NEW 308 GTSI OWNER

Hey gang thought I would take up some space here and introduce myself. My name is Carl and I live in Houston Texas and purchased a 1982 Ferrari 308 gtsi a few months ago and love it. Now I have been a car guy my whole life and have had the usual Bmw, Porsche, Mercedes, Jags, Corvettes you get the idea. I have to tell you that this car has my full attention and I can not wait to start working on it. This thread will be about checking my car out from top to bottom, now this car is by no means a mechanics special it is in great shape and a blast to drive but I like to give my cars a though check up and correct any problems. Thanks to the help of this site and you guys out there I now know where to start and some of the ins and outs of Ferrari ownership. Myself and a mechanic did a pretty though pre purchase inspection on the car and a lot of the common issues were fixed. So here is the plan:

#1 The power windows are slow but they have had both motors replaced and the gear boxes cleaned so I am going to replace the fuse boxes with new ones from Birdman.
I already had ordered them and now have them in hand and will install this weekend.
Thanks to birdman and the free swag he threw in ( 2 floor mat hooks)

#2 Replace those @@@ metric rims with 16” wheels and tires. Done deal I ordered a set from Super Preformance in the U.K. and they should ship out on Friday. I ordered the rims and center caps and all new chrome lugs these should really clean up the look of the car.

#3 Drive the car and have some more fun for a few more weeks until it cools off here in Houston and then the real work will start and I will keep you updated.
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Looks beautiful, congrats!

 

Nice ride. Good luck with her.

 

Congrats, she looks to be a beauty! Have fun and give those gray floormats to some guy with a silver car!

Put up some more pics too when you get the new 16" wheels on her and let us know how much different she drives once you get them.

MB

 

Beautiful car Carl, I like the body color targa top looks like a GTB from a distance. Congrats and welcome.

 

Looks great.

 

I've always enjoyed seeing a 308 in excellent condition and knowing she is in good hands too (not only because mine is also a 308 GTSi and my todo list is 32 items long for next winter). Your steering wheel looks like QV not 2V, right? I also like your targa top in body color and I was always wondering how our cars would look like if everything (like mirrors and side window louvers) would be painted in the same color.

Hannes

 

Congrats Carl. I like the colour matched targa top. Looks great.

 

Congrats on your beautiful S !!!

 

"I like the body color targa top looks like a GTB from a distance."

Heck, I thought it WAS a GTB! Nice!! Makes me think about redoing my top and I know just the guys that can do it... hmmm

 

Nice Ride !!!!!!!




Birdman's blocks did help the windows somewhat in my case.

The window accelerators really made them fly. About <3.5 secs up or down. YMMV.


Again, drive her in good health.

 

A red/tan 82 GTSi is my all time favorite car in the world

enjoy!

 

Hey Carl, make sure that Superformance sends you the stabilizing rings for your new wheels..or they'll vibrate..

 

Welcome to the club!!!

Post more photos!! And get the silver subscription - then you can get into the fun areas too...and post even more photos!!!

If you havent met him already - get to know Big Tex - he is in your neck of the woods and knows just about anything you need to know about these cars.


PDG

 

Great car Carl ... all the best.

Bob

 

You flatterer......

The mag wheel rings are CENTERING rings.....

There's quite a few 308/328s in Houston we should get together for a group photo!

Wait, I'd have to fix all my cars...never mind!

 

BigTex, our cars have great torque, you don't have to get them all running. Get one running and hook them all together like an amusement park train, they will follow quite nicely. Call me when you do this, I'll want to take a picture. The other plus is that you can put little kids in the drivers seats and give them a thrill.

 

I'm sorry, I neglected to say what a nice car you have. Post in the TX section if y'all are going to get together. I work there frequently and would love to see yours in person.

 

Grats to you!

 

I never get tired to hearing the experiences of a new owner. Congrats!!

 

Hey guys many thanks for all the kind words!! The targa top was painted that way when i bought the car and I have to agree i like it. Now about the floor matts they also came with the car and will be replaced. As for the 16" wheels they are enroute as we speak and I did get the centering rings. I will be sure and tell you how the car drives with the new rims and tires and I will try to post some side by side pics so you can see the differance. Now for a update to the list:

#4 Only 1 set of keys spells I am screwed if lost!! So I saw this site in a post
http://www.keys4classics.com/html/Fer208etc.html
These guys made it way to easy I took pics of keys and gave them the numbers that were on them and the next mornning I had a reply and paypal request for around $40.00 for 4 keys and they are on the way.

 

Hey guys I did the Birdman fuse block updates today and it went very smooth thanks to great instructions furnished by the "Birdman" I have attached a few pics with the last one being the new blocks installed. I did not find anything wrong with my old blocks but there was some indications of heat build up on the plastic covers so I wonder if they had already been replaced???
Next project as soon as my rims get here is new 16" wheels and tires I have pretty much decided on going with dunlop direzza z1 star spec 205/55/r16 front & 225/50/r16 back.
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Looks exactly like the black Nardi on my own 82 308 to me. (BTW, does anyone know which 308s had Momo steering wheels, which had Nardis, which were standard black and which were silver? I've got an extra silver Nardi, and I'm thinking about installing it to brighten up the interior. . . But then, of course, I'd have to change the gauge surround.)





In any case, it's a beautiful car! Congratulations! Absolutely gorgeous, and you're making the right "first thing I need to do" improvements. (I also have the Superformance 16" rims, new last June. Birdman's improved fusebox is next on my list.)

Hope you're lovin' it!

 

Awesome car !!!

 

Beautiful machine!! Congratulations. I look for every excuse to drive mine. I also like the body colored targa top. It shows off the lines so well.