Shop for 308 Smog

I'm in the process of purchasing a 1980 308 with the carbureted engine. It was a California car but has been out of state for a few years. The emissions equipment is all present, so I'm looking for a shop in the North Bay or San Francisco that is experienced with early 308 emissions. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. The current owner uses a shop in the Hollywood area for his California cars, so that's my other option. I'd just rather not pay to ship the car there and then ship again to NorCal.

 

Hi - Vista Smog, 18 Woodland Avenue in San Rafael, 415-454-7664 has always been great when dealing with Ferraris and especially early ones - they understand the issues and will work with you - hope this helps - Doug

 

Thanks Doug - that's definitely a big help. Not only does it save on transport costs, but I'm dying to drive the car.

 

I don't think he actually does the testing in-house, but Waterfront Automobili in SF has a good reputation and should be able to get your car set up to pass SMOG.

 

Thanks. I'll give them a call as well. I called Vista Smog and they did seem familiar with older Ferraris. However, the guy on the phone said they weren't able to do much if any tuning. He also seemed overly confident that any 308 with all of its emissions equipment would sail through California smog and that doing a pre-test would be wasting my money.

 

Yes and no. There's no real cost savings in doing a pre-check. And the smog guy is happy to have you fail. He needs cars to fail regularly or the smog police come by to cause trouble. The only downside is the failed test does show on your permanent record for whatever that's worth.

 

A fuel-injected 308? Perhaps... Carbed? No way, Jose. I don't buy it...

 

Dino Motors has some experience with carburated 308's.

He has a HC and CO machine which can be used to adjust the engine so that it will pass smog, also increasing the alcohol content of the fuel helps as well. "Heet" brand water remover is basically alcohol and if the tank is 1/8 to 1/4 full- a large dose of this will effectively lean out the car, this is a short term solution and a full tank of regular HC gasoline should be put on top of it to re-dilute it down.

the bestpart (one word) of having a 1975 308GT4?

You guessed it, no smog.

best of luck.

 

Get a pre-test done 1st at a local smog shop. it will give you a read out of max allowed and what your car puts out. Good luck.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've scoured the forum and read lots of helpful tips from people whose carb 308s have passed. The car should arrive in CA next week and I'll get started on my smog journey ASAP. I'll report back so that the next person trying to do this will have some references.

 

My carby car choked (no pun intended) the last smog test. It has all the stuff, and has been ez, but it sat for a while, and the fuel was just starting to turn. It was not running sweet, and made the SMOG test a huge hassle. I Rebuilt carbs doing lots of cleaning, re-dialed them in, and it runs pretty sweet. Confident now the test would be fine.

If it's got the stuff, and runs well, it should be no problem. I think for 40 - 60 bucks for a pre-test isn't a terrible waste. Especially for the first go-around.

I drove the car this afternoon giving pony rides to some young kids. What a pleasure the car is. Hope you get behind the wheel to enjoy it real soon

 

I don't know what kind of an agreement you have with the seller because, as a rule or law, the seller is the one responsible for the smog before he or she sells their car.

 

Noticed we have the same first name. Super rare!! Good luck with the smog.

Waterfront does all the work on my car and I'm very pleased with Sal and Sheldon.

 

Two thumbs way up for Sal.

He's smart, conscientious, and has great appreciation for Ferrari's.

Did you get it done?