Improving the driving experience 400i manual

Hello All
I recently purchased my first older Ferrari cassis number 30315. A Series 1 400i manual. A gorgeous car and so beautiful to look at. I spent most of today driving it around local streets as it has been unregistered for a number of years and in desperate need of TLC. Recently it has had quite a lot of work performed and today was the first day to get it out for some short driving to start checking out what else requires doing. The car is black with XWX tyres and really looks great although it drives like a truck. Can anyone please assist in suggesting some things that may help to improving my driving experience.
I look for ward to any ideas you can assist with.
Kindest regards,
Jim

 

If you posted this in the appropriate section for the 400 series you would probably get a more comprehensive response. Just saying!

I love the 400i too. How about a few pics.
In my neck of the woods an older couple attends all the F car meets with an immaculate gold coloured 400. Fabulous car.

 

How old are the tyres ? If the car has been stored etc they are probably long past their best and the whole thing will improve with a new set

 

Hello Gents
Please see photos.
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Gorgeous 400!

 

Apart from the steering wheel on the wrong side, it's a nice. Looks like the body is also in great shape but what do you mean it drives like a truck, suspension wise or engine noise?

 

Huge difference will be noticed after that.

Beautiful!

 

I have always loved the 400/412 series cars, something about those body lines. Yours looks awesome in black, thinking tires is the good place to start. When were the ones on your car manufactured ? Do tires in Aussie land have the year and week of manufacture on them ?

 

Please describe "drives like a truck".

 

if you have only driven F1 cars. these cars are not track autos. they are highway cruisers. if you were looking for a car you could track sell this quick. very nice looking car. I hope you understand what you purchased and enjoy the car for what it was designed

 

New tires, go through he steering and suspension, bring it up to 100%, this will dramatically improve the performance of an old car that has been neglected, even benign neglect Things like dried out suspension and steering joints, semi frozen shocks, out of adjustment wheel bearings, the list goes on : )

 

The manual 400 / 412 cars have a relativley heavy clutch and use a cable instead of hydraulics to activate the clutch. The condition of the clutch cable is crtitical. The cable wears internally leading to increaesed friction and results in a much heavier clutch action. If the clutch is not adjusted properly and does not fully disengage then the shifting will be difficult too.
And as others have said, tyres / condition of suspension bushes and shocks are also critical
M

 

+1 First thing to check if it "drives like a truck". Old tires get hard as rocks and become very slippery. New rubber does wonders to take advantage of the car's very compliant and capable suspension.

If the tires are old (check the date code) and more than, say 7 years old, chances are they have hardened up considerably and should be replaced even if they have good tread depth left.

If it still drives like a truck after or with new tires, then look at the front suspension bushings. These are heavy cars and the rubber dries out and things wear out, both of which makes for some banging in the suspension or vague steering.

Good luck and enjoy your new car!

 

everyn400 I purchased needed the drag link. Rare Parts in Calif. will make them like new. send the links as well. they are Toyota. . cost for all $1,000. turn around two weeks

 

Mitchell
What is that? I have a guess, but please post.
Ken

 

Ties the two front wheel and keeps them parallel Look at your tires. And see if there is an odd ware pattern.

 

+1 on the tires first, then the front suspension bushings!

 

Hello all
Thanks for all the updates and posts, when driving the car it feels like the suspension has locked in one position and the steering feels notchy. Although it has been a long time since I have driven one of theses my memory was of a soft and smooth car.
I will do the tyres shortly, some advice please? Should I buy TRX or XWX???
I look forward to hearing from you all.
Jim

 

Good day Jim,

Your Rim size will dictate which tire version you need. TRX's are for the metric sized rims and XWX are for the more standard imperial sized rims.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Gh I thought I had a choice, mine are 255/55R15

 

Hi Jim,

You have very wide tyres on your car - standard tyres were 215/70 VR15 Michelin XWX.
It might feel more nimble on these narrower tyres.


David

 

If you look at all of the front suspension joints most don't have zerk fittings to grease them. They make a needle for your grease gun. With the needle you can get around the rubber seals and get some grease in there, they are probably all dry. Also on the out board joints of the A arms the pivot points are steel bushings, these are most likely dry also. These steel bushings have to be taken apart to be lubed and are quite expensive to replace. Based on your description it think these things will make a big difference.

 

Id start by placing the car on jack stands and removing the shocks. Check for smooth movement of the arms thorughout the range of travel. Push & pull to see where they are losoe. The front end with the steel bushings should have almost no play at all - its really a cool system. In the past few years i've replaced all of the bushings, including sway bar hardware because at 65k miles it was all bad. Also
wheel bearings
uprated coil springs
adjust shocks
replaced seized rear leveler
tires.
Still, the ride is a little clunky compared to even a 90's euro sedan

 

GT, interesting comments on the ride. I've always been surprised how good the ride is on my car. Is seems well controlled with out being the least bit harsh.

 

Bruce
That is what I thought you meant, but never heard that name for it. I make sure I grease the two stationary pivots.
Ken