Hello - Help for 355 with engine issues

Well second attempt at this thread, didn't post the first time.

I have a '96 355 with a broken valve, bad exhaust manifolds and bad valve guides

What is recommended to replace the stock exhaust manifolds?

Can you point me to any info on valve guide issues?

Are service manuals available for this car? I called two dealers today and none even knew and said they had to get back to me.

Thanks

 

I can send you a set of the service manuals at no charge.... but they are not very good. Typical Ferrari crap, where experience of a shop will be WAY more valuable than most anything printed in the book. PM me your address and I'll send a DVD-ROM (or whatever they're called)

Find a good, experienced shop. They can put the lump back together and get you on the road. This is well traveled territory (sadly) in the F355 world.

 

Welcome to the board--Hate to hear about the broken parts... There are tons of threads here on valve guides, but like Daniel said--find a reputable shop in your area and let them give you a good diagnose of what's wrong...

 

MANY threads on the plus and minus of the various options on aftermarket exhaust manifolds. My personal choice is to go with rebuilt factory ones, which maintain the important heatshields and remain stock in appearance. Many may argue with that choice, so please read the threads, and decide for yourself.

I have previously posted the links to where to obtain the rebuilt manifolds several times. You'll find them during your research.

 

Thanks for the info.


So am I crazy to be thinking that I can repair this myself? Obviously have the heads done by a machine shop but reassembling the engine and car myself. The shop is quoting $30,000.

 

Sorry to hear - it might help us to help suggest things to you to have an idea where you are located

There are lots of threads here about manifolds (usually refurb from QV UK get a recommendation)

 

I am sorry to hear of your problems. Only you will know if you are crazy taking on this project. If you take the badges off its all nuts and bolts underneath.

I have read somewhere that the machine shop that does the guides needs to be experienced in doing guides on 355 heads, something about the angle of the guide??? but I could be completely wrong. Not that this is to much of a problem, even if you had to freight the heads half way round the world you would still have considerable change out of $30k

Dig in brother!

 

?Hang about, did you say "broken valve"???????


Bugger me!!!!!!


That's not good........

 

Yes, the car was driven, not by me, with holes in the exhaust manifolds for too long.

 

I hope you got a very good deal when you initially bought the car! Sorry for all the trouble. I really sucks to have a great car that needs a lot of work before you can enjoy it. But, like Jim said, "Dig in", do as much work as you can yourself to save money, and make sure you have the best people/shops do the work that you can't. Good luck!!!

Here's some good threads on heads: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204739 and valve guides: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139185

 

Great! Thanks for the info.

 

That sounds about the right figure for R&R, rebuild heads properly, new manifolds etc., etc.

 

I can see it getting to 30k too. If the motor is as broken as you say and the manifolds were as bad as you say for as long as you say i would have no expectation of getting into it and finding everything else perfect. It is a snowball waiting for a push.

 

No.

If you have the tools you can do it yourself. All this talk of $30k is a load in my opinion. MANY owners have removed the engine themselves, me being one of them. I rebuilt my gearbox and it cost me about $4k. Now had I taken it to the dealer it could have cost me $15k to $20k. So if you want to save yourself some big dollars, pull the engine yourself and then pull the heads yourself. After you have the heads off send them to a reputable machine shop to replace the valves and valve guides. The head work can run you a few thousand dollars, depending on if you decided to get some port work done on it while it is out, maybe $4k to $5k if you do not need to replace all the valves. All you have to do is get over the fear of the name. Like I said, it is still a car. The nuts and bolts still come off the same, lefty loosy, righty tighty. Now it is not going to be cheap, but it will be WAY cheaper than taking it to a dealer to get fixed. The work you will be paying for is the head work from the machine shop, the rest of the work you can do yourself.

Me, I would pull the heads myself, but that is just me.

 

GO FOR IT! If you/ve worked on engines before, you'll be able to do this one just fine. The only deal is that there are far more parts than you're used to. You'll find lots of help on this board.

 

OK, so you'll save the labor of R&R, engine disassembly, approx $6-8K here, but you get to carry your own warranty, experience the learning curve and look at your car in parts for how long?

Parts cost, time locating them, sublet machine shop costs, time shipping costs et al.....

I applaude the owners who have done very intense work and investigation on these threads, but I suggest a thorough research and costing before you embark on this, I do not know your background, you may be very comfortable in this type of work. Good Luck.

 

I always consider myself a humble mechanic. I plan on taking ample time (months?) to research parts and procedures before I do any work. I'm not really in any hurry but of course I'd like to eventually get it done. Thanks for all the great advice and PM's. I'm actually shocked at the amount of help being thrown my way. I sort of expected a 'listen newb, do yourself a favor and take it to the shop' response. On the contrary.

 

Check your private messages

 

Only you know what you are capable of mechanically. Make sure you inform yourself of much as possible and then still expect to find at least double that amount in stuff you did not expect. Remember doing your own work has its trade offs and gains, as long as you understand that, you should be fine. Everything can be fixed and unfortunately to varying degrees, so an ability to recognize quality will serve you well. You will find lots of good info here and some not so great ......... don't take any shortcuts and good luck !!

 

Well I'm considering sending the engine out. Anyone have any good shops on the west coast they might recommend?

I may ship to Sharpe racing, Gary seems like a very good option. Just shipping with insurance can be a bit steep out that far.

What would you insure for? $30k?

 

http://www.alfaoftacoma.com/

I have no affiliation but I have heared great stuff about the owner.

 

+11111111.....

 

Well, here's pics of what I brought home from the shop today. Note the broken valve.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Something to consider ....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ferrari-355-engine-F355-V8-3-5L-only-8-000-Miles_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em20Q2el1116QQitemZ230212978147

Also this guy always has engines for sale .....

http://www.ferrariservice.com/

 

I think I'd rather put a freshly rebuilt engine in the car then a mystery engine off of ebay.