hi everyone i'm confused. in the eleven years i've read articles/stories on 308s i never once came across anything that suggested 78-79 model year 308s had 205hp. seemed like 240hp was the US spec carb engine for 76-79 model years. yet i've recently come across a thread or two on this site where it seemed pretty clear that 78-79 308s have 205hp. i can't confirm this with general internet searches. so i'm turning to you guys for a definitive answer on this issue. thanks john
Yup. Check page 13 of your owner's manual, available for free in PDF from owners.ferrari.com if you don't have a real one! I'm sure you've read the reasons in the threads here and were just looking for a definitive reference.
Checking by individual year you'll find a revision in cam profiles in 1978, along with the addition of catalytic convertors. It is this change in cams that causes the 1976, 1977 non cat cars to be stronger......... 78's and '79s, while still carbureted, generally are accepted at the lower 205HP number. We had a chatter this week post dyno graphs of his incredibly strong ( and de catted) '79 and based upon the power curves decided he had the older cams in his engine. You may be reading one of the more general titles on Ferrari V-8s which while pretty good can have some inaccuracies....... I have two '77s, steel. The glass 76's have the same engine and urban myth suggests they have about 300# in weight savings, making them the quickest of all 308s, until the 308QV was released... HTH I think also the SAE revised it's procedure for HP ratings during this time period, as well......obviously Dynos are measuring it at the rear wheel vs. flywheel ratings...
yeah, just checked the owner's manual. it states 205hp. so is it just cams and cats eating up horsepower? can i replace my stock cats with hyper-flow cats and different cams and regain the difference? i've heard something about P6 cams, do i need those or the 76-77 cams or just rework the ones i have? thanks for info so far john
i remember that 1979, i saw it for sale when i was looking for a 308. passed on it because it was red! i also saw that thread from a week or so ago. john
I think P6s are a step above stock '76 -'77 cams, they are the racing cams, I think, from Group 4..........anyone???? And I think modern cats would definately see an improvement. Hat's off to ya' for maintaining the system! We have 25 year exemption here, so you would not necessarily need them, but to pass a Smog Check it'd be nice to have them.....
Boy, guys, I missed this dyno thread, where's that? As for getting the HP back, most of the discussion I've seen indicates that freeing up the exhaust, changing the cams & distributor timing & re-jetting will get you there. Those cams are kinda rare birds, but some of the previous discussions indicated that most of the gain was on the intake side, and you could always send yours to webcams.com or that guy Jack Edelen or something? I wish I could remember at the moment!
Oh, checking a chart I have here, it appears there were some minor jetting changes as well, in 1978.... Mains went from 1.35 to 1.25, and some other carb components changed as well, nothing that couldn't be modified though........
It was "Help me understand....." in GFD, from the guy whose '79 didn't go $$$, on ebay. He had a dyno graph that was REAL strong....he posted it. Concensus was, he had been 'backdated' to '77 spec's.!!! He was missing cats and header cladding as well. Nice Jet Hot treatment though.
yes, i decided against straight pipes and decided that hyper-flow seemed like the better choice even though in VA i'm exempt from smog. so my next question is: who can do this mod work? i am willing to ship the car out of state to get it done. i placed a call to norwood's in texas, i'm waiting on a call from james patterson. anyone else? john
Surely there's some East coast shops that can get this done for ya! Have you monitored chat in the VA Regional Section? Texas seems a LOOOOONG way to go, for what is really not a huge deal.....
forgot to mention: i'm interested in keeping as many factory parts in the motor as possible, but earlier/later components are ok. just don't want to end up with half ferrari/half total custom motor. i'm not so interested in resale value (!) because i ain't sellin'. this purchase was the culmination of 11 years of dreaming (since i was in high school). john
Gaining back the HP is neither easy nor cheap. The changes are not just cats, and cams, but also timing, and jetting. Go check on prices for 308 cams..... Once the archives are back on the old site, you will find a ton of threads on the subject and very specific differences between the 78-79 cars and the earlier cars.
bigtex, when i first bought my car i posted in the VA section a thread about independent ferrari shops in the area. got 4-5 names, but nothing i had heard of before except patrick's shop in leesburg. my dad had a bad experience with them so i'm not too keen on going there. my motor, even at almost 43K miles runs like a top. i'd like to keep it that way so i'm not willing to take a risk on a shop i don't know anything about. at least i've heard good things about norwoods. but correct me if i'm wrong john
I'm in Houston, so have not used Norwoods, but the Dallas guys seem to like them. They've been there a long time, always a good sign! My tech here has been around that long as well. As Dave Letterman says.... "I want the guy building my Ferrari engine to already have 40 or 50 under his belt...."
dave, i am aware of the cost. i remember reading some of those threads a while back. i realize it's much cheaper to sell this car and buy a 76-77. probably cheaper to just get a QV. but, i'd like to keep this one. i just like it. bigtex, ok, i'm interested. who is your tech? john
Hi Guys, I'm the owner of the "strong" 308 that posted the dyno sheet on the earlier thread. I happen to live in Virginia and have a good shop to recommend: abacus racing. Their site is http://www.abacusracing.com/ , talk to Rob (owner) and tell him I sent you. They tuned my car, re-jetted and dyno'd it. The car turned out great and the ignition work they did was great too, at OK prices. BTW, my car is still for sale Thanks, Bernardo
Hey Bernardo! Yea, we were just guiding him thru the specs........thanks for that recommendation! He's upstate.
Hi BigTex! I imagined he'd be upstate...still Virginia Beach might be closer than Texas!! Also, if he came by, I'd get to meet another Ferrari owner, which is always a good thing...
A lot closer!!! Yea, we've got four or five guys here, all in 77's.........we had three together at the paint shop, the other day! The paint man liked RED best........LOL! I told him, "finish yellow, finish blue, THEN RED!!"
I've always liked red Ferrari's, but they look nice in almost every color. I remember the first Ferrari I drove was a light metallic green 308GT4...color was VERY ugly...but I was 17 and the sound of those webbers has stayed with me since, and to me at the time, the nicest car in the world was that green 308GT4!
"205 was the 81-82 GTBi/GTSi" The Numbers for the 78 & 79 are correct @ 205 HP @ the flywheel. The 1980 -1982 308i series puts out a real 194 HP @ the flywheel.
