For those who bought distributor caps and rotors

Dustn,

How many miles are on your 308? These generally do not go bad (oh yeh, and have you checked out the price?). I recently took the recommendation of many of the experts on this forum and removed the caps and rotors and thoroughly cleaned them with an emory cloth. They were badly oxidized but cleaned up nicely. The car ran fine with them oxidized and ran the same afterwards (no difference that I could tell). Unless they are really bad, I would first clean them and see how she performs.

My Testarossa is currently in for major service and the caps and rotors for that car are $2,600. I am having my shop clean them up and reinstall them. Unless something is really wrong with them (like they are cracked), I have been told a thorough cleaning on the TR caps and rotors will work as well and no need to replace. I'll post again if I have reason to believe differently once I get the TR back this week.

Joe

 

It's amazing that no one has gone into the repro cap and rotor business....

 

they do make repo rotor buttons and caps for 308 www.awautoparts.us

 

For $2600, I could,and would, modify a couple Chev distribs to fit and use,and have a fair amount of money left over, and be blessed with $8 caps and $4 rotors from then on.

Doug

 

I just don't have the heart to change the original look of the engine bay that much. Chevy cap, Ford cap, electromotive....can't do it. I have high energy boxes running things which are hidden very well and I love the way it runs while keeping the original look. The caps should be replaced about every 30-40k miles with the rotors being replaced every 5-10k. Seems to be what the previous mechanic on my car did for many years.

 

Well, you could do that. Then again, why not just buy a Chevy to begin with? These cars are expensive to maintain...and it just doesn't make much sense to replace the original components with non-OEM junk. Not withstanding, ignition components are expensive on these cars. Personally, I prefer that my Ferrari and those that I maintain are as close to original as possible...

Ditto, on the replacement issue, although I think anything past 30K miles on the caps is a bit of a reach. I replace most rotors at 12K-15K miles, along with the carbon button. The caps can usually be cleaned with a light media blast.

Best,
David

 

Ther ARE reasons people put Ferrari body kits on Fiero's


There is no length to which some will go to try and make their Ferrari cost the same as a Toyota to maintain. It is why we fail so many on PPI.

 

We're stuck with the caps as they are, but it is downright silly that F didn't use run of the mill Fiat items. The rotor looks much like that of a Fiat Uno, and I don't want to guess how cheap that cap-rotor combo is. To top that off, most of these little Fiats run 100.000kms with their original combo without hassle.

 

No, you miss the point.

You take the original parts off and put them in a nice safe box, for later reinstall for selling the car or show or whatever,and drive the car with the inexpensive consumable stuff, consumables being plug wires, rotors and distributor caps.

Same as many Corvette and Muscle car owners pull the original engine/trans,and drop in a not original motor for driving so as not to worry about having something happen to the original motor (drop a valve, break a rod bolt ) and thus destroy the value of the car. This of course if for people who drive their cars and don't just polish them in their garage every so often and trailer them to events. I put 10K miles a year on my car before I parked it for other reasons, I will put 10K miles/yr again on it starting in a few months, because it is fun to drive.

This is what most of us in the real world call economic sense, but if $3500 for caps, rotors and plugs every 15K miles isn't even pocket lint, then by all means spend it how you want.

Of course, if you are maintaining Ferraris, it would behoove your profit margin to sell expensive OEM stuff as much as possible.

Doug

 

Last year I needed new plug wires so I took everything apart for that purpose. While doing so I used some light sand paper to clean all of the contacts inside the distributors and the rotors. It made a big difference in idle and eliminated the "snap, crackle and pop" while sitting at redlights.

 

Actually, I don't and really do see your point..

Buying and maintaining a Ferrari never has, nor never will make any economic sense. With all due respect, if you want Chevy parts prices, buy a Chevy. Most Ferrari owners don't want their cars "cobbed" back together with domestic parts, particularly if the part in question is in plain view.

Again, so far from the truth...I, and the clients I have realize that they are expensive toys...and will be expensive to maintain. However, I do not replace parts for the sake of replaceing them...and wherever possible will seek more reasonably priced replacements. A little oil on a distributor cap, coupled with some corrosion can be cleaned and reused. My client base is very loyal and some customers go back over 25 years. Needlessly selling parts, as you infer, does nothing but ensure failure of the trust I've built over the years.

Best,
David

 

Well, there are many types of owners for many types of Ferrari. There will always be those who will spare nothing for their Ferrari. And there will be those who want to drive a Ferrari without spending silly money on silly things.

And, we will all find our places under the sun.

 

Yup. That would be the way I went in a heart beat. You don't even need the chevy distributors unless you just wanted to cut the top off as there as no actual guts in a TR or 308I or QV distributor, just a cap mounted to the head and a rotor stuck on the end of the cam. If I decide on distributors for my car the cap and rotors will be something common and cheap.

 

The problem here is the ferrari cap and rotor for $2600 aren't any better than $50 woulth of other brand cap and rotors...they are just $2550 more expensive.

 

There's a reason why Ferrari doesn't use more commonly available consumable maintenance parts - an automobile manufacturer doesn't just look at the sale of the car as the sole profit event, they also look at the revenue stream associated with service and parts over the expected life of the car. If they use exclusively proprietary parts, including all maintenance items, they can charge higher parts prices because they're not subject to competitive pressures via availability of other vendors/suppliers.

Follow the money and you'll be sure to find the answer in 99.99% of all points of inquiry.

 

Sounds like a couple simple aluminum adaptor rings and rotor extensions (if required) would work just fine.

Doug

 

So very true. There are reasonable limits, of course, but Ferrari does not recognize them.
Nor do they have to, as they have designed a special cap and rotor and price it as they choose.

 

Yup. 2-4 hours of work and you'd have a bolt on/off conversion. Very simple. I was going to do one for a 2Vi engine but the need for it disappeared when the project became a direct fire ignition upgrade instead.

 

Hello from Germany,

I want to keep my car original as well, but:

for me personally the problem isn't the costs for the spare parts. No offense or arrogance, but most spare parts for mundane daily drivers are more expensive.

My main concern is, that more and more repro parts are simply crap.
Talking about caps and rotors; I have seen 'new' rotors for the 2V injected engines, which failed after a few thousand kms.
I prefer a well maintained original cap and rotor over a new one made in questionable quality.
In my opinion preventive replacement isn't necessary, because a failing cap or rotor normally doesn't cause expensive damage. The worst, what can happen is, that you are stuck roadside, but there are several possibilities for a quick emergency fix.

Best Regards from Germany

Martin