348 Tail lights/rear grill conversion back to original | FerrariChat

348 Tail lights/rear grill conversion back to original

Discussion in '348/355' started by PETER@TEAM AI, Feb 1, 2017.

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  1. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    Nov 4, 2014
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    #1 PETER@TEAM AI, Feb 1, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Our customer, FerrariChat member Desmomini, long searched for a 348 Serie Speciale, a unique model variant in 1993. It is based on the 348 Challenge, marketed as a "Challenge car for the street," with a more aggressive exhaust, 25mm wheel offsets, carbon fiber seats, and a special "slatless" grill. 100 numbered editions were released in '93, and another 15 in '94.

    About two years ago he found an excellent 1993 however the rear grill and tail lights had been converted to 355 parts. A common occurrence at that time. This occurred in a period when 348's were undervalued and some considered the conversion an upgrade.

    He contacted us to see if we would do the conversion back to original once he found the parts. Being a restoration shop as well as service/maintenance we natural said we would be proud if he engaged us to perform the work.

    Desmomini spent countless hours finding all of the parts over 18 months. The only part he could not find was the grill end caps which are unique to the 348 Speciale. Figuring the factory made 115 and a handful of spares, and given the exposed nature of the part in rear end collisions, it's safe to say they are truly unobtainable a claim he is able to back up with 18 months of searching.

    Thankfully, C2 Design (C2D on FerrariChat) devoted considerable time and energy to fabricating these parts, as detailed in a thread in the 348/355 section, and with them finally in hand, Jeff delivered the car and all the parts to us for the conversion. This thread will detail the journey.

    Below is the car when he purchased it.
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  2. C2D

    C2D Karting

    Mar 25, 2004
    136
    Any updates on this thread? Curious to see the step by step....
     
  3. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    #3 PETER@TEAM AI, Feb 6, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    C2 Design worked diligently to build excellent end caps while the search for the remaining parts continued. The final product is shown below. A combination of NOS and used parts completed the part search. Once we inventoried all the parts we began disassembling the back end.

    The pictures below show what we found. The biggest surprise was the rear grill on the car was not a Ferrari part. While it looked great from the exterior the backside conveyed a different story. It was a combination of metal and fiberglass and had been hand built. It also had very few attachment points. The other thing to notice is the lack of any support structure remaining once the lights and grill were off the car.
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  4. krazykarguy

    krazykarguy Formula Junior

    Apr 17, 2014
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    (first post here, BTW)

    That rear panel sure looks chopped up to accommodate the round tail lights. I hope that the return to stock operation goes well. 348SS cars should have the right tail lights.

    Curious to follow this discussion, I see the SC plate on the car, and am in the CLT area.
     
  5. boxcarracer

    boxcarracer Formula Junior

    Jul 29, 2005
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    Holy crap, the PO hacked into the body to fit that conversion!?
     
  6. C2D

    C2D Karting

    Mar 25, 2004
    136
    Wow. Just wow. Was not expecting to see that!
     
  7. Enzojr

    Enzojr F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2013
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    Tomy
    Wow is right.
    I did a google image search of the serie speciale rear grill, and still can't figure out wish one is the "right" one.
    Anybody have one ?
     
  8. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    #8 PETER@TEAM AI, Feb 7, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    We test fitted the new parts. First we placed the light housings in position, it was obvious there was nothing remaining to support them. Looking closely behind the housing you can see the support panels on both sides had been roughly cut out. Second we placed the NOS rear grill in place. While it may have been new it definitely had a hard life and was bent in many places as is evident in the photos. Lastly we removed the bumper to get clear access to the area.

    We know we needed to get the grill back to its original specifications and we needed all the support panels to be fabricated. The challenge was where to get all the specifications for the grill and support panels to complete this activity back to factory. The answer was my business partner's 348 we had just done a major, clutch and a lot of other work to. We rolled it next to Desmomini's car and started to disassemble!
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  9. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    Enzojr,

    You will see one at the end of this thread!!
     
  10. C2D

    C2D Karting

    Mar 25, 2004
    136
    Interesting to see the spacers on the car. The left one is very thin compared to the right one. Desmomini sent me that right one(passenger side)....we based our model off of that one. He had initially sent me pics of the 2 sitting side by side on his floor...we couldn't figure out why they were so different looking. Guess I should have asked for both! We suspected that one was from a different production run or Ferrari changed the spec of them for some reason. Maybe they made a small run for the last 15 cars or something and the right one was for that run(or the left one). Maybe they had a few cars getting damaged that needed them after the initial run was done....thus they were different.

    I would guess that these were sitting around for many many years....would be interesting to know. I spoke to the people that got the spacers for Desmomini and they couldn't source any other parts. His were the last.

    The one we got was VERY heavy....that driver's side one looks nice and light but I wonder if it seals up against the tail light gasket as well. Really interesting to see. Great post.
     
  11. hercfe

    hercfe Karting

    Apr 21, 2015
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    Hey PETER@TEAM AI,

    I just bought the 355 grill from Desmomini. Do you have any more pics of the before setup, particularly how the lights are mounted in the grill? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
     
  12. NeuroBeaker

    NeuroBeaker Advising Moderator
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    Oct 1, 2008
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    Glad to see the SS being returned to original specification. :)

    All the best,
    Andrew.
     
  13. hercfe

    hercfe Karting

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    PETER@TEAM AI,

    I tried to PM you a few times, but there's nothing in my sent box. Not sure if your getting the messages, but please contact me about Desmomini's old grill.
     
  14. 308 GTB

    308 GTB F1 World Champ
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    Me too.
     
  15. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    #15 PETER@TEAM AI, Feb 20, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Sorry for the delay in finishing this thread! Next step was to fabricate the missing panels and supports. Since the goal was "close to original as possible" the time was taken trying to recreate the exact parts that had been hacked. Once the rear support panel was completed, and the welds smoothed, it was painted and the tail lights installed to confirm fitment. We did overlap the patch panels a bit for strength instead of trying to butt weld them. Once fitment was confirm the lights were mounted, the grill and bumper were installed. Final adjustments were made and the rear grill and lights were returned to their original glory!

    We want to thank Desmomini for allowing us to assist in this journey.
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  16. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    Ben

    Two things. One you need to set up PM to send posts to your sent box. Someone explained that to me also. Second I did respond once and then sent another clarification, please let me know if you have questions.

    Sincerely
    Peter
     
  17. eulk328

    eulk328 F1 Rookie

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    #17 eulk328, Feb 20, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  18. hercfe

    hercfe Karting

    Apr 21, 2015
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    Got it, thanks Peter!
     
  19. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Nice work! Keep the pics coming.
     
  20. marc556

    marc556 Formula Junior
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    Very nice job !
     
  21. Yassa

    Yassa Formula 3
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    hahhahaa
     
  22. eulk328

    eulk328 F1 Rookie

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    I was worried I was the only one that saw that ;-)

    I'm guessing you view FChat on a "proper" computer monitor rather than a smartphone...


     
  23. Yassa

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    Ya, I would have missed it on my phone.
     
  24. PETER@TEAM AI

    PETER@TEAM AI Formula Junior
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    Excellent eye! Yeah we had to let that guy go.....our standards are too high for that quality!!!
     
  25. krazykarguy

    krazykarguy Formula Junior

    Apr 17, 2014
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    Great work bringing an SS back to its original form!
     

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