Ferrari 308 Replica Rebuild

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.

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

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

Keep us posted!

that looks fantastic, i wouldn't be suprised if you get contacted by fiero308 about a front clip..

Ooohhh, should sound very exotic when it's done.

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

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Oh don't you worry you'll get a 6 speed in it. lol

Hugh