A week to go for my first Ferrari

You guys have all been there, and my turn has finally come!
My name is John, and I’ve lurked about some of the other F-car forums, asking questions, gleaning information, and refining my decision. I was lead here by Jeff, as this seems to be a very active Boxer site. And there was never much doubt that a Boxer was the car for me. But I looked at others, researched others. Porsches, new Corvettes, later model Ferrari’s, and even the Lotus Elise, but I’ve always been drawn to Ferrari's. 308s, 328s, but most strongly to the gorgeous BB512s. And from the start pretty sure it would be a BB, with those spectacular looking and sounding Weber carbs! To me, what more could you ask for, a beautiful car, 12 cylinders, and a bunch of Webers?
And now I have a week to go, and I can’t sleep!
In fact, I can’t stay away from the car, and zip down to Bobileff Motors every chance I get! And Gary has made this exciting adventure for me even more enjoyable! He’s answered all the dozens of questions I’ve had with patience and an understanding of just how exciting and important this purchase is to me. We’ve combed through all the service records for years and years as he’s serviced the car for the last two owners, and he’s been very forthcoming about details that he knows of the car. Advised where to spend money, and advised where not to spend money, and I can’t imagine a better guy to work with.
The test drive in the car last week was, for lack of a better word, awesome! And the car was everything I’d hoped for, and expected it to be. Raw and exhilarating, sleek and fast, an absolutely gorgeous beast! Somehow during the drive I forgot to check the radio, forgot to look in the rear view mirror, don’t believe I glanced at the speedometer, but took full notice of the tack as it climbed above 5 grand, and couldn’t help but relish the delicious symphony of the Ansa sport exhaust running it up and down through the gears! Ah yeah, absolutely addicting!
The car has 33,000 Km on the euro speedo, about 20,000 miles, and the PPI went well. Good compression and leakdown tests, fresh clutch, brakes, Koni’s are good, near new XWX tires, nothing bent, broken or bruised, and the car just generally looks good to the eye. It also has a near new black interior. That was initiated due to dash shrinkage, and ended up with the interior being renewed entirely. As with most Boxers it looks almost as good as new, and now, still has the nice smell of new leather as well. And yes, there are a few less than perfect areas. A few things that need attending to, but to me, nothing major. I’m not looking for a car to take to shows without a speck of dust on it, but instead, want something to drive, something to push through some back road twists and turns with maybe with a few bugs splattered on the windshield.
Mechanically, the belt service is going to be done, axle seals changed as one has a drip, and some other odds and ends to the engine, then made ready, and as Gary assures me, it will pass the Ca. Smog Test!
And be ready by next Wednesday.
And I’m waiting!
Six days to go!
And counting!

Congratulations John!!!!!!!

There is no feeling quite like the feeling when you pick her up for the first time and she is "yours." Your story brings back memories...


Enjoy the site. We do have quite a few BB owners here to help you get comfortable with your new toy.


JL

Nice to hear the deal went through John, and the car is yours, congratulations!

Jeff

Congradulations--a BB can be a wonderful car.

However, I would have the car taken to the CA smog testers before you buy it--just to make sure it will actually pass--and make the purchase contingent upon it passing. Otherwise, your love affair may get nipped in the bud.

Thanks much guys! And no doubt I'll be asking a lot of questions. Actually the deal is contingent on the car passing smog. It has a long Ca smog history and has always passed. As Gary says, difficult, but it will pass! Evidently it needs to be detuned, I suppose leaned out, and have a good set of hot cats. Those come with the car as well.
I, like a lot of you, plan to do all the work I can on the car. I work as a ships engineer and am an old hot rodder, so can work my way through a tool box okay. And I actually like, and am comfortable with metric's having worked a few boats that were all metric. I will have to get a shop manual though, so maybe someone can steer me in the dirction of an accuratly translated reprint.
I'll be going back down to shop today or tomorrow to get some pics with the engine out of the car, and poke around, and ask a few more questions.
Needless to say very excited here, and still counting.
John

Congrats on the new car. Emmissions testing?! Good Lord, we don't cotton to that nonsense here in Alabama!

However, here are some common sense tips to passing:

The most common reasons for emission test failures include: a malfunction in the components of the vehicle that regulate the fuel/air ratio such as the oxygen sensor; a dirty air filter; misfiring spark plugs; leaks in the vacuum system; or a poor-fitting fuel cap.

Oh, about that fuel cap...don't go get tested with a recently gassed-up car. The small amount of gas that drips into your fill area will fail your emissions test. You want a tight-fitting gas cap on a half-tank of long-ago-filled-up gasoline.

You also want your spark plugs gapped down to almost the lowest factory width (this prevents any "misses," the kiss of death for emissions testing).

Lean out your fuel-air mixture ONLY IF YOU ARE HIGH ON THE "HC" count...enrich your mixture prior to the test ONLY IF YOU ARE HIGH ON THE "NOx" count.

Have your car well-warmed-up before you arrive for testing, but not overly hot.

Your state may mandate to the testing center what transmission gear to test in at different speeds on the shop's dyno...make certain that those gears/speeds are realistic for your car. You don't want to get tested at 10 mph in 2nd gear instead of 1st!

Change your oil. Do NOT overfill! Make certain you have no obvious exhaust leaks. Make certain that you see no smoke.

For extreme cases, there is product called Guaranteed to Pass (G2P) bottle of fuel additive. You actually dont run emmissions with this stuff in your fuel, rather it is billed as a "special" cleanser for the tank prior to the fuel used during your test (http://www.carcaresupplement.com/sup...2004/crc1.html). So you run it through one tank (your emissions will be TERRIBLE during this whole tank of gas), fill up *again*, and then you may even want to add an Octane Booster to your 2nd tank of gas. Drive that 2nd tank of gas down to 3/4 or 1/2 full, then go get your emissions tested.

"The most common reasons for emission test failures include: a malfunction in the components of the vehicle that regulate the fuel/air ratio such as the oxygen sensor; a dirty air filter; misfiring spark plugs; leaks in the vacuum system; or a poor-fitting fuel cap."

Did you miss the part where he said this car has carbs (as in Weber carburetors)?

Good Luck!
I came upon my first F-Car, a 79 512BB
because it would not pass California Emissions over the period of 4 years.
It was then sold to an out of state buyer, who could not get it to pass Emissions in his state, and the car was sold to another out of state buyer who lived just out of Detroit.
When I purchased the car it had been in his garage unregistered for a year.
There is no smog testing done in my state!

Congratulations! The car sounds great.

Well needless to say, passing smog is still a big concern, with the sale contigent upon it, And I'll guess I'll know Tues or Wed. As I've mentioned before Gary Bobileff has serviced the car for the past two owners, and it's always passed, But,,,,, tain't done till it's done! And to tell the truth, I'm finding sort of hard to type with my fingers crossed all the time.