Restoration reality check - '78 Euro 308 GTS

Having bought my 308 in fall 2013 (with less than thourough pre-buy and most likely with pre-existing rust issues that have only grown worse), in the summer 2016 the distributor rotor disintegrated taking a part of the cap with it. Initially, I assumed that with a rebuilt distributor (SM805 single electronic distributor) that was also in dire need to change the VR pickup sensors everything would be OK since the car was up to that point running very nicely.

Life came in between, the car sat in my underground garage in the Netherlands in mostly humid air for more than two years, and finally Easter last year, my brother helped me towing it into an enclosed dry workspace I rent in the vicinity. With family issues sorted out, I finally took stock this summer of the state of the car as visible, and the doors jumped out as requiring restoration.

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Since I was not particularly happy with the garage helping me with the belt change in 2014, I arranged with Forza in Oss/Netherlands to have a look at the car and discuss the necessary steps. Well, the rust damage is of course much worse than anticipated, the doors and rocker panels I already noted as in dire need for service, but it turns out that the front frame is also partially already disintegrating apart from the probably usual rust around the doors, windows, etc.:

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In addition, when taking the engine out, it was also discovered that one of the exhaust valves had lost a piece from the rim measuring a few square millimeters as well (did never notice that, figures), and it also seems that the car has originally been painted in a blue with cream-white interior:

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Together with the garage, we discussed on Wednesday for a long time the present situation, and a plan was developed to undertake a slow restoration starting with the metal bodywork and chassis. I have to note that a preliminary inspection of the car in October did not show the full extent of the rust damage and an initial plan and cost estimate was discussed to do the doors and some further metal work, and due to the extent of overall issues with the paint work, do a full respray, estimated to around 40k-50k Euros.

With the current level of damage, the initial estimate jumped of course up by 100% at least, and we discussed to phase the project to spread these cost over a few years, starting with an estimated 40k-50k to bring the body and chassis back into good condition, meaning a removal of all the trim, interior, and floor pans, CO2 ice blasting the body and frame, and refinishing it with an epoxy primer after the rust damage had been taken care of.

In general, the developed plan foresees to fix now the body/chassis which should at that stage probably have acquired an okayish resale value; after or in parallel to that, the engine needs anyway the weeping head gasket and exhaust valve damage fixed, so the engine should be back with some resale value as well, enabling me to cut my losses at that stage if I don't feel the worth of continuing.

I know that it is a bit of a vague question, but if anyone can chime in with a helpful second opinion regarding overall feasibility of the project and maybe comment on the general outline of cost, it would help me a bit to finalise a decision how to move forward.

 

Thanks for the quick feedback! Some comments to your points:

Yeah, that's a good estimation. I am not 100% married to the car itself, but it holds a special place in my heart, and I believe finding a nice carburetted GTS would probably run me into the high 80k ballpark anyway.

I might have been a bit less clear than intended; the 40k estimate for the body is for repairs to all the rust damage, dry-ice blasting, and epoxy-priming. It does not include the final sanding and paint steps. The cost are steep, of course, but I picked the company because I read their restoration of one of the forum's Dutch member's beautiful blue 308 here (have to find the posts again), and I would trust them at this stage more than an unknown company (remember, I have no skills for the panel beating and metal working, and Forza B.V. gets in the Dutch forum section very good recommendations).

Regarding the project value, I would probably look favourable at someone who offers me around 25k now ...

Oh, sorry, I believe I was getting my intent over poorly. What I meant by "cutting my losses" was the idea that in general I would prefer to keep the car the next 20, 25 years, but at this stage I assumed the market value of the "wreck" is negligible. So investing some money to have the body and chassis in good condition would definitely not increase the value by the total investment, but at least the money would not be totally sunk should I actually in a year's or two's time decide to stop with the project.

Good point, hadn't considered a radical replacement like that ... I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I had and still am considering to get the metal work done, store the body in my well-conditioned work space, and continue with the engine, rotten cable loom replacement, and suspension (I do work on GA airplanes and engines, RV-7 and Lycoming IO-360 if that means something to anyone) at my own pace as these items seem more accessible to an hobbyist. Well, engine work would probably mean that I carefully disassemble the heads, get cleaned whatever needs to be done, and search the help of an experienced mechanic for the assembly.

Forza prefers of course to do suspension and engine in-house, and I can't blame them because somehow their name is on the block if I bring them a dubiously-repaired engine and later complain if it explodes rolling out of their gate ... That I need to discuss in depth with the garage manager.

 

I'm not in a hurry to get back into a 308, and since I have a good storage spot, I will keep it as a project. Regarding the body shop, my (maybe just perceived) issue is that I don't have any recommendations for someone closer by whom I could supervise. With the guys in Oss which is 1:30h driving away, at least I get an overall good experience feedback so I don't feel too anxious to let them do the body work.

Good thing I bought a set of exhaust valves from you last year - did not anticipate the actual trouble, but now it pays off I have the feeling that one of the big challenges will be to stop delving deeper and deeper into a "perfect" repair (you know, "once you are in there already ...") - the goal is to get in a few years or so back a car I will use again on the road, not a museum piece.


By the way, it is of course difficult to see from the photo above, but to my eye it looks as if the original colour was a pale blue; I would have guessed it was a flat, non-metallic paint, maybe Azzuro Dino 20-A-349. Might probably go back to either that or a metallic blue when the time comes.

 

Okay, seems that the general impression is to cut my losses at this juncture and get rid of what remains of the car.

Crucify me, but I am a bit at odds with your last sentiment, i.e. going full monty. What I was pondering initially is to get the metal work sorted out well (big investment here), do the engine as Derek suggested (have a retired aircraft A&P mechanic in my hangar who is interested to lend a hand there), and assemble things back.

There are of course parts I would later on consider restoration-worthy but that are not immediately jumping in my face: The interior is still in decent shape, on some of the trim pieces the glue starts to come off, so that's some handiwork but can be part of otherwise boring winter weekends, need a new muffler, but can't see any huge items otherwise. Just for the sake of it, I went on a mock-up shopping spree at Superformance and ended up with around 14k after tax but that includes basically going through their catalog and picking up everything that I might need.

Outline for me was to get a car back where I know the history and ins and outs, and invest a chunk of my time as a hobby. Had enormous fun being part of building a plane, and considered the restoration project a similar endeavour. Well, I'll sleep a bit on it, and maybe I'll find a buyer who takes it off my hands in the current state, mooting the whole issue ...

 

Well, I'm the proud owner of a dismantled rust-cancerous 308 now ... bloody voices of reason

Since the fixed cost (road tax & mandatory insurance) are negligible and I have the space, I'll lay her up in storage for the time being. Will be a fun task for the Corona-lockdown evenings to sort through the parts boxes and organising everything.

Are there any particular storage considerations? I thought to spray the chassis down generously with WD-40 or ACF-50, and inhibit the engine similar to our aircraft engines; that and a dry and warm garage should keep it in its current sorry condition.

 

Externally that's easy enough; for the cylinders and cam shaft we use on the Lycoming engines a 1:3 blend of Aeroshell 2XN fluid with normal mineral engine oil and spray the mix into the (warm) engine. In my case, it would have to suffice to spray the cold engine and put it into a plastic bag with a few kilos of silica moisture absorption bags. Would you do something with the coolant passages? If they're dry it should be less of an issue with corrosion, but spraying inhibition oil there as well should be OK if a thorough flushing is done before running the engine again.

It's a nice motivation to learn some welding at least. By the way, since this could mean that an amateur-repaired chassis might float around one day, my car's serial number is #25839, caveat emptor.