The joys of an old car

Yesterday, I had my first opportunity to drive the 308 to work. I'm constantly reminded that this is indeed a 32 year old car and often times acts like it. On the drive in, we had the targa top on because it was a little cold. The top has an annoying squeak at the front seal, but luckily the exhaust and road noise at highway speed masks it. Unfortunately, the exhaust and road noise also masks the new stereo I just put in. Part of the problem is that my radio reception sucks so the stations fade in and out. Why? Because my power antenna doesn't go up of course!

After work, I go to unlock the car with my keyless entry remote. I open the passenger door to unlatch the top, then close the door. I walk around to the other side and the driver's door won't open. What? I try the remote to lock and unlock, but it doesn't work. I notice that the driver's lock button has popped up, but not all the way. The passenger's side is now locked and I can't get in to the car! Fine, I try the key but it doesn't work either. I can get the lock to go up and down with the key, but it won't completely unlock. Luckily, I'm at work so I go into our shop and find some wire. I'm able to fish a loop through the driver's side to lift the lock button about 1/16" and pop! The door opens.

Did I mention the loose heat shield on the exhaust which causes an intermittent annoying rattle? How about the annoying (new) squeak when I turn the steering wheel?

So many parts, so little time

I seem to have a small pile growing of parts that need to go on the car. At some point, I'll have the time to actually install them.

I said a while back that I didn't need a stereo in the 308. After a few long drives, I've changed my mind. The car certainly doesn't need some crazy in car entertainment system, but it does need at least a basic stereo. I decided on a simple Alpine deck and a pair of Kenwood speakers for the doors. It won't win any audiophile awards, but will give me something else to listen to on longer trips.



Somewhere along the way in the car's past, someone must have been too vigorous in cleaning the interior. There is an aluminum plate under the console toggle switches with words describing what each switch does. On my plate, the words had gotten completely rubbed off. Verell makes a repro set that are "unscratchable," but they were a little more money than I wanted to spend. I eventually found a used plate on eBay and managed to get it pretty cheaply.



The seat belts on the car are pretty beat. The belts themselves are kind of fuzzy (and probably unsafe) and the spools don't retract very well. The same belts were used on (of all things) a Delorean and still available new from DMC. The units are made by a company called Klippan Safety Products. Here's where I splurged a little and I bought both the left and right sides. They aren't cheap, but are an exact match for OEM that came with the car.



Now that I had a replacement targa cover, the only remaining piece of vinyl I needed was the boot cover. There's a guy selling replacements who advertises in Hemming's Motor News as well as someone who sells them on eBay. The one on eBay was a little cheaper, but also seemed a little cheesy so I decided to get the cover from the Hemming's guy. The cover is well made and it will make the under-hood area look really good.



Lastly, I was able to score another set of carburetor rebuild kits from a guy selling on eBay. I know that at some point, I'll probably need to open the carbs again so it never hurts to have some spare gaskets. The seller had these left over from a 308 he owned and he was purging. He threw in a set of new spark plugs (which I'll probably never use) and a handful of valve cover acorn nuts (which I may use). Such a deal!

Hey Magnum!

Well, it had to happen at some point. After a little over a year of 308 ownership, I got my first Magnum PI comment tonight. TK had to work late and I needed to pick her up from the bus stop. Since the 308 is now a "grab and go" car, I decided to do just that and took a little drive. As I was waiting in the parking lot of a seedy little "beer and cigarettes" corner store, a guy got off a bus and yelled, "hey, Magnum PI!" while pointing at me. I smiled and waved as he walked by. Good to know, I guess, that the 308 is still a recognizable car!

Note: parts that fall off this car were hand crafted by Italian artisans

We're having another unusual heat wave and I was able to get the 308 out this weekend. TK had to work and it driving her to work was a good way to get a drive in. I also had to run down to my folks' place and it turned out to be a 100+ mile day. The car ran well with no signs of the ignition trouble I had before. I've got my new CV on the back so I was able to ditch the front plate. The front end looks so much cleaner without that plate.



On my way home, I heard a small flapping noise behind my left ear. It gradually got louder and was a little disturbing. I looked back and found out what it was. One of the trim clips holding the B-pillar interior trim piece had broken. The piece was dangling from a single clip. Worse, the vinyl had pulled away and was flapping in the wind. I had to quickly find a place to pull off the freeway to grab this piece before it took flight.



Luckly, I didn't lose the piece. Had I not pulled over, I would have the trim piece. As it was, the vinyl was barely hanging on so I just pulled everything off and put it somewhere safe. Next stop -- an appointment with some contact cement!

That sir, is the Ultimate

We had something special at E@RTC this week. An SCC Ultimate Aero was going to be there -- the very car that in 2007 set the record for the world's fastest production car. At 256.18 mph, the UA beat the previous record set by the Bugatti Veyron. Not to be outdone, Bugatti released a Super Sport version of the Veyron to take back the title earlier this year.



SSC is based out of Richland, Washington and the record speed run was done on a stretch of highway in Eastern Washington. Bugatti, on the other hand, did their run at the plush, controlled environment of the VW Proving Grounds. There's more info on SSC at their website.



The forecast for this morning was pretty sketchy. There was a 40% chance of rain, but the event was still on. There was an event down in Monterey and a number of people at E@RTC (including the SSC UA) were going to be loaded onto a car carrier. Since it wasn't raining in the morning, I decided to take the 308. It ran great, although I had to put the top up due to a light rain on the way home. While I was there, I realized that I still had my old plates on. Somehow, I completely forgot to put my new CV plate on. I'll have to get that done before I drive next.

If last week was Ferrari day, today seemed like it was Lamborghini day. There were a fair number of Porshe and Ferrari, but more Lambos than I would have expected to see.

When big is too big and small is too small

Earlier in the week I had ordered a set of 0.57 size idle jets for my Weber 40 DCNF carbs. The original 0.55 jets made the mixture too lean and the 0.60 jets seemed a little too rich. Pierce Manifolds, the place I normally get Weber parts from, didn't list an intermediate size, but Vee Dub Parts in California did. The 0.57 jets should be just right so I figured I'd try them out.



Once you look at all three jet sizes side by size, you can tell the difference. It's not a huge difference, but noticeable. It's amazing how such a small size change can make a difference. Just like the door panel removal, I'm getting pretty good at getting to the carbs and changing the jets and I was able to do it in about an hour. I didn't have a chance to drive it, but it seemed to idle and rev a lot better. With the 0.57 jets, the idle mixture screws are out about 4 turns, which most carb car owners report as being about the "right" position.

After the carbs, I moved on to the front of the car. Under the front bonnet, there are supposed to be two pieces of foam to seal the top of the radiator and the spare tire well to the underside of the bonnet. This directs the airflow through the radiator rather than around it. This apparently greatly affects the coolant temperature. My foam was missing and I had been looking to replace it for a while. Rutlands has a set for $60, but I did not want to spend that much for 2 pieces of foam. Instead, I found a place that sold Armaflex, which is a foam sheet used in HVAC applications. The best part is I got a big sheet for half the cost of the "official" replacement foam.



Another thing missing on my car was the targa top cover. When the top is not in use, it fits in the space behind the seats. A vinyl cover holds to top and keeps it from shifting around. A fellow F-chatter had one made locally for his car, and he offered to have another one made for me. It looks and fits great and cost much less than from other sources.



I haven't had a chance to mount them yet, but I got my new license plates this week. It's been a year and my tabs were about to expire so I decided to get a set of "Collector Vehicle" plates. These plates are available for vehicles over 25 years old that aren't regularly driven. The best parts are that I'll never have to renew my tabs again because these plates never expire, and I can get rid of my front plate because the CV plate is only for the rear.

One year

Today was a relatively quiet day on the homestead. There was no sound of Italian aluminum rumbling. Still, today was an important one of note as it was exactly one year ago today that the 308 came to our home. Here's to many more years of happy driving!