Rain Precautions?

Rain is not a big concern in regards to starting and running a 308, I live in Seattle and had lots of experience with my 78 308GTS! As previously mentioned, just make sure you have fresh, new spark plug covers, and that your coil and distributor rubber covers are in place as well. You will not have a problem.

Those that get water down there spark plug holes, are guys who have never replaced their 25+ year old covers that have rotted and shrunk. I had that problem, but new covers, and no more problem!

Remember, the cars did not have problems with rain when new, so you only need to refresh the relevant components to get your car back to were it needs to be.

The rust issue is another story, but thankfully, I never had issue with that either.

 

Sounds to me like you know what to look out for, so you should be good to go.

Enjoy the drive!

 

Hello Joe and Tony,

First, I am not suggesting for a second that you should not drive your car. However, I am suggesting you watch the weather forcast very closely! Any car that just sits, you are guaranteed to have problems.

In all due respect, there are numberous blind locations (e.g. front fenders, radiator support, and decklid) that are locations that cannot be rustproofed without cutting up the inside of body panels which I am not interested in doing. It is your car and your money if want to drive them in the rain go for it. But, I will be enclosed trailering my car to a show such as this one.

Best Regards,
Alan

 

I'm planning on driving 622 miles each way for the 308 Event. My plan is to watch the forecast closely. If there will be heavy rain, then I'll pull over. I'm allowing plenty of time for this. If it's light to medium rain, no big deal, the car will dry.
I'm having some items fabricated tomorrow at the aluminum shop, one of them will be a water channel to help prevent water from getting down the front bank spark plug wells....

JIM

 

Amen, and it saddens me to see such fun cars being 'wasted' sitting around. The 3x8 are not collectors items and getting cheaper and cheaper to buy each passing day.

Think of all the fun some 3x8 owners are missing...

http://www.enjoythetrack.com/video/

And yes, i realize not everyone wants to track their car, though tracking is a good and safe way to achieve speeds in a car while one learns how to properly drive it. So please, PLEASE, drive your 3x8 guys. They are (relatively) very inexpensive cars that are fun to drive. The more i drove the 308 the better she operated.

 

When I bought my car someone recommended putting one or two of those big black plastic trash bags over the engine when washing. You might want to carry some making sure that you don't drop them onto a very hot engine. So how do you wash your car without getting it wet? Made to be driven!

 

The biggest problem is with the 77 and earlier cars and the sealing of the plug wells. The post 77 cars had the pipe surrounding the spark plug well standing well proud of the cam covers. Every 5 or 6 years new seals on those will keep everything water proof. On the 77 and earlier cars they have yet to make a seal that is water proof for washing the cars that I have come across. Start the engine cold and spray a light mist from the garden hose on the plug wires, you will quickly find out if they are up to the task.

Pull the nut off the antenna mount and use some plumbers putty around that and reassemble. Check that the antenna drain hose is free and properly routed. That should keep the wheel wells dry.

Dave

 

Joe. I have been caught in heavy rain a few times and really had no problems with the car.......except the wiper issue you mentioned. You should be ok. I don't have the boots over my distributors and only have problems if I get the engiine wet from the carwash. It clears up in a few minutes....not a problem. WD 40 is a good idea.

 

That was hillarious - I laughed out loud - literally.