The 15 things we need to fix on our Ferrari 308 GT4

While we do not know the complete history of our Ferrari 308 GT4 and attempts to reach an earlier owner have been ignored, we still do know quite a bit.

The previous owner, a friend of ours, bought the car at the Bonhams Monterey auction in August of 2019. He provided us with a folder with thousands of dollars’ worth of receipts.

These receipts included timing belt replacement, cooling system work and an entire suspension rebuild with new Koni shocks–as originally equipped. Whatever the car needed, it got. The previous owner worked at an independent repair shop in the San Francisco Bay area and seemingly had owned it for 25 years.

Another folder of receipts had been provided from the auction house. Knowing what has been done and when makes taking care of an old car so much easier.

Once we thoroughly looked the car over, we made the following list of needs.

1. Engine definitely leaks oil.
2. Transmission might leak oil as well.
3. There is some minor paint bubbling on the left-rear quarter panel.
4. The rear bumper melted a bit because the exhaust was not installed correctly
5. The a/c system does not blow cold
6. The rocker panels are crushed on either side due to improper jacking.
7. The car has a high and variable idle.
8. The passenger sun visor keeps falling down.
9. The paint is prepped poorly on the alloy headlight doors.
10. The front trunk lid has been tweaked a bit.
11. The passenger vent window has a gap and will leak.
12. The front spoiler is cracked and damaged.
13. The passenger’s seat belt does not latch.
14. The car is equipped with 10-year-old cheap Cooper tires that are not appropriate.
15. The driver’s seat seemed flat, or collapsed, making it rather uncomfortable.

The biggest thing that really scares us are the paint issues. Should we spend thousands to fix them or just drive the wheels off the car?

What about the a/c? Simple fix or something decidedly more expensive? And, of course, anytime you are dealing with a 32-valve, four-cam, twin-distributor V8, oil leaks can be a bit scary.

In addition, we would have to find/build both a tool kit and spares package if we were to take this car on long distance tours.

Before getting to work, though, we would have to find some sources for Ferrari parts.

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