Fantastic work. Passion by the truckloads.
Time for an update... One of the things that bugged me was that the screws holding the shift gate in place were mashed up. Image Unavailable, Please Login So in my last order I added four new ones. Old vs new: Image Unavailable, Please Login All fitted and looking much better. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I finally got round to fitting my Stradale coolant tank. I also took the opportunity to drop some of the coolant out and replace it. First up I needed access to the engine from inside the cabin. Image Unavailable, Please Login This is the bleed screw that lets the air out on re-filling. Image Unavailable, Please Login The front part of the under tray drops down... Image Unavailable, Please Login ...to provide access to the radiator drain plugs. Image Unavailable, Please Login I fitted the new anti-vibration mounts that I bought ages ago. Image Unavailable, Please Login I refilled with a 50:50 mix of Blue anitfreeze and De-Ionised water. Image Unavailable, Please Login Strad tank fitted with new mounts and stainless acorn nuts. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice work V - glad to see you use those new mounts having gone to the trouble of sourcing them for a few of us! Being the coolant bleeding expert that I am (see heat exchanger leak thread! :tears: - six / seven / eight coolant flushes in a fortnight) I'll advise going back to that bleed screw on the thermostat several times. It can take several cycles of use before the coolant level stabilises and no more air is to be found there. Also, if you stick your arm and head in between the body of the car and the gas strut you'll find that you can probably reach that bleeder screw from above. Best! p.s. Give your timing belts a little wiggle while you're in there. I've seen a few posts now where people have discovered ridiculous levels of slack in the belts when they just took an opportune moment to check them!
Yes - I opened it about 5 or 6 times before all the air was gone. Modena yes, Spider - no chance! Good advice - my Aux belt needed the tensioner adjusting now you mention it!
I still love this thread. Sadly I still have no 360 to tinker with yet. But between this thread and Trev's I am in good hands with tinkering when I do make the purchase! Almost makes me hope that not all services are done so I can do them my self. Side note on the trans filter, I am surprised there isn't a replacement that goes in. More surprised how sludgy it was! Even after a year and yet the oil looked in better shape. Its to bad you cant pull the filter out with out dropping the oil to clean it every so often. I plan to drive mine a lot so may need to do this every few months. But that could change if I can't decide which to drive what day too. haha. Keep the awesomeness coming and we'll keep reading!
Thanks. With regard to the filter - I have no way of knowing if it was actually removed and cleaned last year or prior to that.
It's been a while since I've updated the thread and that's because I've not done very much at all. In fact, today was only the second time I've used the car in 2012! What I have done is changed the exhaust - I have now got a Tubi level 2 and sports cats. I was getting sick of constantly repainting the "smiley" exhaust bracket that would discolour due to the heat. I finished it, and the gearbox mount it fixes to, in VHT black crackle. It looks the business and will hopefully stand the test of time. Image Unavailable, Please Login Here are my sports cats - custom made for me, 200 cells per sq in. I'm kicking myself as I forgot to weigh them before fitting! Image Unavailable, Please Login Brand new OEM exhaust clamps. Image Unavailable, Please Login Here's the silencer and cats fitted - you will note that I'm fitting it all with the rear bumper in place. I can catagorically state that it is worth the extra 30 mins to take the bumper off - please don't make my mistake and try to fit an exhaust with it there, it just isn't worth the hassle. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just the tips to fit now. I used new gaskets.. Image Unavailable, Please Login ...and stainless bolts with all metal self locking nuts (essential as the vibrations can work normal nuts free). Image Unavailable, Please Login I also fitted new Lambda probes whilst I was there. Image Unavailable, Please Login All fitted, you can see I also refreshed the heat shields with VHT silver paint. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For some reason I forgot to take a picture of it all back together. The noise is great though, the sports cats really make the tone of the exhaust sound really gruff - I very pleased with the result.
Today was the HR Owen open day (Ferrari Main dealer in London) - I've been for the past three years and love taking my car there. I always plump for their check over as it's great to have a professional opinion of my own work (I have also had an annual service done for me recently so it's good to have a second opinion of that work too). I'm pleased to report that the only thing they advised me on was that my tyre tread was low and the front number plate was missing (must have fallen off on the way there officer ). Since the next outing is for Dunsfold (track day), I think I'll wait until afterwards to buy the tyres... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Voicey, Thanks again for sharing you experiences and knowledge with the forum. When you noticed the "play" in the wheel due to a loose track rod end, back in May 2011, did you notice any noise, maybe like a metallic grating noise from the affected wheel, when the car is moving and especially when it is under load, i.e. accelerating or cornering? My rear right wheel has a slight play when rocking it left and right but not up and down with noise that I described. Wondering if it is the track rods, bearings or worse still, the differentials! Thanks Justin
No sorry, I didn't notice any noise. With the car up on the ramp you can easily check to see if the track rod ends have play.
Time for a small update - not much has been going on as I've been very busy with work and family. Through a bit of wheeler dealering, I manged to get an set of 8 coil packs and a pair of MAF's for a frankly insane price of <£300. As these are prone to failure I thought it would be mad not to buy them and swap them out. Since I have also replaced all four Lambda sensors when I fitted the sports cats, I'm hoping the engine will continue to run sweetly for many years to come. The parts I bought were genuine Bosch items but they are identical to the Ferrari parts except for the box. Image Unavailable, Please Login I started with the coils and swapped them one by one. This is done by undoing the electrical connector and then removing the two 10mm bolts that hold the coil in place. The coil will then pull off and the new one can be installed in it's place. Image Unavailable, Please Login I also cleaned each electrical connector with switch lubricant. Image Unavailable, Please Login Here are all the old coil packs that came off the car: Image Unavailable, Please Login Finally the MAF's were replaced. Image Unavailable, Please Login These were even easier than the coils, and again I cleaned the electrical connectors prior to refitting. Image Unavailable, Please Login
However, I did find time to support Dad's Day Out/The Supercar Event and drove both days. For those that don't know about this event, we take a load of supercars to the Top Gear test track and give rides to members of the pubic who in return donate money to a childrens hospice - this year we raised over £50,000. It was a great event, the car performed perfectly and I'm looking forward to going again next year. Here are some shots of the car in action that other people took (these photos are courtesy of Craig Beevers and D Photography). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
These photos courtesy of Nick Williams. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
These photos courtesy of RallyRider (and proof that Ferrari's don't melt in the rain). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Not much to report other than a front brake re-fresh. The Dad's Day Out/The Supercar event was pretty harsh on the brakes and by the Sunday afternoon I was getting severe brake judder after just two laps. The problem is cementite has formed on the disc caused by pad material transfer at high temps - you can see the deposits as black marks on the disc face. The pads are also toast - the only solution was to replace both discs and pads. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
