Mondial daily use upgrades

If anyone is contemplating doing anything to their Mondial, here is a list of subtle things that make it much friendlier and reliable. They do not substansially alter the appearance, and I would recommend especially the top few to any Mondial owner from someone who has had one for 12 years.

1. Upgraded fusebox. If you have an original fusebox with an original circuit card, it will fail or is currently failing. A newer technology circuitboard is available from GT Autoparts in Arizona for ~$750 exchange. This is the single best thing you can do for your car, and I should know.

2. Newer technology tires. Both the original metric Michelin TRX and 16" Goodyear Gatorback are total crap and in the case of the TRX, very expensive. These tires were chosen by the factory not because they were the best suited, but because of politics. Althogh there are metric Avons available, usually folks go to a 16" or 17" wheel to replace the 390mm rim. There are three popular "conventional wisdom" choices: The 16" original style wheel available fairly inexpensively from Superformance.co.uk or Trutlands, the 16" Mondial 3.2 or t wheel, or the 17" 348 wheel with appropriate fitting bolts from Hill engineering. There are aftermarket wheels available. The best are made by the original equipment supplier Speedline who had access to the original engineering data, who with this factory data recommended 17 x 7.5, 17 x 8.5; note not very different from the original factory widths. Speedline also had these wheels sold through the European Ferrari dealers (where I first saw mine). They are the most proper and period correct aftermarket wheel.
The most common error I feel with Mondial tires is the temptation of too much tire. With modern technology, the improvement with the stock or near stock sizes is huge.While everyone should tailor their tires to their driving, my recommendation is for Pilot PS2 in a stagger of 205 or 215 section front and a MAXIMUM of 245 section rear. If you have an M8 or QV using the same size Superformance at all 4 corners I would say a 225 section will match your power and weight well.

3. Air Conditioning. The Mondial actually has a decent air conditioner and great defroster, but is often let down by leaky or non-helpful vent design. What many Mondial owners learn late is that there are actually manually controlled (!) footwell vents. If you want a/c, be sure these are closed. The secret is to get as much cold air out of the useful vents (center and sides), by repairing aging and deteriorating foam connections and plugging off useless venting that act as sinks. The foam between the the plenum and the center vent deteriorates rapidly, but is easily removed and replaced with new foam or ducting tape to prevent leaking of cool air behind the dash. I also have found capping off the vent hose to the rear seat vents at the heater box makes a big difference amd using a stopper to plug off the side mirror vents increases the pressure and flow out the front vents. If you can find an original STCorsa billet aluminum high flow front vent replacement, this also is a huge improvement over the cheap plastic vent for flow and looks. I understand that someone (Ricambi?) may remanufacture these.

4. Exhaust. Much has been written on this, so I'll just say pick one where you like the sound.
there are many good well built aftermarket exhausts; I prefer custom made systems as you can make them match the sound you want (for me= quieter and still high flow).

5.Center switch panel. These cincy plastic pieces delaminate and look like crap after a while, and replacements can be difficult to find and expensive. I made some very nice billet anodized aluminum panels matching the originals, though lacking the back lighting, and were a very nice and permanent fix. I hate plastic in Ferrari interiors, anyway.

5. Headrest for normal sized/tall people. OK, this is a pet peeve of mine and not so subtle. I'm 6'2" and the Mondial headrest is basically nonfunctional. After removing the original headrests, I had a custom leather seat shop make two new taller and forward tilted headrests taken from the pattern of a Ferrari 246 Dino/ Lancia Beta coupe, but using the same leather, stitching and style (sunken crease) as the original Mondial headrest. It is soooo comfortable and worth the $500 for these when I can lay my head back on them at a decent angle.

That's all for now, and really, all you need. I'll talk about engine/chassis reliability stuff later.
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What an awesome post. Thanks for the suggestions. BTW, couldn't agree with you more on the tires. I just put fresh 215's in front and 255''s on my 348 wheels. In retrospect, the 255's are a little excessive, they stick almost too well. I kind of miss the sliding I could easily coax out of my old worn out tires!
I have been able to dial them in pretty well by playing with tire pressures, but it would have been much easier had I just gone with smaller tires in back.

 

Thanks Joe.

Though not as neccesary, the addition of an amped sub really fills out the stereo if you take long trips. It's easy to place the amp under the seat. Unlike many who use a woofer under the passenger floor, I had a simple box constructed, covered in matching leather and placed between the rear seats. Most head units allow for adjustment. There are a lot smarter folks as to which components to buy, so I'll just post this for ideas. Very subtle and not too flashy.
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great post! fusebox definitely on the shopping list, already changed the wheels/tyres and yes 255 is a bit wide! the tyre change is to me the most notable change, transforms the car. my A/C works pretty well, even the demister works since I shipped the car to NZ for some reason. I've got the cup holder (essential as here the take-out coffee is almost a religion). also cleaned the window motors so the windows actually move. currently replacing the rear boot floor and wall between that and the engine, rotted out due in part to a previous owner having the aerial changed and the bozzo who did it did not connect the drain pipe. water, heat and cheap Ferrari steel do not make good bedfellows! next project is to redo the interior, 26 years old now and looking a bit tired!

 

Thanks Jeff.
Jeff mentions the Mondial cupholder you see in the photo. When I did the switch panel, I also did up a quick billet aluminum cupholder which replaces and screws in where the cincy plastic cassette (I hate plastic in Ferrari interiors) goes, It covers up nicely when you do not need it with the original cover.

If you do not want to do that, other effective smaller cupholders are easily made by removing the two rear rotating a/c vent vanes.
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G R E A T post.

 

Ya know, when I bought the 348 wheels, they came with 255 tires. I put them on and they handled great, but were really old. I bought a new set, not realizing how much of a factor the age of the tires played in the grip-or lack thereof. Now I have new summer only Z rated tires and the rear of the car sticks like superglue. I kind of miss the rear end coming around, but I do like the absurdly high g-forces my mondial can now pull! I have kind of neutralized most of the understeer by playing with tire pressures, but it is still not as tossable as it was.

 

Cup holders???

Better be light on your right foot then, with all that power on tap!! Wouldn't want to spill any coffee on that gorgeous interior!

I don't know much about Mondials, but on my GT4 the single best upgrade that I have done was dumping the worn out shocks and springs and going with significantly stiffer QA-1's. Transformed the car from a cruiser into a 2+2 go-kart on steroids....

 

Hans, have you ever seen the "Big Gulp" cup??

You can't hold that cup. It's huge!!


HUGE I TELL YAH!

 

If you take out the rear A/C vent vanes to use as a cupholder, it would help keep your drink cold too! Those crazy Ferrari engineers, always thinking ahead.

 

Hopefully get the car back soon and I can try the new shocks just fitted all round. Said before but locally they wanted $600 NZD EACH to rebuild, Eurospares inc tax and delivery $270 ish! New!! Saw the car in the paint-shop yesterday, ready to have the new steel painted and whilst there all the little stone chips and a bit of rot along the drivers door sorted. This door was replaced by me in 2002 when the original was too far gone. I got this one from California on Ebay, from memory (never a good thing!) I paid $1700 US for a pair of doors and a headlining, pretty cheap me thinks! It was Red so I have to have it painted the correct Silver
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I think Joe makes a very good point here. With the longer wheelbase and stock or near stock tire sections (<225 front, <= 245 rear), most Mondial owners find that tossing the rear is very controllable, and you can steer with the throttle.The Mondial can tote some absurdly wide tires, but is much more nimble and tossable on the stock or near stock sizes, especially with newer technology tires. Even a hamfoot like me can induce very controllable oversteer with the throttle, and is easily and safely recoverable (unlike shorter wheelbase cars). If you've only ever driven your Mondial with the earlier stock tires, you owe it to yourself to feel the incredible innate balance and tossability of this chassis with 225 - 245 on the rear. She really feels like she is en pointe and ready to dance around at your lead.

And certainly for day-to-day driving, everything is much lighter and more enjoyable, although it still has to be hossed around at lower speeds (if one of the pre-t sans ps). My personal favorite so far are the PS2 in 205/55 - 17 front and 235/55-17 rear. I deliberately got a little taller tire to have a better cruise ratio and take advantage since I mostle use mine on the street. These are the semi-rare OEM Speedline recommended 17" wheels for those who may not have seen them.

Bottom line: Resist temptation and try not to "over-tire" your car for day-to-day use.
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For those who would like the functional Mondial headrest, the place that did mine is:
http://www.classiccarseats.com/
Ask for Stefan and tell him I sent you.

 

Agreed. The suspension upgrade to stiffer springs and QA1s really made a huge difference in how my 308 handles.

 

Tinting windows.
While I am usually not a fan of tinting widows, especially very dark, there is absolutely no doubt that they do make a difference in keeping the car cooler in hotter weather in an aid to the air conditioning. Moving to south Texas with a black Ferrari with a huge greenhouse area really made me reconsider a light tint to help with the over 100 degree days.
Interestingly, there are new 'metallic' containing tint films that reject most of the UV light which keeps the heat down and protects the interior.I chose a very light gray tint that did have the 100% UV protection.
Yes - it makes a big difference in helping the A/C. If you live in a hotter climate and do use your Mondial regularly, a subtle gray tint with the new technology mettalic doesn't detract much and really works well.
Note in this photo, only the side windows are tinted, the front and rear are not
(this photo also shows the taller headrests)
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1
I know I have probably told you this before...but your Mondi is REALLY nice! I think the light tint looks great BTW

 

Got tired of my daily driver whenever I left my club, and could not take my free morning coffee at check out.

So, necessity the mother of innovation. This is temporary until something better comes along, but for < $7 out the door: works.

The coffee cup in the pic is a bit off but actually has some room to spare if seated correctly, but this one had a bottom missing for my template, so, looks snug.

The edges need to be honed a bit too for a better fit, but will fix that when I get home. Was going to use ABS instead of this one as ABS came in a thicker size and I could imbed a couple magnets for more solid fit, but, wanted a quick solution without getting too fancy: it&#8217;s just a prototype after all. Left the front portion open for the cell phone.

Don&#8217;t know if you all have a similar tap plastic shop as we do, but they sell it all and reasonable too. Can even re-do this in CF as they sell rolls of that too.
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Thanks! It's like the perfect small GT for me.

The small plastic cup holder looks quite cool - so you use it in the change bin it looks so that would work well for smaller containers. Very clever!

It is really amazing that the little subtle details go a long way to making the car very much a daily-friendly and fun Ferrari.


Something else I didn't really mention, but I found a thicker rimmed Momo steering wheel adds to the steering feel for those of us with big hands. It's not as neccesary as the stock wheel is fine, but a little more to hold onto is much more comfortable for big folks (and why I have a larger GTO type shift knob). I peronally use a vintage Momo Cavallino wheel from a 246 Dino, but another contemporary OEM wheel that matches well is the Momo Monte Carlo, which is essentially identical to the 328 steering wheel and about $100. The are a straight replacement for all of the oem Momo wheels, and I think you need an adapter for the Nardi in the M8. If you like a more classic look, a Momo Prototipo also looks right at home and OEM (because it is). It's best I think to get a more OEM Ferrari looking wheel that wil fit the car's ambience, and the Monte Carlo, Cavallino and Prototipo all have been used in Ferraris before. A good Christmas present for you and your car.

Here you can see the Cavallino wheel, the STCorsa center vent, shift knob and the anodized aluminum billet replacement switch panel. Subtle details...
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The difference these things make is amazing.

Much like your rubber fuel hoses, you will eventually need to replace the rubber brake lines at all 4 corners to be safe, as the rubber does age. If you want, I would recommend going to the Teflon stainless braided brakelines. The metal covering takes the natural swell/give out of the flexible lines, so when you brake the reaction is much more noticibly immediate with superb brake feel. You will hear the argument that you cannot see the rubber to inspect it as on normal lines, but no one does that much anyway and the steel braid really protects the brake line as well.

Very easy to put on, then refill and bleed brakes.

This is a simple preventive maint. item and well worthy improvement in braking performance - you will notice a difference right away!

 

I was advised to do this locally so new ones being made up this week, just need the car back to fit them!

 

How do you remove the fan speed and tempreature knob off the center switch plate, I am having a very hard time trying to remove those knobs.

 

Itsy bitsy Allen hex wrench; there is actually a hole in the side of the knob with a set screw.
Good luck!!

 

Thanks for your help on the knobs. Now, I find about 6-8 little LED lights that was clip on the the center plate. Does anyone has part number for this order where can I order them? Thanks

 

Check again - I remember mine as being fiber-optics carrying light from a single central bulb.

 

Oh really, May be I did not look close enough, I will check again. Where would the light bulb be from? Is it under the metal plate?? Thank you so much.