Advice? ....on restoring chassis and suspension on 80's Italian beauty

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Du_man

Promoted Users
I am restoring an 80’s Ferrari 308 and wanting the advice on the proper products and painting stages to restore the surface on the Tubular chassis frame, underbody panels, and the suspension components. I want the fairly OEM look but the durability to withstand the next corrosive 40+ years. I am not wanting to break down the car to the frame and place on a rotisserie for total access……that would take me 10 years at my pace! I also prefer not to sand/blast the full chassis frame/panels down to raw metal but hopefully, leave areas of undisturbed medium-textured undercoated frame panels and just concentrate on potential rusted areas. Of course, all suspension parts and pieces will be removed, media blasted, and painted gloss/semi-gloss. I want the chassis tubular frame to have a satin or low-gloss black finish like OEM and replace the stippled-textured undercoated areas in the chassis panels to OEM satin-black looking as possible. I am not sure what the Italians used in 1980 for the black frame paint/undercoating in the underbody…..lacquer?

What would be the DIY plan of attack and appropriate products? I kind of see 2 paths that I need to go down....1 - suspension parts are blasted, epoxy-primer’ed and top-coated with a tough gloss black paint. 2 – Chassis frame/panels take a slightly different path to address the existing textured undercoating/paint and potential surface-rust to cancer-rust.

I appreciate the wisdom! I have done lots of reading and reviewing different products that unfortunately my head is now woozy with TMI..... now I want clarity and just want marching orders. Interestingly, the internet always leads me back to SPI products. Thanks!
 

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Thanks, Rbm and Raymond for the insight. After scuffing, wire-wheeling, rust removal.....what is the choice of a textured spray that I can apply over or under the SPI epoxy that can simulate the OEM textured undercoating?
Then as an option or choice, topcoat the suspension parts with 4201-1 Black SS paint?
 
Thanks Raymond, exactly the pic I was looking for last night,,,,the sheen of the SPI epoxy for my chassis work on my 69 Bronco I have coming up pretty soon. Finding a true Satin , (not matee , as is the rage) in a quality coating has proven to be a bit of a bear.

Du-man, I'm a total NOOB at this, but I'm fairly certain the epoxy will be your first coat over bare metal, rust removal, wire wheeling, etc. Everything else comes after that.

As far as the Blackblack SS, I guess that you had better detail the living hell out of each piece because the gloss wil show EVERYTHING, I mean, if you want to create a showpeice, then yes, but at that rate, you will also need to take it down to the frame and address EVERY nut and bolt.

That beng said, I have NO IDEA what a new Ferrari chassis/suspension should look like. That's a level of quality and custom building I have never dealt with.
In my mind , suspension parts on a driver are satin. The lower sheen is forgiving of imperfections, but there is just enough sheen to make clean up easy and effective.

What color is the body going to be?
The day I was shipping out for the Marines, I was in downtown Indy and wandered across a Black 308 (or similar) that was probably the sexiest car I have ever seen. It REALLY caught my fascination, that was nearly 30 years ago!
 
HoosierDaddy,
It's a red Magnum PI car that is a thing of beauty. Right now though in a very unloved condition. You are so right about gloss showing everything! An 80's Ferrari is nothing special under the car....wer'e talking low tech just like the other American muscle cars of that decade. I think RBM is right - spray everywhere even the suspension parts. I just want a clean, rust-free, and tone-downed satin finish to look more original. A LizardSkin or equivalent could be the answer to the textured undercoating areas with the added benefit of sound and heat reduction.
 
You have had excellent advice for the frame.
The body on that car is a two-day project to get off so very easy to take the 308 down.

With that said, why are you doing this to create a driver, or are you seeing how these are increasing in value?

First, your frame will need to be disassembled to do right, and each piece will need special attention as it looks rough and rare for a Ferrari.

Although 308's are not a complicated model to work on, there are some tricks here and there that you dont want to screw up or can cost big bucks.

I could write a book, but you need to decide what the goal is here first, and then we can explain the value ramifications of what you do.
The first thing is to get online and get a complete set of manuals to figure 500 to 800 dollars and money well spent.

Can I ask how many miles is in that car? Never seen an underbody like that as most of these cars have mileage in the 6000 to 20,000 range as a norm.
I have seen 60,000 miles, but rare.
 
Barry is spot on. Do your research first. Any Ferrari has value. 308's are starting to increase so doing it correctly is important. All Ferraris of that era an earlier had chassis innerbody underbody paint that looked like spatter paint. That was OEM on those cars. Looks like crap, but it is original. 308 bodies were all handmade as well so body panels are pretty much individual to that car. OEM parts are very expensive and hard to find (relative to any "normal" car) There is very little aftermarket/reproduction support for them as well.

Partial restorations even when done by Pro's are tricky to get "right" on an exotic. Oftentimes you spend almost as much time as if you completely disassembled it and did it proper. And to be blunt a partial amateur restoration on a car like that will significantly decrease it's value as opposed to if you kept it like it is. Ten times out of ten. Just a fact.

So plan everything out, decide exactly what you want to do. What needs to be replaced, repaired etc. Keep your skill level in mind. When you have a figure in your head of how much it will take to accomplish your goal, increase that figure by at least 50%. Probably will end up being 2X as much. Not trying to discourage you just make you aware of the reality, So develop a plan and go from there.
 
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I appreciate all the wisdom and advice. My goal for this first year is to document/photograph the car and get a feel for every part of the car. And see if this car is worth saving for me. I want a nice driver in 3 years or so but also want the journey of a 308 restoration project. I have studied this car model for 20 years, I live over at the 308 section of Ferrarichat.com and collected every piece of technical documents/manuals/repair write-ups that I could get my hands on.

This 308 has sat for over 10 years. Originally a California car now has 50K miles on the odometer - runs rough and the brakes are frozen. I am at least pleased that the car looks complete and no bastardization but it is one step above a parts car. No glaring deep rust in the frame found yet - only driver door bottom. To get my head around the project, I am dividing the project into systems to repair/replace/restore.....chassis/frame is one of them I am studying and fascinated by. But it is an elephant to eat or a tiger to eat you.

The braking system, fuel system, and suspension system would probably be the first to slowly tackle as they are more into the maintenance side before I eventually pluck the engine out for the full required service.
 

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This is an example of a stripped 308 that I have seen.
 

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WOW, went to cars.com last night after reading this thread.....that's no joke about the value of these going up!!! It doesn't seem like that long ago I looked hose up and thought nobody wanted them!
The same thing is happening in the Classic Bronco world.

In the Bronco world, there are probably three primary avenues to take:
Factory Resoration
Resto-mod
Off road
.....and obviously a million points inbetween each.

I'd imagine the same exists for a 308, the offroad being for the track instead of the trail.

Most advice for those starting out is along the lines of ... it is yours now, do what YOU want with it, not what others think.
Yep, your actions may effect the value up or down and it's nice to be aware of that, but, in the end, you have to make you happy and build it to your image of what it should be.

So that's my next question, which of those three paths are you taking? What is that final* image?
*are they ever really "done"? lol

(btw, HOLY CRIBBING BATMAN!)

Sounds like a truly fun and challenging project though.
 
Here is my 2 cents worth.
At this point, just worry about the mechanics, brakes, flush everything, and disassemble
the gas lines, and clean.
Clutch, brakes, antifreeze, engine
I take care of all mechanic items, then test drive a few years as outside looks good, and you cannot see underneath these cars.
Usually, every 30,000 is clutch; we hope not but may have been reason parked. Not cheap.
 
Thank you, Barry - I am taking your 2-cents worth to heart. It's the only car in my bucket I have dreamed of owning. What's the saying.....never meet your heroes....probably the same for exotic cars.
 
HoosierDaddy said:
WOW, went to cars.com last night after reading this thread.....that's no joke about the value of these going up!!! It doesn't seem like that long ago I looked hose up and thought nobody wanted them!
The same thing is happening in the Classic Bronco world.

In the Bronco world, there are probably three primary avenues to take:
Factory Resoration
Resto-mod
Off road
.....and obviously a million points inbetween each.

I'd imagine the same exists for a 308, the offroad being for the track instead of the trail.

Most advice for those starting out is along the lines of ... it is yours now, do what YOU want with it, not what others think.
Yep, your actions may effect the value up or down and it's nice to be aware of that, but, in the end, you have to make you happy and build it to your image of what it should be.

So that's my next question, which of those three paths are you taking? What is that final* image?
*are they ever really "done"? lol

(btw, HOLY CRIBBING BATMAN!)

Sounds like a truly fun and challenging project though.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the positive words, HD! A working factory original is all I would ever want to see in any 308! Have you seen the guys on Youtube that took a burned 308 and restored it with an electric motor......fantastic!
 
Barry said:
Here is my 2 cents worth.
At this point, just worry about the mechanics, brakes, flush everything, and disassemble
the gas lines, and clean.
Clutch, brakes, antifreeze, engine
I take care of all mechanic items, then test drive a few years as outside looks good, and you cannot see underneath these cars.
Usually, every 30,000 is clutch; we hope not but may have been reason parked. Not cheap.
Click to expand...

THAT is your best advice! Else you're about to embark on a years long project that will leave the car unoriginal and lose much valuable drive time. I'd clean it up, maintain and above all drive it. It's only original once. ...take that bronco apart fast! ;)
 
Maybe an idea, yea, I know people say mallets, hammers, and everything else to free up brakes.
Just one screw up on a part can cause a remortgage of the house as you just dont run to the parts store to get a piece.

These are known to have brakes frozen as soon a year of not driving.
I did this one time.
Buy home depot bucket and 2 gallons of wd40 and take-off unit and let it soak a few days, take it and disassemble.

If really bad take 50/50 mix of any automatic trans fluid with acetone
Let it soak.

Also, if the battery is connected, you should have a maintainer on at all times as dead batteries are usually a tow to the dealer.
 

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Also, if the battery is connected, you should have a maintainer on at all times as dead batteries are usually a tow to the dealer.
>

Barry, what happens here? Same if you just take the battery out?
 
Slofut said:
THAT is your best advice! Else you're about to embark on a year's long project that will leave the car unoriginal and lose much valuable drive time. I'd clean it up, maintain, and above all drive it. It's only original once. ...take that bronco apart fast! ;)
Click to expand...

Most true on these cars original once.
Do a class restoration on gto, Chevelle, chry, dodge, and big bucks will come.

Two buyers for these car collectors and people that just want one to drive.
Unless its a very rare on the collecter will walk away after 15,000 to 20,000 miles unless a lot of potentials there.
That is why the million dollars ones have been sent to Italy to be certified by Ferrari, not cheap, but will raise the price big time.
308 is a great fun car, but it will be another 50 years before the 60,000 miles gets by a collector.

I dont mean this negatively, as love to see these cars driven, keep it looking good and enjoy and you will not lose money when you sell it and a good chance you will make good money.
 
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