This is good advice. Remember everything Russ just itemized would apply not only to a Mondial 8, but any 30+ year old Ferrari. Truth be told it took me about a year to get everything 'fully' sorted. Go ahead, call me a sadomasochist, but I enjoyed bringing back a long neglected car to something that brings a huge grin on my face every time I open the garage. Yup - my friend did this exact thing - didn't seem to bad. Russ is correct, the Mondial's are not to be purchased for drag racing new Mustangs and Cameros. You will be bitterly disappointed if this is your primary purpose. But if you like carving up canyons at sane speeds, enjoy having a beautiful mechanical orchestra behind you, and participate in a brotherhood of 'stewards' of these cars for the next generation - you found the right car. Also knowing you can drive for literally 'years' and not see another Mondial and having something so unique - has always been very rewarding. Sort of like not having to show up at a party with the same shirt as 3 other guys. Russ, I believe 100% you had a horrible experience, just hoping you keep an open mind that not every single Mondial owner had (or will) have the same negative experience (I know I haven't) If you haven't had a chance to view this video, (i'm sure you've already seen it) - but here it is just in case you have not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHkU1h_sKM4 "In my car collection, I have a Mondial QV... I love my Mondial with a passion. My car guy pals think I'm just a little bit strange, why you got a Mondial QV? Because it's just a cool car. What they don't understand is that I need cars to communicate with me....and it puts a smile on me face. This really is a cool car." -John Pogson - The Drive May 2016 6 Time British Championship Winner for Ferrari 15 Years Ferrari Engineer in Maranello 25 Years Ferrari Specialist in Italia Autosport Be well Russ.
I have seen Pogson's video, more power to him. He admits to selling that car several times which I found strange if he was in love with it. Is he a vintage car dealer? The video seemed rather professional for a mere enthusiast. Also I don't see my experience as anomalous. In fact I think my car had less issues than normal. For example, my sunroof worked for 20 years. I never had to replace my fusebox either. I just did not like the car. The exterior looks were OK in black which tones down the bumpers etc, but I hated the interior style/fit/finish, and I was underwhelmed by the performance. And most of all I did not like spending supercar money on parts and service for a docile car that appreciated about as fast as it accelerated ie not very. In comparison to my 308 GTSi and 308GT4 the handling, which seems to be the exonerating factor in the mind of many, wasn't anything special. It was so heavy I was scared something might let go in the corners. And in fact something did ... my header tank. The rubber mounts let go and the tank landed on the smog pump pulley which promptly cut a hole in it spewing coolant all over the show. I probably would have kept it had I not moved to TX, as it is very hard to get a decent price for an 8. I was getting ready to drive it down here, had already registered it, when it sold. Frankly I did not trust it to make the 2000 mile journey without stranding me in some small town where the mechanics "don't work on fer'n cars".
I suppose that's possible, but in my experience with Fiats, only the valves get bent. The head would need to come off, but that can be done with the engine in the car. This would be a fairly simple job for an experienced mechanic. The timing belts in the Ferrari are actually pretty stout. I would be more worried about the grease in the idler bearings, that will be dried out after 30 years. These bearings can actually be re-greased. Or you could upgrade to the Hill Engineering bearings.
I bought it with 65K miles. She now has 67K miles, almost all trouble free in the 2 years I've had her. These are amazing and fun cars to own. And, since you can wrench, they are easy cars to work on. Don't let the comments about parts expense scare you. For the most part, that's not true. Many parts are shared with other cars of the era. Fuel injection system -- Mercedes V8s an 190e. Cold Start Valve - Volvo and Jags. The sunroof motor and cable are common to porsche 924/944. Alternator (bosche), A/C compressor (Sanden) and more are found in other common cars. I've spent many happy hours in a pick-n-pull yanking fuel injectors from a 190e (yes, I know they are only $30 new, but I enjoy the visits to pick-n-pull). The only major issue I've had in 2 years was my alternator died. $3K replacement from Ricambi, $2K from Ferrari. My son and I yanked it out -- It is a Bosche. Took it to a local alternator/generator rebuild shop and they completely refurbished it for $110. As for the car itself, it's a blast to drive and own. I take it to at least one car meet per month. It's always the only Mondial there. At our local cars and coffee - there will be 15+ 430s, 458s, 488s. 5-10 Lambos, Mclarens, etc. But only 1 Mondial. She attracts more attention than the new Ferraris (and mine is no show car - cosmetically she's about a 6 on a scale of 10). In 2 years of ownership, the only failures I've had are: Alternator (mentioned above) - Refurbished for $110 Weeping fuel line (replaced with new line from Autozone) about 20$ Sun Roof Cable (replaced with $10 Pick-n-pull cable from a wrecked 924) Battery - bought new one for $100 Power Antenna - Exact replacement found at Autozone for $60 Brake light - Replaced with $5 bulb from Autozone Speakers - didn't really fail ,they just sounded crappy. Replaced with $80 set from Best Buy I've also put money into other areas: Leather seat refurbishment - I bought a Leatherique kit for about $350 New Tires - Bought from DiscountTire for about $500 (installed) Note - I have standard 16" wheels installed. I also have the original TRX wheels, but they are in the garage. Oh yeah, almost forgot. I spent $500 (for a 5 year term) for custom license plates. "Mondial" was available in Texas, so I got it. My wife gives me crap about having a license plate that has the same name as the car. But, I think it's cool. The last item that I'm planning on spending money is the A/C compressor. It works, but it makes a weird squealing noise between 3K and 4K RPM. sounds like the bearing going bad. As it's a Sanden, I'm not sure if I'm going to attempt to rebuild/refurbish, or just purchase a new one. That's it. The car has been fun to own, fun to drive, fun to show, and relatively cheap to maintain. And I've never had any bad or ugly comments from people at car shows, meets, etc. Enjoy your car. I think you'll find they are fantastic machines. People on this (or other forums) whom want to compare performance with a modern car, just don't get it. There's far, far more to these cars, than simple performance. There's a mystic about Ferraris that just doesn't exist with most modern cars. Sid
I will post updates and pictures as i go. I'm still sorting through what has been done recently and what still needs to be done. The last owner overfilled the oill by 7 qts and it was smoking like a frieght train. I drained the oil last night and refilled it to the correct amount, Cleaned the intake components, and what a difference. There's still oil in the exhaust but that should burn out in a few good heat cycles. There is still attention that i need to give to the valve train. Cylinders 5 and 6 and leaking through the intake valves so im going to do a complete valve adjustment and see if that cures it (which i believe that is the problem) the rest of the cylinders are within spec for compression and leakdown. The shim set up is identical to some of the bikes I've built over the years so it should be easy. I've been looking at getting an engine service kit from Rutlands and do a few more things while im in there too. (Bearings, seals, etc) . Im sure I'll have questions about some things i find. Judging from the reactions im getting, im in good hands. And Russ i have read some of your posts about your mondial experience. That helped me in a way decide on which one to buy so thank you . We all have been burned on things time to time and all we can do is educate the masses on our experiences and pass on the wisdom. I plan on bringing some new ideas and insight to everyone in the ways that you all have in the past. This project means the world to me and i will do my best to keep the mystique alive and well. My dad always says that you can make anything better, and i plan doing just that. And the Mrs is on board with some 360 rims and tires and a turbo or SC kit ! Score !
And like bikes, the valve seat will wear faster than the shim/cam lobe. Meaning that without adjustment, you will eventually end up with valves that don't close. Better the intake than the exhaust. Without hard evidence of belt/idler maintenance, I would take a look at that also.
If the crank case is overfilled, the chances are the genius who did that drained the gear oil (CAMBIO)_thinking it was the motor oil (MOTORE) so I would check that the gearbox has oil in it, and listen for noisy gears. When you have the plenum off change all that rubber. Don't drop plenum fasteners into intake manifold. Easy to do.
I thought exactly the same after reading about the 7 gts overfill, that's no coincidence. There is a high probability the gearbox is empty and need to be checked and eventually refilled before any driving. When you are lucky this will solve the gear noise.
Regarding the turbo upgrade, it has been done (Norwood did one). But they had trouble with the intercooler so they left it out. That caused the motor temps to climb dramatically when on boost, so the car had to be driven with one eye on the temp gauge and the foot mostly off the boost. When I asked them why they did not replace the plenum with an intercooler, they told me it was extremely difficult to implement that idea while maintaining even distribution of charge to all 8 cylinders. By definition an intercooler has narrow passageways and that restricts flow to the "corners". In addition you would need to lower the compression by changing out the pistons as well, and you would likely need to have custom pistons made as machining the head would be very tricky; and not sure how well the nikasil sleeves will hold up. You cannot bore or hone nikasil. And apparently you can't buy new liners any more either so when your liners are toast your motor is done. Of course the 208 is a turbo. You might try to copy the intake on that, but there are probably less than 3 of those in the USA. For all of these reasons, the path of least resistance to getting more power seems to be going to 3.5 liters which entails changing almost all of the moving parts in the short block. If you are going to do that, you might as well find a wrecked 348 and put that motor into the car. Or as I suggested above, lose the back seat and put an LS motor in longitudinally. Or you could make it pretty, sell it, and buy a 348.
"While I'm not currently looking for an 8, it would be difficult to turn down one in Oro or Verde" The only Mondial I know of in metallic green is the one Dr. Fink bought. You might ask him whether he has had enough yet. In gold ... really?
Yes, both colors were offered for the 8. Here's a couple of Oro QVs. Marrone and Verde also. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, and perfect on the 8 and QV with the black bumpers and trim. I don't think it would look as good on the 3.2 or t, in my opinion.
I have an Oro Chiaro one, overpainted in red but will be repainted in gold late this / early next year
Wow that gold is amazing!! We have a 3.0QV and a 3.2QV the 3.0 is my favourite, I think it's looks are way more elegant than the later 3.2. I've driven a well set up 8 and was amazed how bloody quick it was, I absolutely loved that 2 valve motor. It's interesting when I bought the Countach I got the Qv motor rather than the LP400 2 valve car. At the time the QV cars were at a premium....not so now. I think the Mondial 8 represents the purest version of the car and in time it'll be probably greatly coverted by the next generation of followers who want style over performance. For me the Mondial 8 is the best looking Mondial just like the LP400 is the best Countach.....and the Aston DB5 is better than the newer DB6 and so on. Congratulations!! Fix it and drive it because life is for living and you'll never regret all the times you drove your Ferrari, you only regret the times you didn't... Regards Bell Bloke
I agree Bell, and surprisingly to me, the 8 looks best in every color except red or black. And this coming from a "black only" fan.
@Mechanical Dad, congratulations on the '8'. You'll love it! Have a RHD '82 in French Blue, admittedly not the most powerful but sounds so good on cam and a beautiful drive through the lanes and at the end of the day, it is a real Ferrari. BTW, the previous owners swapped the TRX wheels for Maserati 3200 wheels that fitted straight on. Tyres for these are far easier to get a hold of, not that I've needed to yet.
Congratulations on your purchase. Whilst I no longer have a Mondial I will remember the time I did fondly. It was not without problems but then when I bought it (A 1983 QV) it was 23 years old. What 23 years old properly used car is not going to have problems? In the UK I generally found parts and repairs quite reasonable, especially compared to the F355 which replaced it (still a great car). My QV was a bit unreliable for a time which was mainly down to poor coils, an old battery, fuse box (namely fuel pump fuse) and an aftermarket security system. Once those had been repaired/replaced it was a superbly reliable car. I should point out that it never left me stranded. I never had to call out the recovery services. I have done that with much more modern machinery. As for the performance. The QV in Europe had from the factory approx 240bhp. It was more than enough. Granted there are many regular cars that were quicker, but most were (for me) no where near the experience of a Ferrari. I had to regularly pinch myself . Today I have a 360, there are still plenty of cars out there quicker. There's always something faster and quite often not one you would expect. I'm way too mature to traffic light grand prix now anyway. I shouldn't but do love it in that colour and those wheels.
Here you go Wade ... a green 360 for the price of a Mondial https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5794748317.html
Congratulations on the new car! Since you mentioned Norwood doing the PPI, is this the 8 that was in Dallas on Craigslist and eBay for so long? If so, it's nice to see that someone has come to its rescue. Sounds like it's in capable hands. Good luck with the project! 2cam
