1979 308 GT4

I use their stuff including the electric polisher. I wouldn't worry about it unless you know for a fact that your paint is very thin. You might look for a scratch filler too to get the swirls out. Haze lifters (Maguires) to remove surface crud. Then follow up with a several coats of Griot's carnuba paste wax. It won't be perfect but it will look better.

 

It is actually plastic sheeting. I don't see the plastic material in the parts manual. The other door had some plastic sheet that was different in texture (smooth) and held on with strips of putty instead of tape. I know that a 250 I used to own had fiberBOARD instead of fiberGLASS doorpanels and it had the plastic also, which I presumed was to protect the fiberboard. With the gt4's fiberglass, I'm not shure what the plastic is doing. I took the fiberglass doorpanel off my testarossa once and I don't think it had the plastic sheeting underneath, but I can't recall for shure.

 

Thank you for the advice. My black testarossa was 'professionally' polished before I got it (7 years ago) and I am still cleaning excess polishing compound from the slats and nooks and crannies. I suspect they used a large wheel and it sprayed the excess compound all over the place.

Perhaps the smaller wheel like the porter-cable device sold by Griot's is not as messy?

 

A while back I posted pictures showing how I had placed 1/4 inch rubber grommets in the door to hold the door trim strip in place. They were still a little loose so I put some heat-shrink tubing over the metal pegs in the trim strip and now it holds well.
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I don't read the news paper but one day while eating lunch a paper was opened up to the classified section right in front of me. I could not help but notice this ad and I tore it out and carried it around in my wallet for a few weeks. I started refreshing my memory on gt4s (I had wanted one in the 70s but forgot about them since). Then I saw the post about this same car on ferrarichat (the first post in this thread) and figured I would call the guy and see the car.

The owner could not meet me to see it but he told me it was in an unlocked grarage and the keys were in it and I should take it out and see how I like it!

I went back a few days later with my father, who had just come back from the FCA meet with a Platinum for his 100% original 308, which he drove to the meet and back (car still runs with 4 sets of points, still has the thermoreactor and still has the tag that hangs from the quarts clock telling how to set it).

So my father encourages me to make an offer, and I do, so when I go to make arangements to pick up the car I, of course I call dad and let him know 'we' got the car and ask how I can get the xx thousand dollars he is going to lend me to buy it, and of course he says 'what? I never said that!'

Well now I am in over my head now because I can't get the money out of the bank without my wife finding out ("...what about that new kitchen floor with the built in heater we were supposed to get...")

So then I frantically call up every one that I know that likes my red BMW m3 with sunroof and offer it to them for some rediculously low price to pay for this 308, hoping the wife won't notice the car swap. ('...honey, didn't that red car used to have blue and white badges on it instead of that cute little horsey...?')

Eventually with all the comotion and phone calls my wife figures something is going on, though, I was able to convince her that, like omgjon in this thread http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=135574860&postcount=1, this was going to be a good 'bonding' project for my oldest son and I. My son is not in school and he will have a lot of time to work on the car. Never mind that he is only three years old...
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I've used the Griot's polisher/polish/wax on my gt4. The results are nothing less than spectacular. I didn't tell anybody locally I was doing this and the first time I showed up at a club event everyone thought I got it repainted. Mine was just as scratched as yours, so much so that it seemed pink instead of red. Machine polish 3 and the Porter-Cable orbital got rid of 90+% scratches. If the applicator pad is ever so slightly damp and you don't overdose the pad with polish you get great results and little mess to clean up. The polish is very difficult to rub off though, I suggest washing your car again to get it off.

 

One of my Crane systems was missing the "Molex" style connector and it was replaced with good old electrician's tape. While searching for a replacement connector I came across these mini 3 prong, o-ring sealed locking connectors. These will make a good addition to the conversion of this into a hidden, or less conspicuous system.
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Had to coast home yesterday when the "Valvola unidirezionale" PN 111790 plugged up. I notice that the eruopean version does not have this valve.
Parts search on Dennis Mccann's site and Ricambi USA shows a blank for 111790.

Is this thing really needed? Can I just hook it up without this part and be on my way again?

(The valve in question is Number 60 in the parts diagram below)
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I took off the offending valve and hooked up the system like the european system.

Here is the european setup:
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The first photograph is the system prior to touching it. The hoses had been replaced at some time in the past with USA 5/16 hose.

The next photograph shows new hoses, except for the hose originating from the fuel tank. The replacement hose to the fuel tank is already attached at one end to the fuel filter and the other end is ready to go on the fuel tank. The line from the fuel tank has a clamp on it.

The last photograph shows that if one is quick the hose on the gastank can be removed and a gloved finger can be placed over the nipple. Then the new hose (that is already connected at the other end) can be slid over the nipple with just a few drops of fuel spilled.
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The fuel pump still would not pump, so the pump was removed and inspected. Unlike the fuel pump shown by Peter (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=135637912&postcount=5) my impeller was not mounted on a "D" shaped shaft. My impeller WAS a press fit. Now it is totally loose! I suspect this is from pumping against the pressure of a plugged valve downstream. I suspect there is no way to re-affix this impeller therefore a new pump is on its way.
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Got impatient waiting for the new fuel pump to arrive so I made an attempt to fix the broken fuel pump. After thinking about if for a day I realized I could place a shim inbetween the rotor and the shaft to tighten things up. I cut some strips of different thickness brass shimstock and chose a piece that I placed alongside the shaft, then I pressed on the rotor using a 'c'-clamp. The rotor is on good and tight now. The rest of the pump went back together without any problem.

First attempt at checking the pump revealed no pumping action. I took some hoses off the check for fuel flowing in the appropriate directions and this must have allowed fuel to flow into the pump and prime it as when I hooked the hoses back up it would pump and I could finally see fuel squirting in the chokes [when tugging on the throttle cable].

It ran enough to get out of the garage but stalled and the battery was pretty weak so I gave it a good charge and tried it again a few hours later.

It ran for about 15 minutes in the drive and allowed me to get it back in the garage and shut it off. I didn't take it around the block as I didn't want to get stuck at night. Tomorrow I will give it a spin around the block and see how the pump holds up.

 

You take weekend "DIY" resto-stuff on the GT4 beyond the next level - you're inSANE, man!!! But I really love reading your progress - I just wish I had the time (and know-how) to keep up myself...

 

Still waiting for the new fuel pump (though the repaired one got me through a couple test drives today without problem).

I saw the post on Redline oil and got some from Summit.(http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124637) Seems like it only took a day to arrive. I went with the 70w90NS; a little limited slip diff. chatter won't bother me.

Of course, the whole change procedure is well outlined here (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=136056703&postcount=1) but these pictures are just to remind me how I did it.

The long 'breaker bar' is the standard issue 'knock-off' testarossa wrench extension. I needed to get it out to loosen the filler on the top of the transfer case (22mm socket, same as the wheel bolts) and the transfer case drain (19mm socket).

Others wrenches used were 10mm hex for the gearbox drain, 12 hex for the 'inspection port' on the gearbox.

Since the car was on rear jack stands only, I placed 5 quarts through the transfer case filler and none came out the inspection port (because the car was at an angle). Finger test through the inspection port indicated the oil was close to the edge.

Just had a few minutes to take it around the block and the cold 1-2 shift is much improved but I did not get it warmed up enough to say if the other shifts were better.

Started at 5pm, finished at 8pm.
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I ran across this Porsche 912 fuel pressure regulator valve and noticed it's similartiy to the "Valvola unidirezionale" of the USA 308 GT4. However, some testing has revealed that this has a different funciton than the 308 valve.

With a little pressure testing of the "Valvola unidirezionale" I have figured out it's funcion. It works the OPPOSITE of a conventional fuel pressure regulator.

It allows flow when there IS some pressure in the hose from the pump to the float valves but if there is LOW line pressure (like a free-flow situation; "severed fuel line spraying onto a flame...") the inflow to the fuel pump is cut to a trickle. (A little tricke flow is needed in the OFF position, otherwise the thing won't ever prime the system)

So, my valve is probably OK. If I test if for flow, it seems to be blocked, but when the third connector is PRESSURIZED then there is free flow through the valve.

My understanding of the Porsche valve in the picture is that increased pressure in the third connector INHIBITS flow through the valve, thus keeping the presure down to a preset limit; an exact opposit function of the Ferrari valve.

BOTTOM LINE: Should I put the "Valvola unidirezionale" back in the circut?

This is a risk-benefit analysis of how one may be more likely injured. The risk of being in an accident with the fuel pump spraying fuel all over the place has to be weighed againts the risk of bodily injury being stuck on the side of the road when the valve malfunctions and one is outside of the car on the highway. I know that trauma center statistics for car vs pedestrian far outweigh those for fuel-burned auto occupant. I don't know about EMS stats, though. Perhaps the fuel-burned victims don't make it to the hospital.
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I have to correct myself here. The valve I thought was plugged is actually UPSTREAM of the fuel pump. Also, the fuel pump regularly pumps against an obstruction (when the float valves are all closed). The "magnet coupler" between the fuel pump electric motor and the rotor pump shaft relieves the strain of pumping into a closed system.

 

One prior owner regularly allowed something to get caught in the driver's side door, and this resulted in an area where the paint was totally chewed up and bare metal was exposed.

I took the gas cap lid to a pant shop and had them scan it and computer-mix some paint. I used Dupont Chroma One acrylic urathane single stage. This involved buying K2 primer, K2 activator, One pint of mixed paint, Chroma One activator and Chroma One reducer. The total cost was about $180.

I really hate doing this sort of stuff without a proper paint booth, maybe in a parallel universe there is a guy like me that has a paint booth...

I wound up doing this in the dirveway. It took about an hour to cover and mask the car and to collect the various items I would need for the job.

In preparing the inner door I discovered the latch won't come out without removing the window. Since I thougth this would put me in a position where I would have to re-thread all the cable for the raising mechanism, I opted to carefully mask the latch. My plan was to paint 2 coats with the latch in the 'un-latched' position and to paint 2 coats with the latch in the 'latched' position so the arms of the latch would not cast a paint shadow.

I tried a small airbrush for the primer, but it did not work so well because the primer is recommended to spray at 10psi and this airbrush did not work too well at 10. I wound up sanding most of the sprayed primer off and re-doing it with a brush, as the bare metal areas were quite small (less than a centimeter each).

I sprayed the color coat with a Craftsman touch-up gun at about 35 psi. The Chroma One was mixed per instructions at 3:1:1, paint:activator:reducer. I probably could have had the gun adjusted a little better and could have had better light, however, it did come out much better than I had anticipated.
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I've been lost in this amazing thread for an hour now. Forgot all about the porn i was gonna look at. Can't think of another time that's happened.

 

Marine biologists would appreciate that the Nematode worm propells it's food bolus through the digestive tract with the muscles of mastication only. If it stops eating the transport through the primitive gut stops. Likewise, this project was at a major standstill while I was dreading painting that door. My dirver's side leather door panel has been off for a month and was just sitting, untouched (soaking up leather rejuvinator, though). I feel like a major hurdle has past and now I am back to work again.

I think I had mentioned earlier that I thought a stiff toothbrush was better [at getting the old leather dye off] than using sandpaper, like the Leathertique instructions suggest. The toothbrush gets into the deep texture of the Ferrari's leather.

Here are some pictures of the progress on the driver's side door panel.
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Here is the painted inner door panel after latch re-assembly.
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nice! have you found a source for the door lamp housing?

 

I got the door lamp for the other side form GT car parts. They wanted to sell me two but I said I only needed one. Too bad, as the only thing left on the dirver's side was the lens with no 'innards' and wires hanging in the breeze. I should have bought two but I have another on order now.

The light is not 100% exact but is close enough. Specifically there is a fine chrome trim ring on the original, but on the replacement there is a metal flange with two bolt holes. The flange is not needed for the GT4 and it comes off easily to allow the light to come in from the back. The passenger side light is a little loose and I am thinking of getting a thick rubber o-ring to slide in over the back of the unit to hold it in place better.

 

Same feeling here I did my seats but door panels went on hold. That was 5 years ago!!! I'm now back on the project. Here are a few pictures to show the progress. The first is the passenger seat, as it was. The second is the R-Oil soak. the third is refinished and back in the car. The sharpest of you will recognize that the soak-picture is really the driver's seat - but the story is the same.

Door panels still are undone...

rick
'79 308GTB
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Nice job on the seats! Have you put carnauba wax on your finished seats? I was wondering about doing this to mine based on suggestions in the Leathertique instructinons.

Also, have you tried the Leathertique dye on vinyl? I am going to redo some cracks in my glovebox door and the Leathertique instructions indicate the leather "dye" can be sprayed on vinyl also.

Your seats look more gray than your console (maybe it is just the picture). I see white stitching on the console so I suspect you had that re-covered. Did you use the Leathertique 'black' dye on the seats?

 

Thanks! Let me answer your questions in order.

The only thing I have done to the seats since they were sprayed (5 years ago) is a little Rejuvinator Oil. Yes, the 'dye' is really a latex-based top-coat. It works great on vinyl. Just make sure all traces of silicone are removed. The seats are blue. The flash makes them appear grey. The console has been 'dyed' with Leatherique dye. George mixed special dyes for me that were less shiny than the default. The 'white stitches' you see on the console are really just reflections from the flash. The door panels are not yet done nor are the armrests. As for repairs, the Leatherique Crack Filler works great. I saved a leather steering wheel in a C4 Corvette with R-Oil and crack filler. It dries translucent so I didn't even have to respray the wheel. George's trick of using a business card to level the filler within the crack is genius. The filler shrinks as it cures so multiple applications are needed until the surface is up flush with the surrounding leather/vinyl.