Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Workin' on the 308

Hey Rick,

Great job on the MGB!  BTW, I ooked at some of the photos but it;s tedious 
to bounce back and forth between the List of photos and a photo - is there a 
easier way?  Perhaps a thumbnail view?
I'd like to go thru each photo in turn if possible.
I must be doing something wrong -
Larry T (67 MGB, 74 911, 78 240D, 91 300D)
www.youroil.net for Oil Analysis and Weber Parts
Test Results http://members.rennlist.com/oil
PORSCHE POSTERS!  youroil.net
Weber Carb Info http://members.rennlist.com/webercarbs
.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick Lindsay" <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>

To: "Larry Turner" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>

Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>

Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 11:14 AM

Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Workin' on the 308
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

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Re: Workin' on the 308	<– Date –> <– Thread –>
From: LarryT (l02turnercomcast.net)
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 10:23:32 -0800 (PST)