Bought an 84 Euro 308GTS QV today (July 2013) - now a maintenance thread

Hmmm, I last posted to this thread over a year ago, and I've completed a LOT of maintenance work since, including the full major with valve adjustment. I've started several other threads about specific jobs, but haven't kept a "build thread" going.

A few months back, I was approached by Brian Driggs of GBXM|x | Gearbox Magazine , an online journal about cars and car people. He asked if he could do an article about me via email interview questions, and I agreed and also sent in a few photos. That article was published last week in the Issue 02.04 - ISSUU - GBXM 02.04 by GBXM|united I thought it was pretty cool, anyway! The article about my QV starts on page 64.

 

No worries! I've actually done a whole lot of work since that last Dec 30 update...

January 2014
Replaced Crankcase vent hoses
Installed brass injectors, with new o-rings
cleaning lower engine of grease/oil
Cleaned and re-mounted Digiplex boxes, cleaned connectors and grounds
replaced throttle cable

February 2014
Changed transmission oil (Redline cocktail)
Replaced drivers seatbelt and latch stalk (Superformance)
Sprayed Seafoam Deep Creep penetrating lubricant into drivers window gearbox - satisfactory results (passenger window was still good)
Installed Noco Genius battery tender
Installed new crank sensors x3

March 2014
Installed Goodridge brake hoses x4
Installed new front brake rotors (Superformance), new Porterfield R4S pads
Bled brakes, ATE Blue

April 2014
Bought a set of 16" BBS E50 mesh wheels from BigTex
Installed Leader light protection film on flash-to-pass lights
Installed Truck-lite 27270C LED 7" headlights

May 2014
Clean rear calipers, clean up caliper pistons
Install new rear rotors (Superformance), new Porterfield R4S pads
Bled rear brakes, ATE Blue
Started siezed, installed new Gustafson gear reduction starter

June 2014
Install new (eBay) rear luggage compartment zippered cover, zipper had failed on original
Installed alloy rear brake calipers (separate thread here)

July 2014
Just driving

August 2014
Major service -
- new water pump, thermostat
- new accessory belts
- replaced final SRI coolant hoses
- replaced coolant hoses and breather hoses under intake plenum
- Hill Engineering tensioner bearings/pulleys
- new timing belts
- check valve clearances - replaced 8 shims
- cleaned off a ton of RTV from old hack job cam cover gasket install, which still had leaks
- installed new cam seals, o-rings
- installed new cam cover gaskets
- eliminated front exhaust cam leak
- installed new distributor gaskets, seals
- new air cleaner filter
- fresh coolant mix with deionized water
- new o-rings on the Sanden AC hoses

September 2014
Installed new Sony radio, to replace ancient Blaupunkt cassette radio.
1700 mile road trip, returned with cracked #2 primary tube on rear header

October 2014
Plugged air leak from missing cap screw on mixture adjustment access hole

November 2014
Installed Tubi rear header to replace OEM rear header, which had been re-welded at least 3 times by previous owners!
Cleaned handbrake pivot assembly, installed new rear handbrake cables

 

Back in January, I cleaned and checked the AAV (Auxiliary Air Valve), part of the K-Jet cold start system. I heated and cooled it to confirm the valve opened and closed appropriately, and checked for resistance on the heater element. At the same time, I replaced the hoses connecting the AAV to the intake pipe and the intake plenum. I also confirmed that the WUR has appropriate resistance to the connectors.

The next step in status checking was to review the mixture settings. I found a Bosch CIS fuel testing kit on a close-out sale, but thought before I checked the fuel pressures, I'd check the air-fuel ratio. The Ferrari/Bosch CIS fuel injection manuals specify a CO % rating to be measured with a gas analyzer, state of the art equipment - in the late 70s.

For my measuring, I bought an Innovate LM-2 wideband air/fuel ratio meter (inductive rpm pickup, record capability) last fall, along with a NOS Gunson CO exhaust gas analyzer (Amazon.com: Gastester -Exhaust Gas Analyzer Portable 12V powered: Automotive), just to see how they compared.

Target CO is under 1.0, IIRC, and at the time after adjusting the idle speed on my Euro 308 QV, the Gunson showed 5.0, and the LM-2 showed an A/F ratio of 12.2 (stoichiometric target is 14.7). Way too rich! I currently have the mixture set to give ~14.3 at idle via the LM-2. The LM-2 also can show the RPM with the inductive pickup - the best signal is to clamp it over a coil wire. When the LM-2 shows 1000 rpm, my tachometer indicates around 1300!
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The initial mixture setting exercise with the LM-2, at idle speed, was performed in February. With the roads finally clear of salt, I got to do some measuring out on the road today.

The wideband O2 sensor mounts into a tailpipe bracket, which I clamped to the right side exhaust tips. I ran the cable from the O2 sensor up into the hatch area, along the left side of the engine compartment, then with the inductive rpm sensor cable, out the front of the engine compartment and in to the driver's side of the passenger compartment. The LM-2 meter itself hung behind the left side of the drivers seat.
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The LM-2 meter has a button to begin recording, so I didn't have to try and watch the display while I was driving. Once I got to an open road area, I stopped the car, began recording on the LM-2, and drove for a while. I tried normal acceleration, shifting around 4K rpm, then a couple of runs at full throttle through 1st and 2nd gears, shifting at redline. I also recorded cruising at steady throttle at a couple of rpm ranges. Once that was done, I stopped the recording on the LM-2 unit, returned home, and loaded the SD card from the LM-2 meter into my laptop and the Innovate log software.

The first graph is of the acceleration runs, showing 2 runs through 1st and 2nd gears (hitting about 7700 rom on the second run set); the A/F ratio behaves perfectly, increasing from near 13.7:1 at idle/cruise to 13:1 as the throttle goes to wide open, then gradually increasing to about 11.6:1 at high rpm with full throttle. This is actually very slightly richer than I'd like, so I made the smallest adjustment possible to the mixture screw and on the next series, and the high rpm full throttle A/F ratio is now right at 12.0:1.

The second graph just shows the log of the entire 7 min long 2nd test drive, so it shows normal acceleration and shifting, and a single run to 7K rpm through each of 1, 2, and 3 - starting at around the 2:40 mark.

To me, this is indicating that my Bosch fuel distributor, and the entire FI system, seems to be working correctly - after setting the proper idle mixture, the mixture while driving and accelerating at various rpms is being managed correctly. The air/fuel ratio richens when the throttle opens wide, then continues to richen a bit as rpms build to redline. As an overall indication, it's great... overall. It doesn't differentiate between the front and rear banks, or individual cylinders, though. My LM-2 can run dual wideband O2 sensors, so if I was so inclined I could have a sensor bung welded into each of the header to muffler connector pipes and record the results for each bank. Right now, I don't think there's any indication of a need to do that.
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It's been fun and informative! Do you want to try the LM-2 to check your air/fuel ratios? We could set it up easily at a Cars and Coffee night!

 

I don't think it would make any difference when the engine is revving over 2K rpm... but at idle, there is much greater volume of exhaust that comes out the right side tailpipes (and the hot exhaust; the left side at idle is less volume and cold air!).

For setting the idle mixture, I measured on the right side tailpipe, so I just continued with that for the driving measurements.

 

Here's something you don't see every day - a female moose and her twin yearlings wandering by your 308! We were out at a friend's house on the outskirts of Calgary tonight when this happened. Those things are so tall that they could step over the 308 without brushing their bellies on the roof!
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Time for an update - I recently posted a thread about my Rob Garven extinguisher bracket installation: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/489814-installed-robert-garven-extinguisher-mount-my-308-gts.html , and this weekend I finally got around to installing the BBS E50 wheels I purchased last year. The previous owner had received the wheels as a second set along with a 308 he purchased long ago, but had never run the BBS wheels. These are the same staggered size as the factory 16" wheels, with 16x7 front and 16x8 rear sizes.

The wheels were hardly used, but they were put up wet meaning, they appear to have been near moisture for some period while they were stored, and showed lots of calcium-like deposit buildup on each wheel, the fronts more so than the rears. I tried CLR, then a Dremel with a nylon brush wheel, then a brass brush wheel, to get the worst of the deposit buildup cleaned up, but they're still 5-10 foot wheels (they look fine from 10 feet away, but if you get closer and look at the wheels you'll see the deposits on the front wheels in the nooks and crannies). The lips polished up nicely with aluminum polish, but the centers aren't great up close. It will be a winter project to disassemble the wheels and have the centers bead blasted and repainted.

When I was swapping the wheels, I took the opportunity to weigh the wheels/tires, then subtracted the tire weights from Tire Rack to determine the wheel weights. The Ferrari wheels are actually pretty light, especially for 30 year old tech. The 16x7 front Cromodora magnesium alloy wheels are 15.4 lbs, the rear 16x8 are 15.2 lbs! (They have a thinner mounting boss, perhaps making up for the extra 1" width). The BBS 3 piece wheels, with aluminum alloy barrels and magnesium alloy center pieces, are 15.0 lbs each, front and rear. Because the Continental ExtremeContact DWs on the BBS are 2 or 4 pounds lighter than the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 on the Cromodoras, the BBS/Conti combination is 2.2 to 4.4 lbs lighter than the Cromodora/Michelin setup.

I also got to test fit the Volvo S80 125/80-18 spare wheel/tire I bought over the winter, and confirmed that it fits over the front hub/brake. It doesn't fit over the wider rear hub center, so if I got a flat rear tire, the process would be to install the Volvo spare on the front wheel, then move the good front wheel to the rear position to replace the flat. The only modification required for the Volvo wheel to fit on the front was to drill a couple of extra holes to clear the wheel locating pins on the brake hub. For reference, the Volvo 18" steel wheel and 125/80-18 tire weighs in at 27.2 lbs, compared to 39 lbs for the ancient Ferrari/Michelin TRX wheel/tire that came with the car in the spare well.

The Ferrari lug bolts use a 22mm socket size lug bolt with longer lengths in front than back (due to the centre section width and the brake center thickness variations), and a straight taper seat, the BBS wheels have different centre thicknesses and a 13R ball seat, so I had to buy new lug bolts. (In addition, the Volvo steel wheel is much thinner at the hub section than the magnesium wheels, and I had to buy shorter lug bolts to be able to fasten the spare on tight!) I ended up measuring the Cromodora and BBS wheels' centre section thicknesses, measuring the Ferrari stock lug bolts, and calculating the new length lug bolts needed. I found that the bolt size and pitch is the same as Audi wheels, 14mmx1.5. From ECS Tuning I bought 35mm length for the spare wheel, and 50mm length for the BBS wheels, compared to 40mm rear and 45mm front lengths for the Cromodora wheels.


I'll also include a couple of poor photos of the front tire well, showing the extra space from the Volvo space saver versus the TRX wheel/tire.
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After installing the wheels on Friday night, I got out for a drive to Banff National Park yesterday, and got a few photos with the BBS wheels. I am really liking them!
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It's nearly time for snow up here in Alberta, and the associated salted roads, but I'm still hoping to get in a few more drives this fall. I have one trip planned this weekend to the mountains, and the weather forecast looks good!

I've put on just over 4,000 km since last fall when I completed the major service, and the car runs better and better as it gets driven more. I've had zero problems, I can just get in and drive - well, aside from a small oil drip from the bell housing vent, which I suspect is from a rear main seal leak. That's the only leak now, since I successfully eliminated the cam seal leaks with the major service work, so I can live with it for a while - it wouldn't be Italian if it didn't leak oil from somewhere, right?

There were two nagging minor issues since the timing belt service - it's had a very slight misfire above 6K rpm that could barely be heard, coinciding with the engine acceleration at full throttle flattening out above 6K rpm also. Under 6K, it ran smoothly and pulled strongly. A few weeks ago, I inspected both distributors, and found that the front distributor's center carbon electrode was a few mm shorter and chewed up looking, compared to a longer new unit with the expected smooth, rounded end (see picture). The rotor in the front distributor had carbon deposits instead of a nice polished circle. The rear distributor, by contrast, had a new looking center electrode and rotor (I replaced both distributor rotors 4K km and one year ago, just before the major service).

While the new electrode and rotor would fix a symptom, I doubted they were the root cause - what would cause electrode/rotor carbon transfer like that? I suspected poor contact (weak spring on the center carbon electrode?) but also a weak spark, which would both manifest as a high rpm misfire. I ordered two new coils from T Rutlands, to replace the 31 year old original coils. The orientation of the coil wire terminal was 90* off from the original coils, but they bolted right in easily. Picture shows the new coil sitting above the two original coils in their bracket, then the front coil replaced with the new unit. I did replace both coils (one at a time, test drive in between each! You'll also see a new ground wire for the front coil), and to good effect - the 6K+ rpm misfire is gone, and the engine now pulls strongly through and past 7K rpm.
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The other nagging issue was a coolant temp gauge which would usually, but not always, indicate somewhat higher than normal coolant temps - around or over the 227*F tick mark (3/4 towards hot, between 195 and 250). Often the radiator fans would not be running even at those displayed temps, so I suspected the gauge, but wanted more peace of mind.

So, I pulled the oldest, most beat up pot out of the cupboard, and cooked up 3 servings of thermostat. I had a Behr Made in Italy unit that I removed from the car when I replaced the water pump, hoses, radiator, etc; and I had a VW cross reference Behr made in Germany unit. I also ordered a thermostat from Superformance this summer, and it turned out to be another Behr Made in Italy unit like the one in my car when I bought it!

Using an IR thermometer, I found that the new Behr MiI unit opened at 87C, the old Behr MiI opened at 89, and the new VW-reference Made in Germany Behr opened at 92. I also measured and confirmed that the MiI units have a disc diameter of 36mm, as opposed to 34mm of the VW part number unit, and the throat is a larger diameter on the MiI units as well (confirming recent posts by Birdman on the thermostat subject).

I installed the Superformance-sourced 87C new MiI thermostat, warmed up and bled the system, then confirmed with the IR thermogun that the coolant pipes were running around 90C, even when my coolant temp gauge was showing 210 to 220F (further confirmation that coolant temps were actually OK, the radiator fans were not running - they do come on occasionally as expected).

I may pull the instrument panel this winter and clean the connectors on the coolant temp gauge, but until then I will mostly ignore it's readings if under the third tick... well, unless the lights are on, when the three small instrument panel gauges all jump about 2 needle widths higher! Another winter task, looking for instrument panel ground points to clean...
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Time for an update - in April, the winter hibernation ended with a couple of maintenance items.

Last year, I got a couple of comments from club drivers that the 308 sounded great, except when decelerating, when it rattled like the muffler was full of pebbles. It was still the original, now-32-year-old muffler, so the likelyhood of loose baffles etc. was pretty high. I decided to bite the bullet on a new muffler, and not so surprisingly this time, I found the Tubi muffler from T Rutlands distributor was reasonably priced relative to Capristo, Larini, and other options. If anyone has bought exhaust systems for the likes of BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and other European cars, you'll know that these can be frighteningly expensive - in that context, this one wasn't bad at all.

The muffler arrived in a huge box, well packed, and shrink-wrapped. The entire unit is polished stainless steel, with an even higher degree of polishing on the resonated slant-cut tips (which came wrapped in protective plastic mesh, to keep them from getting scratched during installation). The quality of construction is truly amazing!
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I had replaced the donut seals 2 years ago when I installed the new rear header, so the old muffler came off again easily. Here's old OEM versus new Tubi - the old muffler weighed 46 lbs, while the new unit is only 28 lbs.

The alignment of the new muffler and exhaust tips is actually very good - the tips are properly centered on each side, I didn't have to do any adjustments after bolting it up the first time. They sit about 1/4" lower than the old exhaust tips, but it doesn't look like they are hanging low at all.


The new muffler is not just lighter, it's significantly smaller than the old OEM unit!
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The sound of the Tubi (normal version, not the Loud model!) is perfect - slightly louder at idle and part throttle, and more louder at full throttle as the revs climb. I love it! I will try to get a sound recording soon.

The other maintenance item I attended to at the beginning of May - there are two steel braid covered plastic fuel lines to and from the fuel injection distributor that were still the original 32 year old pieces, and I think one of them developed a slight leak at high rpm/throttle - you could smell a whiff of fuel when accelerating with the rpms over 6500 (only noticed on the last drive of the year after I replaced the coils and got rid of the ignition misfire above 6K rpm).

I had inquired about getting the lines from Rutland, but they didn't have them in stock, and neither did any of the other US sources. Superformance had both lines available in stock, so they got the order.

Here's the banjo fitting on the return line that I think was weeping:
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Here's the old lines removed, then the new replacements installed. With the airbox in place, it's very difficult to see these lines:
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