late 328 differences?

The 88.5 cars have different valve stem caps with a much improved design, along with the revised cigarette lighter that is "aero" styled and drilled for lightness, again, a huge upgrade over the earlier cars.

 

The big change was the suspension with #76626 on (although there are a few cars after that with early suspensions). The wheel change was done to get more negative offset to go with the suspension upgrade. IIRC the steering rack was also changed and given a slightly quicker ratio. The idea that the wheels were changed for ABS is a misnomer. The sensors take almost no room and are inside the disc.

As for driving, I have owned both and the newer suspension feels tighter, more modern than previous. It also has "anti dive" which helps control under hard braking. I don't think it makes much of an objective difference but I greatly prefer the feel.

I have a parts book that shows many parts were upgraded as time went along, most small items.

Dave

 

It looks like it has been messed with I can see no indicator lights on the wings, look at the black 328 in the background!!

 

Hello Dave,

It is indeed true that most people believe in the usual story that the change of wheels and supension that occured with car n° 76626 was done to accept ABS on the 328, whereas in fact Ferrari has never stated that the change was specifically done in connection with ABS.

When looking in period litterature, the actual reason given by Ferrari at the time for the suspension change was "standardization with the Mondial Models" (see for instance Service Bulletin 60-17, 10/5/88) and it is indeed true that for the front suspension, the upper and lower A-Arms are the same between Mondials and 328 "post-76626"; these parts have the same reference for a Mondial or for a "Post 76626" 328 in the spare parts catalogue. This explains that the offset of the front wheels on a "post 76626" 328 and on a Mondial is the same.
I am not positive that the rear suspension of the "post 76626" 328 is identical with the Mondial one; and the offset of the rear wheels is different, I think.

I have been unable to find any modification of interest for the late production 328 after the change of leather mentioned in a previous post; I think most cars post 79660 are probably almost identical between them, except for very minor details. It is probable that, at this time (January 1989) production lines were already gearing up for the 348, so there was no evolution implemented any more on the last 328s.

Best,

 

89s have a different throttle cable. Pedal side has a 5mm stud end instead of the earlier 6mm stud end. The 6mm wont fit through the pedal side if the tube. Found out the hard way. Pete

 

I believe all US cars had Konis all the way to end of production. UK cars changed to Bilsteins as mentioned earlier, not sure about any other region.

 

I think the rears are the same as the Mondial, I had a dispute with a company about the bushes for the rear of my car. I removed 8 bushes from each side and ordered replacements, they told me i must be wrong there isnt 8 on each side! I had to send them a pic to prove them wrong. It turned out that Ferrari uk parts have the old parts no for the pre 88.5 car on there website!! I had to use the Mondial parts no to get what I needed.