glassdave

iTrader: (1)

I have actually used my Graphtec plotter to cut gaskets, actually quite often. Its a little time consuming but works very well for non high pressure stuff and complex shapes are not a problem. Its actually pretty simple i start by photographing the surface i need a gasket on or even the old gasket. I import the image into CorelDraw and construct the cut file in vector format. Do a couple tests with a pen in the plotter and when i happy with the final image i drop a sixty degree blade in and slow the cut speed down to a very slow rate. I have cut gaskets of all thicknesses and usually start shallow and make several passes through the material. Did a reed valve cage gasket for an old out dated compressor the other day in a very thick coated gasket material and it worked great. Unfortunately this would only account for about the half the gaskets you would need (just the flat paper and cork type) you would still be at a loss for head gaskets and rubber or extruded types. Its a start though, good luck i think it would be pretty high on the ghee-wiz scale to have a pair of Lambos in a boat.

CartoonCrazy

Thank you guys for checking up on this thread. I have not been here in a while.

I did get in touch with Bill. What an incredibly nice person. I talked with one of his crew for a really long time and he filled me in on a whole bunch of stuff and had a lot of great stories. He passed my message on to Bill, who called me a couple weeks later and spent another big block of time chatting with me.

They gave me a lot of great information and cleared up a lot of rumors. Bill has found sources for some things, but it sounds like he has a tough go of it.

They were able to find a set of gaskets from the original manufacturer, but I do not know whether they still exist or not.

He knew of quite a few people running the Lamborghini engines. Great engines by all accounts, but they are getting harder to maintain as parts get more and more scarce by the sounds of it.

CartoonCrazy

Correction = I talked with Bill over the holidays and he told me the gaskets were re-manufactured by a gasket specialist using the originals as a template.

flat rate

iTrader: (3)

Did you ever try SKEMA in Italy they marinize Lamborginis

HabanaJoe

Cartoon Crazy - weren't the marine engines based on the 2V tractor engines, then they did 4V heads for them later on? If that were true wouldn't some parts be available through there, like here http://www.lamborghini-tractors.com/...defaulten.html or similar? I would think parts for the V-12's would be on shelves in Europe somewhere, maybe stop looking for the marine stuff as they were really hobby engines compared to the numbers made for tractors and you'll find basic parts ie bearings, rings, gaskets, etc???

CartoonCrazy

Unfortunately the marine engines were their own monster and shared similarities with the auto engines rather than the tractors.

Lamborghini started out making tractors after WW2 and got into all sorts of industries. He was a wealthy successful man by the time he got into cars. He had a lot of luxury cars of the day and thought he could do better. Around 1962, 1963 he hired Bizzarini of Ferrari fame to design an engine for the car he wanted to build. This engine was a V12 and became the heart of Lamborghini cars until present day.

Lamborghini was also interested in offshore racing and had a pair of Lamborghini V12 engines installed in a Riva Aquarama. Sources differ on how this worked out, but the interest was there early on. In the mid '70s Lamborghini had financial troubles and sold his interest in the car company and sold the tractor company to SAME, A large European tractor brand still in possession of the Lamborghini tractor brand today. The car company was eventually bought by Patrick Mimmran, who was interested in offshore racing, and the Lamborghini car company actually produced a boat called the Quetzal. This boat used a unique engine that was an enlarged version of what was in the Countach. The engine did well and Lamborghini created a separate division to build engines for marine use. This business ran independent of the car company. Chrysler bought Lamborghini in 1987 and as part of the restructuring, they shut down the marine division.

Lamborghini engines were sold in the US by Mercury. From what I could gather, when the Lamborghini marine division closed, Mercury sold all of their part inventory almost immediately to teams and engine owners. I believe it was the "Victory" team that bought up the tooling from the closed marine division.

When contacting the car factory, they claim they had, and have, nothing to do with the marine division. Lamborghini marine engines were used in racing long after the end of production.
From what I can gather, teams maintained and machined their own parts to a large degree. I see a lot of claims about stuff being available, but after talking to some owners and doing a lot of hunting, I found parts to be almost non-existent.

Skema

Good morning Chris,
I'm the owner of Skema srl in Italy, We bought the Lamborghini Marine department in 2006 and We are still producing the L804v4, We have parts in stock for all the version since 1990.
For older version like L802 and L900 We have bearing and gasket in stock but We can supply all the other parts.
We also supply service for restoring and rebuilding for all the Lamborghini engine.

Best Regards

Stefano

hogie roll

F-2 Speedy

iTrader: (6)

this thread is over 6 yrs old, I doubt any of the original posters are around

CartoonCrazy

Stefano,

WOW! I was just browsing information on the old Lamborghini marine engines and this thread popped up. Thank you Skema for the information. I did not buy an engine back then and gave up on the idea based on the information I found. Not in the market for an engine at this time, but it is fantastic to know there are sources for parts out there. I have been a fan of those engines for decades.

Chris