208 Gt4 - 308 Gt4

[Club Scuderia]

December 2006

Mileage: 79,500
Total spent: £8650

Bought via Rardley Motors, Mike Wheeler did a great job in making the deal happen, and I owe him my thanks. I had sold my 208 GT4 in the Summer, and had been waiting for the winter to take advantage of seasonal price fluctuations to get a good deal. I had been looking at some pretty ropey GT4s on Ebay, when I spotted this blue GT4 on Autotrader. It was slightly out of my budget at the time, but then 2 things happened. I sold my Rover SD1 Vitesse and a very welcome Christmas bonus came through at work. So I went to see the GT4 just before Christmas. The car was as good as described in the advert, leaving me little leeway to negotiate, however I knew that prices would be soft at the time of year. Also I had another deal on the table for a different GT4. It's bodywork needed immediate work, but the price reflected this and it was mechanically sound. The long and the short of it was that I ended up getting the better blue GT4 from Mike at Rardleys. It has a short MOT, so we will see how much of a bargain it turns out to be after my next report!

 

[Club Scuderia]

January 2007

January 2007

I knew one of the headlamps was out of alignment and would need straightening for the MOT. So I removed the black plastic cover from the headlamp pod to discover a bit of a mess. The lower edge of the pod was pretty rusty, and the reason the headlight was mounted 120 degrees out of alignment was that the screwholes in the headlamp holder had rusted away!

Fortunately I happened to have a spare headlamp holder from when I converted my 208 to RHD headlights. So I removed the old one and treated the rust on the pod and fitted the new holoder.

I was expecting the car to need some suspension and brake work, but to my surprise and delight the car actually passed, with only an advise on poor parking brake effort.

It still needs the clutch cable, bonnet release and electric windows looking at, so I think a visit to a specialist is in order before the weather improves.

 

[Club Scuderia]

February 2007

February 2007

Mileage 79740
Costs this month £15 on Oil


SMOKE!

Prior to February's Pistonheads meet at Wadhurst Station, I thought I would check the oil and top up if neccessary. Sure enough, it looked like it could do with a half litre, so I topped it up to half way between min and max and decided to take it for a drive.

Imagine my horror then, when slowing down after a spirited section, to see smoke pouring from the engine cover in my rear view mirror! I looked carefully for signs of flames, but it looked just like smoke. Oil pressure was still good, so I was thinking that perhaps it had popped a seal somewhere and was leaking on the exhaust.

I drove it the short distance home and opened the engine cover. Sure enough, smoke was coming off the exhaust and the culprit was immediately apparent - the oil filler cap was missing!

The cap is directly over the cam lobes, so obviously at high revs it was spitting oil out of the filler neck and most of it was landing on the exhaust. Fortunately I spotted the missing cap in the road outside my house and refitted it. Topped it up with another half litre of oil and all was good. Drove it to Wadhurst the next day without problem.

Phew!

 

[Club Scuderia]

April 2007

April 2007

Mileage: 79772
Total Spent: £1267.94

Had the GT4 in for some work at Steve Moody (www.smdg.co.uk). There were a few niggling problems with the car when I bought it, and I've now had these and some other problems sorted out. The list is:

Belts changed
Fixed bonnet release
Replaced driveshaft gaiters
Fixed electric windows
Fixed engine mount
Replaced fuel filler hose
Repaired rear brake caliper
Repaired exhaust heatshield

I was pleased with Steve's service, it was all done in a timely manner. Plus I got to drive round the Top Gear test track, as he's based at Dunsfold Aerodrome. I hadn't realised how loud the exhaust is as I've only ever been able to open one window 1/3 of the way!

 

[Club Scuderia]

April 2008

April 2008

Mileage: 80804
Costs: £235.00
Problems encountered: Excessive Road Fund License rates

The 308 GT4 passed it's MOT with no work needed. Also TAX for a year @ £185. I think owners of old Ferraris should receive a road tax discount based on the number of days the authorities have salt on the roads! From looking back I've covered just over 1000 miles this year. Must try harder. Still at least nothing expensive has happened.