The Adventures of 42137: A Shipwright's Tale

Well, ok Sam, you got me in the mood. I'll make some progress towards catching up especially since I can't work on the car right now. I have to go back and figure out where I left off...

Way back in January I sent the front calipers off to PMB brakes in Utah. They do a complete restoration of the calipers and it seems like they do nice work, except for one nit I have to pick. The caliper body is replated in zinc but the spring clips and pins are just spray painted silver. It is a minor point, I suppose, but as a restoration I think this is a shortcoming. I stripped off the spraypaint and gathered up various parts that needed plating and got my parts replated. You'll never see these parts and it makes no difference especially in my non-concourse car, but I feel better.

While still pretty clean overall, I wiped down the suspension pieces and they still look good even after a few thousand miles.
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I wish I could find a picture of the hilariously large blister that formed on my original expansion tank. It had been powder coated and the tank developed a pinhole leak on the top (as they all seem to do eventually) and inflated the powder coat like a giant blood blister.

I've been down this road with the GT4 and I know not to fix these old tanks. Just replace it. I chose the Superformace aluminum tank because it is lighter and they don't offer carbon fiber.

No, really I bought the aluminum because it will never rust again. But as is Superformance's specialty, they sent almost exactly what I needed. I need a tank with two sensor bungs on it. My '83 has an electric temperature sensor that is part of CIS or emissions and it has a temperature operated vacuum switch for the EGR. The Superformance tank has just one bung. I dug through the aluminum scrap pile out back and found a rod, threaded it, shaped it, and dropped the pieces off at the local welding shop. Now two bungs just as it should be. All it needs it black paint or powder coat and it will fit right in. I figured I'll run it bare aluminum until I have a need to run a batch of stuff to get coated. Ironically I did have a batch of motorcycle parts getting black coated this summer and I forgot to add this to the lot. So it is still bare aluminum.

**Edit - found the blister picture.**
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The car was running for Concorso Italiano so my dad and I took it for the show. I apparently took zero pictures of my car on the grass, but nearly everyone else did. My car was in the background of a million pictures because I was parked right next to Hutch's electric 308.

As is our group's Concorso tradition, Rob made dinner reservation in Carmel for after the show and he got us reserved parking right out front - actually on the red carpet.

On the way home the car turned 66,000 miles. And I forgot to reset the trip odometer right then, missing my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have the car read all sixes at some point in the future.
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I've been running no zippered trunk cover since the zipper failed a couple of years ago. I finally ordered a reproduction cover from Ferrparts this summer. I started to install it but I was unhappy with some blemishes in the vinyl. (first picture) I called and they said they'd send me another one. Then they called back and said that the one on the shelf had similar blemishes. I felt a bit relieved that the one on the shelf had issues because it is one of those things that I could have done and how does the vendor know if they sent something not right or if I botched it and I'm trying to blame it on them to get a new one. It took a month for the next batch of covers to get made but what I got was blemish free and up to me to get in right. I borrowed a bunch of boxes of binder clips from the company office supply cabinet and tried differing amounts of tightness to find that balance between a smooth installation and an over stressed zipper. I think this is it. I have a little wave in one corner, but I think this is as good as I can get it. It's not glued, just held in by the wetherstripping, so I can readjust in the future if I want.
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In the fall it was time for the bi-annual California smog check. My smog pump's belt fell off at some point (oops!) and when I went to spin the pump by hand it felt terrible and sounded bad. I was very hesitant to have my timing belt drive it even with a loose vee belt and the '83's shear pinned pulley. I ordered up a Camaro smog pump as suggested elsewhere in the 308 section. $175 and two days later I got a nearly identical pump from Rock Auto. The one big difference between the two pumps is that the pump I'm removing has "METRIC" embossed in it and new one doesn't. Of course all of the hardware for the new pump is SAE so I had to buy a handful of bolts to put it in, but other than that it is the same pump.

When I turned the old pump over a bunch of grit or sand or something dumped out. I don't know if it got sucked in while driving or came up the exhaust because the belt was off or what. In any case, I'm sure that's what did in the old pump.

I accidentally left off a sheet metal shield that goes over the end of the pump. I'm in no hurry to have it on so I'll get it re-plated at some point and then go to the trouble to put it back on.
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Smog check was painless. I got the car good and hot with a freeway drive, let it idle while I did the paperwork. Radiator fans were running during the test. Pass with mostly middle of the road numbers. I'll take it and enjoy the next two years.
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There's a thread here in the 308 section about shift knobs. My car has (I'm pretty sure) a 328 shift knob. The PO of my car also had a 328 and I suspect there's a story about why the knob migrated from one car to the other. And it's cracked. And it rotates if twisted even though the nut is tight. In all, I wanted a new shift knob, bit I didn't NEED a new shift knob. But I bookmarked the Amazon page on my Amazon account for future reference. Someday I'll get one.

My wife found my marked item on Amazon and surprised me with a shift knob for Christmas. I really wasn't expecting it, a very nice surprise.

The reproduction's numbers are a little tiny bit smaller and they are grouped closer together (compared to my 328 version anyway), but it's a real nit to pick, only side by side would anyone notice. I call it a great replacement and a great gift.
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Dang, I just now noticed that was post #308 above. I shoulda done something special!!

 

OK, one more minor issue. When the car is hot and idling I've noticed that the speedo needle will do a little occasional hop. Seems more prevalent the hotter the weather (and car?) is. And of curse the odometer runs as well. So the problem is likely the sender since it affects both and also seems heat related.

But worse is how many extra miles are on the car because of this. Probably thousands, right? I bet this is a 35,000 mile car after all. Just think of all of time I've spent waiting at red lights.

http://youtu.be/hFUiXo24Ps4

 

Yes I did. But my vinyl was old and brittle enough that I thought I shouldn't put more time and money into it. I didn't find anyone making, or even attempting to exactly replicate, the original piece. The original has embossed fake stitching and I haven't found a replacement that has this. So if originality is important then you should invest in a new zipper ad repair the part you have.

 

You know, the 308's engine stayed in the car this whole year!

Maybe 2017 will be the year I don't pull the engine out of any of my vehicles. Unlikely, but possible.

 

I told you you should have replaced those two hoses behind the fuel tank when you had it out. And if you do those hoses you should do all of the heater hoses. And the radiator hoses.........


.....and down the rabbit hole you go.

 

You mean I need to apply one of the new emissions stickers on the shelf to the car?

I have the skankiest emissions sticker of any 308 I've ever seen. The new one will go on soon. I also have the High Voltage sticker that is supposed to right next to it. I haven't applied them yet because of the can of worms it opens. The car has been repaired in that corner. That piece of the engine bay has been repainted. And it got re-splattered or whatever gives that texture. And I'm pretty sure they spattered right over the High Voltage sticker. So do I apply the stickers over the spatter texture? Or do I clean it off?