Yes I am Insane: 400i Daily Driver | Page 4 | FerrariChat

Yes I am Insane: 400i Daily Driver

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by aleventhal, Nov 2, 2005.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Timp

    Timp Rookie

    Oct 8, 2005
    42
    The best I have heard about since I posted the original comment is the GM 700 turbo auto box which has a 4th ( overdrive ). Using that ( still checking that it will fit ) with a high performance torque converter would improve hings especially because 1st is a much lower gear. I have been put off going full manual because of the cost / complexity. But the 6 speed you mention sounds much more interesting, perhaps there is a way after all ? Do you have any leads to find out more ?
     
  2. jimangle

    jimangle F1 Rookie

    Nov 5, 2003
    2,501
    Haverford
    Full Name:
    James
  3. Timp

    Timp Rookie

    Oct 8, 2005
    42
    Thanks for the Keisler tip, I'll check it out and report back.
     
  4. bergxu

    bergxu Formula 3

    Aug 16, 2005
    1,305
    OnTheSerpentMound
    Full Name:
    Aaron
    When I lived in Cleveland, I used to see a brown 400i nearly on a daily basis, year round. Anyone know this mysterious car?
     
  5. Anthony bentley

    Anthony bentley Formula Junior

    May 20, 2006
    540
    London
    Full Name:
    Anthony Bentley
    Out of interest how many miles is your daily commute on average?
    Been toying with buying one of these recently to use not daily but quite regular during the spring summer and fall.
     
  6. Santa Fe Jeff

    Santa Fe Jeff Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 6, 2015
    70
    Santa Fe, NM
    Wow, this is indeed a Zombie thread. What ever happened? I'm driving mine (24k miles) as a replacement for my e39/540i so it gets about 50 miles/week (I'm retired). I'm hoping this is enough to keep the leaks away
     
  7. Leaks

    Leaks Rookie

    Apr 13, 2021
    3
    Full Name:
    Matt
    15 years of daily driving would be quite the testament!
     
  8. dstacy

    dstacy F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jan 23, 2006
    11,770
    GMT -5 & GMT +1
    Full Name:
    Dave
    Alex sold that car to Peter Sweeny quite a few years ago. Peter sold it as you would expect since he is a dealer. I'm not sure but I seem to think it was to a European buyer.
     
  9. Ak Jim

    Ak Jim F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 23, 2007
    8,451
    North Pole AK
    When I first started looking at these cars I took a trip to see and talk to Peter Sweeny. While I didn’t end up buying a car from him he impressed me as a decent and honest guy.
     
  10. dstacy

    dstacy F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jan 23, 2006
    11,770
    GMT -5 & GMT +1
    Full Name:
    Dave
    I bought my first Ferrari from Peter.
     
  11. Santa Fe Jeff

    Santa Fe Jeff Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 6, 2015
    70
    Santa Fe, NM
    I'll pick up the mantle of "daily driver" for a while.

    I picked up mine off Bring a Trailer last year and drove it home to Santa Fe from Portland, OR. In retrospect, I'm surprised we didn't burst into flames at some point on the way home. I sent it off to Denver Ferrari for a full repair regiment as it wouldn't start after it warmed up. The short list is: two engine oil leaks, transmission oil leak, power steering oil leak, oil cooler oil leak, corroded fuel pressure regulators, corroded fuel accumulators, fuel leaks in the rear, new front disk brakes, and a few other minor electrical issues. Oh, and 20 year old tires. 98% of the problems were from inactivity, the car had 23k miles and is 39 years old! So of course all the gaskets/seals had dried out and the fuel evaporated, leaving only minor residual water to corrode the fuel system.

    Denver Ferrari did an awesome job fixing everything (can I say that here?) so the car is almost sorted. There is one minor oil leak left, apparently the clever engineers at Ferrari put a couple of the cylinder head studs down through an oil gallery in the rear of the engine and sealed them with O-rings. Of course, these too have dried out but you have to remove the engine for $12k to pull the cylinder heads to fix the $5 O-rings. So I've left that for a later date :) Also, I seem to have started developing a rumble or vibration on hi-torque left-hand-turn low speed hard acceleration. Its coming from the right rear so I figure it's either suspension bushings or worn (dry?) half shafts.

    I'm retired so don't commute to work every day but I do go into town several times a week (50 miles round trip). I have several cars so I try to rotate them, I make sure I take the 400i at least twice a week. While not every day, it does get exercised often for mundane trips to the grocery store and Lowes.

    We're taking it to California in July so that will put on some miles too. I suspect there will be more things to sort out after that trip too. Again, mostly a result of inactivity. These are great cruising cars, why don't people drive them more often???

    Stay tuned!
     
    Jasonberkeley, donv, bjwhite and 2 others like this.
  12. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,676
    Seattle, WA
    Full Name:
    Brian White
    Which BaT car did you get?
     
  13. Santa Fe Jeff

    Santa Fe Jeff Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 6, 2015
    70
    Santa Fe, NM
    This one. In defense of the seller, he's not a Ferrari guy. He's an independent broker selling the car on behalf of the actual owner. The owner in Oregon bought it from a guy in Pennsylvania and immediately put it into his "collection" without even registering it in OR. He probably didn't know to what extent of repairs were necessary.

    What's good is I basically stole it but made it up in repair costs but I'm still apparently a little under current market value.

    https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-ferrari-400i-10/
     
  14. Santa Fe Jeff

    Santa Fe Jeff Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 6, 2015
    70
    Santa Fe, NM
    One other item of note about "resurrecting" a car like this. At first, it was consuming (not leaking out for a change!) about a quart of oil every 100 miles or 4 quarts/fillup. I was about to indulge in some chemical magic in the oil (Marvel Mystery Oil!! Heavens!! The Horror!!! :) ) but I held off for two more tanks and now it barely uses any oil at all! I suspect the scraper/control rings were stuck but eventually freed up with heat and fresh oil.

    So the moral of the story is that cars that have been stored (e.g. neglected) for a significant period of time may take quite a while and miles to get fully sorted out.
     
    Jasonberkeley likes this.
  15. raemin

    raemin Formula 3

    Jan 16, 2007
    1,825
    Lyon (FR)
    Full Name:
    R. Emin
    Oil with thick base stock may also help: a leaky engine will loose much more 15w60 than 15w40. Roughly speaking a 15w40 oil is much more thick than a 15w60 which is probably a thin 5w40 base-stock with tons of esters additives.

    I still have three 60l barrels of Igol 10w60 ester oil: that's not the oil I am using when bringing an engine back to life. I actually prefer synthetic diesel truck (such as Mobil delvac MX, Yacco Transpro 65s, Motul tekma ultima): these are synthetic blends with thick base stock and quite a lot of zddp. Probably not appropriate for redline, but they are perfect for the gentle wake-up of a sleeping beauty.
     
    Jasonberkeley likes this.
  16. Santa Fe Jeff

    Santa Fe Jeff Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 6, 2015
    70
    Santa Fe, NM
    Daily Driver update: it's hot here recently (like much of the country) so we had to run the A/C all the time. It didn't seem up-to-par so I had my trusted local European repair shop pull the system down, check for leaks, and refill it. Was able to get the vent temp to about 45F so not so bad. Headed out of town to Albuquerque but only made it to south Santa Fe before it quit cooling entirely. Don't know what's wrong, will check it out tomorrow (yes, the belt is still on).

    Is it correct there's no fan behind the condenser? What???? How on earth do they expect the car to stay cool in traffic? And there seems to be a lot of ventilator fan noise in the dashboard compared to nothing more than a gentle breeze coming out of the two center vents. Does this sound right or has a hose fallen off someplace?

    [rant on] I hate that the lazy/unknowing/cheap mechanics of the 70's and 80's simply told the owner of this type of car to go with R-134 instead of R-12. HUGE difference in cooling and ultimately not that much difference in cost. And are you going to plunk down +$100k for a car then cheap out for $150 worth of refrigerant? Really? And R-12 is still legal, you just need to be equipped and certified to use it. And on our "converted" cars, have the correct components been replaced and how do we know? Or did the dufus just vent the R-12 and pressure up with R-134a? On my retirement to-do list is to get my EPA certification and convert my old cars back to R-12. I have four classics that started with R-12, I'll post up separately on how this works out [rant off]

    Good article about refrigerants

    https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/air-conditioning-dos-and-donts-refrigerants-and-the-law/
     
    Jasonberkeley likes this.
  17. 550nitis

    550nitis Formula Junior

    Feb 3, 2016
    715
    Houston
    I love this post and I want to do the same. I am looking for a 400i manual, regardless of miles!



     
  18. jippiejake

    jippiejake Formula Junior

    Nov 6, 2012
    977
    Venice Beach
    Full Name:
    Mike Kerns
    What a great thread..
    Love hearing about using our cars daily.
    I purchased a 1982 400i 2.5 years ago from a fellow Fchatter for $20k and its was a nice used car with so so paint, worn interior, and some mechanical neglect but ran fine. I sent it to Gran Turismo Los Angeles and they went through the whole car. New paint, new interior, new rebuilt suspension, engine overhaul but not rebuilt, trans rebuilt, new AC, plus so much more. Two plus years of work, around $100k worth. I went into this to make a car to use daily and be reliable. I have always loved these cars and remember seeing them in the 1980's going up and down the Sunset Strip. I know i probably couldn't sell the car for what I have in it, but its perfect now and such a pleasure to drive and be in.
    If I'm having a bad day all i need to do is jump in and go for a drive to the gas station.
    I'm averaging 9 miles to the gallon in the city.
     

    Attached Files:

  19. Schumi

    Schumi Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 5, 2002
    827
    Missouri
    Full Name:
    Daren
    Mike,
    Great car! What is the build number and could we get some photos of the interior?
     
  20. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2004
    4,160
    Edmonton, AB Canada
    Full Name:
    Sam Saprunoff
    Good day Mike,

    I am doing something similar on my 365 GT4 2+2 for the same reasons. Once I have gone through the car it should be trouble free for the years to come. However, I am thinking I need to increase my pace, as the way things are looking (rapid uptake of EVs and the pitch forks raised over the old cars) I may not have as much time to enjoy the car as I would have hoped... that and my grey hairs are becoming more visible daily :)

    Cheers,

    Sam
     
    goezfaster likes this.
  21. jippiejake

    jippiejake Formula Junior

    Nov 6, 2012
    977
    Venice Beach
    Full Name:
    Mike Kerns
    Here is what Marcel gave me on the car:

    #40271
    December 16 1981 factory completion date
    Assembly #657
    Original exterior color: Blu Scuro
    Original interior color: Beige VM 3219 Connolly
    First owner: Ferraro S.p.A. Modena Company Car
     
  22. jippiejake

    jippiejake Formula Junior

    Nov 6, 2012
    977
    Venice Beach
    Full Name:
    Mike Kerns
    Oh wow, are we that close to not being able buy gas in the world?
     
  23. Ak Jim

    Ak Jim F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 23, 2007
    8,451
    North Pole AK
    Lots
    Lots of discussions in the P&R section. But if you go there don’t blame me!
     
  24. samsaprunoff

    samsaprunoff F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 8, 2004
    4,160
    Edmonton, AB Canada
    Full Name:
    Sam Saprunoff
    Good day Mike,

    Not all all. My comment is really about the overall shift (almost religious) in various regions that frown upon older and perhaps less efficient cars. Personally I am very surprised and shocked at how fast the tide has turned. The area I live is not there yet, but even so I am seeing attitudes and behaviours that I never thought would be as common as they are now. Amazing times.

    Cheers,

    Sam
     
  25. afterburner

    afterburner F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 20, 2008
    3,197
    Hong Kong
    Yes :)
     

Share This Page