308 GTB replica Build off of 1985 GT
Printed From: West Coast Fieros
Category: General Fiero Chat
Forum Name: General Talk about Fieros
Forum Description: Just want to chat about fieros? here's the place to make that happen.
URL: http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3818
Printed Date: 27 November 2024 at 2:46am
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Topic: 308 GTB replica Build off of 1985 GT
Posted By: 308GTB
Subject: 308 GTB replica Build off of 1985 GT
Date Posted: 01 November 2017 at 8:54pm
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Hey guys, I’ve been following the forum for around 2 years now and finally decided to join. I’ve been building a 308GTB replica off a 1985 GT. The build so far has taken roughly 2.5 years and is finally nearing the end (well sort of). I purchased the car with a sloppy kit on it and a locked up motor for $1750 in north Florida, I found it on Craigslist and think the kid had no idea of what he had. My initial thought was to get it running and then slowly fix up as I drove it. I started with locating a running motor from a junk yard and having it gone thru then installed, while out I had engine compartment sprayed black so regardless of what color I went with the engine compartment would look finished. Once it was up and running I started noticing all the little things that made it a kit car and not a good replica, so I made the decision to try and make it as accurate as possible but still add my own touch and a slightly modern flare to it. The mechanic shop I had it at belongs to a friend and he shares a building with a body shop known for their customization so after talking with them and agreeing on a price we started to move forward with the build. Part of the deal was I could come and help when ever My work schedule allowed, which was great as I can now say I’ve actually built some of my car. We started the build by removing the doors and front clip. The ferrari door skins were bolted on the fiero doors and look cheap and horrible so we removed the bolts and replaced with rivets. We then slightly ground down the rivets and filled every area around with glass and then used dura-glass to fill voids but also add strength. Both doors took around 50 hours to complete but came out looking perfect. We deleted the door handles and went with electric poppers, we also decided to French the door locks so it gives it a straight and smooth look when you look down the body lines....With the front clip off we rhino lined everything underneath it black and made really nice wheel wells (a good friend once said the fastest way to tell it’s a kit car is by the tire wells, so I made sure they looked as finished as possible). The small front lip on the kit had seen better days and had a few run-ins with some curbs so we rebuilt it but made it larger and more raked like the Euro version of the 308 mixed with the 288 front end. The hood is what always gives a replica away to me so we took the hood off and measured it so that we could open it in the center, we glasses the top of the fenders to the body and made the front end look as accurate as possible. I located two oem ferrari hood/headlight grills and we used them as our reference as to what size the cut ins needed to be. At the moment I am still uncertain as how to engineer the headlight buckets. I bought Mazda Miata round 7” headlights with buckets and think with some modification we may be able to make them Work. The front end probibly has around 400+ hours in it right now as we had to do some Heavy modifications to make everything fit properly and look factory. It still has another 50+ hours to make it 100% but I plan on doing that at home and saving some money. With the front clip and doors off we came across the same ugly bolts that were on the doors, on the rear quarters and door sills. We did the same as we did on the doors with rivets, glass and dura-glass instead of body filler. We relocated the gas fill to behind the drivers side rear window vent and filled hole. We tried real hard to make the entire deck lid open wth wings attached to access motor but it would require way to much time and money so we shaved in a dummy lie down the wing where the hatch would lift. The engine vent in the rear deck lid was flat and the body was curved so there were huge gaps on each end, we built up an awesome lip around it so it now sits perfect on it and looks like it came from the factory. We also filled in the gap on the roof where the kit met the fiero wing so it has a flush roof that all looks 1 piece. (See pics). The side skirts were shot and with the larger lip, left the car lacking something, so we found a set of 360 Modena skirts for cheap and modified them to fit but also go along with th era of the car and even went to the extent of shaping in the feature lines of the 308 into the wide bodied skirts. (See pics). All lights, badges and some interior and exterior small parts are oem ferrari and have been modified to fit and look stock. We also upgraded the brakes with drilled and slotted roaters and painted the calipers red. I am currently trying to source out a person who can make the vent window and dew strips for the car as an accurate 308 would have. I purchased the euro 308 replica interior out of pencoks fiero in AZ. The plan is to paint it ferrari white, with a black interior with red stitching.
I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch but would love any feedback, suggestions, tips or anything. This is the first car I’ve ever done and am really excited to hopefully see it finished soon. Thanks and enjoy the pics. ( I have a bunch more but the uploader on here sucks) |
Replies:
Posted By: 308GTB
Date Posted: 02 November 2017 at 6:12am
  
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Posted By: 308GTB
Date Posted: 02 November 2017 at 7:01am
     
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Posted By: DannyCanuck
Date Posted: 05 November 2017 at 8:38am
That kit has come a long way since you got it. good job ------------- 88 duke, bog standard 
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Posted By: ARTIC-1
Date Posted: 08 November 2017 at 8:40pm
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Nice work,The car has some cool lines to it,in those pics. The paint will make it all Blend real well im sure. ------------- SNOW MAN 87-GT/AUTO-2.8_ WHITE 88-TTop/ Duke-2.5. RED |
Posted By: Schaner
Date Posted: 23 February 2019 at 3:15am
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ARTIC-1 wrote:Posted By: 308GTB
Date Posted: 23 February 2019 at 4:18am
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I ended up getting new custom head light buckets made and some other things then a paint and had s gentleman want to trade a very nice running C3 corvette and cash for The car so i couldn’t pass up the deal. I’m trying to post pics but it’s giving me a hard time |