My car is an early early steel car and I have two questions. One side of the inside of the spoiler has a duct that goes to the blower, and the other does not. Did the cars originally have ducts on both sides, and do they serve much of a real purpose? I can't even find any evidence that there ever was one on the other side. Also, I have a NOS spare spoiler I bought from BigTex a few years ago. It has three slits cut across the middle. When was this implemented? I guess Ferrari felt it was useful. Is it really and was there any type of trim around them, like the mail slot in the rear? Thanks
Hey.. There's a Tech Bulletin to yank out BOTH ducts and the Intake scoops that routed air to the in cabin fans, they were gathering up gravel and blowing it into the cabin! My Hot Rod guy could not stand it, and fabricated replacements. But the original ones hugged the bottom of the grill opening. LONG ago a "thrown in the trash kind of part. There's several styles of early front valences one was actually three pieces (shallow) and made from steel. In the glass ones, normal and DEEP, the three air slots appear almost from the beginning, around 1977 or 1978. I have no idea if that part is a Real Part or a Repro part, but those trhee slots definately ad airflow into the radiator and reduce the front lift of the spoiler.
No edging. Just raw openings. As most dealers followed the Tech Bulletin the OEM "Vacuum cleaner" intake scoops might be the rarest part ever! I didn't tell my guy to make them, he just followed his HoT Rod instincts, and did!!!
Hi to all Have been lurking on this forum for a year or so. This is my first post. I recently sourced left and right "vacuum cleaner" intake scoops for my '76 euro spec vetro GTB from Maranello parts. I did the factory one better by fabricating debris screens for the mouth of the scoops from 1/4" square galvanized mesh, secured along the edge of the scoop by push-on finishing trim sourced from Steele Rubber Products. Also sourced a push-on top-bulb weather strip from Steele that serves as a gasket between the scoop neck and the blower fan surround. Should keep debris from getting into the blower. Didn't know there was a Tech Bulletin regarding the removal of these scoops, but I guess it makes sense. Glad I was able to track them down. Looking at the parts diagrams on various vendor sites, the only illustration for those scoops is for 1976 vetro 308's. I find the forum an invaluable source of good information, experiential knowledge, and expertise.
Thanks for the responses. I guess I will have a passenger-side "vacuum cleaner" scoop for sale if someone wants their fiberglass car factory original. My car is steel (no pillar seam), but Sept. 76 production and most parts on it are more vetro than steel. I check the vetro (76) parts book for ordering things. I went back and looked last night and it does show scoops on both sides. I don't have overheating problems but may cut the slots in the other spoiler to match the one I got from you BigTex The idea is to have two good front spoilers. Not a bad idea with a lowered car. Thanks again for the help.
Yes two scoops both sides but they were RH and Left, to perch in the valence where the opening curves. Maybe post the parts diagrams as most people have no idea what we are talking about. Youd thik a filter mesh in there against a screen support would have been a better resolution, but it would "take a new part" so the deductive answer was used... You gonna make me get a picture of my custom ones!!
I would say cooling issues are far more dependent on Radiator health and the water pump, I think those three slots are to fight front end lift from trapped air, not cooling per se..
Would just mention that there were many different aftermarket companies in the US making "deep" euro-style fiberglass front spoilers for US 308s in the late 70's/early 80s -- so a lot of variation out there.
Regarding the aforementioned blower "vacuum cleaner" scoops, the best resource for a diagram would be to go to ferrariparts.co.uk (Maranello Classic Parts), do a parts search for Ferrari 308 GTB 1976, diagram 121-heating system. Similar to the engine air intake and oil cooler side intake scoops, the front spoiler blower scoops have a water drainage slot in the bottom of the neck just ahead of the junction with the blower motor housing. Originals seem to have been formed from fiberglass mat and resin over a form, or possibly in a mold. Very light in weight and rigid. As the digram shows, the mouth of the scoop is completely open to the air creating a ram effect into the heater blowers as the car is moving. Since installing mine I have definitely noticed improved airflow into the cabin.
Actually, the ducts are fairly thin and sturdy...and do have a slot for water. I will probably leave mine off. The spoiler I got from BigTex matches my original pretty closely except for the slots across the middle. A fiberglass shop has both of them right now cleaning them up and making them match. Yes, my car doesn't overheat but we can all do with a little more AC performance. I know that is mostly limited by the airflow inside, but more in the front couldn't hurt. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The duct in the picture appears to be a left side. Notice that there is a large section of the upper part of the mouth of the duct that has been cut away. Parts diagrams do not show how these ducts were mounted. From other pictures I have seen and from what appear to be old rivet holes in the lower border of the duct in the picture, I believe the ducts were riveted to the lip of the grille surround of the the front lower valence/spoiler, and mated to the blower motor surround via a gasket of some type. I installed my ducts via a "L" bracket on the face of the blower motor mounting flange vs. riveting the rim of the duct to the lip of the grille surround. I would wager that none of these ducts were installed in a consistent manner, namely that the old rivet holes in the duct pictured would not line up with holes in any other car than the one they originally came from. Makes one appreciate how much of a truly handmade car these 308's are in many respects.
