328 GTB...My Pride and Joy!

Next year. We didn't take the airbox off this go around (which made that front bank even more difficult). I'm thinking of taking it off next year to replace those hoses underneath it and pulling the injectors and cleaning them per Birdman's FI cleaning thread.

 

David, excellent work!!! Quick question. The spark plug wires, they look non-stock. Did you rebuild them?

Best Regards,
Carmine

 

Carmine,

Thank you!

The ignition wires are indeed "non-stock", as I have had nothing but horrific experience with the OE Cavis wires on numerous other Ferrari's I've serviced. 99.9% of the time, I do believe that OE is the best way to go, particularly considering the provenance that Jim's car has. However, I've had great successes with the Magnacore 8.5mm competition (as I run on my car) and Taylor (spiral wound) wires. We re-used the OE Ferrari plug boot covers, which were in "like new" condition and crimped (using the latest MSD professional grade crimper) the highest quality MSD stainless steel ends. The end result is a better wire at one-fifth the cost of OEM. (The Magnacore 8.5mm wire will not fit, without modification to the distributor caps, into the wire holes, as this would be my first choice. The Taylor spiral core wires, although difficult to work with, due to the fine internal wire core, are a great wire at a reasonable price. And in conjunction with the NGK Iridium spark plugs, we end up with a very nice hot spark...and a very clean burn.

I believe that Kingsborne makes a wire set, as well...but have not used any of their products.

Regards,
David

 

Hi David

Looks like your 328 is a nice sorted car.
I am also looking into the plugwire/irridium plug/injector upgrade , did you notice any performance increase ?
Also the bushing upgrade looks interesting to me , did they improve the handling ?

Regards

Patrick
1987 euro 328

 

Patrick,

This 328 is indeed 100% sorted, although I don't own the car. It's owned by Jim (Jamtek)...I merely did the major service, as well as some other time-related repairs and maintenance concerns. Regarding the Iridium plugs, I can't comment with 100% certainty that they make a measurable difference in an injected car, but based on my experiences using them in carbed cars, the benefits have been a improved cold starting, better idle quality and superior resistance to fouling. Based solely on driving impressions, Jim's 328 has very, very crisp throttle response; much better than I recall after driving numerous other 308QV's and 328's.

The hard polyurethane bushings that were used on the sway bars, drag links and steering rack to chassis mounts really tighten up the steering response, with no adverse effects on ride quality. Feedback through the steering wheel is dramatically increased and driving the car through the "twisty's" is now pure pleasure, as you can actually feel what the front end is doing. As the sway bar bushings and drag links are now less compliant, body roll is also significantly reduced...

To summarize, the car has a much more "confident feel" than it had prior to the busing swap.

I suspect Jim will chime in here, as I believe he was quite enamoured with the resulting handling improvements...

Regards,
David

 

very nice car the aspect is really good.
i like this car, this afternoon i will ride 328 GTS around the coast

 

My opinion, which may vary from those of this board, is that I view injectors as a "wear" item, whose performance deteriotates over time. For the most part, injectors are not serviceable, although, sometimes, modest temporary improvements can be made by cleaning them using a "Pop-type" tester.

This particular 328 had what appeared to be the original steel-bodied Bosch injectors, and exhibited the classic symptoms of "poor injectors", including, but not limited to, poor cold idle and fair hot idle quality. When an exhaust gas sample was taken, prior to the major service to establish a reference point, the CO/HC readings were unacceptable.

For the modest cost (and time) of replacing the injectors and seals, coupled with some time on the 5-gas analyzer, this should be part of any major service if fuel delivery issues are suspect...The differences are quite dramatic!

Regards,
David

 

where can david feinberg be reached.

 

[email protected]

David

 

Congrats!! What a fantastic 328 !

Where did you get the sway bar polyurethane bushings ? I would like to replace mine but can't find a source for those, just for the a-arms. If there is a source for all of them, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

I have them manufactured, in short production runs. Drop me a PM and I'll hook you up with whatever you need. These bushings are 25-40% "stiffer" than the OE bushings.

Regards,
David

 

Thanks David, PM sent !
Rui

 

Jim,

Your GTB is CLEAN. Makes me want to break out the Q-tips and get on with cleaning mine! Great work, David!

AP