Cracked oil cooler in Dino 308 GT4

Hi there,

I just wanted to share something that made me a bit concerned this morning. I just bought a Dino 308 GT4 and had it checked out by a local mechanic, not a Ferrari specialist but he works on vintage cars. When taking it for a longer test drive, the lower oil line broke so I had to tow the car back to the shop. After having the oil line replaced, I went for another try the next weekend. Same problem appears! Leaking oil, towing the car back to the shop again... So today I found out that the mechanic replaced the old oil line with a more heavy duty hose, so when it was bent it added too much pressure to where it connects to the oil cooler so it broke the oil cooler, that's what caused the leak. Now the mechanic says that he will send it away and have the aluminum welded to repair the cooler, that he essentially broke. And then replace the oil line again wth something less heavy. I asked for an original oil line but apparently, they don't exist and have to be made. Can that really be so?

My concern is, will a welded oil cooler generate more problems in the future, make the car less valuable, etc. Any thoughts or recommendations in a situation like this?

Thank you

Landen

 

Thanks for your thoughts. The mechanic couldn't weld the oil cooler and actually ended up buying a brand new one along with an original Ferrari oil line. Probably from 76 or later. Will take the car out this weekend so hopefully should be good.