308GT4 engine rebuild?

She was sleeping riding shotgun, didn't see a thing....LOL!

Yes it's really a motorcycle road, but the old 308GTB just seemed to be happier and happier as we ran thru the tanks of gas...

At the end of the trip we realized we should have spent two lazy weeks instead of four hurried days...we'll come back someday...

Brakes boiled in Yosemite and almost took the 6000 foot cliff to the valley below, but that was the NEXT day! We live for danger.....everywhere we went, fantastic car people.....

Back to the thread, maybe it just needs valve guides, no large deal...

 

You sell it to Rutlands for about $9K. That seems to be about the going rate for a decent parts car.

Birdman

 

The Sonoma Hotel, I know it well. Just across the street from El Dordado Hotel and Piati (now closed sadly) on Spain, at the Northwest corner of the square. My wife and I like The Thistle Dew Inn, just down the street too.

Sonoma is without exception, my favorite destination. We've been doing a little picnic lunch thing to (now Bartholemew, previously Hacienda) the little winery behind the Agnosto Harzethy museum, for about 15yrs. Always makes a great day.

Brian... Sorry for the hijack. You're so lucky to live so close to there. You, Serg and Aaron should make a day of it sometime. I'll give you directions if you like. Viansa, Gloria Ferrar, Angelo's Deli, Bartholemew... Just be sure to bring your girl!

 

So offer the guy $5K for it and rebuild the engine as an Fchat project! (Wife would kill me, but I might do it for $5K.)

Birdman

 

Better yet, buy mine. I'll buy that one, and... and... and...


.......and my wife'll kill ME!!!!

 

Check Speedy and Zupra's Cafe for my latest pics......in OT.

What is this "wife" thing? LOL! We have been engaged for several years, that's enough!

She drives the car well, also, but cannot see at night, that deer would have been in BIG trouble! ROTFLMAO!

 

No, that would get BOTH of us killed!

 

Smart man!! LOL!

 

1/2" thick wood.

Sorry, no pattern, I cut it to fit.

 

Thank you Peter!

It looks like a great device.

Any suggestions/tips on how to proceed with making one?

 

Yikes! I just typed a huge long diatribe and then I check my email again and I have a note from the seller saying that he sold the car yesterday.
Hopefully we all win this way, the seller, the buyer, and me.

 

Oh no!

Is that the end of this thread?

 

Brian....sorry to hear that, my friend. With a little luck, maybe the new owner will register on FChat and we'll get to follow the saga from the outside.

Let me know if you find anything out from Fantasy Junction about the other car. If you're going to head up that way, lemme know, because I've never been and would LOVE to go.

Aaron

 

The car at Fantasy Junction was sold, well at least they had a deposit on it a few weeks ago.

 

The guys at Fantasy Junction are cool.

Got my first drive in a Ferrari there. A '75 365 GT/4 2+2, Black/Tan 5-speed.

It was my dream car, and perfect color combo. $18.5K. It had been sitting for two years, so it had some "issues". Rat's living on the engine, eating hoses, etc.... Not a pretty site.

But it ran okay. Spongy brakes and clutch, and a rip in the center console where someone had installed a old-style cell phone.

Still.... I liked that car alot.

That red GT4 with the BBS rims was for sale before, by someone in Brisbane, I think. Not sure how FJ ended up with it.

Have any of you seen it up close?

 

I'm not. I was looking for the perfect opportunity and this one didn't pan. There will be others. Heck, I'm afraid that if Serg knew where I lived he'd already be on his way with the pink slip in hand! There are cars for sale all the time. The right one will come by at the right time.

I hope he doesn't find this thread!

That GT4 is no longer on the website, but there's still plenty of reason to go. I'll be outta town for the next three weekends, so here's what you should do: Start now organizing a drive after a Santana Row meet up to Fantasy Junction for July 29 or August 5. I would organize it but it would be a tough call for me: Subaru or Volvo? Hmmmm.

SHOTGUN!!

 

That's the Ferrai conventional wisdom, and I don't get it. It was styled by one of Italy's most famous styling houses. And it looks good even today. Not many cars from the '70's still look as good as this car does today. It looks far less dated than the Mondial, I think. Ok, well, that car is sort of unloved also, but....
And it's not a Ferrari, it's a Dino. And it's only got eight cylinders instead of 12, and the engine is in back transverse, not up front facing the right way. So I guess that's what's holding 246 prices down? That piece of non-Ferrari crap only has six! Pshhaw. Who would want one of those? Well, at $110k, apparently not just me.

How easy it would be for the fairy tale to be different. The 308GT4's dimentions and configuration were chosen by Enzo himself, built around him to fit him. This is a super rare Bertone body, the first of the wedge cars that led the way for the wildly sucessful 308, 328, Mondial, etc. and the beginning of the eight cylinder engine family that continues to this day. This robust engine was a winner right out of the chute (unlike GM which despite its resources never gets the frist model year right) sounding delightful through all those carbs, making more horsepower for its displacemment than most cars of its day, and eventually sported more displacement and four valve heads. And that's why these are so desireable and why they trade for $100,000.

Now start spreading that right after I get my car!!

 

Take some cardboard, rough cut it and hold it up to the sides and rear window, trim to fit and then trace it all to plywood/particle board/whatever else and screw/nail it together. Obviously, protect the body work from scratches from this wood guard (line the edges with cloth, or some other soft fabric).

It's there to protect the body and especially the rear window ($$$) from wayward-swinging of the engine when it's being hoisted out.

 

It might be 2 different cars...the one at FJ and the one you saw for sale in AUS. The FJ car was owned locally by an independant Ferrai mechanic for a while....

 

You may be right that they are two different cars.

But I' certain the one I saw was in Brisbane, and it had the same BBS rims the FJ car has. I remeber this, because I was seriously considering a trip up there to go look at it. I was even planning on staying with my aunt who lives in Mt. View. And then it was a week or so later (that one still being "on my mind") when I found the one in Oregon, that I eventually bought.

If they're two different cars though... I wonder what became of the other one. It was on Craigslist, as I recall. I think I have a couple of pictures of it. I've saved most of them. I'll look to see if I have another picture of it.

The part about it being owned by a mechanic, seems familiar too. But that may just be from the ad that FJ posted. If they didn't mention that in their ad's then it's probably the same car.

I remember there being a white 365 up there too, that was owned by a mechanic, and I was wondering if it was the same person who owned both cars.

 

Wait...I'm sorry - I thought you were talking about Brisbane, AUSTRALIA!!!!! Couldn't figure out why a car from there would be on your radar, but whatever, I'm a fool. Everybody point and laugh!

:leaving:

 

The FJ car was owned by Johannes of Dino Motors. He sold it to as local guy who put 500 miles on it. Then he found a Euro spec GT4 and put the US GT4 up for sale via Fantasy Junction. Not sure where Johannes lives, but his shop is in San Mateo and he owns several Ferraris.

Serg

 

Had to make a similar decision with a 348-engine a couple of weeks ago. Cyl. 5 was damaged in my t and as it came across my way I deciced to put in an as-new engine. Engine came 10.000 EUR.

If the rest of the car is in good shape I would calculate maybe 15.000 $ for a new (or rebuilt) engine. I would then establish the price I would be willing to pay for a car with a running engine, let´s say 25k. If the seller is willing to sell the car for 10k I would prefer this constellation over other cars, b/c I could be sure, that the engine is in perfect shape.