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January 7, 2010
Just A Few Wires And A Fuse Away From Sweet Music In The Ferrari
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
When I bought the Infamous Craigslist 1976 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 last year I noticed its stereo didn’t work. Now that it’s back on the road and I’ve been driving it a bit, I decided to do a little digging into what might be the source of the issue.
Before you make some knee-jerk comment like “the Ferrari’s V8 should be enough music”, when you’re stuck in traffic or on a long trip even a supercar’s engine doesn’t cut it.
Diagnosing classic radio issues is so easy that an ADD-riddled journalist can do it. If you can hook-up a home stereo, you can generally get a car stereo working, because the same issues apply: one power wire (which usually goes to the fuse box) and one ground wire, plus a positive and ground running to each speaker. There’s also a big cable that goes to the antenna (and sometimes a wire to connect if the antenna goes up when the stereo is turned on). That’s it! Basically, the only catch is to make sure you unhook the battery cable so a live circuit doesn’t give you Don King hair.
Continue reading "Just A Few Wires And A Fuse Away From Sweet Music In The Ferrari" »
February 23, 2009
What's Your Worst "Oh Crap" Car Restoration Moment?
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
If you work on cars, you’re bound to have one of those proverbial “oh crap” moments. You know the type: while trying to “fix” or “restore” a part of the car, it all goes terribly wrong.
I was in the process of rebuilding the four Weber carburetors on the Sound Classics project Ferrari 308 GT4 utilizing the tried-and-true Polish Blueprintmethod of reassembly: taking a part off the second carburetor, while putting the new, yet identical part back on the freshly cleaned first carb. Things seemed to be going great.
The second carb’s fuel bowl float retaining pin didn’t want to come loose. I placed the top of the carb housing in the bench vice and tapped a small punch pointed in the hole with a hammer, causing the pin to slide just enough to get pliers on the other end. Still tight, I tapped the pliers with the hammer and the pin started sliding. One last light hit…
Continue reading after the jump!
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February 17, 2009
Pinpointing Problems, Parts, Prices, and Purveyors for Project Ferrari Dino 308 GT4
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
With detective work regarding the history of the Sound Classics project 1975/1976 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 finished, it was time to open that mid-mounted engine hatch and dive in with reckless abandon. All I learned during the buying process was that the car ran like a flatulent hippopotamus with a bad hip.
Actually, to avoid making an extremely costly mistake, it is very important to have a good method to the madness even before one buys a classic. From the time I first started the car at the seller’s house, I had a pretty good idea of the possible culprits, as well as sources and a ballpark cost estimate for the parts necessary to put it all right.
Continue reading after the jump!
January 30, 2009
Detective Work Reveals Special (If Not Confusing) History on Project Ferrari 308 GT4
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
I’ve made it a habit when buying collector cars to go through the vehicle nose-to-tail in search of any parts, records or interesting stuff. Although the Sound Classics’ project Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 didn’t give up much in the way of interesting stuff (unless you consider a Walnut Creek Ferrari dealer license frame and large and delightfully cheesy nylon pillow that looks like the Ferrari badge interesting), I did find the original owner’s manual billfold to go with a small folder of recent receipts.
It was when I opened the owner’s manual billfold that I got a big and totally unexpected surprise: a complete record of service invoices and documents from the day it was sold new, including the warranty booklet and original sales form. The car’s biography starts with some uncertainty: its serial number (12500) and build-date plate indicate a build date of June 1976, but the car shows on its title and sales paperwork as being a “1975” model car. Less out of the ordinary, the car was originally sold by Ferrari of Los Gatos, CA in 1977 as “new” with just north of 2000 miles on it. This original owner, Dr. Binder, kept the car until selling it to James Young (probably no relation to the coachbuilder of Rolls-Royces of the same name) of Palo Alto in 1982. Continue reading…
January 29, 2009
Introducing Sound Classics' Newest Project: The Infamous Craigslist Ferrari 308 GT4
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
Much of the collector car hobby hinges on the old adage “do as I say, not as I do.” For ages self-proclaimed experts like me have been educating car newbies on the importance of buying the best-condition classics they can afford, all while secretly hauling home projects that could scare the best restorers with the most up-to-date tetanus vaccinations.
I’ve really gone and done it this time, though, by buying one of the most talked-about cars on Craigslist and turning it into the latest Sound Classics project. To describe it, I need to use two words that should never appear in the same sentence: “Ferrari” and “TLC”.
Continue reading after the jump!
