Brought home a 348 today, some questions.

Pretty much all these questions have been often answered here or at My Ferrari 348 - apart from maybe where to find an extra 50 horse power ! - try an advanced search in this section for each query as simply as possible eg sticky, 360, paint roof

 

1. Alternator parts are cheap as chips, the age of your 348 would suggest its likely to be an AC Delco rather than later Nippondenso. Some suggest replacing the AC Delco but I think if you factor in the massive swap out cost that idea is nonsense. I think if you go for the AC Delco rebuild you can opt for higher output parts but that may make it even less reliable? I went for standard output parts for my rebuild.

2. There are some specialists in this that you can send the parts to. Or search on here, some sort of oven cleaner makes short work of it, plus plenty of cotton buds!

3. Pressure wash is not something I'd consider, these cars have fragile enough electrics as it is. At your risk entirely, some have done it so you wouldn't be the first by any means.

4. As far as I know, lots do it. Search here is your friend, particularly in terms of spacers etc. My348.com is a great ref for this detail.

5. Pretty sure that top isn't a vinyl covering, its integral pattern on the fibreglass(?) weave. Many rub the pattern back to smooth, fill and paint. My view is you are ruining a perfectly good roof by that action, it isn't something that can be reversed hence mine stays exactly as is.

6. Not being funny but I'm really starting to think perhaps you bought the wrong car for what you need it to look like and perform?

 

I just cleaned up my engine with a detailing brush and Simple Green. Worked well.
Lots of posts about your sticky situation... I did some of my own and sent out the vents to stickynomore.com (no affiliation but great work) as they looked to be a big PITA to do myself.

I have 360 wheels on mine which were cut down to fit. I've heard some have to be cut others not. Pretty sure you will need different size bolts no matter what.

The roof? best answer --- store it behind you and don't drive in the rain. You ever go to sell the car, the purists will want it OEM. just my opinion. I do have a friend of mine who's TT is painted and he's constantly worried about it getting scratched. BUT it does look good on his car.

Look at the DIY section in this section of the forum. I think Ernie posted an alternator rebuild DIY recently which was cheap as dirt and made the unit better. Make sure your ground strap is tight as well.. that could produce the battery issue. EDIT: Its in the DIY section for 348 and also the Tech Q/A. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q/142329-348-alternator-removal-rebuild.html#post136541707

Welcome to the 348 brotherhood!

 

2. use dishwasher soap: works fine, I did it

6. Swap engine

 

LOL +348

1994 Ferrari 348 Challenge Twin Turbo - Top Speed -- 609 HP twin turbo 348

 

For 6. I'm in the camp of saving for unseen eventualities / making her as perfect as i can, rather then trying to make it faster. I have had many cars that go a lot faster that cost a lot less. In essence if you throw £10k at a Civic, it can be a pretty quick car... But what's the point, someone will through £12k at a Corsa and make it even faster. I bet £1500 of proper track tuition with a good instructer will make a bigger difference than the actual pace difference between a 348 and a 355...

 

1. Clean the terminals and make sure the battery cables are in good shape with no buildup around the posts. Check the torpedo connector above the battery and make sure everything is making good connections. If you don't already have one get a battery maintainer and plug the car in at night when you put her to bed. For some reason 348's thrive on a fully charged battery. Having a low battery and letting the alternator charge it up during drives seems to stress the alternator and shorten its life.

 

I just finished cleaning the sticky panels on my 94 348. I read a number of posts and tried the different cleaning agents that others used. Some worked better than others IMHO.

In my prior working life we used acetone to clean plastic components so I tried that and it worked very well. Much rubbing still required and change to a clean cloth when needed ( I took a few washcloths, my wife hasn't discovered that yet). I took the air vents out and disassembled so that the louvers could be cleaned. Be careful if you do this because the parts are brittle. One other thing I did was cut adhesive backed pads into pieces slightly larger than the open closed symbols. By being very careful, and using q- tips when cleaning, I was able to keep the symbols intact. Also I should mention the different panels need to removed rather than trying to clean in place.

To finish the job I plan to spray the parts with black satin paint to give them a very slight sheen.

After doing this job it's not difficult. Just takes some patience. Total cost for me approx. $10.00.

 

I see you are in LA. Here is what you must do to make the 348 the car of your dreams:
1. Show up at Supercar Sunday.
2. Introduce yourself to the other 348 owners there.
3. Go on a canyon run with them (us).
4. Buy lunch.
5. Tell us how smart and good-looking we are.
6. Bring the likker and hookers.

 

This guy ! Bruce, you are a legend !

 

Are you sure about that?

 

Get to know Plugzit! You will then by default get to know a few others who's names probably should not be said in public. FYI Plugzit has been known to be "wheel rich." He may even have a few pairs of shoes for you to try on. He also is a hoarder. If we were really his friends we would do an "intervention" but we need him this way because at 3pm on Sunday and you need a part he is the first person you call.

Alternator check to see if when running produces about 14.5V at the battery. Anything less than about 14.2 take to Rotex in Gardena will rebuild for $120 bucks tax included. You can also do an Ernie on it but that is more work.

Sticky...oven cleaner. My favorite since the 308. I know it sounds stupid just try it.

 

Hi there and welcome to the 348 brotherhood

Lots covered but will just add:

5. As has been indicated, not a vinyl covering, it's a texture in the plastic. I've got both a red painted top and an original black plastic one. For the red painting it is sanding down, filling/primer then paint but you need to use the correct filler/primer product (but I don't know what it is). Like many the texture on mine came back through the paint a bit over time. I took it to my main dealer who got a Ferrari approved body shop to strip it all off and start again. They've guaranteed the texture will not return (or they will redo at their own cost) but wouldn't tell me how they did it or what they used which was a tad irritating. If you have such a thing as Ferrari approved body shops out there go bribe on to tell you what they use or get them to do it.

Or leave as is but if you're going to do that just make sure the sills are black too!

 

Congratulations, DragRag!

Black sills are definitely the way to go. I think if I one day buy a GTB/GTS then I'll paint the lower sills black for the tb/ts look.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

quick shots of what simple green can do. Granted.. you have to get under the car.. but this provides the opp to see if there are any leaks. Looks like I missed a small spot too...
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Don't think it could have been mine - not sure if I've ever posted a picture of her

 

As for releasing some of the 348's power here is what I've done so far.

I sent my throttle bodies to fchatter RobZ and he did a very nice port job on them for me.

I had the intake runners ported. In particular I had the bottle necks at the bottom of the runners opened up. The first set it had ported, I also had flow matched. It also isn't a bad idea to get the openings of the bell mouths matched up. When I mic'd the i.d. of each of the mouths of the stock intake runners, not a signle one matched up. The diameters were all over the place.

Get some high flow cats, and a high flow muffler. The stock cats are pretty restrictive, and if you have the dual can muffler that stupid thing is restrictive and REALLY heavy.

The combination of those is good for about 300hp +/- to the hubs, or about 327-ish hp at the crank. My car is making 305hp @ 7200rpm to the hubs (332hp at the crank) but I have some expensive custom headers on my 348 in addition to the other mods I listed. I also rechipped my ecu's with some EPROMs that have the spider fuel mapping on them (special thanks to Eric for those). Not quite 355 power numbers but better than stock, and I'm not done yet.