Newbie 308 GTS 1978 I can buy for $25k

There's a cross over pipe between the tanks under the car. It also sports a drain plug.

Now as to why ferrari couldn't do the same with the coolant.... Who knows?

Search is your friend when it works... That'll be the hardest part. Sometimes it's easier to search via Google with the ferrari chat tag included.

 

AFAIK there is no fuel filler on the right hand side, so I'm not sure what the lock is for.

The good news is that if you only paid 24k for it, the car deserves to have lots more spent on it.

 

Should be the same key for both sides...unless somebody changed the lock at some point.

 

The lock keeps the louver closed. The louver needs to open to clean the window.

 

Exactly this.

There is nothing behind the louvre on that side, apart from glass - The lock is just the simplest, tidiest (and as Ferrari were buying in bulk, probably the cheapest) way of latching the louvre, and keeping things looking tidy.

(Also, have to say that the reversed tail lights/indicators are driving me nuts! )

 

Looking over the new pics this is what I see:

- The carpets are not original. One big tell tale is the heel pad under the accelerator which is quite different to original. This is to be expected as the original wool ones were pretty fragile and they were likely replaced when the seats were done. On the 308 there is not formed carpet like on other cars. All of the carpet is made up of flat pieces glued in place. This makes replacing it fairly easy.

- The carpets on the floors would not have had those snaps from factory. They were likely added when the carpet was changed

- Carpet mats over the floor carpets are pretty common. What some people do is remove the floor carpets, store them away and just use the mats. This prevents bunching around the pedals and makes for a nicer drive.

- The spots I mistook for wear marks on the carpets were the monogramed plates you spoke of. My mistake

- The polished sills that say Ferrari on them would have been added after the fact

- The ignition key is from around the Ferrari 355 era. The ignition tumblers use the same blank and it was not uncommon in the 90's for people to buy the fancier key with the chrome horse on it. Given the number of Ferrari badges and emblems on this car you can be pretty sure the owner had a section for Ferrari branded clothes in his closet

- That hood over the instrument binnacle remains a mystery. It looks like it has snaps on either side (hard to tell) but only seems to cover a portion of the binnacle. I have two theories on this one. A) the leading edge of the binnacle under the cover is all chewed up from finger nails clipping the vinyl. This is not uncommon as the steering wheel sits fairly close in the stock configuration. B) This was an attempt to cover the OEM vinyl which famously out-gasses on the glass causing an oily haze that needs to be wiped off. Either way I would be curious to see a clearer photo of this hood and what things look like underneath.

 

Indicators on the outside, red tail lights on the inside is factory correct

I suspect the front edge of the binnacle is looking somewhat tatty underneath the cover - If so, it shouldn't cost a fortune to get it re-trimmed.

Loving the car - Fair play to you!

 

Unicorn barn find...
$24k starting point for a complete, recent repaint and reupholstered example... With carbs.
Yeah...
Lucky bstd

Fix everything that needs it. Don't have to do it all at once. Enjoy driving it.

 

The polished sills I'm not 100% sure if they are factory or not but for sure the big Ferrari script on them would not have been there originally. If they are original you can take them off and find a local polishing place to make them look like new. Polishing is a terrible job that is well accelerated by using the correct machines. Taking it somewhere is well worth the money.

As for the dash binnacle thank you for the photos. That is quite the abortion and I'm looking forward to seeing underneath. Luckily even the screw holes can be repaired in the vinyl and worst case is you have the whole hood done which is no big deal.

To remove the hood you need to take the steering wheel off (best done by removing the 6 Allen head bolts if you don't have a puller and special nut socket). DO NOT use an allen key as you will almost certainly damage the screws and need to drill them out. Use a high quality socket head with a flat topped Allen head (not a ball head) to get as much into the screw head as possible. Once the tool is in give it some good hits with a steel hammer to help set up a vibration. Only then use a socket to remove these screws. With preparation the job is easy. If you rush it you will wish you never started.

Once the wheel is off the gauge cluster is super easy to remove. Carefully pry up the round lights on each corner of the cluster. Dental floss is perfect for this because it is soft and will not mar the aluminum surround which is very easy to scratch. Below each light is a screw. Remove these 4 screws and the instruments can be pulled out as one big assembly. A few electrical connectors on the back hold it to the harness and once removed the whole assembly lifts out. While you have the cluster out you can give everything a good detailing and also replace the dash bulbs for brighter ones and bypass the dimmer rheostat as it makes a HUGE difference to the already dim dash lighting.

With the gauge cluster out you can remove the binnacle as it is held in place with some nuts which become immediately obvious. The holes can be repaired by a vinyl repair guy who can make the repair invisible. If the whole binnacle is toast then it is off to an upholstery shop but anything will look better than that hood.