Folding canvas roof for 355 GTS

I test drove Mine with the top behind the seat to see if it was possible and it was ridiculous!

My feet were splayed so much I couldn't stop pressing two pedals at the same time, My right ankle was absolutely killing Me after @ 2miles and it was a struggle getting in and out of the car!

I was weighing up only being able to drive the car on guaranteed sunny days or having to leave the hard-top on the car just in case when I was out and about, when I found the folding top and suddenly all My problems were solved!

(You've got to feel sorry for those poor, tall 308/328 GTS owners who have to take their hard-tops with them if there's a chance of rain! )

 

Yep, pretty much the same here, just couldn't comfortably drive the car with the roof behind the seats added to which it pretty much always trashes the roof after a time.

I actually have 3 roofs - the folable soft top for when I want to go out with the roof off, a colour coded red targa for whe I want the roof on and want to retain the lines of the tb and a black plastic targa for when I want to display the car in original condition. Bit greedy really but I do use all of them at different times.

 

I purchased Daniel's (Ricambi) folding top (per your description, the FNA one with the latches in the front) a while back for my 355. The top barely fits on the 355 (a very tight fit), but the 348 latches are not the same as the 355's. I did purchase spare 355 latches for ($$$$$), but they bolt on in a slightly different position than the 348 latches. Without pulling all the hardware back out... from memory... I think the 348 latches bolt on closer to the front of the roof than the 355 latches. Haven't decided if I want to take to a body shop to see if they can do a workaround to move the mounting plate where the latch bolts on. Not sure if the non-FNA folding 348 tops, with no latch assembly, will work on the 355. Anyone have some definitive intel there?

 

I've found that My FNA version is very tight when it comes to clamping the latches down so as I posted earlier, I'm going to make some thin shims to fit under the latches to ease the fit slightly.

Other than that, it fits perfectly on the 348.

 

Like I said, the later 348 latches are the same as the early 355, the early 348 latches are different, I guess it depends which were used to make your roof. I have 2 targas - one came with my 348 the other is from a 355 which is no more (has chassis number on so I tracked it down), both fit perfectly and have the same latches but like I said, mine is a late model 348. There are shims under the mounting plates where the latches go on the underside of the windscreen - have you tried removing or adding one or 2 of these?

Re the 'Euro spec' foldable roofs - a 355 owner here tried an older one and it fit but found one of the new ones I 'found' too tight. I guess they would loosen out with use and time though.

 

Instead of completely locking one side in place before doing the other I expand it as much as I can then expand ut the other side. Once Ive done that I make sure the tab on the roof is going to go into the receiver part on the car and expand it out fully locking it in place then go back to the original side and lock that side in place.

That has probably not helped at all! LOL

One thing to watch is the locking catch in the middle of the bar - sometimes it doesnt clip home and a couple of times Ive come back to the car to find the roof has colapsed inwards and the alarm has gone off :-( I check now and its not done it since

 

I really like the idea, but it does sound like a bit of a hassle.

And maybe it doesn't fit properly on later 355s?

I've learnt to get used to having my seat in a less than perfect position when the roof is stored behind the seats (it's only one notch further forward than I'd normally drive), so probably not worth it for me with the current options.

But it's a good idea, and if a well fitting one was avaiable for later 355s at a sensible price I'd consider it.
I'm surprised no-one has come up with a similar but better solution, to be honest.

 

Once you get the technique right its not a hassle. I have mine on all year round now and no longer use the hard top at all. Only thing I have done is to glue some extra rubber seals on the inner sides to stop draughts/make it water tight.
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Jeff, have you got the 'part number' or a link for those seals?

 

Details including fitting pics etc here:

348 DIY "Restoration" - Page 160

 

Thanks mate, I'll have a browse

 

Seriously, if you can afford to get one - do it! It's one of the most practical buys you can make to aid enjoying your car.

The FNA top requires the correct latches to fit the 355 but you can simply take the latches off your hard top and fit them to the soft top. Also if it's tight to clamp the latches you only need to make a couple of simple shim plates to adjust it slightly (which I'm going to do myself sometime).

The Ferrari top (without latches) should be a straight fit onto the car with no modifications needed (dimensionally, the 348 and 355 top panels are identical). There used to be a small family company in Holland who used to make these soft tops and I suspect that is where Ferrari got their stock from as I'm sure they're the exact same top!(without latches).

As for the price, these tops are pretty rare (the FNA version is hens teeth rare in fact, and I'm amazed Maranello parts actually still have the Ferrari version in stock!), so they're always going to cost a bit, but it is worth having if you're tall as it means you never have to compromise your comfort in the car whilst driving, or have to always have the hard top on the car, just in case.

Also, TBH, I don't think anyone really could come up with a better solution. The FNA version does a superb job of replicating the hard top whilst having the practicality of beng able to be folded and placed on the rear parcel shelf, and the Ferrari version is a nice simpler solution that works just as well.

Several people on here have looked into re-making these tops as they seem quite simple, but even with reverse engineering it was decided that it was just too much work involved to be worth doing.

Another option someone came up with was to make a hard top that was split down the middle so you could put the two halves in the front boot/trunk. This top had pin locators to align the two halves together and the standard latches. As I recall though, I think it was a one-off.

TBH, I wouldn't go with the split hard top idea as it robs you of space in the front boot/trunk whereas the soft top goes on the parcel shelf out of the way. Also, you would really have to buy a second hard top to make it and the cost of it all would be more than the cost of a folding soft top.

As I say though, the folding soft top is well worth having if you're tall!

(I actually bought Mine before I had actually bought My car - Just to make sure I had one! ).

The nice thing as well is that due to their rarity, so long as you look after the top and keep it in good condition, you can always sell it later for what you bought it for (or thereabouts), because owners do want them, so it's not like you'll loose all of you money on it!

 

Frankly I think there's a market here waiting to be exploited.

I'm 6'1 so no short arse, and I'm semi happy to stick the genuine hard top behind the seats for those times I think it might rain - rare, as I am in OZ.
But the truth is in 3 years of owning the 355GTS I have used it 90/10 roof on/roof off.

That may change with an easy on and off alternative that I could always have stored behind me in an emergency.

This seems to be close, but no cigar.

 

The Ferrari one really is no hassle. I was a 90/10 man before I had it, now a rarely drive with the roof on which was the whole point in getting a TS in the first place. I don't need the foldable roof on, I just need it to be there 'in case'.

I've actually had to put it on the car once as I got caught out with a light shower but that's not the point - I've been out for drives loads of times with the roof off simply because I had it on the parcel shelf just in case. Had I not had it I'd have had the hard top on for 90% of those occasions.

Putting the roof on, you take it out of the bag, locate the rear pins in the same way you would a hard targa, straighten the side bar till the roof unfolds and the front 'tabs' locate into the area where the clamps would go and lock the side bar in place. Then you do the other side. Takes a minute tops. Some of the newer ones have seemed to be a bit tight but I'd think they'd loosen out considerably if you opened them out and left them like that for a few weeks. Might go do that with mine actually as like I said, it's almost never been on my car.

 

With the FNA version it goes:

To fit:

1) Pull the top out of the bag.
2) Pull the side hinges out to spread the top out and locate the centre bars tabs in the hinge section (the hinges will lock themselves in position when straight).
3) Fit to the car exactly as you do your hard-top.

To remove:

1) Remove the top from the car exactly as you do your hard-top.
2) Pull the spring loaded sleeves down on the hinge sections to unlock the hinges.

(This one caught Me out when I first tried opened out the roof! I got the top stretched out and couldn't get it down again! I noticed the ring sections molded by the hinges and eventually found they slide down against spring pressure and release the hinges!).

4) Fold up the top and place in the bag.

It really is that easy!

As for:

Here you go, have a read: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/160535-hey-brothers-check-out.html#post136924881

The folding soft-tops really do look simple to make but they're more complicated than you think.


For Me, I very rarely drive with a top on the car.

The only times I have driven with the hard-top on is when I brought the car home (it was 200 mile journey and so the top had to stay on), and twice when I drove the car to My house to wash it.

The only time I've driven with the soft-top on is when I got caught out in the previously posted downpour (What a Godsend the soft-top was that day!).

The only other time the soft-top goes on the car is when I park it up for any length of time.

At the moment the temps in the UK are anywhere between 0°c ~ +10°c, but I still don't have a top on the car! It's windows down, thick jumpers on and the heater on full blast to feet and face! (If it gets too cold though I do sometimes wuss-out and put the windows up, but have a top on the car? - not for Me!).

I love driving the car out in the open!
One of My happiest memories so far as a Ferrari owner is driving 130 miles home at 1am in the summer from My friends house without a roof on the car and with the windows down.

I've done the same journey back home more recently now it's colder (I did have the windows up for this journey though!), and it was great!

The thing is though, if I had the hard-top on the car for those trips then they would only have been half as memorable, and I wouldn't want to make that journey without knowing I had a top at all in the car just in case (unpredictable UK weather and all that!), and I simply wouldn't be able to make those trips with the hard-top behind the seats!

Without the folding soft-top, life with the 348 for Me would be far more compromised!

 

I read that a while ago. I know Daniel was talking up his roof, no issue with that at all, but he got a couple of things wrong re the 'Euro spec' roofs.

Firstly they aren't restricted to 90kph and never have been - it's 160kph and is fine well over that, I've tested on a runway at a long way north of 160kph and it was absolutely fine.

Secondly, the legit Ferrari ones aren't held in position by 'pressure' as he says, they are locked open and when they are locked they can't come out.

Think of it this way - the FNA ones are locked open then a clamp is used to hold them down (in the same way a clamp is used on the standard targas). On the legit Ferrari roofs the 'clamp' is a fixed tab and they are locked open which means neither the pin at the back or 'clamp' or tabs at the front can come out. Both are in fact locked open and held by 2 pins at the back and 2 'clamps' at the front (moveable clamps on the FNA roof, fixed 'tabs' on the Ferrari roof). If the locking open mechanism fails on either the roof would come loose, unlikely in either design.

Which do I like the best? For a permanent roof I think I like the FNA ones the best, for a temporary/emergency roof to be kept on the parcel shelf I think I prefer the legit Ferrari ones - lighter weight and a bit more compact. But either is a great bit of kit to have IMO
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When I was researching the folding soft-top for My 348 I read all of your previous posts about them, along with all of the other posters such as Daniel from RICAMBI, and it was all incredibly useful and very educational, so I know you know what you're talking about.

I didn't go out looking for a FNA version specifically, it just happened to come up for sale at the exact right time the week before I bought My car (it was almost as if it was meant to be!), but if it had been the Ferrari version then I would have been just as happy.

I do prefer the flusher fit of the FNA top, but as you say, in the real world there's no other real difference between the two for function.

Based on the way that the Ferrari version fits to the car, relying only on the side bars applying pressure between the windscreen rail and the rear roof section, I wonder if the scuttle shake/flex of the car puts a bit too much stress on the bars leading to stress fractures?

Because the FNA version clamps on the same way as the hard-top, with the windscreen rail latches, their side bars may be very slightly shorter than the Ferrari version and so do not suffer due to scuttle shake/flex (I might be barking up the wrong tree with this theory, it's just an idea).

 

Not sure about the breaking - only heard of that one earlier in the thread going, but would agree with the rest. As I said, as a permanent roof I'd probably prefer the FNA one over the Ferrari one, I think the Ferrari one is more one to be kept on the parcel shelf 'in case' you get caught out. That said, as Jeff says he uses his (which used to be mine before I replaced it) all the time.

This is mine on the car. As you say, it's not totally flush but still looks ok.

Either way I do think for a TS/GTS owner either is a nice thing to have
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I have one for sale in the sale section.

 

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Dites-moi s'il vous plaît, quel est le mien, Ferrari or other?
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What price you want for this?