As promised, here's a couple of pics of the new rims and old valve guides from the 456 (rims first, guides shortly). Car is a 2000 456M with 24k miles, now running flawlessly. Rims are fabulous, no vibration or shake at any speed; quite a difference from my no-name cheapies. These are HRE model 845R, hidden 3-piece. Enjoy Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
And here's some valve guide pics. So much fuss over such little bits. Can you tell the leaking guide from the pictures? I had to mic them to figure it out, the one on the left is worn about 10-thousands. Such a little bit of wear causes such a headache. The shorter guides (I believe) are the intake; the longer exhaust. Replacements are sintered steel. These (obviously) are bronze. Never seen pics of these here before, thought they may be of interest. Thought it was a good idea to keep these used parts, which along with my receipt, is nice evidence I've actually done the valve-guide job on the car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I don't like the rims too much, because it sort of takes the Ferrari-ness out of the car, IMO. The valve guide picture are interesting. So all 456 and 550 cars are affected by this?
Wow! Your 456 is a 2000 and it still had those soft guides in it? I am amazed by that! I repair 308s, 328s, and 355s quite frequently because the guides are made from that same soft alloy, but Ferrari figured it out and, to the best of my knowledge, the 95's were the only 355's to have those soft copper alloy guides. 96 and up, including the 360s have iron guides and they seem to hold up very well. I'm very surprised that a 2000 456 is still using that guide material. 15-30K miles seems to be about all they're good for. I'll be watching this thread for a while, I'm very curious how many Ferraris are still having guide problems. I have some head / valve guide pics on my site if anyone is interested: http://www.FerrariPerformance.com To anyone who has had to replace your valve guides, I'd be very interested in knowing what year, make, model and how many miles it had. Thanks in advance! ~Rob
I think I'm experiencing the problem om my 94, 456 gt with 47303 kms. Please see:http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138843 Thanks
It's not that it's big or small: it's just the style. The spokes are too thin and the chrome just doesn't work. Anyway, here's what it would look like with blacker rims. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Wow, that looks really good! Not really being a wheel guy myself, I've always liked the wheels to not detract from the look of the body car so black is perfect.
That's a fabulous photoshop job, looks very, very modern. In person, the chrome isn't nearly as prominent as the pictures (which picks-up the camera flash and highlights the rims). The highly-polished rims reflect much of the black car, and to my eye, looks very good in person. One nice benefit of the open-spoke design is the clear views of the painted calipers. Here's a picture of the older rims. These looked good, too, but had the issue of vibration at higher-speeds. Function over form. I'd say the looks of the rims are a toss-up (both look good to my eye). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1 The old wheels remind me of those aged BBS wheels that BMW owners covet. Cleaning the new wheels must be far easier. Interesting point. Since the car doesn't have any other chrome trim bits (window trim, edging, etc) then chrome on the wheels isn't picked up by anything to present as an accent - standing out all by its own. Styling faux pas?
Hi Diablo Love the rims on your 456, both sets look good Question...I just got a set of 19'' wheels with 1/4" spacers and today I was going to put them on...but after the first one I stopped as the wheel sits too much inside the wheel well. I figured to make it look good I would need at least 1" spacers. Also have you lowered the car. I believed my wheels came from the same shop as your black ones because I also cosidered that style TKS
The car is not lowered; stock suspension. Spacers obviously depend on the offset built into the rim itself. If your's are the same as mine, I used 1" spacers in front; 1.5" spacers in the rear. Check my older posts, I've put pictures up of the rim/spacer combinations. BTW - that "shop" in Miami I bought the rims/tires/spacers from stole my credit card number, charged about $5000 worth of stuff in a buying spree from Feb.14-16, my bank caught it, shut down the card, and it's been a major pain-in-the-arse ever since (new cards and numbers, disputes, file a separate claim in writing for EACH false charge, etc.). What a PITA.
