Some notes from my trip, comments on a few people involved, and some overall impressions. Bought my 1980 400i from Peter Sweeney at Forza in CT early in February. Good guy to deal with, I'd have no problems in giving him the "thumbs up" to anyone looking for a car. (We had a problem with the radio after the car had been paid in full, Peter stepped right up and offered to buy another radio even though the deal was done) I'm betting that the sleek black beauty that now calls my shop home won't be the last car Peter sells me. I hired Bill Pollard from SportAuto to do the PPI. I can't say enough good things about this guy. He nit picked the car, took his time, and gave me a good list of pro's and con's. Once the deal was struck I had Bill perform the service work on the car. Bill has a way of making you feel like you are the only customer he has and the total success of his business depends on you being happy. The car was running fine but we noticed that the spark box was incorrect for the car. Bill called and was really upset that he missed it on the PPI. He was bothered enough that he offered to sell me a new one at cost, rebuild my distributor at no charge, and perform a couple of other small items for free. There aren't many people any more that take so much pride in thier work that if they make a mistake they go overboard to try to make it right. I was so impressed with Bill that I'll probably ship my car to him when it needs major service. I left Houston last Friday morning. The forcast high was 78 degrees. After a 3 1/2 hour plane trip, 3 different trains, and a short cab ride I arrived in Gaylordsville, CT where it was a balmy 7 degrees! I thought I'd die at any minute. The side streets still had some snow and ice on them. All I can think is I must be totally off my rocker to even think about buying a quarter of a century old Italian V-12 automoblie that was never imported into the US. The fact that I was planning on driving it 1,800 miles home in this weather confirmed that I surely have a one way ticket to the funny farm waiting for me. This isn't my first toy, but it happens every time; that feeling in the pit of your stomach the first time you climb behind the wheel and hit the starter. WOO HOO! Left the snow behind in the first 3 hours of driving time. The rest of the trip was fun, beautiful, and an experience every car nut should have at least once. Not a short hop, but a cross country run. Trust me, your butt will get sore but not as sore as your cheeks from your ear to ear **** eating grin. I'm lucky, I don't need another bright red rocket, another ragtop, or another testosterone level raising car. I wanted a cruiser. I got more than I bargined for. Impressions of the 400i: Nothing about these cars is wild, boastful, or flashy. This car doesnt scream anything; it whispers. The prancing horse on the rear is small. The Ferrari letters on the trunk lid are positioned in a way that most other drivers can't see them. This car has the confidence in itself that it doesn't need to yell what it is. You know and it knows, who cares who else knows. The V-12 isn't loud. At 70mph you can hear it yet still carry on a conversation without raising your voice. Yet you can't help but notice that the wail from the headers is there. Cruising at 70 you don't really need to press the gas pedal, you just slightly think it down and the car jumps to 130 mph. I was quite impressed by the feeling of complete control I experienced at speeds in excess of 120. Make no mistake, this car is HEAVY (over 4,000 lbs). At highway speeds it is a dream to drive. Comfortable, secure feeling, effortless. Think of these cars as women. These aren't mini-skirt clad party girls; these are professional women in evening gowns. In Detroit iron terms; it isn't a corvette, a 400i is a Caddy CTS. No big trouble on the trip. One of the cooling fans started to scream (bearings?) so I shut it down and kept going. It was cool enough that I didn't have a problem. Pulled into Houston Sunday night, had a sore butt, but I was happy. Screwed up a bit today so I'll tell on myself. I took the cooling fan out, taped off the connections, and replaced the fuse. Little did I know that the fuse wasn't making contact so the other fan wasn't working. Car got a bit hot, not critical but close. The trans started to slip pretty bad. Does anyone know if this is likely due to the increased temps? It didn't slip all the way home, but it wasn't hot then either. Some photos.... Dave '80 400i #31243 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
WOW!!! Your 400 is absolutely gorgeous. I have always had an affinity for this boxy car. It's almost the "anti-Ferrari". I hope to catch you out on the road one day, so that I may hear that V12 purrrrrrr. Happy motoring.
Welcome to the world of Grand Turisomo - an environment that has never been the "Merican way as it relates to sports vehicles. In fact over here we define GT as "Winnebago" and not high speed comfort. But who can blame us with a surtax on speed via the fuzz combined with the auto tranny trained drivers who are largely intellectually absent from their vehicles once they hit the interstate. I believe your car has a GM B-W transmission in which case that slipping could either be old fluid, or the bands. These do wear out and depending upon its earlier life may have suffered some torture. My experience of repairing these slush boxes on other cars is that it is neither difficult nor expensive at a specialist shop. But I do not know how many F-car parts are used on that boz and may not be carried by you average Aamco. OTOH the dealers have probably never seen an F-car autobox. BFoD are trying to kid me that they have to take the gearbox out of the car to change the fluid on the 456!!
Ahhh yes, the joys of owning European toys. When we did the PPI the trans fluid was nice and clean. There was a newer gasket in the trans pan. Now I know why. I took it by the shop that works on my everyday cars this morning. They were kind enought to let me drop the transmission pan. UH OH!!! Dark fluid and metal shavings everywhere. Fine metal covering the filter big time. "Hey, guess what? I'm getting a re-built transmission." Looks like the previous owner knew about the tranny. My guess he changed the filter and fluid so it would shift a little better and dumped it before it blew. There just isn't any way to catch this on a PPI unless you start taking transmissions apart. By the time I get done it'll be $1,500 or so. But the good news is parts are in stock everywhere (GM TH400 trans) and it shouldn't take longer than a week. The pisser is I don't get to play with it for a week or so. Sucks huh? Dave 1980 400i s/n 31243
Congradulations they are great road cars. I drove my old 365 GT4 from Dallas to Florida and back and on many other road trips. Good luck!
Here's one that needs a whole lotta love, I looked at this car a couple weeks ago while at Norwoods. http://www.ferrarichat.com/ferrariads/showproduct.php?product=856&sort=1&cat=12&page=1 Btw, be kind about your comments.
It sure is a fixer-upper. To bad it does not have an auto transmission, now that I know I can get it rebuilt for 1200 bucks.
Tempting, especially from a no-smog point of view, and the 5 speed. I really like these cars, and this one can be saved But only 7K more for a running/driving auto makes a lot more sense Anyone know how much a dash runs?
so would you rather drive 1800 miles in a 400i, or 400 miles in an 1800i? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have always had a soft spot for the 400's. The injected/auto cars are very nice and the GM trannys are easy to repair but for me carbs and a 5 spd box have a little more GT flavor. The 400 that I have on Ferrariads does need a quite a bit of love, a little more than I can give it for quite a while (maybe till my 8 year old twins get out of college) so I want to find it a new home. I might get it running again but it does need a full restoration so I am very negotiable on price, but I want it to go to someone who will restore and enjoy it. Too many of these cars have been salvaged out for parts so it is great to see some renewed interest in this model. Dave- I hope you have decades worth of enjoyment with 31243. James Patterson Norwood Performance
Dave...Very nice car, great story, congrats! Black is definitely THE color for the 365/400 2+2 models. They're evolved and practical drivers. I love my 330 2+2, but it's an antique in many ways.
James have you ever had a 456 trannie in the shop - do they really have to come out for a fluid change/flush? Seems hard to believe but then it is a Ferrari too !
Colin- We have a couple of 456 GTs that we service, on them you can change gear lube without much trouble. I don't know about the GTAs, I would think the owners manual would say something about it if the box required removal for fluid service. If you can't get a satisfactory answer let me know and I will find out.
By the looks of the picture I would guess you would be looking at around 5K of interior work. I have a person off reeder road who does great work at a reasonable price. All though I would seriously question buying this car at all. The issue is all the other stuff you would have to do. It just doesn't take that much to spend 20K+. You can buy a nice 5sp running 400 for that ballpark.
Thanks James. I know the GT and the -M GT are pretty straight forward. There is nothing in the manual about the maitenenace of the tranny nor in the sold called "workshop" manuals on the internet. There is a reference to a specialized manual for auto tranny maintenance but no one at FoD has ever seen one ! Was the 400i the same? i know it had a GM box but did the service documentation get separated from the rest of the car? The 456 A's gearbox is unique, no one ever built one like it AFAIK and it has some really unusual features for its time.
Colin- The 400 manuals have no info for the auto tranny that I have ever seen, but we have never tried to get info on it either. My GTA manual also has no info but the Ferrari tech info site list a manual for the auto trans fluid replacement, it is available to anyone with a subscription. I would think the dealer could download it with no problem.
Hah - let me see if I can chase that down. Thanks James. I guess so few of these cars have built enough mileage to justify the work that it will remain a mystery for most. I heard horror stories of $35,000 service costs, which were usually attached to vague references as to what was actually done. I know these boxes were not built for drag racing having very limited slip and since that activity is considered street legit in the US I am sure a few have been popped earlier then Modena expected.
She's a pretty nice car. I need to do a bit of work on the interior, clean the leather, headliner, etc. I'll get some pictures of the underside once they get the tranny out. With a new tranny it'll be even more reliable and time for another road trip Sorry I missed the event in Houston on Saturday. Rain check? Dave '80 400i s/n 31243
