Metal or Fiberglass 308 front valance ? | FerrariChat
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Metal or Fiberglass 308 front valance ?

Discussion in '308/328' started by thecarreaper, Jul 19, 2009.

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  1. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #1 thecarreaper, Jul 19, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I think BigTex mentioned one time that one of the three early 308 carb cars in his possession has a metal front valance. all of the 308s i have owned or seen up close have had fiberglass front valances. deep or shallow.

    MY QV also has a factory metal shallow front valance, and i am in the process of adding the deep euro valance to the car. ( waiting on the paint shop)

    my thread on the process can be found here:

    http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249758


    can any of you chime in on whether or not the 1979-1985 308s you have had contact with had glass or sheetmetal valances?

    did it vary by year, or perhaps country of final delivery?

    now that i have posted this, i am going to look for my assembly number (54) on the metal valance and verify it is indeed original to the car.

    were the factory deep valances made out of metal at any time?

    it occurred to a buddy of mine that you could modify a metal shallow valance to look like a metal deep "euro" style very easily.


    thoughts?
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  2. myfazzman1

    myfazzman1 Formula Junior
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    #2 myfazzman1, Jul 19, 2009
    G'day mate

    Been following this with interest! My 1984 308 Qv GTS(Australian Delivery) has a metal "short" valance.(We call em Spoilers)

    I have seen both metal and Fibreglass European front valances used on 308's throughout the years and these are cars which I know are factory original.

    I would think that like a lot of things with Ferrari at the time,it was a case of " use whatever was at hand and available Luigi" at the time!

    When fitting the deeper European front spoiler are there any issues with the Fibreglass front wheel arch liners being too short?


    Cheers

    Pete
     
  3. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #3 thecarreaper, Jul 19, 2009

    hi Pete, i will look at the fit of the fender liners when i do the final fit. as far as i could tell they were fine, as i did not need to remove them to get the bolts out with the grill and bumper removed. i removed them afterwards to look around in there.

    the QV i have is the first metal valance i have seen. it is indeed original to the car, and is made up of several welded parts. everything on my car was undercoated at some time in the past, so i cannot find any marking on the underside without disturbing the coating.
     
  4. f308jack

    f308jack F1 Rookie

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    #4 f308jack, Jul 19, 2009
    My '82 GTSi has metal, short. RHD Euro spec.

    AFAIK all long ones are finberglass. I was under the impression that all short ones after the vetroresina cars were metal, but that is then wrong?
     
  5. Birdman

    Birdman F1 Veteran

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    #5 Birdman, Jul 19, 2009
    My '77 is shallow, and fiberglass. I know because the number of times I have repaired it. :(
     
  6. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    #6 Spasso, Jul 19, 2009
    When I owned my (US) '78 308 it had a glass short valance. The new owner ordered another form the UK with the intent of changing to "Euro" a deep chin. He received a metal short valance and was told that it was an option in Europe at the time hence the mix-up I guess.

    The nice thing about the short valance is excellent clearance and never having to worry about scraping.
     
  7. Crazyhorse

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    #7 Crazyhorse, Jul 20, 2009
    My 1982 US car is short and metal.
     
  8. 8valve

    8valve Formula 3

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    #8 8valve, Jul 20, 2009
    Correct, all long (or "deep") ones are fibreglass. And I have had both FG and steel short frontvalances. Don't know if the Vetroresina (car)production stop is also cutoff date for the FG fronts, since they continued to produce the fibreglass lower rearend on Euro cars.....
     
  9. ragtop1

    ragtop1 F1 Veteran
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    #9 ragtop1, Jul 20, 2009
    my '79 GTS is glass
    my '82 GTSi is metal
     
  10. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #10 BigTex, Jul 20, 2009
    My 'newest' one is metal, Micheal....22641, 1977....it's three pieces, for one thing and does away with the fitment problems of the one piece 'glass.......

    As always, I'll take all your 'cast off' parts, to support your efforts if unwanted......

    I say the prevelance of the 'glass ones is due to the ease with which they are damaged...

    The front "nerf bar" installed on my #22127 is one of the better ideas I've seen.....
     
  11. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #11 BigTex, Jul 20, 2009
    I'd say "no' as my two 1976 and 1977 steel cars #20405 and #22127 have fibreglass valences.....all three of mine are shallow versions.

    And still see pretty frequent damage! LOL!
     
  12. stephenofkanza

    stephenofkanza Formula Junior

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    #12 stephenofkanza, Jul 20, 2009
    My 81 has a short metal one and at outer corners I have to attach skid plates as it is worn through, which is strange as the quater mile of gravel road to the hwy is high in the center but no damage in that area.

    Stephen





     
  13. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #13 BigTex, Jul 20, 2009
    The outer corners scrape as you turn up inclines...like, say....a driveway!!!!
     
  14. stephenofkanza

    stephenofkanza Formula Junior

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    #14 stephenofkanza, Jul 20, 2009
    I have only drove up a drive way twice and that would 2 times each side, they there when I bought her in Jan 05 and the PO did have an incline driveway.

    Stephen

     
  15. flaviaman

    flaviaman Formula Junior

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    #15 flaviaman, Jul 20, 2009
    As I recall the metal valance (shallow) replaced the fiberglass piece in late 1980 or early 1981 production, I believe the 308i parts book lists the production split, Ferrari just supplied the metal valance as a SS part from that point forward.

    All "deep" valances were fiberglass. Someone asked if the stone shields inside the wheel wells are different on the deep valances, they are.

    The deep valances look great, but as noted previously they are a pain in terms of clearance with curbs, driveways, ramps etc.
     
  16. speedy

    speedy Formula Junior

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    #16 speedy, Jul 20, 2009
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2009
    You got that right.....

    My '83 Euro has a glass valance...deep style
     
  17. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
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    #17 Jdubbya, Jul 20, 2009
    Mine is a short glass one on a '78 GTS
     
  18. Dr Tommy Cosgrove

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    #18 Dr Tommy Cosgrove, Jul 20, 2009
    my 84 had a long fiberglass one, I swapped it for a short fiberglass one.
     
  19. thecarreaper

    thecarreaper F1 World Champ
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    #19 thecarreaper, Jul 20, 2009
    bingo! excellent post. i looked in my parts manual and chapter / page TAV 152 # 19 shows as " Spoyler normale 60395902 and Spoyler maggiorato 60280500 ". i will make new fender inserts at work if i do need to change them. i work on biz jets and have access to the scrap aluminum in the recycle bins.

    and thank you all for the replies!
     
  20. 8valve

    8valve Formula 3

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    #20 8valve, Jul 20, 2009
    'No' to what exactly Bubba? My point is, that short ones can be either FG or steel, the deep ones are always FG.
     
  21. mk e

    mk e F1 World Champ

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    #21 mk e, Jul 20, 2009
    Yeh, I have a steel one sitting on the shelf here so I know they're real....anybody need one BTW?
     
  22. AZDoug

    AZDoug Formula 3

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    #22 AZDoug, Jul 20, 2009
    What is this nerf bar of which you speak?

    Thanks,
    Doug
     
  23. eracer

    eracer Karting

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    #23 eracer, Jul 20, 2009
    My euro '82 GTSi has a fiberglass deep spoiler.

    The trick to avoiding constant repairs is to take steep driveways at an angle (very slowly).
     
  24. Neonzapper

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    #24 Neonzapper, Jul 20, 2009
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  25. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    #25 Spasso, Jul 20, 2009
    Mine had a few scrapes underneath but nothing cosmetic to repair. I always thought of my 308 as the 4 x 4 of Ferrrais. I don't recall scraping anything when I owned it. I went over lots of speed bumps and transitions
     
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