The exterior of the 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS Lou Trottier is restoring.Lou Trottier/The Globe and Mail
I appreciate all the requests for updates on my ongoing Ferrari project car. I’ve arrived at a point in the restoration I never thought I would – the point where I’m 3-D printing and hand fabricating parts that have been impossible to find.
A couple of years ago, I bought a 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS that needed to be restored. Prior to my ownership, the interior was removed and discarded. Why anyone would do that to a Ferrari is beyond me. The previous owner bought it from an auction in the United States knowing it was missing its interior. He spent more than a decade sourcing the major missing pieces. A fellow auto technician himself, his intent was to do restore the car, but he never actually got around to it.
When I took over the project, I assumed because he spent thousands of dollars sourcing parts including seats and dash and door panels, it would be smooth sailing for me. I naively assumed this because all the major pieces were there and the small parts like clips and small trim bezels would be easy to find. I’ve become a pro at sourcing discontinued parts and those long out of production, but even I have repeatedly failed at sourcing many of the missing small parts.
A screenshot of 3-D part design using Fusion 360 by Autodesk.Lou Trottier/The Globe and Mail
I am now hand fabricating these and have been stuck on doors and interior reassembly for months. I started well within my comfort zone fabricating a relatively easy door light bezel. I traced and cut out a cardboard template of the driver’s side factory stamped-out recessed light pocket to use as a guide. After much massaging and sanding, I had a usable piece of aluminum that fit on the car perfectly and looked factory original.
Proud of the success after my first attempt, I quickly reproduced another part for the passenger side using the piece I had just finished fabricating as a more accurate guide than the cardboard cut-out. While the 308 was the first Ferrari to be built on an assembly line, I am often reminded of how much of this model was still hand built. I can’t think of a more perfect example of the term hand built than this. I had just created a neat and tidy second part only to find out that the passenger side door was slightly different. As I tried to install the second, almost identical part in the passenger door, the screw holes were way off. Several head scratching moments later, I concluded that it wasn’t me and the door was indeed different. I had to completely start from scratch for the passenger side part.
And that was the easy stuff, now I have to start working with plastics. Fortunately, I was intrigued with 3-D printers a decade ago and have a fair amount of hobbyist level CAD (computer-assisted design) skills. For those of you interested in 3-D printing, I use a program called Fusion 360 by Autodesk to design parts in the digital space. This is a fully functioning CAD program that allows non-commercial hobbyists like me to access a free version of the program. It has a steep learning curve, but well worth the time if you’re interested.
The question I had for myself is, are my CAD skills sufficient to design and 3-D print a part that is good enough to fool a Ferrari purists’ inspection? There are three or four parts within the door and a few more throughout the interior I can’t find and want to try creating using 3-D printing technology.
A 3-D-printed small plastic bezel that sits where the outer door handle meets the door skin.Lou Trottier/The Globe and Mail
The first and easiest was a small plastic bezel that sits where the outer door handle meets the door skin. I had one original piece, broken to the point that it was unusable, but good enough for me to reference for general appearance and sizing guidelines. The rest I had to closely scrutinize and perform on car measurements. I 3-D printed several simple dummy pieces to fine tune fitment and refine my part to make it look as close to the original as I could. The fifth print was something I believe was close enough that it would fool many an enthusiast. It installed with ease and I was satisfied with the results. I have several more to go, but confidence is high.
My long-lasting journey stuck within the cockpit of this vehicle is going to be coming to an end soon. And it can’t come soon enough as I am eager to move on. It was always my intent to delay installing the engine and transmission until all the tedious, boring tasks were done. If the engine and transmission were installed, I would have a car that was close to being driveable. We all know that if the car was driveable, those minor, subtle tasks would never get done. That being said, once the interior is completed, I can move to the rear engine compartment. After replacing all the coolant and fuel lines, I can finally reinstall the drivetrain. With any luck I will be ready for a test drive by spring 2023.
My long-lasting journey stuck within the cockpit of this vehicle is going to be coming to an end soon.Lou Trottier/The Globe and Mail
Also, for those looking for updates on Project Puma, which was to be my first electric vehicle conversion, it has been delayed again. This time because of my most senior technicians’ recent retirement. He was the one spearheading and working on that project. Without his efforts it now has to wait until the Ferrari is done and I can shift my focus.
Lou Trottier is owner-operator of All About Imports in Mississauga. Have a question about maintenance and repair? E-mail globedrive@globeandmail.com, placing “Lou’s Garage” in the subject line.
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