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Ferrari 308 Replica Rebuild

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Car-2-Lo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 January 2012 at 2:30pm
Don, great job on the targa roof, (that's my pipe dream).
You'll have the best finished 308 out there.
Johnny-B-Good

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2012 at 1:33pm
John;

If I can give you any advice at all given all your great work on your project......

Don't cut the roof off and keep it separated if you can. 

Chopping still retains the integrity when welded back together.  I have spent a lot of time sorting out reinforcing on this and my other car to get some rigidity back into the frame after removing the roof or a section of it..... 

I bought the 308 with the targa otherwise, I would never have done it to myself again.

If you still want to do something with a roofless or targa, I can show you what I learned so you don't have to go through the same madness I put myself through......

Cheers
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 February 2012 at 3:57pm
Bit of an update

I revamped the wiper arms to make them longer as well as mounted the wiper motor and washer bucket.  I also made up some covers fo rteh front rtunk to keep wetah erou tof what is now the outside of the trunk area.  Also did some more welding cleanup to close off holes made in the front frame area to get the headlight buckets to clear when down.  I also updated the front bumper with additional mounts.  Lots of smaller items as I close off the last items before sanding and priming.  I am hoping to really be at the sanding step soon.....

I picked up my custom windshield from Port Coquitlam and it fits not too bad for a copy.  A few items would need to be adjusted but I think I will be able to have it work for me or Hugh if I ever get to his rebuild.....

Everything turned out pretty good.

Cheers
Don









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Post Options Post Options   Quote Fiero308 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 February 2012 at 9:49pm
What do you mean "If I ever get to Hugh's rebuild" Does
this mean it won't be ready by this Summer LOL.

You are doing an awesome job here. It is just amazing.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 March 2012 at 4:24pm

Update;

I have been working dilligently on cleaing up the small items in prep for sanding to start.  Crossing off items on my to do list feels good.  I have the headlights going up and down to the right level with new stops built. 

I have the centre wiper arm trans moved over about 2" to make the wiper arm the same length as the driver's side, I put the air vents in for the HVAC to not be completely starved from air with the extended screen, and I picked a colour for the car. 

I ended up with Ford Candy Red Metallic 09-11.  It really looks good in person. I wanted a red matallic so I have been buying spray bombs of paint from the local paint mixer and testing on the fender.  I have gone through 5 different red metallics in patches on the driver's fender.  I finally sprayed this colour on the other night and loved it right away. It is a base clear coat system water based base and chemical clear.  As soon as I sprayed the base I liked it and wanted to see what it looked like under some clear. I did a small patch of the clear but I had to see what the colour looked like on more than a patch so I sprayed the driver's fender and part of the nose section.  I have to sand it all off again anyway before I start up the high build primer work so I am not worried about a bit more sanding to clear this back off.  I keep going back out to have a look at it as I walk by the garage door......

I have also built engine lid stabilizing arms as the hinges are so much higher than oem on the Mera clone that the lid moves around alot when opening and closing.  I built some braces similar to Rodney Dickman's setup for his Mera.  I also put in gas struts to help lift and hold the engine lid but they are not strong enough. I need to go trade in my 45 lb struts for some 85 lb struts tonight to see if that works.   I am now working on the front trunk latches.  I got some rear hatch latches from an old Geo years go to use on the 355 build but never got there so I am using them on this build.   I should have latches configured by tonight and will post some pics over the weekend.

Cheers

Don

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 March 2012 at 10:23am
Fairly decent weekend of work on the 308. I had to help my back neighbour take down a tree in his back yard on Saturday so that we now have a much better view of the water and downtown Victoria across the water. One of the main reasons we bought where we did was the views and proximity to the ocean.

Made engine lid braces last week and installed them this weekend and got myself a set of 56 lb gas shocks to lift the lid. The shocks will hold the lid when open but don't really help while pushing up. I will leave these in there for now but will continue to look for stronger struts like maybe 75 lb or more struts to help take some of the weight of the lid while opening.





I also went after rear trunk. The company that made the car into a targa, cut the rear trunk back wall at each side and folded the back wall down and left it at that. There was no weather sealing on any of that area and the trunk was pretty much open to the rear fascia area and any moisture kicked up during a rain would go right into the trunk area. It was not sealed at all. I tried using the original rear wall to see if I could attach some new metal to allows me to make a rim to have the seal sit on. It wasn't going to work so I took the sawzall to it.. All gone and now I can make a new rear wall and attach it to the sides and cap off the top portions under the sail panels and make a full seal for the rear trunk. I will be buying a new seal from Infinitewil once I have the measurements. I have a pic of the targa sitting in the rear trunk and you can see how much more room it needs versus the original trunk area. Some cutting and pasting of the rear engine lid will also be required to move the back section of the seal face rearward to meet up with the new rear seal location. I will also be making a new rear latch mounting surface so that I can use the Fiero latch mechanisms.






After all that, and a couple beers, I went after the front trunk latches. I made some pretty good progress in that I was able to cut away the old seal face I have made before moving the wiper transmission and installing the extended screen. Once that was cut away, I went about making a new metal brace to go across between the two side metal braces. I had to cut slots into the square tube to get the right shape and then weld the cuts back up. Turned out pretty well. It will be covered with foam and fiberglass in the end so I wasn't really worried about how clean the welds were, just as long as they are strong....

Once I had that in place, I made up some latch bar perches (really not sure what they are called) and welded the perches to the new cross bar. I then tried out my relatively new blind screw tool and inserted some blind screw pieces in. That also worked pretty well once I wasted a few figuring out how it works.... The end result is I need a few more blind screw pieces as I wasted some and I need some more expanding foam as I also ran out of that.

For the latches themselves, I took some 2" angle iron and made mounts. These mounts will then be placed in the proper location inside the trunk and additional metal will be measured and welded on to locate the latches in the right spots to line up with the bars I made in the hood. I took a pic of more or less where the latches will sit inside the front trunk.








Next on the list is to mount the latches in the right spot, set up the central latch release mechanism and attach that to the Fiero release pull and then cover the bar and perches with foam and then glass to make the inner panel for the front lid. I hope that all gets done this coming week.

Cheers
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Car-2-Lo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 March 2012 at 8:10am
Hi Don,

What hood latches are you using, they look like the hot rod trunk side latches ??
I'll be doing that at some point and wondering what would be the easiest ??

Thank you so much for all your help...
Super chop Johnny
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 March 2012 at 2:30pm
John;

The latches themselves are from an old Geo if memory serves.  I went to a pick a part out in Calgary several years ago and forget what I got them from but I do know they were from the rear hatch with a large window in it.  Pretty sure it was a Geo.

The latch arms or whatever you call them I made myself as I lost track of the ones I took off with the rest of the assembly.  To many years in storage.  Now that I made new ones, I will find them somewhere easily accessible I didn't think of looking in.....

No problem on the help. I really enjoy this hobby so I help wherever I can.  Most of the time my help usually isn't but once in a while I get lucky.....

matter of fact, there is a good possibility my Porsche Boxster is going to be sold in the next few weeks and I might actually go out and buy a Fiero fastback to play with instead of another convertible....  these are more fun to work on than the Porsches etc. and by and large, less expensive.... unless, of course, you cut them up like we are doing......

Cheers
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 March 2012 at 11:50pm
Latch mounts are made and in place.  I had to run around for a couple days looking for some more nutcerts to secure the latch bars to the lid..  I finally found some metal ones today and bought a pile of them so I don't run out again too quickly.  I like the metal ones more as the aluminum ones will pull the threads out too easily.

I positioned everything into the hood opening and lined up the latches to the bars and then made some plates to mount the latches to.  It all worked out quiet well.  I now need to weld in some gussets to the mount plates to stiffen them up a bit and then foam and fiberglass on the lid to finish it off.  The bolts on the mount pates are only for initial positioning and I will weld everything up tomorrow night now that it is all lined up and working.

I also plan to use the Fiero hood holding bar and will mount that tomorrow night as well.

Cheers
Don



Nice to see the front hood on again and lined up.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 March 2012 at 12:55am
Update;

Finished off reinforcing the front latches and only have the pull mechanism to do now.  This weekend to finish that off. 

For a change, I moved to the rear trunk area to get the latch built and get the rear section boxed in so it is weather proof.  I have the main rear wall bent from 14 gauge sheet metal and I will be boxing in the end caps with 18 gauge as it is easier to work with for the complex corners.  I have one end done and screwed into place for fitting and I will be on to the other side this weekend.  I also need to make caps to go over each end to cover the portion under the sail panels similar to what is needed for the Fiero GT.  Once everything is fitted, I will pull it all apart and put seam seal along all edges and rivet everything together and then seam seal over the final joints and install into the car.  I may need to install in the car first before riveting but I will figure that when I get to that point.

I also got into the engine lid to make a new seal ridge since the seal will now be so much further back from oem.  The rear seal lip is 6" back from oem trunk back wall.  The section in the middle is where I need to create a sunken area in the inner hood to accommodate the Fiero rear trunk latch.  With the seal lip closer to the top of the trunk area, the latch needs to sit higher in the engine lid so I need to make a cupped section to clear the mechanism and also insert some metal with bolts welded on for securing the latch to the engine lid.  Once that is done, I then align the latch bar to the latch mechanism and mount it to the rear trunk wall.  I will also be putting reinforcing in behind the trunk wall to help keep that solid.

A few pics

Cheers
Don










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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2012 at 10:40am
Some progress, I am back from down south and I made some progress last week before heading away again for the weekend.  I find life is getting in the way of this build as well.  We all find that I am sure.  A couple month project turns into a couple years of mostly sitting and looking rather than doing.....

I am now doing the rear trunk inner liner as I have the larger trunk space as explained above. As shown above, I started by cutting down the original inner liner and adding in a new seal ridge at the back to catch the new location of the rubber seal and just filling in the spaces where I cut the original real seal lip down. I just wasn't feelin' it though. Just looked too chopped up for my OCD tendencies.....




I took a couple pics of the partial progress on the original thoughts and then a few pics of my new direction. I like the new direction a lot better..... A lot cleaner and looks like it should be there rather than the chopped look I had going to start.

Out comes the offending area.....


In goes some new wood forms to match up the inner liner ridges and braces etc.





I haven't taken any more pics in the past few days but I decided to just leave the forms in place and glass over them.  I was thinking about making a mold and cutting the buck out again and glassing in the new piece but it is too much work for an interior piece that stays closed most of the time. Everything will be sealed so no issues with rotting wood or anything.  Also, there is so little in the way of forms that there is very little extra weight. 

I have since covered everything with a couple layers of fiberglass mat and last night I created a HUGE mess by grinding and sanding everything down and feathering of the new to old parts.  I put some Duraglas on the new portion and it was setting up over night.  I checked this morning and it was still a bit soft so I guess I need to take the heat gun to it tonight to get it to kick off and cure.  I thought I had the right amount of hardener but I guess it was a little light.....

Tonight,  I go out to and kick off the Duraglas and then sand up to get it in good shape and do some filling and edging to get it all looking good.  I have a long weekend this weekend so I should be able to get this and the major portion of sanding done on the car by next week.

More to come.

Cheers
Don
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 May 2012 at 12:42pm
More progress cleaning up the rear trunk inner lid. 

Actually, I was just over looking at Dave's and Dawg's engine pulls thread and I had a DOH moment.....

There, in all it's glory, was a picture of a GT inner liner with a seal lip and inner trunk shape pretty much exactly the same shape as I just spent a bunch of time building from scratch.....(Head slap)... A one off mould from an inner GT lid and a bit of lengthening and I would have saved myself a whole bunch of work.  Son of A ......  Oh well, I really need to pay more attention to what is already out there.

Now that the head slapping is over, I might as well show what a modded GT trunk seal lip for an extended rear trunk area would look like

I just have a bit more cleanup to do on the sides and a few spots on the flat surfaces and it should be called good and I can move back to the front lid and do it over again on the area I built the front latches for.

The putty layers are very thin just to flatten and fill dips so not really much weight added to the lid.  I plan to have this one completed tonight and the front lid into fiberglass or at least expanded foam ready to shape and glass.



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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2012 at 1:35pm
Another month pretty much gone with a little progress.....

Finished up the rear trunk inner panels ready for primer and paint. On to front trunk. Shaped the foam and glassed and applied first couple layers of bondo to start smoothing out the surface. Again, sanding most of the bondo away just to get a smooth surface to take moulds from.

Test fit the front lid on the car to see if I captured the shape for a seal. Worked out great. After putting the latches back on, it should suck right down on to the seals and keep the weather out.

Cheers
Don

Rear trunk came out very nicely.  Now that I have it all smoothed out, I can finish the metalwork in the rear trunk and then order some new trunk seal off the fellow on Pennock's.


Layer of bondo that hasn't been sanded down yet.  Looks pretty good overall though.  Should provide a good surface to seal the front trunk and allow for nice moulds to be taken.  Lid is pretty heavy right now though with putty, glass and metal throughout....




You can see the rubber fits nicely along the lid surface.  I still have to bolt the hinges and latches on to see if the lid closes now but it should all fit.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 July 2012 at 1:17pm
Funny story with the car. 

This car was always supposed to be a quick fix to clean up a couple items that were broken when I bought it, but that has turned into a 2+ year rebuild of many different parts of the car.

The long term plan was to get it put back together, drive for a couple years and then cut and stretch the rear section to make a Ferrari 288 GTO out of it.  Since I have been working on the car these past two years instead of driving it, I was actually very close to starting down the 288 GTO route.  I even had the sawzall out and tape along the rear quarters where I was going to cut the fiberglass body to start the process.

I have the front end all done to look oem Ferrari so I would have to only stretch 3" on rear quarters and frame and then pour and shape some foam to make the flared fenders....

I was close to starting the cuts and made myself stand back and ask myself if I was ready for another 1-2 years of additional work to make the car I was always really wanting?????

I took the tape off and put the sawzall away but I don't think I have completely abandoned the concept........ (I feel like Johnny before he took the sawzall out on that fateful day last year to start RBS II.......)

A pic of the 288 GTO for reference.  One of the sexiest Ferraris ever built in my opinion......




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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 August 2012 at 10:52pm
Primer is finally laid down....

I put a few coast on the engine lid and front bumper. Been many years since I used a proper paint spray gun and I used a touch up gun for tonight to help me get back into it and not mix too much primer at a time in case I was messing things up. Came out pretty good. I have a few spots to touch up where I missed holes that you don't see until you get it all one colour.

This primer is a 2k urethane primer/sealer but I don't think it is high build. I am going to have to get the name and number and have a look online. I asked specifically for high build primer for fiberglass and the guy went around in a couple circles on me and gave me a quart of this stuff. I figured I could always practice on this quart on panels that are in good shape already like the front and rear lids and then get some high build for the remainder of the panels where there may still be a bit of minor warping after skim coating and sanding.

Sprayed really nice with minimal over-spray. I was pretty happy with the way the first attempt came out.

Some more cleanup on some other body panels and then premier again, I really just wanted to see a couple panels all one colour again for inspiration.....

A couple pics.

Cheers
Don










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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 August 2012 at 10:59pm
A few moulds from the Countach project as well.  I pulled these off a Countach body down in Phoenix where a buddy is building an aluminum Countach from scratch.  He is doing an amazing job on the aluminum panels.  Like oem, the front bumper and flares are fiberglass and he doesn't know how to do that so I offered to make a set for him and I get a new front bumper and iar dam and flares for my build as well..

These will be worked on in a few weeks when the 308 is in primer and off to the paint booth.

Cheers
Don

Edit: Spelling


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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 September 2012 at 12:58am
Working on making it all one colour.....

More body work and primer tonight. I have been working on the rear driver's door gap for the past several days when I can get out there. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. The original builder riveted the rear panels on to the door frames and then bondoed about 1/4" thick over the joint areas to cover everything up,. Did the same thing on the inside of the doors where the panels mate to the doors. I had to chip all the door bondo away so I could take the doors off and do some repairs internally to the door handle and panel as they weer both broken. Got all that done and then went to work matching up the panels and making even door gaps.

Driver's side looks good and I got a first coat of primer on the door and the area just behind the door to make sure everything looks OK one colour after the body working. A few touch ups still to go but the door is pretty much good to go so far.

I also touched up some holes in the engine lid and then resprayed that as well. Not sure what I did with the spray gun tonight though but it laid down a horrible payer of primer. It has been many years since I have been spraying without a spray bomb so I pretty much forget all the tricks. Good thing it is a first coat of primer and I have to sand smooth again anyway.....

I also laid down a skim of bondo to the rear quarter as there is quite a number of waves in the fiberglass so I will sand those out tomorrow night. to see where I end up.

I have turned the engine lid over and now touching up the work I did on the under side and will prime that tomorrow night as well.

Cheers
Don

Edit:  No images showing up in the upload tool tonight.  Will add some tomorrow if it decides to work.

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Linlor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 December 2012 at 4:30pm
It has been a while since I updated this build thread.  I have been quiet but busy on the car.  I just got it painted in epoxy primer on Tuesday in prep for the ride out to the paint shop.  My painter wanted to get it protected from our West Coast winters when it ships out to his shop.  I had primed the car once and made an absolute mess of it so I had to sand it all down again and wait for him to have some time to come over and do it for me.  He laid down two great coats and the car looks great.

We hope to be starting to ship the parts out to his place either later this week or next week.

A few pics of the car in its current state as of last night.

Cheers
Don







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Post Options Post Options   Quote Car-2-Lo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 December 2012 at 6:07pm
That's looking sweet Don just in primer

On the Countach , what windshield are you using, I hope it's not a flat glass
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Dawg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 December 2012 at 6:18pm
Man....that poor car hasn't been one color in a very long time.....:)  Coming down the home stretch....eh?

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