Am I Making an Expensive Mistake?

All 40 year old cars have issues, even the "perfect" ones. A benefit to buying the kind of car you did is that you get to address the issues your particular car has the way you want them addressed. You can have a confidence that you couldn't have if the prior owner had the work done. You will be able to trust it without doubt.

On the non-critical things, you can decide too what is priority for you. I consider my car to be in nice shape, yet there is stuff that I ignore. My central locking system has never worked. I could never get the horn loud enough for my liking so installed 118 dB Hella Supertones. My engine/transmission seeps but Walmart sells nice garage floor pans for $20. Etc.

There will always be something that needs attention. That is the nature of a 40 year old antique. Fixing stuff is part of the package and has to be part of the pleasure of ownership.

 

You aren't sitting on a "ticking time bomb" with those valves.

Get the transmission fixed and just drive it.

 

First off - you are not alone. I've done the "I'll buy a 308 with a few needs and save money" and turned out it cost me 2x as much.... but in the end its about the experience. Having had a horrible first Ferrari experience - and now on my 3rd one .... the only thing you need to assess is if the gear box is what needs to be done now - and will that get you on the road for a while...? or are there other things that are imperative? as for the sodium valves.... just do the valve adjustment, change the oil, flush coolant, check that water pump, and radiator are working as best they can, and keep the car driving. THE worst thing you can do is let them sit long periods of time. keep them moving, keep the rubber pliant, keep the electrics working, and they will be good cars. A Ferrari ( 308) will always need something... question is do you need to do it now or can it wait... esthetic things can wait, mechanical issues - solve now.... if you can get to a pre- emptive position with a Ferrari that is a good place to be.

The one thing I know about 308/328 cars are they are very durable... in spite of poor owners in the past.... change the belts, change the oil, and refresh coolant and brake fluid .... on a regular basis and everything else usually works well... you will have electrical issues - that is just a given, but these are simple cars, that require constant maintenance review.. if you just don't check stuff and drive it like a modern car - you will usually get surprised... but simple regular checks keep bad things from happening or getting worse.

as for the sodium valves.... I think unless you have a real valve issue now like guides leaking etc... leave them alone. my advice.

 

Guys please re-read some of this thread:

- Brian Crall has inspected the car so you can be sure that a knowledgeable tech has confirmed that the car needs synchros. Changing the gearbox oil (which has been tried) or adjusting the shift mechanism is NOT the problem.

- To do synchros the engine MUST come out and must be separated from the gearbox.

- Once the engine is out doing the sodium valves is easy and not too expensive. If it is a concern you would be a FOOL to save it for later. Doing it will be worth the money at resale and will ensure that you can drive the car as hard as you like with no worries of valve breakages.

 

Thank you Rob and thanks to all the armchair mechanics who worked on a Ferrari once who question my integrity and ability. FU.

 

It may be that part (or maybe all) of the problem was that posters didn't read the whole thread before posting. Especially when threads get beyond 3 pages or so, people tend to read only the original post and then reply. So before they can re-read, they must first read.

 

Doesn't matter. They are simply not qualified to comment.

 

Not completely fair, he didn't tell us you had the car till about post 12 & thereafter most have told him he is in good hands (as he is)

 

Welcome back Brian, channelling Valteri Bottas?

(I'd agree that many didn't read the thread through, or don't know that Brian Crall in Texas = Rifledriver on the forum. Anyone who realized it told lmatk that he was in the best of hands)

 

If Brian tells you to swap the valves, swap the valves.

If he tells you to leave them alone, forget about them and enjoy your 308.

His expertise with these things is without question.

 

It sucks buying your dream car, then realizing that the dream comes with the requirement of writing a substantial check. But whether the check is larger or smaller, owning one of these cars isn't cheap. As is often said, the purchase amount is simply the price of entry.

I haven't any idea how much i've spent on my '85 since I bought it - tools, parts, supplies. I have all the receipts, of course, but I've never added them up. It's not an inconsequential amount, though.

And despite what I've spent, there are still a couple of things that bother the hell out of me. No matter what my tech skills are (or aren't), I'm not going to be able to rectify a couple of issues I have with the paint/body without parting with a lot of cash. And like I said earlier - that genuinely sucks. But, tis life.

At this point, your car is in the hands of one of the most-qualified vintage Ferrari experts in America. Should you write the check? Honestly, I don't know - because I don't know your passion, your desire for the car. But, do know this - the car will be well-sorted when you're done. So for whatever it's worth - it won't be money completely wasted.

 

You've seen the movie Le Mans right? I bought my 1983 308QV in 2017 for sixty thousand dollars with fifty thousand miles on the odometer in pristine condition and in the first year I put ten thousand miles on it. Then it blew a head gasket. Well, "blew" is a strong word, it actually just started to leak. So I pulled the engine and did the whole head job and a bunch of other "while you're in there" stuff and with a QV that's a lot of stuff. I did it all myself outside of the machine shop work and yea it's finicky and tedious but immensely enjoyable if you're a gearhead. Point is, that's exactly why I bought a 37 year old Ferrari. I could have bought a brand new Alfa 4C for the same price but there wouldn't have been any opportunity to tinker with it. You've got to commit yourself to this if you want to succeed and that means going deeper than you feel you can. Hell, you've got Rifeldriver right there to help you with guidance - if you are capable. Don't underestimate yourself.

So, back to Le Mans - I expect that, in the end, my 308 will look as beaten up, dirty and spent as Erich Stahler's 512 at the end of the movie having been used to it's full extent and proudly displaying itself as such. I'm not saving it for anyone else.

 

If you bought it cheap you may get your money back selling it as needing synchros. Some adjustment and MTL may get it working a little better. That may be the best option if the repair costs are more than you wanted to invest in the car.

I found synchros for around $200. You need to do some research for many of the parts to get the best prices.

 

Brian's shop, Brian's parts....no point in that.
I did miss the detail on who gave him repair costs, or I would not have commented.

I've requested it's deletion...

Good night all....

 

"I haven't any idea how much i've spent on my '85 since I bought it - tools, parts, supplies. I have all the receipts, of course, but I've never added them up."

Yep, looking at receipts is not a good way to enjoy ANY interest/hobby I have ever been associated with - boats, cars, electronic gear, guitars, photography, etc, etc!

 

While there are plenty of stories like the above, there are also plenty of stories that go "I bought a super-duper car, and then found that I had to pour-in a lot of money anyway", just as there are plenty of stories that go "I bought a super-duper car, and it has been a dream", and plenty of stories that go "I took a big risk, and the car turned out to be great". It is always a dice-roll.

The main thing going for the OP's car is that it is a "devil you know", and if he goes through all that work, then it will likely be a pretty good devil.

Agree with others, that "no rust" is a pretty big deal on a 2-valve (which predates any galvanized metal). I would encourage the OP to look *really* carefully for evidence of any rust repairs; if the body is really as sound as described, the car is worth a lot more than if it has been repaired in the past.

I think the real question may be whether the OP wants to really deal with a Ferrari at all; repair costs (both financial, and time, and emotional) have the potential to be really high. If you love the car (is the color one that you really like? have you driven a properly operating car and said to yourself "wow, this is like nothing I've ever imagined"?), then you look the other way. If you don't love the car, might be best to just walk away and go with something less likely to possibly cause unhappiness.

Me personally, if the choice is between flipping for a different car of the exact same spec, and fixing the current one, then I'd go with fixing; the end result of that choice is bringing another Ferrari back to good condition (the more such cars in the world, the better!), and no chance of ending up with yet a second car that turns out to have a lot of needs.

 

I agree, only fix it if you love it and want to keep it and spend all the money needed. Otherwise sell it as is. Don’t fix it to sell it unless you are doing most of the work yourself.