Mondial - what to look for | FerrariChat

Mondial - what to look for

Discussion in 'Mondial' started by rossored.com, Jul 6, 2004.

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  1. rossored.com

    rossored.com Rookie

    Jul 6, 2004
    19
    Sarnia, Ontario
    Full Name:
    Jeff Nantais
    Hello Mondial owners and all other Ferrari owners!

    I am currently preparing to upgrade from my '88 Alfa Spider to a Mondial cabriolet QV. The spider is at http://www.rossored.com
    Of course, I prefer red on black and a 3.2 if I could afford it.
    But color is superficial (or is it?)
    What I wanted to ask is - what to look for when finding "that" Mondial.
    A few things first: I want to buy a 'driver' - I plan on 5 - 7k miles per year; car shows (non-concours) and day trips.
    I'm experienced enough to do the typical 308 major service job myself,
    I have shop/hoist/lathe/gearpress access any time I want,
    and I'm good with Bosch Jetronic systems (Oh what fun....).
    I do like a car that needs regular tuning - but not a heavy flow of parts($$$ ouch).

    That said -
    What should I avoid?
    What are the problem areas on Mondials?
    What is typically hidden from the average buyer?
    Any advice is appreciated!

    Anyone in Michigan/Ontario who has a Mondial, and would like to spend an afternoon showing it off - I'd love to visit. You can even drive the Alfa Spider if you like.
     
  2. marco246

    marco246 Formula Junior

    Mar 25, 2004
    288
    Hawaii
    Full Name:
    Mark
    Be prepared for electrical gremlins. Has the fuse box been replaced? (If not, why not!) The Christmas tree panel may occasionally give false readings of trouble where there is none. The one that would scare me was for low oil in the transaxle.

    Some doofus engineer/designer put the oil temp. sensor on the tip of the dipstick. So you've gotta unplug the top of the dipstick before pulling it out whenever you check the oil. I'm not making this up. If you're not careful you can damage the sensor. . . .

    Your tire choice is going to be limited by the metric-sized wheels to Michelin TRX, which are expensive, unless you change wheels.

    Mechanically and cosmetically I found the QV to be solid and reliable, aside from the usual water-pump rebuild. I had a coupe, so I don't know anything about the ragtops.

    Good luck in your quest!
     
  3. tifosi

    tifosi F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Sep 5, 2001
    5,382
    texas
    Full Name:
    Tom D
    mine is for sale (3.2) and its has a new fusebox :) - the cars have typical problems but overall are strong runners, you just need to drive them regularly. PM me for more info
     
  4. rossored.com

    rossored.com Rookie

    Jul 6, 2004
    19
    Sarnia, Ontario
    Full Name:
    Jeff Nantais
    What is the problem with these?

    Alfa Spiders do the same. Some call it "Johnny's Disco" - flashing lights and false readings. I'm quite religeous about checking fluid levels.

    How ingeneous (!!?). What does the sensor/dipstick cost roughly?
    I think the engine/transaxle subframe concept more than makes up for this. I just love that. Pulling an alfa engine is a royal pain.

    TRX....Yes - TRX sucks. Supposedly good tires but ouch! My BMW 535i had these, I bought new 16" Alessio wheels and Yokohamas for the same price as 4 new TRX's.

    How often should you rebuild the water pump?
     
  5. tifosi

    tifosi F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Sep 5, 2001
    5,382
    texas
    Full Name:
    Tom D
    I think the problem with the fuse boxes on both the mondies and TRs is no one ever expected them to last 20 years, over time the weak design fails and they need to be replaced.
     
  6. dakharris

    dakharris Two Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 7, 2001
    29,441
    Sleepy Hollow
    Full Name:
    Cavaliere Senzatesta
    #6 dakharris, Jul 6, 2004
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Given that you have the ability to do a major yourself, you ought to be looking for a cosmetically nice car that needs some service. You are right in that the Mondial is fairly easy to work on with the subframe arrangement. Otherwise, the Mondial's power train is identical to the 308. The electrical problems that can occur will drive you nuts. Faulty connections and parts will draw current away from healthy ones, give false readings and cause you to spend hours trying to sort them out. Essentially, this comes from a fairly complicated fuse panel that gets old, overheats and shorts. I had a lot of trouble with my headlight motors. I finally replaced both. Remember, these cars are 20 years old and don't get regular excercise. If you don't need to pass smog, you can go for a car that's had its equipment removed, which would make it almost worthless in my area. I'm selling mine. It's everything that you probably don't want or need, but you can check it out on FerrariAds. com http://www.ferrariads.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=1756&query=retrieval It's color combination is unique....definitely not red/tan!
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