Ferrari 308 engine overhaul

A 1979 Ferrari 308 came into our shop recently for a tune up and check over when we discovered that the compression and leak down numbers were too low to spend any time trying to make it run any better.

The engine came out of the chassis with usual difficulty, dirt mixed with grease and oil on top of the never ending flow of coolant spilling in your face. When people ask me how much to overhaul the engine I budget $3500 just to remove and re-install the engine to the chassis. It is a filthy job and no matter how many you have done you always end up struggling with one thing or another.

While the engine showed low compression in a few cylinders (60psi) and terrible leak down numbers on 3 cylinders (between 15-40%) there were no other major surprises. The water pump feels good, carburetors are clean and nice and distributor caps and wires look new and well done. This may actually be “just” an engine overhaul that does not lead into 1,000 other little things.