Can anybody tell me how many Daytonas were built with the -A designation. I have heard that there were 20 built with a higher compression head to produce 380hp vs the norman 352hp. Is that correct and were there any other differences? Lastly, what is a fair price to redo the timing belts and adjust the valves and check the transaxle on this car? Any other common bugs that I need to watch out for?
Despite all of the common hype, the "A" designation has nothing at all to do with higher compression, hotter cams, or any of the other various perfomance enhancements that have been attributed to it. The "A" only identifies a car as being a late European Daytona with retractable headlights. That's it! As for how many were built, I think Gerald Roush had 85 or so in his database the last time we discussed this here and the number was growing as more of the cars came to light.
Wayne is of coarse exactly right... the "A" designation has nothing to do with any sort of performance enhanced stuff. You should not pay any sort of premium for an "A" car, they are no different from any other Daytona. Also, the Daytona does not use timing belts. It has chains. Unlike cars that do use belts, these chains will last as long as the engine does, they do not need to be changed. Adjusting the valves is a pretty straight forward process involving shims and buckets like most Ferraris of this vintage. I would expect to pay perhaps $800 - $1000 for a valve adjustment. What makes you think the car needs a valve adjustment? Im not sure what you mean by "check the transaxle?" If the car drives and shifts well with no noises from the transaxle area then I would call it good. A bad transaxle would exhibit whining or grinding noises and/or you would have poor shifting from bad syncro rings. A complete transaxle rebuild usually runs $3K - $5K. If your concerned more about general maintenance and things to look for when purchasing a Daytona, check out the engine. Do a compression test and leakdown. Make sure its running strong and pull hard all through the rev range. You dont want excessive smoke from the exhaust, that may indicate leaking valve seals, but some smoke on startup is normal. Some cam chain rattle is normal but it should not be excessive. Daytonas are very robust cars mechanically. Have a Ferrari mechanic who knows the car do a pre-purchase inspection of coarse. The area I would suggest you really pay attention to is the body. They rust! They are old cars, the factory did nothing at assembly to prevent rust and many cars may have very poor bodywork hidden by lots of bondo and such. Really go over the car and assess the body to make sure it does not have rust and the body is correct. Also, look at all the little details. Interior trim, badges, all the little detail stuff is expensive to replace. A good paint job done properly will really set you back, so you want nice paint. Daytonas are tons of fun, my favorite Ferrari. But make sure you buy a good one. You cannot turn the $100K beater into the nice $140K driver (much less the $160K+ show car!) for the difference in price! Terry
