This weekend I spent an hour making our 1984 Ferrari 308 not broken. And I did it for two reasons:
1) You, the Inside Line reader, guilted me into it. You said we were falling into the trap of deferred maintenace and you were right.
2) I became sick and tired of my fellow Inside Line staff members laying into the car for small, easily fixed imperfections like a loose gear shift knob...
So here's what I fixed. First I tightened the shift knob. Took a 17mm wrench and about five seconds. Then I changed the blown fuse that had put the Ferrari's horn and door locks on the broken list. Took needle nose pliars, a new fuse (which we had) and about five minutes. Then I hit the passenger door hinges and shift linkage with some liquid wrench, gave the car a much needed vacuuming and checked the coolant level which was fine. I also pumped up all four Goodyear tires, which were each four to five pounds low.
Hands washed I hit ebay for a new turn signal lens. One set of two for $99.99. I hit the Buy It Now button, fired up my PayPal account and forked over the $111.92 for parts and shipping. They're now on their way from Torino, Italy. Hopefully they'll show up.
So that's it. In an hour I put the 308 back to ship shape, and I had fun doing it. Old cars rock.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 50,621 miles
texases says:
02:38 PM, 01/22/08
And we are so proud of you....did it fix the reverse problem?
estreka says:
03:04 PM, 01/22/08
Yay!!
benson2175 says:
03:19 PM, 01/22/08
The access to those fuses looks great. Not some dark panel under the dash like a lot o cars. Good thinking Ferrari.
lazyhater says:
03:23 PM, 01/22/08
WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
You go Scott!!
joefrompa says:
03:26 PM, 01/22/08
Nicely done Scott...glad we can guilt you into something. Now sponsor an edmunds car-raffle/giveaway of some sort. No backtalk! Just do it. Perhaps to whoever posts the most long-winded responses in the comments?
I'm proud to see someone actually use their brain and some basic tools to save hundreds of dollars in repairing simple items that do go wrong with such a car.
Also, I'd love to hear your back to back impressions of the ferrari after pumping up the tires 4-5 PSI each. That's a heckuva lot of pressure, and I'd imagine your steering response was significantly improved.
What position does Edmunds have for a Project Manager from a completely different industry with a total, all-consuming love of cars? Does that position allow for the occasional ferrari to be parked in his or her driveway?
If so, do you have a relocation plan? I'd like to be JoeFromCA :)
Joe
joefrompa says:
03:28 PM, 01/22/08
By the way, does anyone else think that's the cleanest damn fuse box on a 24 year old car they've ever seen? My God. Either that thing was recently replaced or that is one babied car :)
Joe
daytona_500 says:
03:32 PM, 01/22/08
Good job. You'll find its much more fun to enjoy an exotic car (or any nice car) when all the parts and pieces are running well and are in good condition. And by fixing the car yourself, you didnt have to pay Antonio!
actualsize says:
04:19 PM, 01/22/08
Ship shape? Does that mean you scraped off the barnacles, replaced the anchor chain and stiched up the sails? Yaarrgh!
cap811 says:
04:33 PM, 01/22/08
gotta balance out these posts. how many days before it won't start one morning? I say 15.
desmolicious says:
05:09 PM, 01/22/08
Depends. Could be a real long time if they only take it out in the evening.
vvk says:
07:02 PM, 01/22/08
Excellent work, Scott! It is clear that Edmunds has been neglecting this car and you sure remedied that.
I read these long term reviews and in some cases I can tell that staffers are simply being lazy as hell. For example, the one time when the previous Mini gear linkage worked itself loose and the car got stranded for a few days on a long distance trip. This was a very common problem on the early 2002 Coopers. When the same thing happened to a European car magazine, they took 10 minutes to reattach the gear linkage using pliers. What does Edmunds staffer do when this happens to him? Of course, opening the hood and trying to be self-sufficient is beneath him. He calls roadside assistance, the car is towed a hundred miles and they are driven home by limo service -- all covered under Mini road assistance. All that trouble instead of taking the 10 minutes necessary to just fix the problem.
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/vdp/articleId=69393/pageNumber=3
billymay says:
10:53 PM, 01/22/08
I'm happy now. But more importantly your Ferrari is happy.
tjbeck says:
08:54 AM, 01/23/08
Is 'coolent' the fancy Italian exotic version of antifreeze?
Who's your editor? They should have caught that.
boxermike says:
10:31 AM, 01/23/08
I have a 20-year-old toaster that's probably some eBaying and a few tools away from not catching on fire when I try to use it. Though even when fixed I doubt it will toast as well as a new one.
Maybe if I put a Ferrari logo on it someone will buy it, fix it up and rave about its "classic" toasting abilities.... until it burns down their house.
Guess which side of the Ferrari-fence I'm on?
lazyhater says:
01:59 PM, 01/23/08
"I have a 20-year-old toaster that's probably some eBaying and a few tools away from not catching on fire when I try to use it. Though even when fixed I doubt it will toast as well as a new one.
Maybe if I put a Ferrari logo on it someone will buy it, fix it up and rave about its "classic" toasting abilities.... until it burns down their house.
Guess which side of the Ferrari-fence I'm on? "
Well said and I am with you. I rather have a 95 NSX then this 84 308 for the same price. Offer similar enjoyment, much more reliable and hassle free. Sure nothing offer the image, looks, sounds and feel of a Ferrari though.
aps2 says:
02:42 PM, 01/23/08
Congratulations!
Welcome to old car ownership!
Oh, take Caroline Pardilla for ride up in the hills; drive it hard, shifting at 7K. I'm curious if her opinion of the car will change if you do this.
By the way, if the car is still heavy above 5mph, try adding 3-5psi extra to each of the tires.
jfreas says:
06:22 AM, 01/24/08
Thank you Scott, I was pretty disappointed to see the lack of regard for the simple maintenance the car needed. In my opinion owning a classic (if that's the right term here) car carries a certain responsibility to take care of it. It was also a great lesson in how a bunch of "issues" really amounted to just a few minutes of effort.
Thanks for this road test, I don't think I'll be running out to buy a used Ferrari any time soon (kids & all you know), but it's fun to live vicariously through you.
Oh, and for those who care, CoolAnt is what they use in California where it doesn't get cold enough to require antifreeze.
scoticus says:
10:52 PM, 01/25/08
Scott,
Along with all of the other fixes, did you also crack open the odometer & roll it back? The previous entry by Caroline Pardilla indicated 51,532 miles logged...
billymay says:
04:25 PM, 01/26/08
"Well said and I am with you. I rather have a 95 NSX then this 84 308 for the same price. Offer similar enjoyment, much more reliable and hassle free. Sure nothing offer the image, looks, sounds and feel of a Ferrari though."
Acuras are great daily drivers, but as you say you lose a big chunk of the motoring experience in the name of convenience and economy.
It depends if you're in the "you only live once!" crowd or the "the service costs how much?!" crowd.
bobiemac says:
09:43 AM, 02/ 6/08
Well done, Scott. I've enjoyed your repair story. Nice to read that you had some fun addressing issues that your more whiny colleagues so quickly shied away from.
Wrenching on that beautiful 308 would be pure bliss for me. Thanks for letting me live vicariously through the blog whilst I save my dollars for mine.
Be well, and long live the Ferrari 3.0 roar ;)
bobiemac says:
09:46 AM, 02/ 6/08
"By the way, does anyone else think that's the cleanest damn fuse box on a 24 year old car they've ever seen? My God. Either that thing was recently replaced or that is one babied car :)
Joe"
....that is one sweet fuse block. Bravo, Enzo ;)