My 355 mini-Restoration story

Thanks, I may one day do a vinyl wrap just to have it in a different color but no way I will do green. Perhaps white or even matte black. Just to protect the existing paint and also get to enjoy a different color on the same car without repainting it.

My "green" days are over, thank god!

 

The interior work is being done by me at home. I redyed all the leather, redid my dash and now all that is left is to fix and refinish all the sticky parts. Once that is done, I will take it all to the body shop and begin reassembling all of it.

The parts were all painted red last week and the clear went on this morning. it's drying as I post this.

I will have more pictures this week.

 

Car's been painted, wetsanding process being done on the car and paint/clear being completed on other main parts.

Rear bumper needed a lot of work and touching up due to inadequate previous repair(s)
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Now that everything is our of the car, I had the carpets all vaccumed, steamed and shampooed. I know there's still a lot of dirt and dust that will accumulate during the work but we'll touch it up with a second cleaning again at the end of the process.

It made sense to do it now since it was really filthy...
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I finished recovering the dash. It was a lot easier, faster and smoother than I had anticipated.

Once the dash is removed, you have to clean off all the glue and the old dry foam stuck to it. I used paint thinner in a spray bottle. I would spray a small section, then brush and scrape off the glue/foam. then spray it again and rub off the remaining with a rag. Once it was all clean, I sprayed it entirely with denatured alcohol, rubbed it all off and waited until it was completely dry.

The foam I found was sold to me for 20$ by a local guy who does a lot of Ferrari and exotic car interiors. It is slightly less than 1/4 inch thick and it's almost like a memory foam. You can crush it and it compresses then comes back. The feel is hard to describe as I had never seen a foam like this before. I assume it's petroleum based. It's not polyurethane...

Most photos I see of people who do redo their dash look way too puffy to me. I assume this is because they are either using the wrong foam or their foam is too thick or even the leather is too thick.

Anyway, after cleaning the dash, I applied plenty of contact cement on it as well as the foam. The foam has 2 distinct sides. One side has like a tiger skin pattern on it and the other is plain. I was told to apply the plain side onto the dash. I stuck it on once the paint was dry and made sure the foam was only on the top side of the dash and in the vents (no foam at all gets wrapped and glud on the under side)

Once done, it's time for leather.....because this dash is very intricate, it is very difficult to wrap it around the vent on the right side (passenger side for those of us in US & Canada). The material just does not want to follow and bend this way. It's like trying to wrap a christmas present shaped like an oval and make it looks seamless, it's very difficult....to make it easier for an amateur, I reccomend using thin leather that is very flexible instead of thick automotive leather. I know thin leather will shrink more easily and rapidly but I will make sure it gets treated with leatherique at least 4 times per year so I will not have this issue.

I began wrapping the leather by glueing the long flat part. Once that's done, I did the driver side binnacle opening and the vent. Then came the difficult part. I cut the openings for the center vent and the airbag to loosen the material a little but getting the material over the side and still stick to the curved part was a little bit stressful so I did cheat a little by making several cuts on the under side (which will not show since the bottom tan colored part will join the upper dash and hide the cuts)

I put a ton of glue, made sure it was dry then pressed it into the curve and put some folded rags and clamps to hold it down. the rags helped to not mark the leather. After about 2 hours, I removed the clamps and everything looked great as you can tell by the pictures.

I wasn't worried because even if a tear or cut happens as you work, or even if it does shrink significantly, you can always use a leather filler with leatherique dye. Because it's flat black, it will not be noticeable...

I then wrapped the airbag. Before getting started, I needed to fix the upper corners that were flaring out (probably due to the leather shrinking and pulling on it for a long time) I used a heat gun on the underside and reshaped it inwards with a pair of pliers. Easy fix.

When I had removed the leather on the airbag, the foam was in good shape so I left it as is. I glued the face first and then wrapped around the sides, very easy.

I am very happy with the result.
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Since I did not redo the leather on my instrument cluster because it was in good shape, the leather on my dash and the one of my cluster did not match. The dash on the leather is too shiny and will annoyingly reflect on the windshield while driving.

To solve this issue, I ordered some black flat leather dye from Leatherique and used my HVLP gun and all the leather is now nice and dull as it should be and looks exactly the same even if they have a 17 year age difference, Leatherique truly is an amazing product.
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I purchased the Xr-S17P kenwood speakers from sonic for just 149$, a bargain price. I tested tons of speakers and it was hard to find speakers that fit properly because the depth is short on the panel and the spacing on the front rubs the front of the speaker so it can get damaged.

I adapted the tweeters by adding the existing OEM clip which will help reinstall the speakers and dash quickly. I did the same thing for the large door speakers by adding a male connector that will quickly connect when we reassemble the doors.

I attached the tweeters with some steel wires and it worked just fine (ther are hidden behind the vent anyway) and I removed the spacer from the original speaker and glued it onto the new one for added protection when the speaker is functioning.
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Defrost vents were powder coated but ended up being too shiny so I coated them with Tremclad texture which is equivalent to rustoleum textured and it looks perfect.
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Car is being buffed and sealed by an experienced professional....
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Yeah, I never expected I would go this far so the title is misleading, Maybe I'll ask the mods if I can change it?

 

My shields arrived, I know most people prefer the metal or original recessed fenders but I don't care. I prefer the look of the resin ones and they are oem Ferrari so it's all good. Just a picture holding it with my hand for now. Sticking them on for good will have to wait.....
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another budget update as of mid-Feb, 2012. I decided I absolutely must get an exhaust for the car. However, at this point I am still undecided but it will probably be a Nouvolari supersport:

Paid so far:

-air vent cover for interior: 150$
-major service kit: 830$ (revised)
-fuel regulators: 620$
-cv boot kits: 160$
-thermostat: 145$
-oil filter: 25$
-alternator pulley: 50$
-Fabspeed headers, bypass cats and sec. bypass + ceramic coating: 5400$
-powder coating covers: 0$ (Friend of mine, no charge)
-New wire Set: 425$
-head cover gaskets: 15$
-Refinish mags: 700$
-New air tire valves: 50$
-New CV boot heat shields: 200$
-Carbonio carbon Fibre Door sills: 500$
-Stainless Steel Ferrari engraved sill inserts: 125$
-Mirror switch face plate: 28$
-Stainless steel Passenger Footrest: 100$
-HVAC Panel Replacement: 80$
-2 blank Keys: 32$
-5 Aluminium Wheel - Seat Inserts: 40$
-Engine Bay lateral right side protection: 140$
-Door key lock gaskets: 18$
-Euro directional white clear front lights: 275$/pair
-Wheel center caps: 130$
-Valve stem tire caps: 6$
-2 new Muffler clamps: 20$
-New OEM windshield: 1000$
-Labor to replace windshield: 500$
-Full paint and color change: 7500$
-Skid protectors: 150$
-New leather for dash: 175$
-leatherique treatment and dye: 300$
-cleaners/solvents/paint to refinish sticky interior: 120$
-New air bag sticker, paint sticker, wing badges, tire pressure sticker, pininfarina badges: 75$
-New hood struts rear: 60$/pair
-Replacement rear OEM grille cover: 250$
-2 hydrographic kits: 200$
-caliper stencils: 10$
-New Kenwood eXcelon XR-S17P speakers: 200$
-New Power steering reservoir: 40$
-Ssnake oyl seat belt repair and new retractors: 250$
-Driver seat mechanism repair: 120$
-Shampoo/steam carpeting: 60$
-3M protective film Clear Bra (for stone chips): 180$
-hi temp paint cans: 20$

Mechanic costs:
-prepare the car for inspection: 125$
-oil change: 125$
-Labor for major engine service kit: 2400$
-Other labor (fitting fabspeed, change extra parts): 600$
-Refinish clutch: 500$
-injector test: 200$
-miscellaneous costs (silicone, brake fluid, etc...): 50$


TOTAL: 25,474$

Upcoming expenses:

-Aftermarket exhaust (maybe used): 1000$-1800$
-labor to replace steering fluid reservoir
-replace or rechrome wheel bolts
-labor to remove calipers and engine parts for detailing/hydro-dipping
-new Brake pad set 180$
-labor to replace brake pads


ESTIMATED TOTAL: 29000$

Initial Budget: 15,000$
Revision 1: 20,000$
Revision 2: 22,000$
Revision 3: 24,000$
Revision 4: 25,000$
Revision 5: 26,000$
Revision 6: 29,000$

 

First of all , thank you for all your wonderful encouragements and compliments, it's a great motivator to keep going!

As for the question, I bought the car not knowing too much about it other than researching prices. I know I wanted a 355 and it had to be a spider.

When researching, I saw a lot of cars with a lot of mileage and by this I mean more than 30-35 thousand miles selling for over 50k.

When I had the chance of getting a 13 thousand mile car for 35k, I jumped on it thinking I could have the major done and get it repainted all for about 15k and I'd have a pristine car for about 50k

Once I got the car, reality set in: Headers can kill your car, aftermarket upgrades look so cool but are pricey, even the smallest part costs hundreds of dollars, the interior is sticky, etc... etc.....

Most of my knowledge came off this chat and I read a lot and learned fast thanks to everyone here and the sponsors.

I could have plunked down more money but I didn't have it so this is allowing me to get familiar with the car, do all the work early in the car's mileage life and make sure it gets done well. It's a lot more than I bargained for in terms of time, money and everything.

Perhaps if I'd have known it would be like this, I probably would have waited or never even bothered buying a car like this.

This being said, I am still very excited and there's no turning back now so I have to plow ahead and get her done. I will appreciate the car a lot more once I get to drive it and enjoy it.

I will have a picture update shortly

 

It's not a matter of price, I actually just prefer the look of the resin....My tastes are different than the typical Ferrari owner, I prefer the resin shields vs the metal ones, the OEM rear grille vs the challenge & rosso scuderia vs rosso corsa.

Call me crazy or call me unique, either way it's what I prefer....lol!