seriously! I was on the train back from NY last night and the guy next to me saw my wallpaper of a 348 and he said it was his dream car. I told him he should get it and he said maybe in 2-4 years. He looked so sad. Life is short, if you can swing it, go for it.
Looks great Jay. Best get to getting as the Tulips are pushing through the snow. You will be pleased with how much smoother the car feels with no vibrations sent into the chassis from those engine mounts. Dave
Thats right mate! Get one now. Worst case.........just SELL the bloody thing and get some/most of your money back!!
Headers are back from ceramic coating...no, they don't look much different from before. Had them coated outside and in for best heat retention. Also here's my 'new' secondary cat bypass pipe, minus the cats. This is the stock pipe, heat shields removed, cats removed and ceramic coated inside and out. Those crimps were there when I took the heat shields off, apparently from they way they were made. Also new stainless hardware. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Paul - as everyone above said, if it's your dream, go for it! The look on my face will likely be amazement if this thing starts after the mess I've made!
I see it's been 2 months since I updated this thread...still making progress, but the car took a back seat to more important things in life. Unfortunately my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and a brief 4 months later she passed away. Just a reminder to all of us to make time for what really counts - there will always be time later to work on / drive our cars, work overtime, etc. Now if you can spend time with friends and family WHILE driving a Ferrari, well that's a win-win I am happy that she did at least have one ride in my dream Ferrari (although it probably meant more to me than her!). In her memory and to help others diagnosed with cancer I'm doing a cancer benefit bike ride this Sunday (92F forecast, should be fun!). I know there's many well deserving charities out there and with $5 gas not far away it's more difficult to make donations, but if anyone would like to support my ride here's a link to my sponsor page: https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=259568&supId=212734432 Back to the 355...I have made some progress and will be posting up pics (and more questions) soon.
Sorry to hear about your MoM Jay, Life is short and you need to enjoy every momment!!. I think this is a great thread!! Keep up the good work!! and update us with pics when you get a chance...
Jay, sorry to hear of your loss. I lost my brother to Cancer in 2000. He was only 37. As you go through this you will find that people really care, they just don't know what to say, or feel a bit uncomfortable. Therfore you may not always get a response (even in person). Hang in there, you will have good days and bad days. Regarding the charity ride, what kind of bike do you ride? Regarding the 355, it is amazing how you can multi-task and get everything done with work, personal life, and things life throws at you. I commend you for that.
Sorry to hear about your loss Jay........ my mom passed in January of 2007......... I disappeared from here for a while and did not elaborate much as to why. You are so right.... with all of the 'things' that get a lot of our attention....... it sometimes takes our focus from those whom have always been there for us. I wish you and yours all the best ........ and let us not disappoint those who care about us ............. be they with us or have passed on.......
My sincere condolences Jay. I hope you and the family are pulling through okay. Stick in there buddy.
I am very sorry to hear about your Mum Jay, I had tears in my eyes reading your post and the ones that followed. I wish you all the very best in this tuff time.
Bike rides simply are not my style due to the high occurance of donut rides in my past. Just know that we in the Ferrari community are indeed a band of brothers and are here for you. My donation went in. Take your time and remember my wrench hand is free when your ready to get back to the car.
Thanks for the support and comments guys, it is much appreciated. That's why I figured I'd share the experience, it's good to be reminded to keep things in perspective. And have to say thanks to Saint Bastage for the ride in his fantastic 348SS, that was good motivation to get moving on this engine again! Here's the wheels for the ride, Cannondale F7 mountain / trail bike. A distinct disadvantage in a street ride vs. all the guys with road bikes! What the heck, a better workout I guess Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice! Heck, at least it is a hard tail Yes, we roadies have an advantage over you. Me a Trek 5.9 Madone at under 15 lbs. Enjoy your ride Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sorry also to hear about your loss, Jay. I donated to your fund... best of luck on your ride!!! I hope my valve covers look as nice as yours after I've done them. Gorgeous!!
Now that's one serious bike! Mine weighs in around 30 lbs., not counting the 60 lbs. in each tire Rick - thanks for the support, it's much appreciated. Keep on posting those excellent tips! Back to the 355...I had pretty much the most melted center tail lights I've seen (2 center ones obviously). Picked up 2 new spares on ebay over the winter; one was a 'Euro' part which just meant that I had to move a threaded stud to a second position so they fit through the 2 stud holes you see in the lower pic. So if you find a Euro light for sale, they seem to work fine. I still need to replace the bulbs with LED's so this won't happen again, there's an excellent thread here in Fchat with part numbers. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
OK last O/T. Jay remeber it is the size of your engine (your legs and lungs) Go out and drop them roadies OK, on topic, dang Buddy, you are going to town on your car. Looks great, keep up the good work!
Wow Jay! .. what happened to those taillights? is that just from using standard incandescent bulbs vs LED's ? or were the wrong bulbs installed? engine heat a factor? what are you thinking happened? ~T
Likely just the OEM bulbs, apparently it's not uncommon, and it's had the Challenge Grille for some time.
