about 750 miles to the Boxer's tally, about half of the distance she clocked between 1988 and 2008.... 750 miles of purring tiger!

The drive from Exeter to Amsterdam was stressful as I relived the memories of all the problems I've had with this car, breaking down every single long trip I've done in her (I've waited for road side assistance at least 5 times). So this trip of 600 miles in one go, in a car I had not driven more than 30 miles since the engine rebuild, was a leap of faith. But as the miles piled on, I very slowly relaxed. Each time as she started with an explosive bang and immediately settled into a silky idle, I got a bit more confidence in the car. The dials showed 75 PSI oil pressure @3000rpm, 190F water and oil temp and the AMP metre was in the plus after each start so the battery was being charged (almost a novelty!).

The next morning, yesterday, she started fine having spent the cold night outside. After 1 belch of smoke because of the priming of the carbs, she settled in a perfect idle within half a second, no smoke, just a happy burble. On the 150 miles trip to some relatives she behaved perfectly.

It is hard to describe the utter joy I'm finally having with this machine, after 3 1/2 years of unsatisfying ownership. There is no longer any flat spot as I pull through the revs, something that many people say is not possible on carbed Boxers. And she runs sooo silky smooth on idle as well. The clutch is much lighter, now pretty comparable to my 550, and she has so much torque that I can now potter through the village at 800rpm in second without slipping the clutch. The clutch on a 365 is one of the bottlenecks, so you don't want to slip it if you can help it. The car is so easy to drive now, it is unrecognisable. I drove all the 600 miles to Amsterdam below 4,000rpm, giving the engine a chance to nicely settle in, and still I had a fast car capable of easy overtakes and travelling most of the way at around 90mph. Yesterday I took the car up to 6,000 just once or twice, and I'll slowly start loosening her up in the coming week and a half before she goes back to England, awaiting the Scotland adventure of FLED6. I'm slowly starting to experience the screaming howl of a 365BB in the top end again, but she sounds so much better now. When I listen to my old video clips, I believe I can now hear the cracked cylinder linings. I thought she sounded glorious, but I just didn't know any better. There's a creaminess to the engine now there wasn't before.

I still need quite a few trips before the bad memories are gone, but my word - the permanent smile of the last two days have already paid for the expensive engine rebuild. After this, I can only make a profit on it!

I must give full credit to Carrs of Exeter and their amazing Harvey for bringing my car back from "average Boxer land" to the truly spectacular car she should be. Harvey is so jaded that he normally only says "nice car" when he is driving Boxer's F50, but he had some special compliments for my car, which says it all.

This morning I'll give her a wash, take her for some drives again and I'll see if I can shoot some video and/or photo's. The weather is spectacular again, just like the last two days. Life is good!

@Boxer - your F50 looked spectacular in the shop. No real work done yet on Tuesday, as far as I was aware.

@iainsuk - your Dino engine needs work!


Onno

[a1exander]

I am glad that you are happy for surely driving our cars is one of the few private pleasures we have.

What crossed my mind is that you amongst Boxer Johns Vitalone have the ability to describe a drive in such graphic detail as to get the reader involved in the experience....wish I could say the same for me.

Well done and enjoy.
btw the carb cars are another dimension of motoring that is almost forgotten.

[JazzyO]

Originally Posted by a1exander

btw the carb cars are another dimension of motoring that is almost forgotten.

Very true. The sucking noise makes carb cars so fantastic at low revs, almost as much fun as high revs. Vitalone always drives his 308 with his passenger window open, as the intake is on the far side, so he can hear the slurping of the carbs better.

A 365 Boxer at full tilt is an amazing sounding car. Very few people have been lucky enough to experience it, and I am deeply thankful that I can now enjoy this many times over before the time comes to sell later this year.

I will try to shoot some decent video, see if I can capture that carbuttor engine's soul.


Onno

[212Export]

Wonderful, vivid writeup, Onno. Thank you very much. Easy to imagine your experience and great that she's running so smoothly after all. Hard to imagine you will part from her as she's now so crisp....?!

[Boxer]

JazzyO, Great write up. So glad to hear that you are finally pleased with the 365BB. Look forward to seeing the car in a couple of weeks.

[JazzyO]

Originally Posted by 212Export

Hard to imagine you will part from her as she's now so crisp....?!

Unfortunately, she is registered in the UK and RHD, and that just makes it way too impractical to drive her often.

I would love to have a very nice LHD 365BB in a couple of years.


Onno

[Barry]

Onno
Delighted to hear 17977 is running well again. Keep putting the miles up... :steering wheel:

Look forward to the pics/videos

[brettgagnon]

Ya where are the pics!!!!!

Originally Posted by Barry

Look forward to the pics/videos

[tazandjan]

Onno- Sounds like great fun and you now have a real Boxer that runs at least as good as when it came out of the factory. Hopefully she gets to make it on FLED.

[jshiveral]

Onno. Great to hear someone getting so much from their car, and well done for using it. I'm really looking forward to seeing it at FLED, (although I may not wish to park mine beside it as I suspect yours is in a league above!)

[JazzyO]

Originally Posted by brettgagnon

Ya where are the pics!!!!!

Sorry guys, I was at the world championships ice skating today, so nothing yet. Will go do a shoot tomorrow morning.


Onno

[JazzyO]

The weather is way too nice to be sitting inside with a computer editing photo's. So this is quick, especially for you FL guys who wanted to see some pics. There is no photoshopping on any of these, but she's looking pretty hot IMHO.


Onno