308 with sprint pack option, anyone have one?

Yes my ‘75 appears to have it:
Crackle black cam covers
Ansa quad exhaust
Borgo high compression pistons

Cams were specced as same profile as Daytona but that may have been stock in ‘75.


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My car may have an all or partial "Sprint Package" which was possibly available with varying degrees of performance options. It's a later car, s/n 30693, a 1980 German delivery 308 GTB Carb Dry Sump. I bought the car in Germany in 1985 from Auto Becker, and with <near> 100% confirmation, it came from the factory with the Ansa Quad Sport Exhaust, the deep Euro Spoiler and 16" Speedline wheels with Pirelli P7's (still has the original decal in the front windshield). At this time, I am unsure of the cam specs and if it has the higher compression ratio. I actually "re-bought" the car because I missed it, it was the fastest 308 I had owned, so whether or not Sprint Pack, I love it...

I had researched this a bit, attached are three links below, the first being one of the primary sources cited regarding the "Sprint Package" (Yorkshire Ferret), and two past FerrariChat threads. Also, attached is a picture from a period Maranello Concessionaries Brochure of the "High Performance Accessories" (although not referred to as "Sprint") and poor quality "pictures of pictures" of my car, circa April 1985 at Auto Becker in Germany when I purchased it. Hope this helps... /Paul

1- Yorkshire Ferret Article Regarding 308 Sprint Pack
2- https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/308-special-order-sprint-pack.524748/
3- https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/dealer-installed-lemans-package-for-308.496571/
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A prior owner (Marshall Buck in Los Angeles) used the car for track days so I assume he did the upgrades but unfortunately I have no documentation on the purchase. I posted the cam specs here some time back. Let me see if I can find them.


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A recent post on Instagram from an individual that was a salesman at Maranello Concessionaires when the 308 was a current car. Here's the image he posted :

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Original post : "Ferrari 308 GTB & GTS. Chassis 22513 & 25159. Grosvenor Crescent Mews SW1 1980. Poor photos but interesting as both cars had the rare Maranello Concessionaires Sprint pack engine. My records show only 6 308’s were converted and 22513 was the first and also original press car for the conversion."

Response : "What mods did the sprint pack involve?"

Followed by the same question from another contributor : "What is a Sprint pack engine?"

Answer from a Ferrari mechanic (not the original poster) : "We retro carried out two sprint pack conversions to 308 carb cars . Basically the parts from memory were high compression pistons high lift cams with longer opening duration complete carburetor larger jets kits which included all the larger chokes, emulsion jet main jets emulsion tubes air bleed jets .... could go on but many more to list. Had larger inlet valves and stronger valve springs for higher revs. We charged 16k installed inc parts n labour back in the nineties"

Response from original poster : "I think that’s entirely different and certainly more sophisticated than the Maranello conversion."

Response from another contributor : "Thanks. Horsepower?"

Answer from Ferrari mechanic : "Only managed an extra 40bhp. It was a pig to drive at revs below 3500rpm because of the valve timing overlap. Too much of the air fuel mixture was pushed back out instead of being sucked in . The cams came in around 5000 rpm and the revs was increased to nearly 8200. So you only had 3000 rev range to enjoy the engine. Incidentally the engine was a lot quieter top end at any given rev range due to the cam lobes having a long soft profile. This enabled the valves to close gentler as opposed to the original cam lobe profiles being very short and sharp. It was definitely a factory Michelotto sprint pack engine"

 

On a bored/stroked 3.4, 3.5 or 3.6 2 valve 308 motor, combined with some good quality modern ITB’s, a suitable ECU and a COP ignition system, slightly larger valves, along with some decent springs and retainers, I reckon those P6 cams would release some serious horsepower, and their benefits could be felt at least 1000 rpm lower down in the rev range (and possibly 1500rpm) than on a stock capacity motor running on carbs.

350-370hp fwhp from 3.6 litres spinning at 8,000 rpm. Nice !!

 

Can the 2 valve carb (or injection) heads be ported sufficiently to flow decently enough to produce the numbers I've quoted ? Or would it require 4 valve heads (either 308 or 348 items) ?

 

I've read here that Ferrari made changes to the oil or coolant (or both) passage configurations for the 4V 308, for both the block and heads - so 4 valve heads don't fit or passages don't line up with the 2 valve block. You need a 4V block to use 4V heads.

 

Hi John,
I read through your engine build thread last night. It was very educational, but not only that, it was a lovely build, and very impressive that it went together without much/any drama. I watched your videos too Your engine sounds, revs and pulls superbly, it reminded me more of these than the asthmatic stock motor :



or this :





It's a real credit to you.

Having read your 3.4L project build thread, it's clear that there's plenty of issues with and scope to improve the 2 valve carb motors.
Do you think the carbs are holding the hp and torque back ? I know you said in your thread you were considering fitting ITB's and a modern ECU to control them, did you ever get around to doing it ?

No doubt some further porting to the heads could improve matters ? Or are the port designs really so bad it would be a waste of time ?
I presume you're running stock headers ? They (and the collectors) have never struck me as being particularly efficient.

Are the ports in the valve 308 injection heads a better design than the carb items ?

 

Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me who the instagram post was by of the pictures of the the 308's. Many thanks.

 

The factory, or more likely Michelotto had a kit for the 308 marketed for hill climbs and is a real unicorn. It was a different outer drop gear cover allowing gears of double the width to be used in the idler and driven positions. It came with a selection of gears to allow for a number of ratios. I understand the shortest ratio was only good for about 100 MPH in 5th. At one time I was planning on building a lightweight GT4 hotrod/track car but came to my senses. I did locate one of the quick change gear kits but never did anything about it. Tom Shaughnessy had it. May still have it for all I know. BBLMs use a very similar set up but just put a spacer between the bell housing and the gear cover.

 

Alternatively ( done a lot in the U.K. 308 race series ) is simply retro fit a 208 final drive + gearbox ratios to a 308 .
You loose top speed but gain a “ sprint “ in gear times to about 130 mph .Great for hills + bendy circuits ie a lot of corners and few long straights .

 

I still have a set of P6 cams somewhere

 

I have a set of the Borgo pistons that I need to get around to listing on ebay.


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Are they new? With liners?

 

That is not inherent to the motor, only the 308. The bigger, more powerful 328 has no cooling issues with higher output. My modified 328 has zero cooling issues on the hottest Texas summer afternoons.

 

This package you speak of makes the 308 much less drivable in my estimation.

Big G

 

I'm done with K-Jet, I want carbs