1981 400i Auto Restoration

Hey all. I've been a long time Ferrari owner and member on FChat, and now pleased to announce the purchase of a 1981 400i Auto. Sadly the car was involved in an accident in 2006 and has been off the road since as the cost to repair just made it unfeasible. The car was partly repaired and I’ll be looking to complete the job.

The interior is in very good condition and will need a good clean and conditioning, But mileage is only 55k and otherwise in very good condition.

Obviously the exterior will need a full re-spray and I’ll be getting that done properly. I have already spoken to my body shop so they will complete all of that.

Mechanically the car starts and runs, as well as moving under its own power. However it has been off the road for about 10 years so everything will need to be done.

Here is a short list of what I am expecting to change:
Engine oil
Oil filters
Air filters
Pollen filters
Fuel filters
Spark plugs
Cambelts
Cambelt bearings
Water pump bearing
AC Bearing
AC Belt
Water pump belt
Drain and replacing coolant
Probably also change cooling hoses
Pressure test cooling system for leaks (hopefully none!)
Change transmission oil, filters, gaskets
Check braking system
Replace brake fluid
Replace AC dehydration filter
Test AC system and regas
Check power steering for leaks
Check suspension and shocks
Replace battery (I don’t think its flat but I always like to start fresh)
Also will look at tyres and probably replace.

I’m not massively familiar with the 400 mechanicals but I am just doing the above and more on my 1999 456M which you can follow on my other thread. I’ll be looking to document all the details of this job on this thread. I will be doing most of this myself under the guidance of my Ferrari mechanic Abbey who has about 35 years of working on Ferraris. When I asked him how familiar he was with the 400i engine he said “don’t worry, I grew up on them!”

Please let me know if you can suggest any other jobs I should look at.

 

Here are some pics. The first is how the car was back in 2006 before the accident.
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Interior is actually in very good condition. Car gets delivered tomorrow.
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Congratulations, that will be a fun project!

BTW, the 400 engine has timing chains rather than belts.

When you are doing the transmission you might want to replace the pan with a nicer alloy one with a drain plug and some people on the forum have added a shift kit to make the gearbox kickdown more readily.

Cheers

Aidan

 

Thanks Aiden. I just asked my mechanic the same question on the cambelts as I had a feeling that was the case.

I'll look up details on the two points you mentioned.

 

There was a thread previously on this very same car not too long ago when it was first listed for sale. The comments indicated that the previous owner, having maintained the interior in such good shape, must probably have taken good care of the car.

I too brought mine from an almost certain grave, so good luck as it will be very rewarding in the end, trust me

 

Here it is...

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/365-gt4-2-2-400-412/489875-400i-ebay-uk.html

 

Otto

Many thanks. I was aware of that advert, but many thanks all the same.

 

Had a really interesting day today. 35249 was delivered just after 9am and I only had until 1pm to check the car and decide what we need to do before I needed to leave. Abbey was out on some morning errands and I didnt want to start the engine without him, so I set about checking all the parts that came in the boxes in boot. After checking all the parts it seems the only parts that were the following:

1. One headlight
2. The front Ferrari logo from the grill
3. The rear Ferrari logo next to the number plate

Apart from that all the parts seem to be present! Good start.

Just as I was finishing Abbey arrived, so after a few engine checks he said fire her up…. Turned the key and it fired right up! Settled down well and sounded lovely. We started to check over the car as it ran and the exhaust seemed to be blowing in two places. Also the water level seemed low so we topped that up. Other than that seemed good.
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Engine pics
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Next thing we did was put it on the ramp. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
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Overall we were very positive about the car.

No leaks from the engine and it seems to run fine, so a major service should be sufficient. But to be safe we will do a compression test and leak down test just to be sure.

The chassis looks to be completely undamaged and in great shape. That was really positive as I was aware the car had been involved in a minor knock before, but it confirmed that the accident was very minor.

Suspension all needs to be rebuilt. All the bushes are worn, although shocks did not show any signs of leakage.

As mentioned the exhaust is blowing on one side. We had a look and it seems it’s the manifold and probably cannot be repaired. The second place it was blowing looks like it was just a loose exhaust. We may be able to reattach that to fix.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the under carriage. The underside will need to be sandblasted repaired and undersealed again. Not a huge worry but just another job to then list.

Here is the list in summary

1. Steam clean engine and suspension
2. Remove exhaust
3. Sand blast underside
4. Repair underside in any rusted areas
5. Rebuild suspension
6. Major engine and transmission service
7. Replace all coolant hoses
8. Pressure test cooling system
9. Change all braided hoses
10. Remove engine covers strip repaint
11. Complete brake service replacing brake hoses, fluids and brakes where needed
12. Replace AC condenser
13. Send car to paint shop for complete body respray and undercarriage paint.
14. Complete interior detailing

That’s a real whirlwind summary and there will be many more steps. The aim at this stage is to get the car to concours condition, but we will have to see how easy and financially viable that actually is! We aim to have it done in 3 months, but that might be ambitious! Lets see!!

 

All looks pretty straight really.

 

Just remember the floor including firewall all the way to the back of the car is fiberglass.

 

I don't know if you have a useable "chin spoiler" but I have a spare. I'm in the process of replacing mine. The replacement came in a very well built shipping crate. I'm a long distance from you but if you can arrange the shipping I'll make it very reasonable to own. It does need some fiberglass repair but is a good starting point. PM me if you are interested. I paid almost 3K usd for the replacement I bought, the one I'm removing will be a lot less expensive to own.

 

will be watching with interest... thats a shed load of work.....as ever....

 

Where is your mechanic Abbey based? I have a problem with my car in that it won't start when the engine is hot. If I use the car and turn it off, I have to leave it for several hours before being able to restart it - which is not good if I need to stop to fill up!

Is he near London?

 

PM sent

 

Well done on beating me to this! I bid on her on ebay and wondered where she may turn up.
My 365gt4 also requires a new manifolds so let me know if you find someone reasonable.
I have spoken to gough in the uk and ferrari and they are both asking about 2.5k to 3k for the set...
Car looks great it should be back on the road soon
Make sure you have fuel lines and filters replaced too. I had a small fire that I luckily caught when a filter leaked and sprayed fuel over the engine bay...

 

Outstanding! Keep us informed of progress.

 

Thanks! Will do.

 

The prices I have found so far for manifolds are as follows:


Tubi
Item Price Price + VAT
Manifold £2,856 £3,427
Front Right £1,496 £1,795
Front Left £1,496 £1,795
Rear Right £919 £1,103
Rear Left £919 £1,103

Total £9,223

Quicksilver
Item Price Price + VAT
Manifold £2,618 £3,142
System £2,442 £2,930

Total £6,072


Item Price Price + VAT
Manifold £1,479 £1,775
System £2,718 £3,262

Total £5,036

Who is Gough?

Thanks also for the advice on the fuel lines. Will take a look at mine.

 

Hi! Welcome to the world of the 400!

If you are looking for odds and sods for your new project, try Rosneath Engineering in Kent.
Phil,the late proprietor was a great fan of the 400, a gentleman and a scholar. He had accumulated a treasure trove of bits to keep his customers on the road. Sadly, as he died after a short illness, the company still has a lot of parts for sale, anything from doors to switches, secondhand manifolds, instruments etc. Worth a phone call or a visit, specially if you are London-based. They worked on my 400i Auto, and I bought my Manual one from them.

 

That's invaluable. Thanks v much!

 

I found Nuvolari Exhaust in UK to be best price. I dont think the quality of ANSA but they are stainless.