512 BB maintenance costs

I agree fully but the market place disagrees with both of us. Too many see the term major service and believe it means the same thing in the same quality world wide.

 

Good day Rifledriver,

Same can be said for the term "Restored", as in "Car has been Restored"...

Cheers,

Sam

 

Yep. Wayne Carini is one of the worst too. Has done more to hurt that industry than any other single individual.

 

The OP asked:
Does some owner could tell me how much it costs (every 4 years)?

Well, I have owned a 512i for 15 years and I have spent US$36,453 on maintenance. That includes 3 major services costing between $7K and $11K.
But the first of those was right after purchase and a semi-restoration so probably a bit of a cost-time outlier.
Of course this includes annuals, various part fails (e.g. thermostat regs, etc.).
So ... about $2430/yr so for 4 years $9720. Call it $10000.

 

Id budget not less than 5k per year on average, and that's once you sort out the big bits. So if you start witha good vcar, figure 30K to start and sort, then a 5 k per year average. Some years its just fluids so well less than 5K, but then other years more.
Figure belts etc (and I mean etc cause belts are the least of it) every 5-7 years.
BTW belts should mean things like tensioner bearings, water pump rebuild, you'll prob need to do hoses every now and again, distributor rebuilds, etc etc.
Thats all assuming the suspension was redone shocks and brakes. You'll be needing a clutch every now and again too.

5k per year averaged over 5-7 years sounds about right for a sorted car, way less if you can do the work yourself, they're not complex machines. But they are old, and unless fully restored and sorted have needs to bring them up to snuff. Cars that are driven are probably sorted, most are garage queens.

Compared to a modern ferrari with cermaic brakes etc a Bb is cheap to maintain. the issue youll find is not so much cost but someone competent to do the work and look after the car, that's key.

 

to answer the original question....
After buying a complete and well documented car, i had everything taken apart and engine, transmission, brakes, suspension etc all rehabbed.
that should have cost me about $35k, but for various reasons i got the work done for half of that.
then i took it on the targa florio/giro di sicilia, and it behaved flawlessly.
(then it was stolen and then recovered 2 days later, with minor damage, which obliged the insurance company to redo the paint, and partially the interior - again, not on my dime )
then i have simply had it maintained by experts, and it has cost me on average about $1k/year.
once you have it sorted out completely the first time, and you treat it correctly and have the regular maintenance done, they are very strong cars.

buti also agree that rifledriver is correct in that these cars are not driven that much - even by the likes of me who actually drives them frequently, so judging the needs by the mileage is an error.

 

A cautionary tale.

In 2011 I bought the best carb BB I could find, a sparkling 30,000 km example, found after 18 months of looking and almost another year spent asking the seller to part with it. A thorough PPI disclosed that it was a great example.

I serviced and drove it (it was a garage queen, so maybe I should have known better). After a few weeks of driving I heard an odd bearing noise behind my head and, after speaking to another BB owner, feared it was one of the bearings behind the one of the two pulleys which turned the timing belts; failure could lead to major damage. That winter the engine came out and was rebuilt completely from the crank up; new bearings, clutch, 1mm over on the liners, new HC pistons, rebuilt ignition system, heads and Webers. I also chose that time to rebuild and re-plate all the hardware under the car, change all rubber items, buy some XWX Michelins, recore the radiator and rebuild the suspension with new parts. Over $100,000 later, the car went from one which looked excellent and drove ok, to essentially a new 1978 BB which is a little quicker than it was when new.

Ironically, I later discovered that the timing belt bearing was not the sound I heard, it was the clutch TOB. At least now, annual service costs are less than the cost of its secure storage, basically an annual oil change and a brake fluid swap every 2nd year. I don't regret the expenditure as I am keeping the car and would have done all that work anyways over time, but, to the OP, remember when you are buying engine parts in sets of 12, things can get expensive quickly.