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Ferrari 308 Replica Rebuild

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Linlor View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Ferrari 308 Replica Rebuild
    Posted: 10 October 2010 at 8:47pm
Wow, I just spent the past 20 minutes typing out a long winded explanation of how I came to be here and why I am posting a build thread.  Well, I am not sure what button I hit inadvertently as I feverishly typed away but I lost it all....

So, I start again but I doubt I will be as verbose as I just was.  Probably not a bad thing really.......  I am going to post more often in my thread here so I don't get too far and lose everything again.

Name is Don Ostergard.  I have been out on the West Coast in Victoria for a year now... how time flies.  Came back to BC from Calgary after 20 years away in various locations across Canada.  Can't believe I waited 20 years to come back.  Anyway, another story that needs a beer....

I have liked the Fiero since I owned a 1986 SE notch back in 1988 out in Halifax as a young fellow.  Lots of fun to drive and it is a different and unique car.  Had I known there was a fastback version at the time, I would have owned one of those instead of the notch back.

Better post before I lose this......

Cheers
Don


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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2010 at 9:13pm
I also had another wish in my life and that was to build a Kit car.  I have been an avid kit car fan since I was 15 back when the VW's were the base of choice. Once the Fiero came out, I was hooked.  It took me a long time to get a kit car but 10 years ago I bought a set of replica Ferrari 355 panels from a fellow in Duncan and drove them back to Calgary in a U-Haul truck.  I started in one the project back then and worked away on the Fiero and the panels for several years.  Had I known then what I know now about fiberglassing and body panels, I would never have bought the panels to begin with.  They were terrible.  Over the past 10 years, i have replaced or modified every panel on the project to getting to line up and work properly.  My build thread for that car is on Madmechanics.com in the build diaries section called Don's build progress.

After so many years of having a hanger queen, I decided I wanted a kitcar I could actually drive for a change.  I found a 308 replica over in UsedVictoria and it was actually over in Langley at Radical Rides Hot Rod shop just off Hwy 10. Radical Rides was supposed to redo the replica for the owner but it was going to cost way too much to have it rebuilt by them so the owner went and bought a real 308 instead.  That left this sitting over in Langley and the owner wanting out.  I offered a low amount for the car compared to what it has and what he originally paid for it and he accepted.  I went over to Langley and towed it home to Victoria.   When I got the car, it had a couple things wrong with it that I figured I could fix pretty easily. It had a broken front bumper and a broken front air dam.  there are other items on the car as well but these two items were the main things that needed work for me to be able to drive it around.

I took a break from the 355 build and dove into this one for a change.  I put the 355 in storage and got room the garage for the 308 to be worked on for a few weeks and then I could drive it for the summer......  That was in May of this year.  I am still working on it.  Apparently, like a lot of you guys, I can't leave anything well enough alone.....

A picture of how the car looked when I went over to have a look at it before I bought it.






This car has had a lot of work done to it.  Most good, some not so good.  It has a pretty decent quality kit on it.  The original builder back in the mid '90's spared no money on the build. It looks like it would have been a really good looking replica when it was first built.  It has seen many years of use and it is now in need of a refresh.  Which i am doing.

The car was bought down in the States and sent to Aldino down there and had a targa top put into it.  It was then shipped up to Canada where the previous owner ordered a new full Pisa euro interior and full gauge setup.  The interior is not in it yet but I have it.  He also bought the Trueleo intake and headers that I posted here over the summer.  They ended being sold to fellow down in California.

I planned on fixing the bumper and front air dam, match the paint colour and drive it for the summer.  I got the bumper and air dam fixed within a few weeks, but then cut a deal with Sue of Fiero Conversions out in Windsor to sell her my old 328 panels I had laying around and I agreed to pull a set of moulds off the front clip and the bumper of the 308 so they would have both a 308 and 328 panels to sell to their customers. This moulding took much longer than I anticipated and destroyed the paint on the front clip. I was now into a full paint job or at least the front clip at a minimum so I said, what the heck, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Fixed bumper and front air dam.







I decided to reconfigure the replica front end which I always thought was dead giveaway for being a replica with the full width front trunk lid and fenders.  I decided to make a closer to oem look with top fenders being moulded into the side fenders and clip and having a narrower, more oem front trunk lid.

I am about 60% complete doing the front clip conversion.

I just figured out how to get pictures up so I will post a few and show the progress.

taking moulds of the replica trunk so I could make the new pieces.  The front clip paint was ruined anyway so I wasn`t worried about wrecking the paint on the front trunk either.  Good thing as it peeled off a lot as well when I took the moulds off.  I thnk the original fiberglass and bodywork when the car was first painted was not sealed properly as it pulled paint right down to the original gel coat.



One off moulds to give me the basic shape to work with.



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Linlor View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2010 at 9:37pm
I set the one off moulds with bars across the fender tops so I could retain the exact same position when I went to make the new fender tops.  I turned the front clip over and aligned the moulds so that the fender tops were in the correct position and then fiberglassed the fender tops in position.



Once the tops were cured, IO took the moulds off and positioned the clip back on the car so I could figure out what to do with the new trunk seals etc.  I ended up making sides to the inner fender edges and these walls come down on to two seal tracks welded in the front trunk so I can take the old trunk seal and cut it up to create a new trunk seal.  the areas under the new fender tops, I plan to make metal tops that will screw on to the seal lips and seal off the outer portions of the trunk that are now open to the elements under the fender tops.

New clip on the car for positioning.





I have made the headlight openings 10 inches wide which is 1 inch wider than oem since the fender tops on the replica are about 1.5 inches wider than oem so everything still fits proportionately.

I am now at the point where I have made the new trunk lid, I have cut the new seals for the new trunk position and I have retrofitted the Fiero trunk hinges to work on the now, narrower trunk lid. 

A few pics of the new trunk and initial metal bracing to create the proper shape.


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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2010 at 9:48pm
Trunk lid and metal braces.  Since this picture, I have welded in cross braces and mounted the hinges and mounted the Fiero hood latch.  I don`t have any of those pictures with me as I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Yellowknife killing time waiting for tomorrow to fly even farther north to Cambridge Bay for a few days of work.

Front trunk lid and retrofitted hinges.







Actually,here is a pic of the new trunk seal frame.  Didn`t realize I had that one as well.  The portions on each side of the metal seal frame will be covered with sheet metal to seal out the elements but still allow me to get in to do repairs on the clutch and any other items on the outsides.  I wil have to relocate the windshield washer tank to the centre of the spare wheel like oem Ferrari.


The best part is everything still bolts to original Fiero mounting points at the front and I have made two mounting points for the inner fender lips on to the new trunk seal pieces.

I will have to move the headlight motors forward and down slightly but not much and the front bumper remains intact which is uncommon for kit cars on Fieros.

That is all for now. I am back at it again this coming weekend when I am back from the frosty north so I will post more progress later.

Cheers
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Car-2-Lo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2010 at 10:36pm
Hi Don, your project build here is refreshing and very interesting, great work, looking forward to seeing all your build thread.
Love that targa roof
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Romeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2010 at 11:13pm

Looking good, brother! Planning on leaving the drivetrain alone, or is that going to be just as modified as the bodywork?

Keep us posted!

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Capt Fiero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2010 at 11:34pm
All I can say is WOW that is an amazing amount of work, with the number of fiberglass experts in the club, I think you will be able to teach us all how to be fiberglass gods and all of us will have custom body cars in a matter of years.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Fire451 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2010 at 10:43am
that looks fantastic, i wouldn't be suprised if you get contacted by fiero308 about a front clip..
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2010 at 3:34pm
Romeo;

I have 2 3400 DOHC's for the projects so I will put the '96 in this one and the '95 in the 355 when I get back to it.

I still have the one off moulds for the front clip work so anyone is welcome to borrow them and do the same their front clip of their 308 replica.  I don't plan to take an other mould from the front clip as I WANT IT ON THE ROAD.

My original plan was to take this car and drive it for last summer and then coming winter, pull the panels off and stretch the frame and then begin the process of converting the car to a 288 gto.  Essentially a 3" stretch to a 308 with longitudinal twin turbo engine and flared front and rear fenders and a dead sexy stance in my opinion.  Ferraro took a pretty darn good looking car and made it gorgeous.

Now that it has taken me quite a bit more work to get the car to where I want it as a 308,  I doubt I will do the conversion on this one this year.  I wil swap the motor this winter and do some interior updates etc. but  I want to play with it for a while before putting it back up on blocks.

As for the targa, I have a bit of a proposal for everyone.  This targa top looks to be a pretty good rendition as it was done by Aldino.  There is square tube reinforcing underneath done fairly well and the targa top area looks good but will need some work around the seals.  I have ideas for the seals as well but I am not there yet.

I don't really care for the targa to be honest.  Yes, it looks great when off and has the cool factor but I am way too fussy and would spend a loot of time and energy to make the targa fit perfect and be 100% water sealed etc.  I know me and I wouldn't be happy until it was there.

I will swap out the frame of this 308 with another one that someone has that is a hard top with a 5 speed Isuzu or Getrag (preferred) transmission.  Engine is not as important so can be higher mileage as I am replacing anyway.  (My 3400 DOHC is pretty much ready to install except for finishing my headers.)  No rust or easily fixable rust.  My ultimate goal is to have the 288 GTO replica so it doesn't have a targa and I want to slightly slope the roof line back and down maybe 1-2" maximum to get a better flowing roof line than stock Fiero.  I have an idea that I can do a similar chop as I have seen but not push the front windshield portion down as normal choptops are doing. I would cut the rear B-pillar at 1" at the front edge and slightly more at the back edge, cut the triangle into the front A-pillar as normal and then pivot the roof back to match back up to the bottom of the B-Pillar that was cut.  I would then rotate the side window tracks the same amount of angle so that the side windows still go up and down in the same tracks, but the rear B-Pillar is slightly sloped back, the roof line is slightly sloped down and |I don't have to swap out side windows.  the amount of inward angle to the B-Pillar should still allow me to get a good seal on the side windows if I add a bit more curve into the window track.
 If I could get an '88 to all this too, that would be my ultimate as well as it has the updated suspension but they are very few and far between up here.

Having said all that, I would work with the person to strip all panels off the swapper and mount the panels back onto the targa Fiero so they could either drive away or work on from there.

The 308 has newer brakes before it was parked for rebuild, lots of engine work done and it runs well once warmed up but hasn't run regularly for a couple years so needs a tuneup and probably some sensors cleaned and an ALDL run to check for codes.  It is 2.8 with 4 spd.  I am pretty sure it is an '85 but not 100% sure.  I can confirm when I get home.

If I can get the swap done before I paint, thatwould be my best scenario.  Otherwise, I will deal with the swap when I am ready to swap over to a 288 GTO in the future.  I can also always get another Fiero and do all the work to it over the winter as well and then swap the body over if no one bites but thought I would offer up a targa to everyone here first before going that route or waiting.

Thoughts and feedback?
Don


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Post Options Post Options   Quote Romeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2010 at 4:49pm
Ooohhh, should sound very exotic when it's done.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Fiero308 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2010 at 4:59pm
Hi Don,

Just caught your thread. It looks like I have the exact
same kit see
http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?
TID=402&PN=1

Unfortunately I haven't updated the thread. At present
Dr. Fiero is adding a turbo to the completed SBC 383
installed in the thread. To accomodate the increased HP
we have switched from the Pontiac G6 stick to an
automatic transmission setup. Seeing your front clip
setup I definitely want one. Can we work on a deal. We
are also fabricating a new rear deck to accomodate the
new turbo etc. I would love to get together with you and
the good Dr. as I have a lot of spare parts up for barter
Hugh
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2010 at 8:08pm
Hey Hugh;

I remember reading through some of your build thread a while ago but I did not get through all of it.  I will definitely have to go through it all.

You are more than welcome to my mould setup for your car.  I don't plan to pull any more moulds off mine so we can meet up next time I am over in Vancouver for work and I will bring the moulds over for you.e not great by any means but they give the basic shape you need to start the rest of the build.  The trunk mould is the worst as the bottom near the front clip was pretty knarly when I pulled the moulds off the buck.  I just left it as it was and put gel coat down knowing I was going to be doing a lot of sanding and shaping anyway by the time I was done.

I do plan on making new headlight buckets to replicate the oem ones and I may pull moulds from them but not sure yet.  I did a set of moulds from the 355 and planned on selling those to other 355 builders but i just don't get the time out in the garage to make a go of it.  I have probably 10+ people wanting 355 headlights as well but again, no time.

Anyway, I'll touch base before I am over in Van again and we can meet up.

Cheers
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Patrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 October 2010 at 1:40am

Don, it's been awhile since we met up at the Tim Horton's on Terminal Avenue back in June.

Glad to see you're finally posting about your projects here. I knew the fellas in the club would be pretty excited when they found out about all the neat stuff you've been doing.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Patrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 October 2010 at 10:25pm

Don and Hugh, is it a "Stinger" kit that you fellas both have?

If so (or even if not so), you'd probably enjoy This thread at Pennock's by Bloozberry, a fellow Canadian in Nova Scotia who's one talented guy around Fieros.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 October 2010 at 12:10pm
Both of our kits are not Stingers.  These look like they were taken from a Mera.

I have been reading the Bloozeberry North* rebuild thread.

Thanks
don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Patrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 October 2010 at 12:16pm

Originally posted by Linlor Linlor wrote:

Both of our kits are not Stingers.

Yeah, I began to suspect that when I noticed the door handles on the Stinger. Strange looking things.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 October 2010 at 6:19pm

Actually Patrick, the door handles on Bloozeberry's car are pretty much corect oem.  The rest of our replicas use the original Fiero door handle moved down to a slot in the body line where you push your fingers through the body line and pull up on the handle.

oem Ferraris have the same handle setup as Bloozeberry's.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Patrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 October 2010 at 6:44pm

Originally posted by Linlor Linlor wrote:

oem Ferraris have the same handle setup as Bloozeberry's.

Doesn't negate the fact those door handles are still strange looking things.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 October 2010 at 1:56pm
Well,

Got a bit of work done last night after returning from a week away.  I am into the headlight buckets now. Because the fender tops are wider on the replica than they are on an oem 308, I have to make new headlight buckets to match the holes I have in the fenders that will get everything looking proportional.

I got  the frame bonded into the trunk lid and cleaned up the lid a lot and got some sanding done so tonight I will get back into more sanding and edge matching and then put some more time into the headlight buckets.  I will be using 7" round headlights as the opening is 9" so the headlights need to be a bit bigger than oem so fit into the buckets,.  I also need to source some round headlight bucket containers or whatever they are called to mount the headlight into and then mount that into the bucket with adjustment screws.  That won't be hard as I have already done that with the 355 build where I took oem 355 buckets and made moulds and retrofitted Cavalier headlights into them so I know how to do that work now.

BTW:  I bought Dave's 1988 Fiero so I can now have the '88 suspension in the car without the targa top.  Looking forward to coming over to Van to pick that up and strip the panels off to start the install of the 3.4 DOHC..... If Hugh and I can come to an agreement, I might also have a 6 spd in it......

More to come.
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Fiero308 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 October 2010 at 4:21pm
Oh don't you worry you'll get a 6 speed in it. lol

Hugh
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