400i Daily Driver Survives the Winter!

Well, my daily driver 400i survived the winter. No signs of rust (unbelievably) and no failures of any kind (other than the truly astronomical oil consumption, but that is a known issue and just waiting for my 365BB engine to be done to rebuild this one - anyway, does not affect running or power at all). The was was driven in deep snow, salt, even an ice storm - with the four bridgestone blizzaks on 328 wheels, it never stumbled - a great (and hilarious) daily driver.

The only thing that stops it from perfect in the winter is the lack of heat at highway speeds in cold weather - water and oil temps go back to the cold pegs at sustained highway speeds. Never found a good way to block the radiator, but that would likely help.

With respect to the 328 wheels, they bolt on no problemo but the fronts needed an extension machined to hold the horsey cap as it did not clear the wheel bearing dust cap - you can see it in one of the below pics. Anyway, just picked it up from mounting the summer tires, and she looks good - drives better on the gummy tires too! The pics are at Bill Pollard's (Sport Auto in CT) after mounting the tires and oil change, the blue dino is mine too (leaving that one for an oil change) - Bill is as good as it gets - Could not own these cars and run them daily without someone like him! Highly recommended.

Alex

#10704, 18265, and 049773
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

thnx for the update alex!

 

Congrats!

The galvinized body should provide some resistance to rust. Good luck with it!

Regards,

Art S.

PS. I like the 308 GT4 also.

 

That would mask the problem, not solve it. Sounds like a thermostat is stuck open; that kills the motor BTW. Of course, you say you'll be rebuilding it soon anyway...

Congrats on a daily driver, winter Ferrari!!!

Ken

 

You might want to have a chat with the guy that put the tire weights on the OUTSIDE of the rim. Mine are all on the inside.

 

Hi Alex,
I sure respect a guy who loves cars so much he'll take a 25 year old European car and make it a daily driver.

I have a picture of my car at Bill's place in almost the exact same spot as your picture. You want to see what it looked like 2 days before I picked it up and drove it home to Houston?

Dave
'80 400i s/n 31243

P.S. Trans is rebuilt and shifts great now. Still searching for a silver spoke steering wheel in decent shape.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ken:

Nope....water thermostat is NOT stuck open. This is a known issue with these front engine V12 cars - my 365gt (#13141) did the same thing. The problem is that they hold 19.5 quarts of oil and have no thermostat on the oil cooler...like a Porsche 911, on a cold day at highway speeds they become air / oil cooled and keeping the water thermostat closed will not keep them warm.

Alex

 

Dave:

Great picture!!!!!! I am sorry I did not sent the late 400i wheel to you yet - I WILL - going to to London on business, but will try to box (the hard part) and send when I get back next week. Sorry for the delay - and LOVE your car,

Alex

 

jimpo1:

I agree having weights on the outside is ugly - BUT - you will get the best balance by using weights on the inside and outside as necessary - in this case i figure performance is better than beauty.

Alex

 

As I'm sure you've been told many times, you're a very brave man. I always say that a Ferrari should be used and enjoyed to the fullest, but you take it to the next level.

 

now get ready to enjoy the summer driving.

 

While I was in TN, we took the 365 out in freezing conditions one morning on the way to ATL, and no joke, we had to turn the A/C on because of the heat from the motor. I guess the 400i has more cooling capacity...

 

Did you try running the windows down, and heat on? I love to do that on a chilly day in my Porsche.

Alev, very pretty color on your 400i.

 

Too windy that day, the a/c was perfect under the conditions.

 

My tire weights are on the outside as well. It drives me crazy.

Brennan

 

Brennan, I wish I had your problems! That is a beautiful 400 you've got - enjoy it and keep us posted.

 

Yep, mine are also

 

8058041589 didn't sell on eBay. No affiliation, yadda yadda yadda...

 

And, once again, you win the award for best license plates in NY state.

 

beautiful colors on your cars. what do you call the color of the dino?

john

 

(holding head in hands...) I still can't believe that you put that through winter....oh the humanity.

 

Rosso Aqua.....you know all Ferraris are red, right?!?!?

 

This is the old Glidden Salchi Eurolac formulation of "Blu Chiaro" - color code is 106-a-38. Original and very period dino color.

 

and I am going to do it again! and again!!!! Until it rusts away to nothing. Hoping to hit 100k miles before it does, though. No reason to feel bad - they made plenty of 400s, and anyway it spares the Dino and Boxer from the salt!

 

Might as well drive them, who ever sees or uses the 400?