328 GTB...My Pride and Joy!

Just wanted to share the joy of ownership….

My 328 GTB just had its major, and then some, and has emerged from its cocoon after a fresh detail. To say getting it back again has been a pure delight would be an incredible understatement. I have been overwhelmed by just how much enjoyment I have gotten out of this car in the short time I have owned her. When I purchased her in March, I posted a few pics. At the time I promised more but never got around to taking any new ones before she went in for her major. So here she is, post-major+, all shined up and ready for me to drive, and drive, and drive…

I want to thank David Feinberg (Fastradio) who did her major and all her other “while we’re in there” work. What an incredible find he has been. I’ve frankly never met a guy with a Ferrari fund of knowledge like his. His attention to detail was fantastic, and he even kept me updated regularly via email with hi-res photos so I could keep up with his progress. He put up with my millions of questions and gave me a real education...and history lesson. I don’t give out four stars for service very often anymore—he gets five! Thank you David. In my mind, you honed a masterpiece.

Thank you as well goes to Kevin Ford (Budman3) for his fine detail work. That man knows his stuff. But, see for yourself.

I will post some pics of the service also…I poured over these while she was away--hope you enjoy them too

--Jim
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My dream car. Looks like a perfect example, thanks for the pics enjoy her in health.

 

Very nice looking GTB. Enjoy

 

Looks sweet! I love those GTBs.

Enjoy!

 

The major service included all of the usual things...timing belts, all accessory belts, water pump rebuild, fluids, etc. She also got new fuel hoses, new rear coolant hoses, new fuel injectors, stainless steel brake lines, brake pads, steering rack bushings, rear sway bar polyurethane bushings, among many other things.

Some selected pics.... thanks again to David Feinberg (Fastradio) for taking all of the service photos. These will be saved on CD and go in the car's service history book...

--J
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Hi Jim,

The car looks great! Glad you got the car back in time to enjoy the rest of the summer. Thanks for sharing some pix with us.
Best regards,
Dino

 

Many thanks!

 

Great looking car.

 

Lookin' good. Mine goes under the knife in December.

 

Looks fantastic! Love that GTB line! Thanks for sharing

scott

 

what's wrong with yours ?

everytime I see a photo of it she looks brilliant and makes me get off my arse to do something to mine


BTW beautiful example of probably one of the most reliable ferraris ever made, 328 GTB '88, pretty wheels, great combination

 

People often post "that looks great" comments with little or no discretion, as most of our cars look good in pixels. However yours does indeed look great -- clean throughout, no corrosion of "cadmium" plating in engine bay, clean suspension and frame -- excellent! Nice work! And on such a hard to find car (GTB), too!

 

Tony,

Your obervations are very astute...This car, and I do mean the entire car, on both topside and the entire under carriage is in perfect condition. With the exception of the water pump hardware (to be expected), all of the cadmium plating was still intact! I can't recall ever working on one of these car that was "so well preserved", except when they were brand new. (Being that I'm so anal...and the owner expected only the best care, the water pump hardware was replaced with new....)

Not only does she look new, she drives...well, just unbelieveable. Not a squeak or rattle anywhere! Candidly, I has so, so much fun on the "test drive" that I mentally was trying to come up with (fabricate?) some plausible reasons to keep the car (much) longer. Although I love my 12-cylinder car, Jim's 328 GTB is just "delightful" to drive..and brought back many great memories of when I had my 328 GTS years back.

This is perhaps the finest example of a Ferrari I have ever serviced...or driven! I'm confident that this car, Jim's first Ferrari experience, will bring him many years of joy!

David

 

Nice 328 !!!

Congrats

 

Bullfighter waxed his car last week and AFTER waxing, and only then, found that the expiration date on his can of wax had passed. So he wants to get a major done just to be safe



Quote:
Originally Posted by Bullfighter
Lookin' good. Mine goes under the knife in December.

what's wrong with yours ?

everytime I see a photo of it she looks brilliant and makes me get off my arse to do something to mine


BTW beautiful example of probably one of the most reliable ferraris ever made, 328 GTB '88, pretty wheels, great combination
__________________
There are no luggage racks on coffins

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Last edited by moretti; Today at 07:32 AM.

 

Nice work David and yes..... one sweet car.

What is the metal pipe for that is between the tops of the intake manifolds?

 

Thank you...

The metal pipe is part of the aux. air valve circuit, which provides a controlled vacuum leak during the cold start sequence. Part of my inital diagnosis, before doing the major service, was to take an exhaust gas sample. This car had very high HC, as well as CO levels...pointing towards vacuum leaks (among other potential problems). This is one of the reasons why every vacuum and vapor hose in the engine compartment was replaced.

The plenum was removed, as the coolant hoses from the water distribution manifold were in pretty poor condition. Once the plenum was off, other coolant and vacuum hose deterioration was observed. What's not clear in the photos is that there are eight small vacuum lines from the "metal pipe" that connect to nipples on the lower half of the intake manifold. All of these were replaced, as well...as it would be close to impossible to do if the plenum were still on.

Long and short, after the major service...and the vacuum leaks were corrected, the HC, CO and CO2 numbers returned to reasonable values, which is (usually) indicative of a high state of tune. I was very surprised just how much the mixture and idle air bleed screws had to be "turned" to get her back into specs. I suspect that through the years, significant adjustments were made to compensate for these leaks...without thought as to why.

Regards,
David

 

Any chance of you selling then ???? I wouldn't even need a PPI sounds like! This car would be perfect for my father.

 

Thanks for the reply David. I did see those little nipple things also and wondered what they were for. My car (Swiss '88) does not have them and my "line" from the Aux. air valve is rubber hose (with a braided covering) for the whole distance. No metal tube. Maybe it was a change toward the end of production??

 

Like others have said, you car looks great. Glad you have her in top shape for the summer, enjoy the ride. Really like the red/black color combination (same as my GTS). There are so many of the red/tan ones around that the black interior stands out and makes a nice difference.
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Thanks!

Yours looks beautiful. Clearly, I'm biased but I prefer our combination too.

--J

 

Funny you say that...as I don't recall seeing the metal tube on my Euro 328 (Belgium Market) car either. As the "output" from the aux. air valve connects to the cold start valve housing, extra air is still provided when a cold start condition exists. I suspect that the nipples taken off of a common rail serve more to equalize/balance (vacuum) at the cylinders both when the engine is at or near idle (cold and warm). Not a bad idea...

Regards,
David

 

Looks great, Jim! I'm sure Mark (previous owner) is beaming with pride (and kicking himself....). Red/black is definitely the best combo. I would've preferred a black interior, but, with GTBs, you can't be THAT picky. Great to hear yet more thumbs up for a local service source, Fastradio - I'll definitely be giving him a call for my next service. It'll save me a couple of round trips to South Easton, MA!

Carmine

 

Thanks Carmine! I'm lovin' her!

David is tops in my book.

--Jim

 

Man, do those photos look familiar. Except my GTB is nowhere NEAR that clean under the hood. We got the front bank camshafts reinstalled last night and the cam belts put on which completes the valve adjustment and cam belt replacement. The best part: everything lined up perfect, our marks, and the factory marks. As my friend said, "it's in like swimwear". Now we just gotta put all the pieces back together. I've cleaned parts as we've gone along, but I don't think my engine bay or especially suspension components will EVER look as clean as yours, Jamtek. Nice.