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Ferrari / Re: Ferrari 308 Vetroresina
« on: Wed, 22 May, 2019 - 09:53 »Possibly the best post ever
Not so easy to answer as although the car has been in the family for 41 years it has been a very long time since I last drove it for even a short distance, and an eon since I regularly drove it when everything worked as it should. A bit of background history might help explain how this came to be:
(1978) - Purchased new by my father who went on to use it for anything and everything until 1984 when he bought a 275 GTB/4. The 308 had about 40,000km on it by this stage.
(1987) - I purchased the 308 GTB from my father for $45k fully financed, thereby ensuring I was utterly broke for the next 3 years as my wages barely covered the lease payments. When the car broke or needed service I had to save up to get it fixed. I proceeded to use the car at every opportunity and thrashed the tits off it at half a dozen track days or more every year. I did this until 1989 when it had a water pump failure and at this point it had about 63,000km on it and was getting a bit tired cosmetically. I decided to pull the engine, restore the engine bay and rebuild the gear box as the car had suffered from a recalcitrant 2nd gear since the day it was new. That turned out to be a few broken detent springs.
At this point the project got put to one side as I had become self employed, worked long hours and had other cars to play with.
(1993)? - Fast forward a few years and I decided to do a full cosmetic restoration on the 308. This proceeded very slowly over the next 6 years as I continued to have other cars and priorities.
(1999) - The Ferrari club national rally was in Melbourne so there was a big push to complete the car for entry into the National Concour. The 308 was finished on schedule and went on to win outright best in show, the 308 class and best restoration. Now I was too scared to use it after spending a frightening amount of money and time on making it "perfect". Over the next 10 years the car was barely used, adding perhaps 500km to the total. Besides the desire to keep it pretty by not using it, there was another aspect to leaving the car sit. It just wasn't very nice to drive at all and it was difficult to put my finger on whyIt had been such a long time since I had used it properly that I wasn't sure if it was just "old" and my memories of what it was like were inaccurate or my experiences of much newer exotics had moved the game on for me
At various times I had PP and Carl drive it, and I drove PP's restored 308 GT/4 and 308 GTB. It became obvious that my car just wasn't "right" for some inexplicable reason. The brakes were far from confidence inspiring with a softish pedal and it handled really, really strangely.
At various points over the years the brakes were serviced and the suspension investigated..... all to no avail as the cars weird behaviour continued on unabated. The only use the car got was at best an annual short trip to give my boys a ride in it. I had no desire or confidence in the car to drive it any further than a few miles from home. The first photo is one of the only times son number 1 rode in the car.
(2014)- In 2014 on one of these short trips I had the unfortunate experience of the brakes completely failing at the 1st application at the roundabout outside my house. At that point it was time to sort it out once and for all. Carl was the unfortunate bloke who got the job - poor Carl.
At this point it becomes a case of pulling everything apart multiple times, most often with little success as the problems were very elusive. Long story short, the handling issue turned out to be the fact that during restoration the car had somehow received a spring from a different model Ferrari on every cornerNot immediately obvious as there are no markings and they had been repainted during restoration. This was only discovered with the suspension pulled apart to have the shocks rebuilt and the springs were rated and the discovery made. Then it was just a case of locating springs for an Oz spec 308 (Unicorn) 40 years after the car left the factory..........
The brake problem was even worse. The booster for a RHD car is rare and PP bought the last NOS item in existence. So the old one was rebuilt (several times) to no avail. Eventually a remanufactured unit became available. Unfortunately it didn't fix the problem. All 4 calipers were rebuilt, problems still persisted. Eventually Tim from Black Stallion took over the job as both Carl and I wanted to burn the car to the ground
Carl had determined that all the brake lines needed replacing so Tim set to work on sorting that. He also sourced new back calipers which were fitted. Braking problems solved
Then Tim discovered fuel line leaks with hoses that looked new leaking from age degradation. Then he found a crack in the fuel tank at a breather pipe. Pull tank and fix that. Oh, I know why your A/C never held gas - the pipe behind the fuel tank had been rubbed through against the tank and had a hole. Fix that.
Then it was discovered that the car had signs of head gasket problems so the heads were pulled. Then it was discovered the valves guides were worn. While the heads were being sorted it was noted that the cylinder bores showed slight scoring............ so while we're in there for another $8k in parts we can rebuild the rest of the engine. So it made little sense not to do that after having gone so deeply into the engine and it's a 41yr old car that has done 64,000km. So that was done. I want this car to outlast me and I never want to touch it again beyond annual servicing.
From there it was just a matter of assembly until we got to the carbies. After sitting idle for decades the gaskets had dried out so rebuild those. Add electronic ignition and $60k plus later the car is back on the road
So my old friend is finally back on the road; but I haven't driven it much at all since 1999 and it had never been "right" anyway. The last time that I drove the car when everything worked as it should was in 1989 - a mere 30 years ago
To be honest I didn't really know what to expect and was pretty concerned that I wasn't going to like what I found as I have experienced and enjoyed many great cars in the intervening years. Each successsive one was newer and more high tech and I kind of suspected that I am more of a new car guy than an OHOS connoisseur. So it was with not a little trepidation that I picked the car up from Tim and headed off down the road.........
It was obvious to me within a few km's that all the problems had been solved, it was like putting on a pair of comfortable old slippersYes it felt "old" with heavy controls and progress was leisurely compared to most modern cars, let alone what I was used to driving. I was pleased to find that I had lost none of the skills of driving a manual properly, despite very infrequent practise for the last decade. It sounded fabulous, much better than I remember it sounding in period. Running up and down the gearbox, heel and toeing all the way was a long forgotten joy. By the time I got home I had a grin from ear to ear and was very relieved to find that I very much enjoyed driving it as I had truly feared that I would not.
A few days later I did the 320km drive with number 1 son. As you can see from the 2nd picture a LOT of time has passed since he last rode in it. I had a ball driving it, and the further I went the more fun it became; but I had to make a couple of stops as it is pretty tiring to drive compared to a modern car. Number 1 son was pretty much over it after 100km's and it was funny to hear him say that he found the cornering speeds "really scary" as I was running the car in keeping it under 5000rpm and we were doing the posted limits. He has been in the 675LT many times and hasn't ever felt unsafe, and that thing is "OMFG scary fast"
He also found the 308 to be "too loud, hot and stinky" so I don't think he will be sticking his hand up to come on the next run with me
Was it worth the trouble and expense? Yes in spades because I have rediscovered my love for a very special car that has been a massive part of my lfe since I was 14 years old, and a vessel for some incredible memories and experiences. Can't ask for more than that
I am surprised the resto only cost $60k. I thought it would have been a 3 digit cost.
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