Just Purchased my first 308 (well first Ferrari ever)!

Congrats and cool provenance. As for the CA smog, I'd make friends with prior owner's mechanic. Welcome to the club.

 

You may post the Bunny pictures here ; https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/pretty-girls-with-ferraris.357531/page-217#post-146975482

 

You’re going to need a smog cert. Technically yes, the seller is supposed to provide you with that but he’s not forcing you to buy the car and can just sell it to someone who doesn’t demand it. You’ll need to put all the equipment back on to pass a test, the days of finding underground pencil whippers are pretty much gone. There’s no incentive for anyone to do that for you.

 

Until your court date...

 

Current owner must smog it before pass on to u , I’m not sure if 78 is old enough to be exempt but a dmv search should confirm that.
Congrats on your ownership!!


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Then legally he has to give u a smog certificate, I believe it to be the law


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Carbureted engine in California. Why did you do that? What you need to do is to find someone who knows this particular model well, ensure all the smog equipment is still there, make sure the engine runs well (good compression, no leakage, good ignition, oil changed, filters clean, carburetors balanced and cleaned). This mechanic should also have a smog machine or a gas analyzer machine to look at the exhaust. Then lean it out to pass the smog number.

As for where you live, that is a big place. There are several Ferrari mechanics that could handle this beast to pass smog. Roselli in the south bay who actually has a SMOG testing station set up. Good luck.

 

That is true and it can be ground for buyer to back out of the deal and get all of his money back. But it does not seem like our buyer is wanting to do that. He just wants to pass smog and get the car in his name. I think he has 30 days to change ownership title.

 

+1 for Roberto. He is probably the most trusted Ferrari mechanic in the South Bay. He has so many cars.


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As said although there is technically a legal requirement you can't really force the seller to get you a smog cert, he can just refund your money, take the car back and sell it to someone else. FWIW this is not an insurmountable task if you have all the bits and pieces. The most critical would be the air injection manifolds on the heads. If they have been removed it is darn near impossible to get the front bank one on with the engine in the car although there is probably someone out there who could pull it off. With all of the equipment installed you should be able to get it through unless there is something seriously wrong with the engine - in which case you'd want to get it fixed anyway. Good luck.

 

I noticed the idle retard switch wiring is not present. Provide more photos of your engine compartment to see what is missing.
Is the air injection tubing connected, and are the air injection ports on the headers welded or just capped?

I just recently passed smog in California for my 1978 308. I have all the emissions equipment installed and fully operational. I bought a remanufactured correct vintage air injection pump on Ebay to replace my broken non-original pump. It did take replacing the original size 55 idle jets with a 65 in order to adjust the idle mixture for a complete combustion. It appears the gas in California is a leaner fuel than the size 55 jet would allow in for a combustible mixture. My HC was very high and could only be dialed in within emission requirements with a 65 idle jet. This allowed enough gas to cause complete combustion.

If you still want to keep the 308, you could register it as a non-op, until you get the emissions equipment in order. Hopefully, you have all the air injection hoses, diverted valve, manifolds, solenoid valves, evap emissions hoses / canister, etc...

 

In California, you have 10 days to register vehicle after purchasing. If the owner already transferred the liability of the Ferrari to you via the DMV website or paper work, then the DMV has the info and will be wanting their money. If you are keeping the Ferrari, then register as non-op, find a shop to install equipment / smog the Ferrari and tow it to them. When you pass smog, then pay the full registration to be able to drive it on the road.

Just my .02.

 

Check ebay, enter “Ferrari 308 air injection”, etc. to get an idea on used part prices. Injection rails, diverted valve, etc.

 

FWIW, California and Montana know about this. Montana started charging a luxury tax a couple of years ago on Ferraris, Lamborghini, etc. Some have had to pay over $800 annual luxury tax plus registration and California has the CHP on the lookout. Google DMV and CHP looking for Montana plates. People are taking photos and turning them in and CHP is catching them too. CA wants their annual fees and taxes.

 

I see the air diverter valve set up. Are the air injection ports welded shut or have cap fitting installed?
Just an idea based on Ebay prices, some used, some new items: Ferrari 308 air injection, Ferrari 308 emission, Ferrari 308 converter, etc.
Air injection pump, diverter valve, solenoids, rails, (1-2k), cat converters 300 - 500 each (1k), evap emissions missing components (300 plus), if air injection ports welded (over 2k), this does not include the labor cost. Others would have to provide a number, I do all my own work. Engine removal would be needed for front header replacement and air injection rail installation.