Ferrari 308 Replica Rebuild and Upgrade Project

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

I decided to change the name of this build thread since the 288 GTO build was a long ago dream and MOST of this topic has been about my 308 rebuild. I also deleted the 288 GTO posts and pics as I have no idea where the frame has gone. I saw it many years ago with an Audi V8 fitted and Porsche trans and it was f rsale again by, I think, the fourth owner......

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

This is where I switched from the 288 GTO project and went into a 308 upgrade. I bought the car in May 2010 and had originally planned on doing some fixes and drive the damn thing while I was continuing the build on the 355 project I already had under way..... Well, best laid plans and almost 12 years in the rebuild, I am about done and ready to get on the road.

Enjoy.
Don

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Text from the time when I bought it....

The car is a runner and had a lot of work done to the engine etc. and looks like it was a good kit when first built back in the 90's. It is a Mera clone so not the full true lines of the Stinger but a closer starting point than my 328 panels I have had for several years. It is the one I posted over in the Mall a month or so ago. The fellow had no action on the car so I offered him what I would pay for it myself being that I have seen it etc. and he took the offer. I have to go over to Vancouver in the next couple weeks to pick it up and bring it back but it will be a decent project to play with for a while.

a couple pics of the car.

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

A couple more;

It also has the targa top put in by Aldino down in the States before he brought it up so it has that. It also has a full Pisa interior that needs covering and then installing so it won't have the Fiero interior in it for too much longer..... ;D

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Interior and targa top.

[kit4me Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kit4me]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project



Hey Don,.

Looks like the 288 is coming along well.

I'm just laying out my exhaust now so hopefully I may be out there on the road soon.

PS. You didn't have an extra set of the fake / original headlight vents did you?? Someone mentioned that they had a set but I can't remember who.

Keep up the good work.

Brian.

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Hey Brian;

No, it wasn't me with the extra vents. I plan to take some molds of the ones on the 308 before I change the headlights up to the right configuration etc. so I can probably get you a set. But that will be a bit from now.

Cheers
Don

[kit4me Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kit4me]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project



Hi Don,

No problem,. I didn't think it was you but could'nt remember for sure.

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Well;

The new project is in the garage as of late last night. I really need to get things sorted out in the garage though as I don't have any room to work on anything with two vehicles. I either need to store the 355 in another garage until I get the 308 cleaned up and off to paint or I need to remove a pile of the stuff on the sides of the garage to make more room than a garage door wide. As you can see from the pics, it is tight in there right now.....

The car needs some TLC for sure with a few broken items and stress cracks but I will work through all those in the next little while. I want to get it on the road for now and then once I have the '67 Mustang done, I'll dive into the 288 GTO or back into the 355 project. I will still be doing the headlight buckets though for everyone so no need to worry about those.....

I have a concrete pad to pour tomorrow in the backyard for the new hot tub and then erect the pergola around it and the rest of the patio and then back into the garage. I hope to have the pergola et al. complete this weekend. I am going in an autocross on Saturday though so maybe into next week.... Always something.

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

I am in a holding pattern right now. I just don't have any room to move anywhere in the garage.

I need to get the 355 into a storage place for a couple months so I can finish getting the 308 cleaned up and driving for the summer.

At least the 308 runs though. I had it around the block tonight. Started right up after swapping the battery. ;D

I also looked through the box of goodies that came with the interior and it looks like I have a full set of gauges, switches and the gauge wiring harness from Pisa. That was a welcome find. I will need to trace all the wires and read the instructions so I can also replicate the wiring harness for the 355 gauge pod as well. It was great to see the car drove tonight though. Very motivating to get out in it even if it was around the block.

Before I dig too deeply into the new treasure trove, I want to get the headlight buckets done first before as there are folks waiting patiently for them

My wife has the last 4 sq ft of available space occupied right now as she stains her deck chairs. Hopefully, that is all done by the weekend and I can get back in front of the bench and get back to the buckets. :-\

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

OK;

Some updates. I got a storage container last week that will allow me to store the 355 in it for a while plus a bunch of my extra parts. I ferried all kinds of crap out there yesterday to clear the garage a bit. Looks better already.

I plan to get the pivot jigs built off the oem headlight buckets tonight and fit them to the 355 for testing prior to towing it out to the storage facility this coming week. This will allow me to get the headlight buckets production under way and get some built for the folks waiting as well as get me some room to work on the 308 and get it on the road while I am watching fiberglass dry....

The 308 needs some work it seems. I am having trouble opening the doors and the targa top is a tight fit. That tells me that the targa reinforciing was not enough when they cut the roof. So, now I need to redo the reinforcing properly. I plan to do what Sean did on the 430 kit where I will cut up into the rockers and weld the plates up there rather than under the cooling section like most kits do. I will also reinforce up the rear cradle. Once I get the new reinforcing done, I will cut the old reinforcing out to give me some ground clearance as there is some square tube going across the front area now that reduces my ground clearance significantly. I need to get the car up on jack stands and get under it to really see how everything has been done so far.

A question for folks.

When I do the rear section, how far out from under the cradle should I run the square tubing so I can get a solid foundation to run the reinforcing up to the top rear frame rail and up the rear cockpit side? I was thinking about 6-8" out the back so I can get some triangulation going or weld on a 1/4" plate.

The front will need to be the same to a certain extent except a lot tighter into the wall so I have wheel clearance. I can hear the tires rubbing something up there already in full lock...

All for now.

I hope to update the headlight bucket thread tonight with progress.

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Got some updates this week on the 308. I have been repairing the bumper all week. That took more work than I thought as it always does. The last owner obviously had an accident at some point with the bumper as it had thin sheet metal pop riveted to the fiberglass at the break point and then a whole load of bondo over top of everything. When I got the car, the front bumper was hanging down on one end where it had been damaged so I thought I would just glass the end piece back on and clean up the bumper and paint. Well.....

A week later, I have removed all the metal tabs, removed the couple lbs of bondo that covered everything, found lots of pin holes and air bubbles I have filled and cleaned up and welded mounting plates to the bumper mounts as the bumper was hard welded to the Fiero front bumper when I started so I had to cut the mounts to start the whole process. The only issue I have come across is that when I put the plates on, I measured wrong and the bumper sticks out a bit too far for my tastes. I will cut about 3/4" out of the mounting arms today and get it mounted again closer into the body.

I also found that the bumper was filled with expanding foam that had separated from the outer shells so the outer shells were puffed out in the middle if that makes sense. I pulled all that foam out so I could get at everything and then started up. The foam was even over the turn signals so I had to dig all the foam out from behind the turn signals just to get them off.

When I repaired everything, I mounted the metal mounting bar and arms into the bumper in the same place they were before and then did the same thing by pouring foam into and around the mounting bar so it is nice and secure in the bumper. It was a good idea in my opinion, just poorly executed.... I put in dams at each end of the bar so that I could have easy access to the turn signals in the future. I then cut a bit of foam, about 3/4" out from the top of the foam and then laid several layers of fiberglass on top of the foam and up against the outer shells so everything stays solid and will not separate in the future.

Now I just need to finish up the sanding and cleanup of the bumper and get it into primer and then some paint and on to the next item on the 308. The rockers which I have a set of non Aero rockers coming and then the clearance issue with the 1.5x1.5 bar hanging down too low under the car.

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Bumper test fit. You can see it comes out too far. In my opinion, it should start the downward slope just after coming out from under the front valance. I have a good 3/4" on one side and 1" on the other so I need to do some metal trimming and welding to get the right position.

Cheers
Don

[xisco_mallorca Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xisco_mallorca]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

I love to see your quality work Don !
Still up.

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Got the front bumper all prettied up and the mounts shortened and back on to the car last night for a fitting. I laid out another headlight bucket in the molds so while that was drying, I thought I would see how the bumper looks all one colour and installed. Ended up looking pretty good.

I will be molding this either today or next week when I am back in town as part of a deal I made with some folks that include my old 328 body panels and a 308 front nose and bumper molds. I can finally clean my back yard behind the shed out of body panels once all the parts are fixed, molded and crated up. Looking forward to that day.....

I am also now starting on the front spoiler as it was broken as well. I found out that the last person used strips of metal and rivets to piece the front spoiler back together and used a couple lbs of bondo to cover it all up. I have been grinding it all away and getting everything back to proper shape in fiberglass. It always ends up being more work than you orginally thought. Since I have everything all apart and up with easy access to it, I may start on the 288/Euro style front air dam now since I am building it all over again anyway. I figure I can get some foam and do the carving thing with shape forms to get a close fit and then clean it up, seal it and then mold it separaetly from the front clip so others can get a Euro/288 style air dam on their 308. I will need to do the same thing again when I flare the 308 fenders later.

I am out of town until Monday starting tomorrow morning so this will most likely be the last update on anything until next week.

Cheers
Don

[Don Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Don]

Re: Ferrari 288 GTO Project

Front spoiler repairs started.

The second picture is trying to show that there is about a 6" plate of metal that starts at the air hole and goes across almost to the corner of the spoiler. There is no material behind the metal piece so that will all have to be redone in fiberglass after I get the metal and the bondo out of that area.

Sure making a mess in what was once a clean garage..... ;D

Cheers
Don