Decided to give my F355 Berlinetta some TLC.....

Hi, after spending 4 years restoring 07333 275GTB shortnose, I though i would give a little bit of attention to my well used, but well serviced F355.

1997 F355 Berlinetta, manual, Le Mans Blue with cream interior, Uk delivered car.

The car has done 44k and is in overall great condition, but i know i can make it a little bit special again! Maybe even a few modifications along the way.

First thing I have tackled is to strip out all the interior, apart from the top dash, instrument binnacle and seats (i have a replacement set), all the cream leather has been removed for rejuvenation by the master re-conalisser, John Nunn. All the vents, plastic, switches etc have been sent to Stickynomore for a complete refurbishment.

Hope this journey takes no more than 4 months compared to the 4 years on the last project!

cheers
Mark
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i was very fortunate to locate an original set of Cream 355 seats, identical to the pair in the car - other than condition! They had been removed from a very low milage 355 over 14 years ago when the car was converted to race spec, the seat where in storage all that time.

After an incredibly thorough clean and some very slight re-colonising by John i am absolutely delighted with the result:
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I am keeping all the parts in the dinning room rather than the garage, much safer and cleaner! I have a few more jobs to do to the car, then everything will be refitted.

In the meantime after an incredible 6 day turn around (YES - 6 days including delivery from the UK to the USA and back again!) all the interior trim arrived back from Robbie at SNM:
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I have a brand new unused ashtray, but i think i will keep it as a spare and go with the the refurbished one, as the interior trim will be more consistent that way - you can still tell the slight difference between the original rubberised finished and the more durable SNM refinish.
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The paint on the car was good, well sort of ok and passable, as you would expect from 44k miles - a few scuffs and stone chips. So I thought i would treat her to a little bit of new lipstick!

I entrusted her to a true craftsman that i and many others in the UK Ferrari community have an enormous respect for, Andy Coxhead of 355 Automobile Restorations Ltd.

Originally Andy was going to repaint the front bumper and a few other small imperfections, then we decided the car deserved the rear bumper to be done to match.

After all the planned paint work was done, Andy gave the car a compound polish, which showed up the stone chips and imperfections on the front bonnet - given the rest of the car now looked like new, it was only fitting to have the front bonnet, front panel and head light pods repainted.

Got to say i am absolutely delighted with the result:
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Hi, one of the next jobs is a full engine out service and engine bay clean up. I have a new set of disc's and pads ready to be fitted. We are going to go through every aspect of the suspension, then do a full geometry set up, so any unusual heights or angles will be dialled out at that point.

 

You can just see some small silver lines under the front bumper, i have fitted the Hill Engineering aluminium skid plates - very useful in London as the place is littered with speed bumps!

The car has a Capristo exhaust fitted.

Fortunately the carpets are in as new condition, even the original footwell mats had over-mats on top of them! I have shampooed the carpets and cleaned up the original over-mats - will post some pictures soon.

The original alloy wheels have just been refurbished and new original spec Bridgestone tyres fitted (you can see the stickers in some of the photos). I am not happy with the finish on the alloys, its just too flat a silver with no depth or shine, so they are going to be re-done with a different silver closer to the original finish.

I have a set of original 355 challenge wheels, that are going off for a full refurb and crack test. I have ordered a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport 3 for them, with a larger tyre that the Speedline wheel can carry:
2 x 235/40ZR18
2 x 285/35ZR18
Going to order a set of titanium wheel bolts and add a 10mm spacer to fill the arches. Will update as soon as they are ready to be fitted.

cheers
Mark

 

You can see the car is fitted with a Challenge grill, which is in perfect condition, but the little grill that sits above was looking a little tired, so i had it blasted and repainted in the correct black. I bought a new badge for this rear grill, this must be one of the cheapest parts available, at less than £20 from Ferrari!
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Hi i just went and looked at the car again and it looks much lower now, the photos above were taken just as the car came off the ramp after having the bumpers refitted, so it had hardly moved any distance, so i guess it settled after going on the road for a few miles.
cheers
Mark

 

Hi, Poshwash Posh Wash - Home done the re-furb of the standard alloys, and they are more than happy to re-do them with a more original style finish. I know I was not happy with the finish, but this is the first time i have had a problem, and i know they have refinished hundreds of sets of Ferrari alloys.

The Speedline Challenge wheels will be refinished by Wheels Works UK | Alloy Wheel Refinishing. Full factory refurbishment, powder coat, wetspray and custom finishes. as they have experience with this composition of wheel.

 

the small rear grill is now painted and the badge mounted...
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After a small wait the new Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres arrived

Front: 235/40ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 3
Rear: 285/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 3

The Speedline Challenge wheels are at the refurbisher and will be back next week, with the tyres mounted.
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The original footwell mats cleaned up like new because they had mats on top of the original mats!

They are so good i am a bit reluctant to use them, as i guess in time this will be a part that becomes unobtainable, and it will be nice to have a perfect set of originals.

So i ordered a new set from Morethanpolish Ltd in the UK - the most helpful company i have work with!
Custom Car Mats - More Than Polish
I made an exact template of the original mat and marked out where the heel pads sit. The Blue colour is not an exact match, but it is very complementary to the original interior. They done an absolutely brilliant job, the matts are millimetre perfect and made absolutely beautifully with a very high grade carpet and edging. The Ferrari script logo & Cavallino are embroidered to perfection. All for a very reasonable price of £103.94 including delivery!

I am so please, i am going to make a template of the boot well floor and get them to make a matching mat to sit in there!

Some pictures, you can see the original mat sitting on top of the new ones - perfect fit!
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Hi, I refurbished the spark plug covers today. The red paint was in great condition and did not need touching, but the lacquer was coming off the metal, along with some corrosion.

I wet sanded the metal with a flat block, cleaned everything off, then sprayed with a high temperature clear lacquer...
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Hi, While the car is on axel stands and awaiting the refurbed wheels i decided to stripe out the wheel arch covers and give them a good clean and refinish.

For the metal sections, I have found the perfect paint match, a semi gloss black from Wayside Adhesives:
CLASSIC BODY KIT CAR ADHESIVES, HIGH BOND TAPES items in WAYSIDE ADHESIVES DIRECT store on eBay!

The plastic front liners have just been cleaned and polished with no coating applied.

I will post some more pictures of the fibreglass sections once i get the finish applied.
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