Fabspeed Motorsport Ferrari 355 High Performance Headers

There is actually something totally different in the heat shield pic I posted.....anyone care to guess what it is

 

Its a box not a shield. The trick is inside it

No it's not a Sussey Homemaker easy bake oven

 

Cheapo Jegs/Thermotec/DEI header blanket pictures
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Passenger side header
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Hummm Well, not over the top awesome...but those don't suck.

They work?

 

I have no idea why all controversy over Fabspeed headers. If you own a 355 you know a well insulated header is Ideal. If you want to get a header and install blankets and powder coating or other combos to make them safe in your engine cool, but you can go to Chris Stebb at stainlessheaders.com and get better made, higher quality made in the USA headers insulated in the clam shells for aprox the same price as fabspeed headers alone without the added work. You can still keep the 4-2-1 design also...Or Go to Ricambi. IMO there is only one way to do the job right and I mentioned two of them...(drops Mic walks away)

 

that looks quite good to me for $80 worth of material.
if it keeps the heat in that works for me

 

Hello Randy, do a search on JP or QV rebuilt headers and you'll understand why I did not use them a second time. The set that came off my car with a blown out right bank primary lasted me 4 years/19k miles. It was a convenient solution at the time, but not a permanent one.

 

was it your Qv rebuilt headers that failed again or JP ?

if Qv then I'm no surprised cause they just do a patch up job of the failed area on the tubing.

where as JP rebuilds the entire tubing. therefore a JP rebuilt header should be as good as any aftermarket option.

 

NICE!

 

Will take a look at them...I know Chris Stebbs headers are quality built. I dont know who makes them for Ricambi but they say they have never known a set they sold to fail...

 

Hello Tony, hard to know as it was a transition period for the US dealer who previously sold QV but switched over to JP. No complaints about the selling dealer, and I'm not one to cry about the limited life cycle of the parts I bought. My car is now on it's 4th set of headers (1st 2 sets were factory, set of#3 was either QV or JP, and now I'm on Fabspeed. Headers are one of those items where 1st hand experiences seem to vary, so make no assumptions until you've tried them on your own car. 1 year ago I would have said, "Rebuilds? No problems." Today my view is different.

 

Thanks! Not as beautiful as your Hytech set up, but I did not have time over the holidays to chase down John and ask him how big of a backlog he had.

 

Hi Randy, my car is not on fire yet so they appear to work. There's a 4" section of the headers at the very end where they connect to the cats that are unshielded. I will have to put tape on that section to protect the CV boots.

 

wow 4 sets of headers, that's crazy. how much total miles does your car have?

2 sets of factory and one set rebuilt, I can't believe they all failed.
did you ever have any cat issues that could have caused all those sets of headers to fail?

 

58k miles. Still running the original cats and passes CA smog check every 2 years with flying colors.

 

I am sure fabspeed headers will hold up....My only point is at $3k you shouldnt need to do any work to them. For the same price you can get the best aftermarket header made and keep the 4-2-1 design and they are insulated in the clam shells. If they cost $1500 ok, then with powder coating and header blankets your at $3k. It still wouldnt be as good as a set from Stainless headers but on par for price.

That sucks you had so much header trouble. I think Ferrari should step up and eat the cost. They put these headers on cars for years knowing that they were going to fail

 

Randy,

We get it, you don't like the Fabspeed headers (despite the fact that you have never tried them to my knowledge) - you think Chris @ stainlessheadersDOTcom makes the greatest headers ever. You are more then entitled to your own opinion, and I am glad there is an option on the market that works for you. This is FABSPEED thread, started by FABSPEED (over 7 years ago) I do not see why you keep spamming Fabspeed and promoting another non- F-Chat vendor in an F-Chat vendor's thread.

For the record - we designed multiple versions of headers for the 355 - many of which were in the 4-2-1 design. These 4-2-1 headers consistently made less power then the 4-1 version, which is why we went with a 4-1 design over the 4-2-1 design.

 

For those on a budget (me), Fabspeed was my only option and I am super happy with them. Had them ceramic coated at a local shop and they're great.

They still generate a lot of heat and can cause some collateral damage when they're unblanketed (cv boot premature cracking, motor mounts premature cracking, etc)

But I have fixed those issues as they came up...I made some heat shields for my motor mounts and I bought some heatshield material on amazon and wrapped the OEM cv boot shields to make them bigger and more effective.

No regrets at all with Fabspeed (got mine in 2011)

Not bashing any other header option but I just don't see any sense in spending 7k on welded steel tubing. To me, for a 355, I'd go with Fabspeed or a Ricambi rebuild. They're the only options that make sense.

If money is no object and you have too much of it, then knock yourself out and get whatever is most expensive but I think it may be overkill on a car valued at 60-70k.

 

This is a forum (last I heard) where discussions and facts and opinions are shared by a group otherwise it would be an advertisement or a promotion piece. I cant start a thread and then say no one can say anything that doesnt promote my view. I had Fabspeed headers I purchased myself on my 993. The quality and craftsmanship held up and they looked great. My only issue with fabspeed 355 headers is what you get for the price. I think if I am going to spend $3k on them I shouldnt need to do anything but install them. The reason is if I install them out of the box like people above have stated there is a good chance of collateral damage from the heat. There are other options out there for aprox the same price that can do it out of the box. You PM'd me a price out of the blue offering me a set for $3k powder coated. It was tempting but like guys have stated even with powder coating they have had problems...I think its fair on a forum to post facts experiences and alternatives so people can make there own decision. competition makes us better if we rise to the occasion.
Which header system makes more torque when you tested them? 4-2-1 or 4-1 ?

 

an idea for Fabspeed to nip all this in the butt regarding heat.. would be to offer a cost effective OEM style clamshell shield for their headers..

Joe, could this be a possiblity..?

 

Yes, this is a forum - where we talk about facts an opinions. Your opinion has been shared, multiple times - even on the previous page alone. I see where you are coming from, and respect you stand point, no need to keep re posting the same thing.

You mentioned that you purchased Fabspeed headers in the past for your 993 and it was a great experience and a great product - why would our F355 headers be any different from a product quality stand point?

Yes, historically speaking 4-2-1 primarily make more torque down low vs the 4-1 design that makes marginally larger gains in power up top. Old news, we all know that. This is again something that you and I have talked about in other threads. Yes, most street cars are driven in the low RPMs. When performance matters, you are taking advantage of the engine by revving the engine to its upper RPM limits (where 4-1 design is much more efficient) this is why the 4-1 header design out shines the OEM 4-2-1 design in regards to power.

Tony,

I appreciate the idea, and if this is what our customers wanted, it would be done, but at this current point in time -it is simply not the case. Its a select few who would prefer the OEM style clam shell, and thankfully options exist on the market for this group. We offer the headers as we do for multiple reasons - 1st and foremost, some customers run them as-is. Then other customers prefer blankets over ceramic coating. If we were to ceramic coat all of our headers from the start, it would just be an extra cost to the customer who prefers blankets and a deal breaker to customers who are prefer to run a naked header with our heat sheilds.

 

Best answer

Hits the nail on the head

 

and also to clear up about the StainlessHeaders.com option.. I just spoke to the head fabricator there..

given they are not getting a whole lot of orders for 355 headers.. they are offering one option now.

$2,200 for a set of headers, with powder coating included.
16 gauge and 324ss.

***they no longer offer and will not do the work/labour to re-use shields.
and requires the shipment of your headers to them, to re-use certain parts they deemed quality enough to use in the fabrication of the new set, alllowing them to bring down the current price to $2200.

so for $2200, you are still getting a bare header, with related heat issues even with coating. and have to deal with shipping of your set back/forth..

 

Joe,
When you say, "Less power" do you mean less hp or less torque? Any idea how much bearing the flat plane design has on the situation?