Paul LeClair's new project (Non Laverda)

Paul LeClair said:
I have another exotic car visiting my garage, one that I find more interesting than most of the cars that pass through here, I have it on my lift at the moment. Can anyone identify it from this photo?
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Hmmm - Aston Martin DB10?
 
Quite the garage, Paul-Laverda, Honda CBX turbo, Ferrari 550, you're living the dream. Is the Ferrari yours?
 
my youngest son, now 23, started an automotive detailing business out of my home garage when he was 18, has taken a bunch of detailing/paint correction courses, and has developed a very high end clientele.  In addition to detailing, he has branched out into an unusual car concierge service, including locating exotics and brokering purchases. Many exotic cars pass through my garage on a regular basis, including Ferrari's, Maserati's, Aston's, Porsche's etc., etc., but this is the first car that has really interested me in relation to actually considering importing one to keep for myself.

this particular car is a European spec 1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello, left hand drive, originally sold new in Japan through Coyne's, still very low kms, recently brokered into Canada from Japan and just sold a couple of days ago by my son to its new Calgary owner, will be delivered after my son Marc finishes going over it and cleaning it up.....

quite proud of my son, this is his first really big deal, it went smoothly and paid him quite well. What a truly impressive car.

Congrats on the car spotting!

Paul LeClair
 
Paul, I am worried for you. A Ferrari, and a CBX turbo are all a mild diversion from the Laverdas, but it is the red and yellow trike that has me wondering what the hell were you thinking?   
 
henrywillms said:
Paul, I am worried for you. A Ferrari, and a CBX turbo are all a mild diversion from the Laverdas, but it is the red and yellow trike that has me wondering what the hell were you thinking? 
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Hi Henry

four year old grandson and three year old granddaughter spend a ton of time here with us, they have their own bedrooms, toys, etc., here. Living room is given over to a full blown playroom/arts and crafts room. Really quite a lot of fun, and both like to hang out in the garage with me and turn wrenches, strip wires, etc. They both also figure the 1972 Triumph Spitfire car is theirs, they spend a fair amount of time "driving" it......... ;)

Paul LeClair
 
These little trikes work quite well as workshop seats but you have to wipe them down before handing them back
to the ankle-biters, apparently. ::)
 
Paul, I guess you too will spend more time 'driving' it rather than driving it...
 
Maybe the little ones will be the next Laverda aficionados. Who knows where we got out inspiration for Laverdas and our other passions from. Why our kids do or don't have similar interests to ours.  I am sure there are million reasons but exposure of the kids of  Laverdas can only be a good thing. 
 
moving slowly along on the CBX turb project. The old Rajay turbo is now fully rebuilt.

I took it apart to the last nut, bolt, shaft and seal, masked off the sensitive areas, and glass bead blasted as needed. Then I blew out as much of the glass bead as I could with 150 psi air, then I ran each piece through the ultra sonic for about an hour each. Then washed with soap and water, then rinsed with clean water.

I managed to find locally an old repair shop that had a small stash of Rajay turbo bits. I was able to buy a new carbon seal, a new shaft piston type wire seal, and a new plain "bearing, as well as all three required gaskets. Lucky, as I could not find them easily anywhere. They also sold me the last of their spare Rajay bits, which was not all that much but may be useful later.

the only thing I paid for, other than parts, is I took the finished unit to another pro turbocharger service place, and paid them to properly spin balance the rotating assembly, as I was simply not equipped with the necessary gear to rotationally balance the impeller shaft with the compressor vane and the intake side vane.

I have started on fabrication of the various lines required, I am going with all woven stainless steel lines for all turbo plumbing.

I have also decided on heat control for the turbo, I am going to fit it with a PTP turbo blanket on the compressor side to try and keep the heat down on the bike near the battery and under the seat http://ptpturboblankets.com/T3-Turbo-Blanket-Lava-000502.html

Paul LeClair 
 

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moving forward, I am mounting the turbo a bit differently than the original design as I am going to fit a "turbo blanket"  http://ptpturboblankets.com/T3-Turbo-Blanket-Lava-000502.html  on the exhaust side of the turbo to control the heat directly under a very sensitive part of my body I am very fond of, and I need to make space for the heat insulation..... As the bike came to me, the battery (dead) and directly behind the turbo had a big divot melted into it..... :o :o

a couple of photos of progress

Paul LeClair
 

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Paul I thought 6 cylinders and the turbo was an attempt to restore some manhood given that you don't really use that very sensitive part of your body the way you did back in the CBX was in its glory days.
 
fitted the used Metmachex braced swing arm on the CBX project today. As I do not have a lathe or a mil, or the skills to use either, I had to have a machine shop make up the conversion fitting bits I needed. Bloody hell, I had no idea round tool steel was so expensive.....

I would love one of these massive braced swing arms for a Laverda triple.

a couple of photos

I also dis assembled, bead blasted, and painted the various bits of the mechanical waste gate. Interesting vintage piece, turns out it is actually a car exhaust valve, valve guide, collets, and valve spring adapted to lift off the valve seat when over pressured, the spring controlled by a rubber vacuum diaphragm and a rocker type arm. I had to giggle as I "lapped" the valve into its seat to restore a good seal..... 8)

Paul LeClair

 

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Paul LeClair said:
As I do not have a lathe or a mil, or the skills to use either,
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Paul, having followed the evolution of your workshop, with fancy floor tiles, storage cabinets, and a bloody car lift, you're obviously a man of reasonable financial resources and more than adequate intellectual ability. For Christ's sake spend a few bucks on an entry-level lathe. It'll cost you maybe $1500 but will allow you to do a multitude of tasks that you're now farming out to machine shops. Don't worry about your ability. Using a lathe isn't rocket surgery. Skills will come with a bit of practice as well as advice from your tool supplier and the wonderful resources on this forum. What's holding you back?
 
Dellortoman said:
Paul, having followed the evolution of your workshop, with fancy floor tiles, storage cabinets, and a bloody car lift, you're obviously a man of reasonable financial resources and more than adequate intellectual ability. For Christ's sake spend a few bucks on an entry-level lathe. It'll cost you maybe $1500 but will allow you to do a multitude of tasks that you're now farming out to machine shops. Don't worry about your ability. Using a lathe isn't rocket surgery. Skills will come with a bit of practice as well as advice from your tool supplier and the wonderful resources on this forum. What's holding you back?
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well, in the back of my mind somewhere is the memory of Lance Weil getting killed in his workshop by a lathe......

a small Chinese lathe is not going to do the kind of stuff I am sending out to get made, and a serious lathe is well beyond my experience or current skill set. What I have been intending to do for a couple of years now is to sign up for and take an introductory machining course at the local technical college. I would really like to learn proper basic setup and operation of both a lathe and a milling machine. Once I am confident in both basic skills and particularly operating safety, then I may well go shopping...... I have been following one of the machinist forums the past couple of years, soaking up some information, in very rudimentary preparation  ;)

For the stuff I just had made for the CBX (and I snuck in some work for a wider swing arm conversion for my Laverda 79 1200 as well to allow me to mount a much wider rear wheel) the costs of the material was much higher than the actual labour cost, and I will now be doing some legal work for the machine shop as a new client as an added bonus!

Paul LeClair
 
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