The More You Tinker, the More You Learn | FerrariChat

The More You Tinker, the More You Learn

Discussion in '308/328' started by mwr4440, Jan 11, 2008.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. mwr4440

    mwr4440 Five Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2007
    55,828
    Bavaria, The 'Other' Germany
    Full Name:
    Mark W.R.
    Been removing various parts of my '81 GTSi and replacing or renewing them. What fun! I am learning so much and other than a small bit of work with my dad on his two Model T's this is my "first effort" car. I is kinda hard for me to believe I am taking a Ferrari apart. Sheeeesh!?!?

    Anyway, got my hands on a used 85mph speedo; cheap, over the holidays. Who says there is no Santa Claus? Going to send it to Palo Alto Speedo to have it refaced to a 180mph unit. Also replacing the instrument bulbs to higher wattage units and by-passing the dimmer courtesy some of the detailed "fixes" I found here. Thanx Guys!!!

    First indicator of something "funny" coming up was the steering wheel came right off in 30 seconds flat. The alan-head screws holding the Nardi wheel to the column were tight but not held in with LocTite or some other "super-glue" I have read about here.

    After unplugging & pulling my instrument panel (What a PITA!!!! And Oh YES, the screws!! Still fishing for one of them for 3 weekends running) I finally got it under some good light where I could REALLY see the detail on my gauges. Guess what I found? Yep. The original speedo has had its face off before as there were very small nicks in the paint on the screws in the face of the unit. Also looks like a needle-stop at the 85mph mark was broken off (very cleanly) as I see a bright brass spot no bigger than a sewing needle point, flush with the face, where my 180mph candidate unit has a needle-stop. Only noticed the needle-stop discrepancy when comparing them side-by-side.

    Why would anyone need to take the face off? I have not heard of any part of these things breaking so.....?? OR, did they have problems requiring face removal to fix and I just do not know about it?

    Could it have been "rolled-back?" Other mileage indicators such as wear on the seats, pedals, etc., seem to indicate the current ODO reading of 34K is correct. If you wanted to merely disconnect the unit wouldn't you just do it somewhere in the electrical system easier to get to? Any ideas?

    Also, any ideas where I can get the leather of my Nardi/Ferrari steering wheels (have two of them too) re-wrapped while I have this whole darn thing apart? Tried what I thought was Nardi USA and they would not even return my email.

    Thanx in Advance

    mwr4440
     
  2. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 6, 2002
    79,143
    Houston, Texas
    Full Name:
    Bubba
    It could have just been repaired before, most owners would have it fixed ASAP to maintain realistic odo readings, if your interior matches the odo I'd say that's what happened here....

    Drive on!
     
  3. chrismorse

    chrismorse Formula 3

    Feb 16, 2004
    2,150
    way north california
    Full Name:
    chris morse
    I haven't tried the good old search, but since it has been asked, I too could use a recommendation for wheel leather replacement.

    My 77 has a dime sized piece missing on the bottom and the lower half has loose/mising stitching and the leather appears to have shrunk. If this were a carpenters pouch, i would sat just soak it in rubbing alcohol, (which makes the leather really soft and stretchy) and restitch it - but this is worth a bit more than a set of bags.

    thanks,
    chris
     
  4. dave80gtsi

    dave80gtsi Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 3, 2003
    1,813
    Ohio
    Full Name:
    Dave Meredith
  5. Verell

    Verell F1 Veteran
    Consultant Owner

    May 5, 2001
    7,017
    Groton, MA
    Full Name:
    Verell Boaen
    Roll-back is always a possibility when speedometer disassembly is detected. If the car has been well maintained, then things like pedal rubber could have been replaced, & seats redyed or recovered, etc. thus it's very hard to ascertain the car's actual mileage.

    Since you're replacing your unit, I'd take before & after side by side pix for your documents so you can at lease prove that the 180 mph speedo's mileage was set to match the current speedometer's reading.

    Wish I'd taken pictures of my car's odometer when I was kicking the tires. When I first looked at the car, it had a metric speedometer & a US speedometer, which I was told that MA requires, was on order & would be installed. I actually have a receipt from TRutlands showing that a US spec speedometer was bought by the dealer. When I took delivery the US speedometer had been installed. So, while I know that the US odometer's mileage was set equivalent to the Km reading I saw while making the buy decision, I don't have documentation to prove it.

    To make matters worse, Carfax has the Km value logged as mileage & reports a possible roll-back. I discovered the Carfax error about a year after I bought the car, but Carfax refused to change their database. Carfax said the data was from public records, so somewhere some bozo took a reading & failed to record that it was a metric odometer.
     
  6. mwr4440

    mwr4440 Five Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2007
    55,828
    Bavaria, The 'Other' Germany
    Full Name:
    Mark W.R.
    Dave, Verell,

    I can always count on you guys and many of the others here for some good leads and feedback. Appreciate it.

    Dave- Thanx for the advice, but the wheels do have the imprint "Ferrari" on them. Besides, no MOPAR for me but I am looking for a 67 or 86 Shelby GT 350. :)

    Verell- Thanx for the photo, side-by-side, before and after, idea. Very sound advice.

    Drive it Like you Stole it!!

    Mark
     
  7. RJay

    RJay Formula Junior

    Jun 26, 2004
    261
    Colorado
    Full Name:
    Bob
    Mark,

    I had a 78 308 GTS and spent a fair amount of time fixing the speedo and documenting it. If you search for Rjay and Speedo, etc., you should find it. Anyway, it is depressingly simple to modify these units. In order to rollback or forward, the faceplate would need to be removed, especially if it is a large number. When I had my car, I saw many cases of where the previous owners had been. My car was 29 years old and there is something wierd about thinking that I was the only one who worked on it. While this is such a sensitive subject because it drives value, 308 owners must face facts that mileage is an easy mod on this car. I see folks all the time on this site talking about their mileage and I only can think "Yea right". As long as you like the car and it is in good shape, and you have no documentation to the contrary, don't worry about it. I have been in the speedo, and know how it works in excruciating detail so I think I can confidently say these things. Just fix it, and enjoy it. They are beautiful cars.

    -Rjay
     

Share This Page