Here is a little before and after video to compare the sound of the Stebro exhaust to stock. As you can tell, the sound from the Stebro is louder and deeper. The deeper rumble is really noticeable at idle. I really like the deep sound, but the volume is just a little too loud (maybe I'm just getting old). The great thing about Stebro is that they can use tip insert resonators to adjust the note and volume of the sound from the pipes. I've been trying to to get a hold of the manufacturer so that I can buy a set. Supposedly, they will reduce the volume by 40%. There are four tips, and I'll be able to use any or all of them to fine tune the sound.
Yes, it appears from the video that my car is blowing a lot of smoke. This is mostly condensation and it goes away when the engine is up to temperature. I know what you're thinking and no, I did not start the engine and rev it up while dead cold. It did warm up for a few minutes before I revved it.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
All Italian Car Show
The local Fiat Club put on a car show today and anything Italian was invited. I actually knew about this show a few months ago and it was my goal to be able to bring my car to it. This was not a judged show but merely a fun event for Italian iron to get together. I've been to many shows over the years, but this was the first one I'd ever been to where I actually registered a car to show. We got there a little late and they put me at the end of "Ferrari row" since there was no more space. We got to share space with a couple of matching 246 Dinos.
It was a fun show. The parking lot was full of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos and Fiats. There were a smattering of other makes like De Tomaso Pantera and even a Pininfarina body Cadillac Allante. I got to see a lot of cool cars and talk to some Ferrarista about old 308s. I saw something funny too, this sticker on the rear quarter window on one of the Panteras.
The show was about 30 miles from my house so it was a good chance to get some driving time. The car ran well and on the way home, got a chance to drive on some twisties. Fun!
It was a fun show. The parking lot was full of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos and Fiats. There were a smattering of other makes like De Tomaso Pantera and even a Pininfarina body Cadillac Allante. I got to see a lot of cool cars and talk to some Ferrarista about old 308s. I saw something funny too, this sticker on the rear quarter window on one of the Panteras.
The show was about 30 miles from my house so it was a good chance to get some driving time. The car ran well and on the way home, got a chance to drive on some twisties. Fun!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Vroom vroom
A few days ago, I put the car back on jackstands to investigate an annoying rattle. The noise was coming from the heat shields on the headers. All the shields were loose and I was able to tighten them down a little by using a hammer and punch to dimple the shields -- essentially crimping them to the headers. That should fix the annoying rattle.
Since the car was in the air, I had a look at the exhaust. I was planning on waiting to install the Stebro but this was a good opportunity to mount it. Removal of the stock muffler was pretty simple. The OEM muffler is a tank! It must weight twice as much as the Stebro.
There are standard exhaust donuts at each mounting flange and these needed to be replaced. Fel-Pro makes donuts for Chevy systems that are the right size and I picked some up from Napa. I also replaced all the mounting bolts. On disassembly, I noticed that one of the catalytic converters had a hole near one of the mounting flanges. Before putting it back on, I sealed up the hole with my MIG welder.
The Stebro was a direct bolt-in replacement. All of the mounting points and flanges are in exactly the same places as the stock muffler. Once I had all the parts, putting everything back together was pretty simple.
So the real question is, how does it sound? Well, it definitely sounds better than stock. The exhaust sound is not necessary louder, but the note is noticeably lower. At higher RPMs, the sound is more full and not as thin as stock. Overall, I give it two thumbs up!
Since I had the welder out, I decided to tackle another small project. With a new set of wheels, I was going to use one of my old wheels as the spare tire. I was missing the bolt to hold the spare tire in the well so I set about to make one. An OEM replacement is $200 and an aftermarket one is $100. Wow! We're talking about a bolt with a knob at the end. There's no way I'm paying that much for a stupid bolt so I'm going to make one that will work. I had a bolt that was the correct thread, but it was a little too short. First, I welded this bolt to another bolt to get the length I needed. Then I drilled, tapped and shaped the head to accept a faucet knob that I found at the hardware store. Result? I now have a bolt to hold the spare tire and it cost me less than $5 in parts.
I'm taking the car to an All Italian Car Show tomorrow. Let's hope for good weather!
Since the car was in the air, I had a look at the exhaust. I was planning on waiting to install the Stebro but this was a good opportunity to mount it. Removal of the stock muffler was pretty simple. The OEM muffler is a tank! It must weight twice as much as the Stebro.
There are standard exhaust donuts at each mounting flange and these needed to be replaced. Fel-Pro makes donuts for Chevy systems that are the right size and I picked some up from Napa. I also replaced all the mounting bolts. On disassembly, I noticed that one of the catalytic converters had a hole near one of the mounting flanges. Before putting it back on, I sealed up the hole with my MIG welder.
The Stebro was a direct bolt-in replacement. All of the mounting points and flanges are in exactly the same places as the stock muffler. Once I had all the parts, putting everything back together was pretty simple.
So the real question is, how does it sound? Well, it definitely sounds better than stock. The exhaust sound is not necessary louder, but the note is noticeably lower. At higher RPMs, the sound is more full and not as thin as stock. Overall, I give it two thumbs up!
Since I had the welder out, I decided to tackle another small project. With a new set of wheels, I was going to use one of my old wheels as the spare tire. I was missing the bolt to hold the spare tire in the well so I set about to make one. An OEM replacement is $200 and an aftermarket one is $100. Wow! We're talking about a bolt with a knob at the end. There's no way I'm paying that much for a stupid bolt so I'm going to make one that will work. I had a bolt that was the correct thread, but it was a little too short. First, I welded this bolt to another bolt to get the length I needed. Then I drilled, tapped and shaped the head to accept a faucet knob that I found at the hardware store. Result? I now have a bolt to hold the spare tire and it cost me less than $5 in parts.
I'm taking the car to an All Italian Car Show tomorrow. Let's hope for good weather!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Snug as a bug in a rug
Well, today was the most activity this car has seen in many years. After shuttling TK and me to and from dinner, the day was over and the car is back in the shop. I finally had a chance to use the dust cover that I got a while back. Just before parking for the night, I took the opportunity to quickly aim the headlights since it was dark out. Wow, they are definitely better than the lights I had before. Having 100W on high beam is crazy bright. At some point, I need to do a correct aiming job but just eyeballing it works for now.
Today is polish day!
No, not "Polish" as in the people of Poland. "Polish" as in "buff and polish to make something shine." Today was a nice and sunny day and I spent the first half cleaning, polishing and waxing the car. It's amazing how much better the paint looks after some buff and wax. It's been a long time in coming, but I finally felt good enough about how the car looks to put the nose emblem on.
After cleaning it, I fired up the car and went for a little drive. I need to get some more miles before I can get a feel for it's reliability. I ended up taking two of my neighbors as well as TK for some short trips around the neighborhood. It's funny how I was so nervous the first few times I drove it. Now I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it.
While the car is now drivable, I can't really call it "done" as a project is really never truly done. So far, I've got a short list of things that bug me. Some things can be handled pretty easily -- others, not so much. First, I need to get a front end alignment. The car tracks really well, but the steering wheel is not centered. Since the steering wheel shaft is keyed and not splined, I can't just pull the wheel off and put it in a different place. In it's wonky state, the steering wheel spoke blocks the speedometer and I can't see how fast I'm going. Also, the turn signal cancel mechanism is messed up because of the misalignment. The right signal doesn't always cancel and I end up looking like one of those idiots who forgot to turn off the blinker and it taking right turns around the word. 2nd gear is basically unusable for downshifting so I need to work around it. Lastly is the tuning. While I did a basic job of tuning, I think I need to take it to someone who knows what they're doing. When it's running, it seems to be ok but I've got this hot start problem that's pretty annoying. When I turn the car off and let it sit for about 30 minutes, it's a bear to get restarted. If it just sits for a few minutes, it's not so bad. Time to seek some professional help!
After cleaning it, I fired up the car and went for a little drive. I need to get some more miles before I can get a feel for it's reliability. I ended up taking two of my neighbors as well as TK for some short trips around the neighborhood. It's funny how I was so nervous the first few times I drove it. Now I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it.
While the car is now drivable, I can't really call it "done" as a project is really never truly done. So far, I've got a short list of things that bug me. Some things can be handled pretty easily -- others, not so much. First, I need to get a front end alignment. The car tracks really well, but the steering wheel is not centered. Since the steering wheel shaft is keyed and not splined, I can't just pull the wheel off and put it in a different place. In it's wonky state, the steering wheel spoke blocks the speedometer and I can't see how fast I'm going. Also, the turn signal cancel mechanism is messed up because of the misalignment. The right signal doesn't always cancel and I end up looking like one of those idiots who forgot to turn off the blinker and it taking right turns around the word. 2nd gear is basically unusable for downshifting so I need to work around it. Lastly is the tuning. While I did a basic job of tuning, I think I need to take it to someone who knows what they're doing. When it's running, it seems to be ok but I've got this hot start problem that's pretty annoying. When I turn the car off and let it sit for about 30 minutes, it's a bear to get restarted. If it just sits for a few minutes, it's not so bad. Time to seek some professional help!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Yeah, I probably shouldn't have, but...
My car is quiet. With the stock exhaust, you can barely notice that the engine is running at idle. No rumble, no growl...nothing. Not that I'm looking for some crazy straight pipe window shattering noise, but I didn't expect it to be so quiet. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed someone selling a used Stebro exhaust. It came off an early dual cat 308 just like mine. The owner had it for a few years and it had probably a few thousand miles on it. He had replaced it recently with a complete non-cat system and didn't need this anymore. Hmmm...Stebro, eh? There are a number of vendors making aftermarket exhaust and they're all about $2500+ FOR THE MUFFLER ALONE. A Tubi is even more. Ouch, let go of my arm. A complete system including headers will run you well over $5000. Double ouch. The bottom line is that this fellow was selling his used Stebro for about 1/3 the cost of a new one. Stebro makes a quality exhaust with a good sound and their mufflers can accept "tip inserts" which allows you to adjust the exhaust note. Of course, this one is missing the inserts but I think I can get another set from Stebro directly.
On another positive note, I spent a few minutes tonight in the shop with my random orbit polisher. The touchup paint has had some time to dry so I thought I'd try and do some polishing to see how well (or badly) the color match is. Using some 600 sandpaper, I wet sanded the spot on the nose. Then I fired up the polisher using some Meguiars Mirror Glaze #2 fine-cut cleaner. It looks pretty good and at certain angles, you can't notice the subtle color change. Good enough for me! Hopefully this weekend I can roll the car outside, wash the dust off and polish/wax.
On another positive note, I spent a few minutes tonight in the shop with my random orbit polisher. The touchup paint has had some time to dry so I thought I'd try and do some polishing to see how well (or badly) the color match is. Using some 600 sandpaper, I wet sanded the spot on the nose. Then I fired up the polisher using some Meguiars Mirror Glaze #2 fine-cut cleaner. It looks pretty good and at certain angles, you can't notice the subtle color change. Good enough for me! Hopefully this weekend I can roll the car outside, wash the dust off and polish/wax.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Quick
I had ten minutes in the shop today and I took care of another little thing that's been bugging me. I finally got some suitable screws to put the speaker grills back in the doors. Now I can say the doors are complete!
Monday, April 12, 2010
It's like watching paint dry...
Well, I sprayed some of the new paint and the answer is...still not a perfect match. It's a lot closer than the last color I used, but it's still noticeable -- at least to me. I've got to remind myself that this is no concours car and I shouldn't be so anal about such things. It's just a car, right? It doesn't matter that the paint doesn't match, right? Ok, it's close enough. Let's move on...
While the paint was drying, I tended to some other little things I've been meaning to do. One was to put the (really dirty and stained) floor mats back in. On the driver's side, I used Birdman's Mat Grabbers to keep the mat from sliding forward. On the passenger's side, I made a mounting bracket out of aluminum to mount my 2.5 lb halon fire extinguisher. Hey, maybe it's paranoia but I've read too many horror stories about these cars burning up. The extinguisher is mounted just in front of the passenger's seat. It's within easy reach and should not interfere with the passenger getting in and out.
The other little detail to deal with was a missing access plate on the engine. At the top of the bellhousing, there is an access port to see the timing mark on the flywheel. Normally, there is metal plate covering this hole so that nothing falls into the bellhousing onto the clutch. Sounds like a pretty important piece, right? Something falling onto the spinning pressure plate would be a bad thing. Well, like so many things on this car, the access hole cover plate was missing. I noticed this a while back but did not do anything about it. A new plate was like $50, for just a flat piece of metal. When the bellhousing was off, I made a cardboard cutout of the access hole so I could make a new plate out of metal.
A little cutting, a little grinding and a little high temp paint and I've got myself a new cover plate. All I need now are the right sized nuts to hold it on as well as a gasket that I'll cut out of a roll of gasket material.
While the paint was drying, I tended to some other little things I've been meaning to do. One was to put the (really dirty and stained) floor mats back in. On the driver's side, I used Birdman's Mat Grabbers to keep the mat from sliding forward. On the passenger's side, I made a mounting bracket out of aluminum to mount my 2.5 lb halon fire extinguisher. Hey, maybe it's paranoia but I've read too many horror stories about these cars burning up. The extinguisher is mounted just in front of the passenger's seat. It's within easy reach and should not interfere with the passenger getting in and out.
The other little detail to deal with was a missing access plate on the engine. At the top of the bellhousing, there is an access port to see the timing mark on the flywheel. Normally, there is metal plate covering this hole so that nothing falls into the bellhousing onto the clutch. Sounds like a pretty important piece, right? Something falling onto the spinning pressure plate would be a bad thing. Well, like so many things on this car, the access hole cover plate was missing. I noticed this a while back but did not do anything about it. A new plate was like $50, for just a flat piece of metal. When the bellhousing was off, I made a cardboard cutout of the access hole so I could make a new plate out of metal.
A little cutting, a little grinding and a little high temp paint and I've got myself a new cover plate. All I need now are the right sized nuts to hold it on as well as a gasket that I'll cut out of a roll of gasket material.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
I can see clearly now
Today was to be a big day. This morning it was REALLY cold and there was frost on the ground. It was too cold in the shop to do any painting so I decided to work on my headlights until it warmed up a little. I had everything I need to rewire the headlights -- 12 gauge wire, fuses, relays and connectors. I was going to take the load off the headlight switch by installing some relays. Here is a good description of why and how to do this upgrade.
Like everything else, this little project was not quite so little and took more time than I expected. To route the wiring, I removed the front bumper and grill. There were three large wires I needed to run from one side of the car to the other and securing it under the nose sheetmetal between the bumper and the radiator was the best routing. There was also a big fat primary wire to be connected directly to the battery which needed to be routed and secured. I crimped, soldered and heat shrank all the connections (and there were many) which took a long time. The old Cibie DOT lamps were replaced with Cibie E-Code lamps and the new bulbs are Narva 55/100W. The new setup is definitely a lot brighter than than old one, especially the 100W high beam. I just need to aim them now which should be pretty easy. Daniel Stern Lighting (where I got all the stuff) as a great headlight aiming guide here.
I was hoping to be able to spray some paint today, but the lights took nearly all day. Tomorrow will be paint day.
Like everything else, this little project was not quite so little and took more time than I expected. To route the wiring, I removed the front bumper and grill. There were three large wires I needed to run from one side of the car to the other and securing it under the nose sheetmetal between the bumper and the radiator was the best routing. There was also a big fat primary wire to be connected directly to the battery which needed to be routed and secured. I crimped, soldered and heat shrank all the connections (and there were many) which took a long time. The old Cibie DOT lamps were replaced with Cibie E-Code lamps and the new bulbs are Narva 55/100W. The new setup is definitely a lot brighter than than old one, especially the 100W high beam. I just need to aim them now which should be pretty easy. Daniel Stern Lighting (where I got all the stuff) as a great headlight aiming guide here.
I was hoping to be able to spray some paint today, but the lights took nearly all day. Tomorrow will be paint day.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Back in Black...err...Red
I got a call today to come down to the paint shop and have a look at the color match. Apparently, the swatch was a good match indoors, but the guy thought the match was not so good in the daylight so he wanted me to have a look. I had a look and it seemed pretty darned good so I went ahead and got a pint. The paint is a single stage Dupont Centari and I'm looking forward to trying it out. The actual formula he came up with is:
Centari Red Match
758S - 37.5
715A - 300.0
733a - 15.0
Non-cumulative guide
Of course, these numbers mean nothing to me but if I ever need more paint mixed up, someone at the paint shop will be able to decipher it.
Also, my earlier thought that there was some fancy machine to match the color? Nope, nothing nearly that sophisticated. He started with a close match using a paint chip book, mixed up a sample then started adding ingredients to adjust. Wow, I had no idea that this was such a manual process. Lets hope it worked!
Centari Red Match
758S - 37.5
715A - 300.0
733a - 15.0
Non-cumulative guide
Of course, these numbers mean nothing to me but if I ever need more paint mixed up, someone at the paint shop will be able to decipher it.
Also, my earlier thought that there was some fancy machine to match the color? Nope, nothing nearly that sophisticated. He started with a close match using a paint chip book, mixed up a sample then started adding ingredients to adjust. Wow, I had no idea that this was such a manual process. Lets hope it worked!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Red is hard to match
So I get a voicemail today from the autobody supply store. They tell me my color match is not done yet. Apparently, "that color is hard to match." Huh? Are they doing this manually? Add a little pigment, do a test swatch...nope, no match yet...add more pigment, do another swatch...nope, not yet...
Sheesh, are we back in the stone ages? Please tell me that in 2010, there is a machine that can do this faster!
Sheesh, are we back in the stone ages? Please tell me that in 2010, there is a machine that can do this faster!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Hurry up and wait
Seems like I'm waiting again. Waiting for the autobody supply shop to finish my color match. Waiting for the rain to stop.
Last Friday, I took a headlight cover to Wesco Autobody Supply to get a color match. They told me it would take a few days -- a week at the most. What? It takes A WEEK to do a color match? Don't they have a fancy machine that just analyzes the color and spits out a recipe? I didn't get a straight answer on this. Something about doing this during some "down time" at the shop. Ok, whatever. As long as it's a perfect match, I guess I don't care how long it takes.
Why is it raining so much? Yes, it's still only April and we won't get good weather until after July 4th. Now that the car is mostly workable, I don't seem to have a chance to drive it. Yes, it's only a car after all and it won't melt but I don't know if the top leaks and I've not had a chance to seal the quarter windows yet.
On a positive note, I finally got all the stuff to upgrade my headlights. I got a relay kit and some new bulbs. I also got some new headlamps as well. A while back, I looked at my lights and THOUGHT that I already had the Cibie lights I was planning to get. Turns out I was wrong (again). The lights I have are the DOT approved Cibie lights. The ones I wanted were the euro spec E-code lights. Since I was getting the relays and bulbs, I went ahead and ordered the lamps as well.
Last Friday, I took a headlight cover to Wesco Autobody Supply to get a color match. They told me it would take a few days -- a week at the most. What? It takes A WEEK to do a color match? Don't they have a fancy machine that just analyzes the color and spits out a recipe? I didn't get a straight answer on this. Something about doing this during some "down time" at the shop. Ok, whatever. As long as it's a perfect match, I guess I don't care how long it takes.
Why is it raining so much? Yes, it's still only April and we won't get good weather until after July 4th. Now that the car is mostly workable, I don't seem to have a chance to drive it. Yes, it's only a car after all and it won't melt but I don't know if the top leaks and I've not had a chance to seal the quarter windows yet.
On a positive note, I finally got all the stuff to upgrade my headlights. I got a relay kit and some new bulbs. I also got some new headlamps as well. A while back, I looked at my lights and THOUGHT that I already had the Cibie lights I was planning to get. Turns out I was wrong (again). The lights I have are the DOT approved Cibie lights. The ones I wanted were the euro spec E-code lights. Since I was getting the relays and bulbs, I went ahead and ordered the lamps as well.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Not all reds are the same
A few months ago, I decided to get some touchup paint knowing I would need it some day. I ordered it online and just ASSUMED that my car was repainted Rosso Corsa (Glasurit FER 300/9). Well (as is often the case), I was wrong. For the early (1976-1979) cars, Ferrari used paint manufactured by Glidden Salchi of Milan. In 1980, they switched to using paint by Glasurit. I think the original color was Rosso Chiaro (Glidden Salchi 20.3.90 or 20-R-190) but I have no idea if an attempt was made to match this color when the car was repainted. Clearly, it is not Glasurit Rosso Corsa. This was obvious when I applied the FER 300/9 paint. It's close, but definitely NOT the same color as what's on the car.
Anyhow, I need to take a paint sample to an auto body supply place to get a paint match. The smallest removable body panel is a headlight cover, so I'll take one off and get it to a shop soon.
Anyhow, I need to take a paint sample to an auto body supply place to get a paint match. The smallest removable body panel is a headlight cover, so I'll take one off and get it to a shop soon.
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