What was wrong with your 308/328 yet you bought it anyway

When I got my '76, it required a major. The last belt change had not been done in 9 years, so I went through the whole car. On top of the usual things performed in a major, I rebuilt the calipers, new cooling fans were required (only one was operable, the other worn out, and that was about it. All electrics worked very well in the car.

 

boy, did it clean up...beautiful car. Amen to purchasing a Ferrari to drive. I recently purchased a not-so-perfect 328 that got bad-mouthed a bit on the site but i can't wait to post pics when it is redone...and having a great time redoing it I might add too. One man's trash is another's treasure? Fact is as long as you know what you are getting into and you buy the car right AND you want to take the time to bring a tired old lady back to life, why not purchase a not-so-perfect car. Great job! Now, go drive!

 

Mine needed new tires, water pump and had a missing tool kit.

 

Mine didn't have any of the bikini thread girls in it.

 

A few rock chips.... a couple of door dings... a nail in the right rear tire.... missing owner's packet... had duplicate owners manual tho.... AC didn't have a charge.... needed new tires... wheels need to be refinished and piping on driver seat was worn through. And it needed a clutch when I got it home.

 

My 308 GT4 was in need of a major service. Also, the interior (front seats) were pretty badly rotted out. Some dings on the body.

I did the major, added a stebro exhaust, and electronic ignition (well, the mechanic did). Oh yeah, I also replaced a bunch of fuel lines.

Couple months later, got the seats redone, and added some 328 wheels.

Dom

 

A case of a full moon and empty arms, huh? Well, forget it. Watch what happens now!

 

My 308 QV had the SuperCharger kit that puts out 400HP, since it's not original I got rid of the SC and brought it back down to the original HP. Now everything is stock plus the Zipper for the rear trunk was bad but all fix now.



































NOT!

 

My GTSI needed a Major plus new CATS and Exhaust. During the Major the starter was re-built, water pump rebuilt, Shift Shaft was re-bushed, new clutch, vacum lines and fuel lines replaced.

Sounds like a bunch but now the car is in great shape and runs like it should.

Jeff

 

I don't even want to think about how much each of my Ferraris needed and still need. Too depressing!!

Birdman

 

My GTS QV needed the 30k major and had some worn out seat bottoms when I bought it. She also needed some new tires. Had both seats done and the car looks and runs great! Love that car!

 

I want aftermarket parts like that! But, the wife said no. The parts had more upkeep than the 308...

 

My car had had minor body repair, and thus a partial respray, but it was done by that shop in King of Prussia and looks nearly flawless. Rock chips. The alternator belt squealed on start up. In otherwords, it probably was working better than when it rolled out of the factory.

 

Needed major interior and exterior detailing. (On-going)
Needed new tires. (Replaced)
Needed full fluid changes. (Done)
Has the dreaded, and standard, hood crease.
Front left quarter panel rust.
A couple of big paint chips. (Fixed)
Nasty dings from an ape with a wrench working on the left module in the trunk. (Removed)
Leather needs a re-dye. (Soon)
Windows need fixing.
Small, misc screws, bolts, rivets. (Mostly finished)
Left rear wheel arch bracket needs welding.
Foam for the radiator sides and front spare missing. (Fixed)
Battery box nuts missing. (Replaced)
Spare tire tie down missing. (Still looking for one)
Lug nut wrench missing. (May have found one)

Wow, maybe I should have followed Birdmans path and not listed all that. Now I'm depressed!


On the plus side, she had recent AC, upper engine rebuild, cat, dist caps, wires, plugs, and coolant system work.

 

Mine needed :

A warm garage to call home
new tires
window motors were shot
driver's seat was torn (still needs replacing)
speedo sending unit (wip)
stereo was junk - speakers were blown
a solid day of waxing/buffing/shining (this is a day that never seems to end)
some of the vinyl was pulling off on the armrests - had to glue them down
new fuseblocks (wip - courtesy of Birdman) - well, it didn't NEED them... but I think it's a wonderful replacement

oh... and the gas tank always seems to need filling (must be all that driving!!)

Then there are the "non-car" things... full detail kit from Griot's (with their new orbital buffer), oil drip catcher, Hill engineering gate-lock, obligatory Ferrari flag for the garage, car cover, leatherique treatment stuff, repair guides, spare oil filters, and an iPod interface for the stereo

 

When I got mine I only knew about the quarter-sized rust spot appearing on the left front panel near the door. There were a couple of buffer burn marks on the roof, the left front fender paint was spidering badly (Bad primer application). there were white "Cloud" marks all over the car. And the PPI suggested $10K worth of dealer needed repairs. I never did find out what those repairs were as I never saw the PPI. That's a different story.

But like everyone else, it's an ongoing list of things to repair/do to a 20+ year old car.

 

What a great idea for a thread!

If it is true that, “Experience is the best teacher”.

Then it follows that, "Learning from the experience of others, is better than simply guessing, gritting your teeth, and then hoping for the best"

I’m sure that anyone interested in looking for a car, and then trying to decide what to look for and what to accept as (the realities of the condition of a car) when making a purchase, will find this thread invaluable. And I am very happy to contribute my experience and hope it helps some future/prospective buyer make a better choice than could have otherwise been made. And, may you be as "lucky" as I have been!

Most of the details of mine are contained in this thread.

But to briefly summarize (post hoc: okay, maybe not so briefly):

My car is a 1975 308gt4 Dino s/n #10314. When I bought the cars odometer read (roughly) 83K miles. Can you guess what color it is? Can you guess what color it will be soon?

First impressions:

-It was very very loud.
-Some small bits of rust below the tail lights and along the trunk lid
-Rear bumper was in very sad shape, cracked and skirts hanging a little loose.
-missing carpeting in trunk
-no rear valance (no side mounting pieces either. although I think some people may prefer this look with a later style chrome exhaust)
-Mondial style fans installed. (but originals came with the car)
-Vinyl top of the glove-box was cracked in several places
-Ferrari horn button and wheel emblems
-A/C did not blow cold.
-Non-original jack and some spare tools. But no tool-"kit".
-Series II air duct with a missing grill.
--3rd gear was difficult to shift (up) into and nearly impossible to shift (down) into
-PO promised to send some records and handbook

But basically the paint was in good shape, the interior was nice and everything seemed to work except the A/C. And on the way home the speed-o worked only intermittantly.

The seller was the sales manager at a major (brand name) car dealership in Medford, Oregon. I flew up there. He met me at the airport and took me to the hotel. The next morning I met him at the dealership, where I got a better look and test-drive of the car. He seemed honest enough on the phone, and the car was pretty much, "as stated". And the price was VERY reasonable. He said that there had been some significant work done to the car before he bought it, but didn't have the receipts available and didn't know what exactly had been done. He was in the midst of a "move" and "...everything at home", he said, "was packed away". He promised to send me the receipts and a handbook for the car that he'd received from the PPO (previous prior owner), when everything was unpacked.

I received the handbook 3-months later (after several pesterings) in the mail. The large envelope was open and there were no receipts.

The car ran great though from Oregon to Los Angeles. I made the trip in two days and had a blast driving the car. It's the fastest and most powerful car that I have ever had the pleasure to drive. Taking a side trip and being able to "drive though Napa in a Ferrari" (to spend the night with a relative) was a dream I've always had.

The first week I had the car I replaced the glasspacks with a 22" MagnaFlow. Still sounds nice too. Just not as loud. At 50, I want to save what little I have left of my ears!

After driving the car for a month, I decided to fix the 3rd gear synchro. I pulled the engine, (which is described elsewhere here on FChat) and found a few other things that needed fixing.

-rust behind the passenger side gas-tank
-one leaky seal in the differential. (internal leak only)
-328 oil cooler (probably unimportant. unnoticeable to the untrained eye. but the housing doesn't fit very well)
-as it turns out, the synchro was not the problem. At 83K miles, the gears were severly worn.

After a couple of months research online, I was able to find all but the very first owner of my car. The PPO had indeed done a massive amount of mechanical work on the car. He bought it in NYC (as I understand it, this was Michael Canillio's (4th owner) first Ferrari) and put several thousand dollars into it prior to driving the car to California, where he worked as a winemaker for Stag's Leap, Wm. Hill, Mondavi and a few others. After a couple of years driving the car around Napa, and making conspicuous winery deliveries in the car, he had the engine rebuilt at Automobili Valtelina in Sausolito. The combined bills were well over $22,000.00 for repairs to the car. The rebuild alone was over $16,000.00.

Several months later, he sold the car to a friend in Oregon. And at (I'm guessing) 6'4" & well over 220lbs, the car was way too small for the sales manager to drive and enjoy. He sold it to me for less than what the PPO had spent on having the engine rebuilt. And when I contacted the PPO, he gladly sent me copies of all of his receipts for the work done on the car. He was very glad to know where it went, and who has the car.

As for the gearbox problem; According to my mechanic (Eric @ Auto Gallery), it is not all that uncommon to see a gearbox trashed in a car like this and this old. It's unfortunate, but (also) unfortunately, "all too common". It's usually due to an over-enthusiastic 1st or 2nd owner. In my case, I found out (from the 2nd owner) that it was the 1st owner who did the original damage to the gearbox and also replaced the front grill with a Series II grill. Prior damage was properly fixed by the 2nd owner, who restored the car and eventually took a 2nd place prize at a concourse in Reading, PA in the mid-80's. But the gearbox has been weak from the beginning. Time finally has taken it's toll, and I am currently haveing the gearbox rebuilt.

I am also having the rust areas repaired and the car repainted to it's original color. I am howver, retaining the Series II grill, as I prefer that "look" on the car. When I'm done, it will have new suspension bushings, new adjustable shocks, a rebuilt and detailed (odd that Valtelina didn't detail it), engine, a rebuilt gearbox, XDI, new cam pully's w/modern belts, a fresh Blu Dino Met (original color) paint-job, and a set of lager 16" HRE replica Daytona wheels.

And maybe, a little carbon-fibre trim, here-and-there...

"I'd rather be lucky than good"

Good luck with yours!

 

Mondial
No tool kit
missing small minor parts interior
no boot
oil leaks
door ding drivers door
broken driver seatbelt (still broken)
drivers side rear wheelhouse(used stop sign painted black)
one key broken
no horn(hose off)

 

Mine was not running right. The ppi guy assured me it was nothing major but they didn't have some machine to see exactly what the problem was (it was out for repairs.) Also the driver's electric door lock mechanism didn't work.

Turned out all the misfire was was a bent spark plug electrode. I never did fix the door lock thing because I NEVER EVER EVER lock it.

 

first 77 GTB (in 1982):
original ruby red metallic paint just starting to craze on engine deck
tires fairly worn

second 77 GTB (in 2005):
needed major (belts, tensioners - done)
brakes a little off (leaky rear caliper. all 4 since rebuilt)
A/C not cooling (compressor seal, fixed)
older repaint had a crack at base of one windshield pillar and 2 stains on passenger door (unchanged)
missing fan switch and 2 heater control switches (since purchased)
some scratches on leather, driver's seat bolster piping chafed through (unchanged)
trunk zipper (unchanged - really could use new cover)
no manuals (downloaded)
Not noticed at the time:
no spare tiedown (replaced)
cracked rear upright (replaced)
blown speakers (so what)

 

I started thinking out this and am still laughing.

1st Ferrari - a 308 GT4 with crazed paint and a stiff clutch. Clutch cable broke 2nd day. Went to drain trans oil and chunks of metal (broken clip) fell into the pan. Rebuilt trans and new clutch...

Latest Ferrari - an old race prepped GTS QV that was running on 4 cylinders. 150 hours and about $3K later, it was on the track again. 2 seasons later, complete engine and trans rebuild. 260 miles (and 1 month) after that, hit wall so now the car is getting a few new body parts, a complete paint job, and new suspension.

Talk about love is blind.....

 

1988.5 328 GTS, 23,904 miles when I bought it.

Imperfections:
- cracked left side front turn signal lens (easy and cheap to fix, $110)
- slightly worn driver's seat left bolster
- torn rear roof weatherstripping (easy and cheap to fix, $120)
- small, practically invisible paint blemish between headlight openings
- incomplete tool kit
- mismatched front and rear tires

But it did have most service history since new, the original window sticker ($80,500! including gas-guzzler tax), original manuals and pouch, all original paint, and a fresh major service. Still smells like new inside, too.

The only remaining imperfection with it now is the paint blemish on the nose. I think I can live with it.