Little problems- did you ever want to give up?

So what was the cure?
Inquiring minds want to know

 

YES, yes and yes. What I call the "Diamond in the rough". An underpriced gave up on car that only needs a little special attention and you have a winner.

 

I was waiting at the end of your post to see if you say something like "and then the water pump lets go"

But, not today, ha?

 

My Mondial 3.2 ran like crap when the coil went bad. The problem was, it was sporadic, so it took me awhile to diagnose it. When the 2nd coil went bad, I was ready for it!
Glad your car is fun again!

 

I'm in that funk right now with both my 328 GTS and 308 GT4. The 328 is having trouble shifting (I had trouble getting into gear when I was on the track in December...and then a couple months ago it got stuck in 5th with my friend driving.) The 308 GT4 is still leaking oil from somewhere, which is turning into oil smoke through the lid louvers...and last time I drove it, I filled up the gas and then had fuel dripping out of the passenger side in front of the wheel well. (I'm guessing a loose hose.) I've been so busy lately that I haven't driven either.

 

These are no issues unique to Ferrari, just old cars. Fix one thing and another breaks. That is the way of old cars.

 

Either the water pump or a thermostat suddenly failed on the 6th of this month, and coolant boiled out all over the place, had to nurse it a short distance home in starts and stops.

I was already scheduled to drive it to the shop on the 8th, ended up going by flatbed instead.

Part of the deal.

 

To the original question, why the low miles. They were trophy cars. Anyone who could afford them did not have the time to drive them unless they used them as dailies.

My car is required to be ready for daily use with extensive trips. It sat for a few months then I put 1300 miles on it in a few days and it sits again, but ready for the next adventure. Great cars if sorted and used regularly.

Needy cars can be a killer though. Fortunately my cars issues don't come often other than regular maintenance. My issues have been small and electrical. Items I could solve on my schedule and rewarding when fixed.

A breakdown would test my patience, although I've gotten about 20K trouble free miles out of mine in the last three years.

If my car were extremely needy and not reliable I might give up on it and pass it down the line.

 

You made your Mondial reliable, right? Others don't all have the patience or knowledge base to do so ... maybe!

 

I am this point now. Giving up. I’ve even had thoughts of giving, yes giving as in gratis, it to the local F-car dealership just so they could make her right. I have worked so hard and I am still not meeting the mark.

 

I would have to say, that there are a lot of trailer queens all over the world . Then there are the owners that drive their cars once a month to cars and coffee. Then there are drivers,like myself, that drive their Ferraris because its in our blood so to speak, I have put over 80,000 miles in 23 years. My 89 328 has been bullet proof, Its a driving machine , pure and simple. Out here in California , 99 % of the Ferrari owners, especially in all the new modern Ferraris, would wrap their cars around a tree if they tried to pilot them in the way they were built for, its that simple . I dont know, maybe the build quality is sub par, and they are afraid that their Ferraris will come apart when driven like an F1 machine.Just my thoughts.

Thank you

 

Taking a systems biology approach. treat symptomatically and along the way while things are “open” do reliability improvements. Use Ockhams razor and often times NOT the person at the shop unless you have a tremendous amount of trust. Balancing nice to have vs need to have is a two way street and has to be tempered with pragmatism. Car restorers can get greedy and suggest issues that are not in need - just to have revenue. It’s not everyone.
some are enthusiastic - for example - a frequent flier in planes can be deluded into thinking they can FLY ONE. - not so. They want the challenge and don’t have the skills to do it and end up making things worse.
FWIW just opinions.
Find what works for you and then drive the suit out of the car to enjoy it.

 

I don’t want to give up, but I’d really like to catch up.

Either problems just happen or they were there the whole time and I later notice them.

Not to mention when you start peeling back the onion to fix one thing, you find two more.

Yes, there’s a list of things I’ve fixed. But there’s an even longer (and ever-growing) list of things I haven’t.

I’ve never considered giving up, though. It looks too good and it’s way too fun to drive

 

Your comment really worries me. A car can be fixed. There are no "lemon" 308s; they are all the same in terms of the things that can go wrong. If a shop can't find a problem after a couple of attempts, take the car to a different shop to get fresh eyes on it. The problems can be fixed.

Yeah, it can seem that way. I am the second owner of my car. It ran fine when I got it (thankfully), but I couldn't believe all the little things that the first owner never noticed: worn out seat bolster, paint chips in the engine bay, seeping oil etc. I suppose I will pass the car on the same way: the door lock servos have never worked, the seat rails will be frozen again in my one position, the floor mats are badly worn, etc.

 

Thats awesome. Which brand did you use?

 

"And wiring them as shown on the schematic sticker in the engine compartment.'

Was it the new coils or the corrected wiring that was the actual fix?

 

There are some owners that do more damage than good to cars. I have a couple of MB 1972 and a 77 s class.

The 72 has a lot of previous owner ( and mechanics) bad jobs. It’s annoying and sometimes out of my capabilities to fix things. I would love to disassemble the car completely and rebuild again.
Not knowing was was done is frustrating.

My 328 is in awesome shape and it’s a joy to work on it and replace worn stuff. Same for the 77 MB.



I’m only struggling with the stereo wiring, there is this amazing cd changer with optic fiber!!! I need to trace all the wire to the back and I don’t know if I want to. So far I’m ok listening to radio.

 

As Brian says, there are no “lemons” but they are all very old cars designed and made in Italy, with typically many owners, some of whom didn’t maintain them (or worse still, abused them.) Ownership is not for everyone and I admire an honest owner who admits this and gives someone else a turn. It’s not giving up, it’s deciding what is important to you and what is not.

 

The frustration is when owners write big checks to “big name” shops and at the end of the day you realize you just need ignition coils and new spark plugs. Ain’t it so?

 

My car gets more attraction at cars and coffee than any modern car. It looks incredible, But I gave up with Misc. Leaks caused by my check book to Pro 308 engine Gurus, and big mouth know it all body shops. My car is a drive anywhere car,But it gives me a stomach ache just thinking about all the issues , I GIVE UP Im very tired.

 

I have owned my car since 2010. I have done two majors, bare metal respray, full interior dye job and now smack can in the middle of a full suspension rebuild. I do almost all the work myself and consider it a labor of love. Working on it is every bit as fun to me as driving it.
I don't actually enjoy people gawking at it, as I bought the car for me - not as some kind of flex or bragging rights.
I will sell the car at some point, but not because I am tired of working on it. Perhaps the opposite - I will need a new challenge!