400iA questions

I've enjoyed reading posts here, and as an aspiring owner of an 'entry level' Ferrari, I wanted to pose a question to those in the know on the forum. I'm considering the purchase of a 400iA, and wanted to get some opinions. Any thoughts about known problems, maintenance, real-world useability, etc.? The car in question has 49k miles, and I'm curious to the expected life remaining in the engine, and what the cost of an overhaul when the time comes may be.

Any advice, input is appreciated!

Well one plus is that the automatic trany is right out of a Chevy. So if you ever need to have it worked on you can get the transmission parts dirty cheap.

Hi Andrew. We have a 400i owner here on the board. He is here in Houston and is a really nice guy. I will see if I can get him to post his thoughts.

JL

Hello Andrew
I hope I am the nice guy that Jeremy refers to. I have had a 1980 400Ia} for several years. It was converted by R. Straman when it was new to a very nice convertible. It has a little over 50k miles (80k km) and is still very strong. The A/C even works.
Where are you located?
John

John-
Thanks for your response. I'm in Columbus, OH, but willing to ship from anywhere for the right car.

Love the idea of the convertible conversion- any general thoughts about your ownership experience?
Thanks, Andy

Andy
I have really enjoyed mine. green (verde) with green and tan interior, and tan top. I have taken it to the track once, and it performed well for the era, and I had a blast. I think that the convertible looks much better than the coupe (prejudiced personal opinion only). Straman x-braced the frame, which was already tubular, when he converted it to a cabriolet. The car has excellent acceleration, is very capable on the highway, as well as fun in the twisties.
I have met some really neat car guys since I bought the car, starting with my trusted mechanic, JRV, of Pinnacle Motorsports, then Jeremy, Taek, etc., so that has enhanced the experience.
John

Andy,

While priced as an entry level Ferrari I'm not sure it would be my choice for a 1st Ferrari. Parts are extremely expensive and sometimes a real pain in the ass to get. On the plus side the 400i is getting so cheap having a "parts car" is becoming a real possibility.

Known issues are the load leveling rear suspension, which is prone to failure and expensive to replace. I know some people have found a MB part that you can retrofit. The exhaust system will cost you and arm and leg if you want to stay original or go Tubi. Heater valves are no longer available for the car, and are likely to be frozen shut if the car came from a southern location. The cars tend to run on the hot side in stop and go traffic with the OEM cooling fans and the A/C is barely adequate. Get a dual A/C car if you can find one. Also the support on forums such as these is nowhere near as complete as for the 3XX series cars. There just aren't that many of these cars around so less shared knowledge. The only tires and wheels fitted from the factory are the TRX's so you left with the choice of going to Coker tire and paying something like $400/tire and waiting a long time to get them or getting some aftermarket wheels. You can also fit the repro 16"QV rims on the car if you get wheels spacers for the wheels.

I really love my 400 but I'm glad it's not the first Ferrari I purchased or I might have been scared off. I use my 400i as a daily driver during the summer up here in Minnesota and really like the added space and somewhat usable rear seats. I usually tell people that if I have to drive 500mi on the Interstate there are no question I'm taking the 400i. It’s relatively fast and comfortable, a great cruising machine. If I have and extra 2 hours to go run the twisty back roads I'll take the 308 every time.

I would strongly suggest you try to drive both an automatic and a 5-speed. The performance of the 5-speed is dramatically better. Sports Car Market also seems to think that the 5 speeds command a $2500-$3000 price premium.

Good luck on your search.

Regards,
Tom

The load leveling suspension is only on the later models. (I think started in 82 or 83). I replaced the exhaust with stainless from the headers on back. After checking around a lot in the States, I bought the system, for about $1200 US from London Stainless, who had it in stock, ( about 1/4 of Tubi price), and got it by FedEx in 2 days. It looks and sounds good.
John

John,

I wouldn't bet my life on it, but... My understanding is that from the 365GT4 2+2 to the 412 they all had self leveling rear suspension. The early cars had 2 standard Koni shocks at the rear and 2 self levelers, so if the self levelers died it was not such a big deal. From chassis number 42705 on all four rear shocks were hydraulic self levelers and failure became a big deal.

Regarding the exhaust, my comments were in reference to OEM or Tubi. But I agree, you would have to seriously question if you want to go that way since a good muffler shop can set you up with a custom made system for significantly less, or go the route you suggested. It all comes down to how original you want to keep the car.

The previous owner of my car went for the Tubi. Nice exhaust system… I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it. He also installed a custom Carrera coil over suspension in the rear and replaced the OEM cooling fans with SPAL pull through. All reasons I went with the car I did. Obviously originality was not the top priority with me. I sure wish it had dual air. I have a black interior and it can get pretty bad in the summer months.

Did you see the write up in last month's Sports Car Market on the Stratman converted 400i? Gave it a pretty nice review.

Regards,
Tom

You are right about the self-leveling feature, which was modified later. I guess maay memory is going with every passing year. Thanks for the lead to the article. The link below will take someone there. My convertible has the etched Straman labels on the sill plates the writer refers to, and the odometer is in km.

http://www.sportscarmarket.com/profi...nt/fer400i.php