QV vs 3.2

I don't think the QV is any more prone to issues than any other Mondial, the electrical system is the Achilles heel of our cars. 95% of the problems I've had with mine have come down to the fuse/ relay board, usually a bad relay, or burnt connection, and I have an upgraded GT parts board in my car, and I still have the occasional issue. I've taken to doing a service on my relay board every three or four years or so, taking it out, cleaning all the connectors and connections and liberally spraying it with Deoxit and replacing all the relays and fuses and repairing any burnt connections. Mine's a 1988 3.2 cabriolet. And having ABS is a nice extra. It's been a wonderful car for the nine years I've owned it!
Alden

 

As Alden stated, these cars will all face electrical issues at some point. Finding one working well is a challenge but replacing that fuse board and relays is a huge help in this area. Sometimes it's simply due to ancient wiring. My car had some gremlins which were traced to either frayed wires and/or switches with oxidized contacts. I had someone go through the system and fix most of those issues and it works so much better now!
As far as QV vs 3.2, that's a personal choice. If you want to pursue a QV, go for it!! Great cars. Maintenance will be similar. Power difference is not tremendous. Neither car is "fast" by today's standards. But both are excellent to drive. The "t" is in a different category due to the updated engine layout as you may know.
ABS became an option on '87 USA cars. Not sure if it became standard in '88 or remained an option. Anyway, some folks who have it say it's just an extra system to fail, and isn't all that great anyway due to the technology being Gen 1 back then. My 3.2 does not have ABS and the brakes work fine. So not a big deal.
As often advised around here, find a car in the best condition that you can. Good luck!

 

I prefer the 3.2 to the QV. But I would rather have a great QV (especially a Euro coupe) than a dodgy 3.2.

Buy the best example that you can.

 

As all previous said, buy a model in the best conditions you can.
I made it totally wrong with a crappy one, I'm fully rebuilding it now (currently sanding the chassis and I didn't had ANY good news while disassembling!).
Now regarding electricals, I'm not convinced fuseboards are often guilty. From what I saw, the connectors are much more responsible of gremmlins, 'cause the pin contacts are very weak. I'm planning on replacing with better connectors and I'd rather think it'll provide huge improvements.

 

Thats mostly true. The bad connections cause the fragile circuit boards to burn up.

 

The old laminated circuit boards do delaminate and cause all kind of problems, I suggest you just go ahead and get a replacement from GT parts or Guido through Red Bay, and yes the the contacts on the connectors are too small, when I found a burned wire, I replaced the tip with a 3/16 inch gold plated female connector. I think I patched up four or five connections in this manner over the last 8 years of ownership.
Alden

 

OK interesting, thanks. I didn't know that. I'll check my fuseboard carefully when time will come for that.

 

The OEM connector in these pics are turned 90° from where it should be to really get an idea of the comparison between what a full 3/16-in connector and the OEM connector is, but the OEMs are about 1/8 of an inch in bearing surface.

The other photos show a burnt connection on the w connector for the fuel pump, very common and the pigtail that I used with the 3/16 inch gold-plated connector to replace the burnt connections.
Alden
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My GT parts fuse board the last time I serviced it, maybe 2 years ago, and you can see that the previous owner still took the fuel pump circuit off the board. (Red wire on left)
Since then I've had to replace a couple of relays one for the cold start, and one for the operation of the headlight motors, this is a go-to place if there's a problem and an ongoing maintenance thing to prevent and solve problems.
Alden
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And make sure you get a wiring diagram for your car, user "afterburner" has made some great color drawings with details that can actually be read.
Alden

 

Odd, you still have to service that GT part board every 2 years !. Havent looked at my board since installing it in 2007. Just looking the fuses once in a while to see they have no corrosion on the connectors. Otherwise I leave relais and wires in place without touching them.

 

I've never found anything wrong with the board, I always do take it apart to verify that all the solder joints are good and that I can thoroughly clean all the contacts on the board.

I know yours are hard wired up like a Russian tank Guido! But yours requires the tedium of replacing every connector on the entire board was not something I had to do since this board was installed by the previous owner and works well with just a little maintenance for peace of mind.
Alden

 

Replacing the wire connectors with other bigger connectors in brazz and cutting the white plastic wire connector holders is indeed the only negative. It is a 2 to 3 hour job and needs attention so as not to mix up with the wires. But once this is done, you forget about it and you don't have to take care of it anymore. Haha...
"hard wired up like a Russian tank". That wiring system has also been used in the Soyuz space vehicles

 

I bought one of your boards and I've not had any electrical gremlins.

Although, I haven't driven more than 1,000 miles (probably less than that) from install over the last 7 or so years.

 

And early Mig fighters!

Really, Guido's solution is a great design, but if I choose to replace all my connections with 3/16 females, then the job is done. I have chosen to replace the bad connections as I find them and service the entire board with new relays and fuses while examining all connections and solder joints. It was left to me this way by the previous owner, I didn't even know I had a GT parts board until a couple of years ago when I posted pics here.
The point remains: if you have trouble, look to the electrical system first, don't go chasing gremlins until you check out the electrical systems first.
Get an electrical schematic, and, if you are able, start tracing problems from there.
"Occam's razor"applies here, most of the time, if it is served by the electrical system, my experience says that most of the time, that is the problem.
Alden

 

I too got the GT Car Parts fuse box AND the Dave Helms “heat/hot wires separate heat mgmt box” about 8years ago. Not one electrical problem since!

I opened my original fuse box and looked at the printed circuit. Mechanical connections (rivets) inside plus corrosion and deterioration at riveted fitting/connection — and as I recall, the very thin laminated printed circuit board was FOLDED before being stuffed into the black fuse box. Folded (yikes), riveted (yikes), not water/moisture proof (ditto), with hot circuits (radiator fans, fuel pump, etc., in there too. Did I mention folded, thin, printed circuits made in the fairly early days of printed circuit technology. Had to go!


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The ABS brakes system works very well even though it is an early system. It was made by Teves, and shared with some Jaguars and a US Lincoln in its day. But parts for this system are essentially unobtainable. If they ever fail and need a rebuild, I don't know who could do a rebuild of something like this. There is also the ABS computer.

I think if the ABS system fails it reverts to regular braking. But the lack of spares or rebuilding support could be a future problem, unless there is sufficient demand for someone to create niche rebuilder opportunity.

Otherwise, the 3.2 is simply a model that had many small detail refinements, and is the better car for it. The QV with its black bumpers can look better in some body colours, and the 3.2 does soften the fundamental wedge look a bit that detracts from the original design. But I think the 3.2 will hold up over time as representative of the best, quality wise, of the Ferrari's built in that period and maybe since as well.