Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Workin' on the 308

[Rick Lindsay (rolindsay]

VERY nice write-up Bob.  Thank you.

I'm rebuilding my '70 MGB Split-bumper Tourer right
now and writing up every step of the process for
another List.  Once the MGB is complete, I can put it
in the 3rd bay and move my 308GTB over to the work
area.  I need to finish my interior restoration and
get the A/C rebuilt before Houston's spring begins to
melt us.  

Yea, I know; Everyone tells me to just take the A/C
off and drive the car.  Ever drive a car with a
greenhouse-size windshield in Houston?  It is NOT a
comfortable experience.  And I am old enough now that
comfort is more important to me than the 1/2 mph
increase one might get from removing an A/C
compressor. :-P  I want to enjoy my 308GTB not let it
set all summer like I did last year!  That was a sin.

So again; Well done!  Please continue to write up your
work and share your pictures.  Here's a link to my
308GTB pictures, http://www.aubard.us/Ferrari and a
link to the MG restoration/rebuild pictures,
http://www.aubard.us/MGB .  Enjoy!

Best regards,

rick

--- "robert_h_bowser [at] juno.com"
<robert_h_bowser [at] juno.com> wrote:

> After finishing the front suspension work (new brake
> pads, new brake lines, new sway bar bushings,
> repacking the [recently replaced] A-arm bushings)
> and completing the oil/filter change on the 308, the
> weather here in SoCal still sucked, so I decided to
> tackle more projects on my beloved 308:  Re-aligning
> the steering wheel with respect to the front rack,
> and rebuilding the steering column switches.
> 
> After doing my front end alignment a while ago, I
> noticed that the steering rod ends were not equally
> spaced (i.e., screwed into the tie rod ends a
> different number of turns).  On the drivers side, it
> was held by just a few threads (3-4).  To set it up
> so the wheels were aligned and the tie rod ends were
> held by the same number of threads on each side, the
> steering wheel would be cocked 60 deg to the right. 
> So the steering linkage needed to be disassembled
> and then reassembled with the correct alignment.  I
> know, anal thing to do.  But it bugged me.
> 
> Second problem was the light switches on the
> steering column.  They had gotten flaky over the
> years.  The switch on the end of the light lever
> failed a while ago and I bypassed it.  The high/low
> switch was intermittent.  Time to repair and clean
> it all up.
> 
> Doing all this, of course, requires removing the
> column nut, which no one (at least on the list)
> seems to have.  I stopped by the mechanic I use, and
> he didn't have one either.  He did have a broken one
> that he had made up a while ago, consisting of a
> 22mm socket inserted in a piece of pipe.  He had
> relieved the end of the pipe leaving four tabs to
> fit into the grooves on the nut, but they had been
> broken off trying to extract a nut.  He said I could
> have it.  Having more time than sense, I took the
> broken tool home and attacked it with my Dremel tool
> and wire welder.  Amazing what you can do with too
> much time on your hands and some basic tools.  I
> re-relieved the end to create four tabs and welded
> on a sleeve around the pipe to reinforce the tabs. 
> Looks cobby, but it does work.  Nut came right off.
> 
> Once the nut was off, I pulled the steering hub. 
> Easy then to remove the plastic housing containing
> all the switches.  After several false starts, I
> finally figured out how to disassemble the entire
> thing.  Lots of little springs and ball bearings. 
> Lots of time on the floor with a flashlight, looking
> for little parts.  Lots of stuff gumming up the
> contacts.  Stalk end switch had a solder connection
> disconnect.  Ended up cleaning it all up, replacing
> the wires in the light stalk, re-soldering as
> necessary and putting it all back together.  Only a
> couple of parts left over (washer portion of the
> wiper switch was a total loss).
> 
> Then I attacked the steering linkage.  What a PITA. 
> All the connections were frozen together and very
> difficult to get to, even with the drivers seat and
> steering wheel removed.  I'm not a big guy (5'9",
> 185lbs), but that car was built to be serviced by
> midgets.  Finally got it all apart, equalized the
> threads on the tie rod ends, pointed the wheels
> straight ahead and reconnected everything with the
> steering wheel in the lock position.
> 
> Took it out this morning, and, strangely enough, it
> all works.  Just like it should.
> 
> For those interested, I've attached some pictures. 
> And if anyone needs to remove their steering wheel
> nut, I've got the tool.
> 
> Bob
> '78 308GTS
> '01 Corvette Z06