2 Year Italian affair

[Topkit]

Firstly Hi to all, I have not been logged on for a while mainly due to a hectic Workload and lifestyle, I still have my IB a 1981 911SC Targa and my Speed Yellow 996, I sold my Carrera 3.2 and after a while a usual the money starts to burn a hole in ones pocket !

So I finally bit the bullet and realised an ambition from way back in the 80's I purchased a Ferrari 308 GTB.  It was a bit of a wake up call in all honesty after enjoying bullet proof German engineering I found that Italian engineering is a lot different! However two years down the line and I have to say i love it, Every time I take it out it becomes an occasion, It's not that quick it has no ABS, No power steering etc - but it is beautiful.  Initially after i got it home i left it off the road while i went right through it's fuel system, Electrics and suspension which means i now have a fully sorted 308 that is not a garage queen and is used regularly.

Edited May 8, 2021 by Topkit
grammer!

[Dr Rock]

[Beaky]

That looks like a corker 👍

I would like to own a Fezza at some point, everyone raves about the 355 but I think some of the earlier stuff has that icon Ferrari charm.

Perhaps one day .............................. 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Beaky

[Fuchs915]

Such a pretty car, and great planning on the work to make sure you can use it.

[Topkit]

I very nearly got myself a 348 then I got the 308, Having been bitten by the Ferrari bug I have been looking at 348 and 355's again, The 348 Is the last non power steering car and very much the old school Ferrari whereas the 355 did have the extras including the F1 paddle shift version, My main cause for stepping back with both of these models was the cambelt change costs which are £1500 a time and that does not include any further things like the various hoses that run around the engine bay that would get disturbed when the remove the engine to do the belts although some specialist now remove the fuel tank and do the belts with the engine in situ. The cambelts on the 308 are a more feasible DIY job but even done at a specialist are a lot more reasonable at around £500 to £600. The rest of the jobs are easy, I gave the car a new set of plugs, leads, distributor caps and rotor arms (yest they have one for each bank)  I fitted a new fuel pump and accumulator (almost the same as a 911SC as my Ferrari has K-Jet). I even popped in a new set of injectors too. My last job was to remove each corner of the car and re-bush everything and fit new shocks, In all it has been a very satisfying experience and one that i would recommend to anyone who is handy with tools. I still hanker for a White 911 Super Sport Coupe ( The wife just looks at me and raises an eyebrow ! so I reckon that I can just about get away with one more car.  😉

[MarkJ]

Lovely motor, been looking at these myself along with 328's. Its the thought of getting totally rinsed every time it needs work that puts me off a bit.

, plus the fact it'll be slower and handle less well than my IB for double the cost!   Am sure the Italian build quality is similar to my Integrale 🙄 Nice to hear you are enjoying it more after 2yrs ownership

Edited May 10, 2021 by MarkJ

[Dr Rock]

17 minutes ago, MarkJ said:

Its the thought of getting totally rinsed every time it needs work that puts me off a bit.

Says who? Parts seem to be cheaper than 911 ones and these cars are well DIYable. 

[Lesworth]

308 GTB. That would be my choice for sure 

[strosek34]

Nice car Topkit and well done for getting stuck into the maintenance side of things.

[Busybee]

Lovely looking motor. Always fancied one. Always been scared off by potential running costs. Based on nothing more than here say. 

[Topkit]

Most of the everyday servicing oil, Filer, Fuel filter, Air filter, Plugs, Gearbox oil etc are really easy to do, The beauty of the 308 is you just jack the back end up remove the wheels then take out the arch liners and you can get to all of the awkward parts fairly easily including the cam belts and the 308 parts cost compare to a Carrera 3.2 or SC, There is a Mail order company called Super Performance in Hoddesden that stock almost everything that you need, If they don't have it Maranello over in Egham have a classic Ferrari side and their website has all of the exploded diagrams and part numbers too both company's always bend over backwards to be of help. When I rebuilt all of the suspension my patience got tried on a couple of occasions as everything is shimmed on the top and bottom suspension arms but with a few cups of tea and a couple of walk away moments to calm down  I soon got the job done, Also having a hydraulic bench press helped ! 

[World Citizen]

What a great looking car, hope you enjoy many fun miles together

I'd love to scratch my Ferrari itch but I'm just not brave enough

[Pollenstein]

On 08/05/2021 at 14:37, Topkit said:

Firstly Hi to all, I have not been logged on for a while mainly due to a hectic Workload and lifestyle, I still have my IB a 1981 911SC Targa and my Speed Yellow 996, I sold my Carrera 3.2 and after a while a usual the money starts to burn a hole in ones pocket !

So I finally bit the bullet and realised an ambition from way back in the 80's I purchased a Ferrari 308 GTB.  It was a bit of a wake up call in all honesty after enjoying bullet proof German engineering I found that Italian engineering is a lot different! However two years down the line and I have to say i love it, Every time I take it out it becomes an occasion, It's not that quick it has no ABS, No power steering etc - but it is beautiful.  Initially after i got it home i left it off the road while i went right through it's fuel system, Electrics and suspension which means i now have a fully sorted 308 that is not a garage queen and is used regularly.

what a lovely thing, and you're making it sound like a surprisingly sensible decision.  Congrats!

[Beaky]

I like these as well, you get a lot of car for the money, 

I wonder whether say an Aston Vantage v12 would be on par on maintenance costs

Edited May 14, 2021 by Beaky

[Topkit]

I did a reasonable amount of research before I dipped my toe into Ferrari ownership, I wanted a car that did not have all of the electrical gadgets and aids as they are the very items that cause battery drains and also cost the most to replace, I suppose the latest car i would go to myself would be a 360 Modena. There is a problem with Ferraris and a lot of the time it is not the cars it's the owners! Most of which purchase them and then proceed to put them away and never really drive them on the open road, According to how many left there are only when I last looked 9 308 GTB's registered and taxed and MOT'D for the road! There are so many cars that have massive gaps in their MOT history where they are just sitting in garages or so called collections which is the worst thing that you can do. My car had been one of these which is why i had decided to go right through it before i started using it. Porsches and Ferraris love to be driven! Another job i did one Saturday afternoon that any 911 SC owner could also do it to rebuild the fuel warm up regulator its a fairly simple job and made a massive difference to how my car starts from cold, I also cleaned out the Aux air valve too. Earlier Ferraris did suffer from poor electrics but as i mentioned in my original post i got a Classic Car auto electrician in for a day and it was money well spent, Classic Ferrari Fuse Boxes are normally the cause of most problems, I had purchased a pair of aftermarket fuse boxes from a gent known as Birdman over in the states and they improved the way that the current got to all of the switches, I have only recently found out that Johnny Hart also does them now (sorry Johnny i would have purchase your ones if i had known i could have even popped down to you and collected them)! I may invest in a new fuse box for my 911SC in the near future. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Topkit

[Busybee]

I worry about lack of use on a couple of mine to be honest. A couple have become garage queens with shockingly low usage. Must try harder.

Jonny's Fuseboard is a must on the SC. Great bit of kit. 

[JLewis]

2 hours ago, Busybee said:

I worry about lack of use on a couple of mine to be honest. A couple have become garage queens with shockingly low usage. Must try harder.

Jonny's Fuseboard is a must on the SC. Great bit of kit. 

Same here - too many cars, and not enough time. The Lotus hasn’t turned a wheel since getting home from its MOT in December. Mind you, the 911 has done 400 plus miles since it went back on the road a few weeks back 😁.

[MarkJ]

 

I had same discussion/argument with a classic car place recently about low milers and the daft premiums dealers put on them.  Told him i'd rather have a car thats been used than a garage queen otherwise all i'd be doing is finding the problems that would have been sorted by now with regular/normal use. How can a 30yr old performance car with say 20k on the clock be a good thing unless you just want to stare at in a collection.

Even with the Delta, I got caught out because i didn't check how few miles it had done in recent couple of years before i bought it. Of course as soon as I started running it harder, items like brake master cylinders / oil leaks etc materialised no doubt due to seals perishing or items binding etc

That's my fear of buying something high end like a classic Ferrari as the specialists down 'sarf' will rub their hands with glee

[Topkit]

I could not agree more Mark, I would rather have a car that has done a bit of mileage as it's been used and not stood dormant for two three or even five years, On a slightly different note I cannot stand the way half of these so called specialist that have popped up to basically mug people who like classic cars. Most of them cannot even describe a 911 correctly all they do is cut and past a history of the 911 followed by a lame description of the car that they are selling. I probably like most of you am registered with most of the Classic Car auctions and I see some cars go for let's say for example 70k and then appear in a showroom up north for 92k which is exactly what happened to a F355 i was watching, I am sure several of you remember the White 86 Super sport Cabrio that was auctioned 2 years ago I think it made 49 or 51k then it appears on a so called specialist site with studio photography for late sixties money it stayed on his site for months and months because people who were in the know recognised the car, The price reduced after about 4 months and then reduced again are another couple of months, The last price  that I noticed it up at was 49k and then it sold, The same car is now for sale again at 69k up country it has already been reduced down from 72k, There was also a White Super sport Coupe on Ebay that finally sold last year for 59k it had done about 140k miles but had a full engine rebuild the self same car is up at another dealers for 72k WTF!! 

If you were seriously looking at buying a Ferrari i would do your homework and then look at the private ads as you can normally get a better deal. 

[Busybee]

I’ve read a few times about not starting cars just to run the motors occasionally. Is that really a good thing for cars that don’t get much use? Is it not better to run them and warm them up? 

[Beaky]

3 hours ago, Busybee said:

I’ve read a few times about not starting cars just to run the motors occasionally. Is that really a good thing for cars that don’t get much use? Is it not better to run them and warm them up? 

I would imaging one would want to get a full heat cycle into the car as well as flex/move all components/bushes etc.

So just staring them up occasionally and letting them idle for a while may not be the best thing to do for longevity.  

[Busybee]

1 minute ago, Beaky said:

I would imaging one would want to get a full heat cycle into the car as well as flex/move all components/bushes etc.

So just staring them up occasionally and letting them idle for a while may not be the best thing to do for longevity.  

I'll bounce each corner  

But is starting them occasionally, idling and warming through less of an evil than not starting at all? 

[Beaky]

2 minutes ago, Busybee said:

I'll bounce each corner  

But is starting them occasionally, idling and warming through less of an evil than not starting at all? 

I can't help you there, need someone with the right mechanical knowledge to answer that.

What do storage companies do?

[Topkit]

Well i can tell you with an air cooled car especially 2.7 and 3.0SC engines leaving them and not running them can cause all sorts of problems with cylinder heads studs ( i know this from my own experience about 20 years ago) Many cars that have had their engines overhauled also had their head studs changed to the later Divlar type that the 993 uses which is what I had done. But lack of use causes gaskets and oil seals to dry out and then leak. I think that running a car up to temp would do no harm but if you do not drive the car you end up having problems with sticking brake calipers and master cylinders giving up on you so really you cannot beat having a car out on the road exercising everything that moves on it.

[Topkit]

So the 308 affair is over but there is a new Italian in my life ! I was doing the dreaded auction watch one evening and had half an eye on this one anyhow I put a final bid in on this 348ts and won it, I have had it for five months now and it's a pleasure to drive, Before I got it the previous owner had just spent £15.000 on it due to it not being used (the worst thing you can do to any car)  I spent the first weekend polishing the wheel arches and suspension it is that good!  I have just overhauled the cooling system all sensors and Thermostat and one slight leak on a radiator sorted. It is the last analogue Ferrari. I also found myself another 89 Carrera 3.2 back in May 2021 Baltic Blue Targa the previous owner was Jimmy Carr so I can still get my air-cooled fix whenever I feel like it.