348 Color Matched Top

Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure the 94 - 95 that had the color matched lowers also had the OPTION to get a color matched roof. They didn't come with it standard but it was available.

 

Lots of discussion on this subject. Do some searches...

 

Whilst I can understand the thinking behind your post, it doesn't exactly come across as being very friendly! (In fact it almost sounds as though you're saying: "Why don't you make an effort to find out for yourself you lazy........." )

You could have just have easily have posted:

Lots of discussion on this subject, try these for a start:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/234768-348-ts-targa-tops.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/173947-348ts-painted-targa-top.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/397475-painting-f355-targa-roof.html


That comes across in a far friendlier manner!

 

TS tops are fiberglass with the black satin rough finish. Owners have had them sanded smooth and painted to match the body. They use a flex additive in it or else it cracks. Plugzit just had his done and it looks great on the tree car. I was looking for an extra one that I could do as well but spare tops are not common nor cheap. I have a black car so the top isn't all that noticeable other than it has a flat finish. A little vinyl treat and it shines like the paint for a bit. My car is also an SS so I don't want to do anything irreversible.

This question is so simple, I'd rather just answer it here than force someone to go hunting for it.

 

I thought of buying a second top to have painted for My car (until I found out how much the tops cost!), and then thought of having the top that came with My car painted as I really like how it looks, but then realised that the only time I have the top on the car is when it is parked in the garage, I'm washing it or it's going for a service, so it would be a bit pointless really!

 

I have a spare bare top if anyone is in need in the UK just PM me. Perfect for colour matching. Its a 355 one will a black vinyl covering at the moment

 

I had my top painted. A buddy of mine has a shop, so to help keep the cost down, I did most of the rough sanding to get the pattern off the roof. Then it got body filler, block sanded again, primed, he sprayed it for me, it got color sanded, then buffed. I think I spent $300-$400, that included buying the materials and paint. But again I did quit a bit of the prep work to keep cost down.

There was no option from the factory to have the top match the color of the body. All done after market as far as I know.

 

Do you have to take any extra precautions with the painted top when storing it in the car behind the seats to avoid scratching it?

I'm asking as it might be of interest to others thinking of colour coding their tops more than for Myself.



The problem I have is that at 6'2" I'm too tall to have the top behind the seats, (I tried it when I test drove the car and it was positively dangerous as I had to have the seat a bit too far forward to be ideal. This resulted in My feet being splayed outwards too much on the pedals and so I kept catching two pedals at a time! We took the roof out, moved the seat back and all was fine), and as I say, the hard top is never really on the car when I'm out an about (I don't get the point of paying extra for an open top car only to drive everywhere with the roof on!), so as much as I love the look of the colour coded top, the money would be better spent elsewhere (like getting the heater fan working again!).

Luckily enough I found a FNA folding soft-top for sale in the USA on ebay a week before I collected My car so bought it straight away and have it in a keyboard bag (wrapped in a cheap duvet to help pad it), on the parcel shelf so I always have a roof available to put on the car when it is parked for long periods or if it suddenly rains (it's saved Me a couple of times in downpours that came out of the blue!).

I highly recommend any tall 348/355 owners to get a folding soft-top if they can, it's an absolute God-send!

 

Like that idea of folding soft top, have to keep an eye out for one of those.

 

As others have said this was not a factory option, rather the f dealer (or other body shops) refinished the flat black tops.
If I had a targa I would have it painted as it looks fantastic.

 

When I test drove the 348 and 355 targa's I noticed the same issue.....couldn't drive the car with the targa panel behind the seats.
That soft folding top sounds like a great idea....you should post a pic.
Does it look like a quality piece installed?
On the highway is the soft top sturdy or does it flop around?

 

A guy a while back wanted mine to split into two sections so that it would be a folding hard top that could be stored in the passenger footwell rather than behind the seats. Never heard back from him so I guess he gave up on the idea. I imagine some hinging system or sliding seal was planned.

 

I haven't got a picture of My roof on the car but there are some pictures of the roof itself in this thread from last year (post #4) : http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/471483-folding-canvas-roof-355-gts.html

The FNA folding soft top actually looks more like a factory option roof than the official Ferrari version does as it fits into the windscreen roof rail recess and sits flush with the windscreen roof rail, and it clamps at the front exactly the same as the hard top does.

When installed the roof is as rigid as the hard top with no flopping or flapping, and because it sits below the front windscreen rail and is clamped to the rail, it has no speed limitations applied to it.

The official Ferrari folding soft top sits above the windscreen rail and has no front clamps, instead it relies on the top being stretched out to hold it in place. Because of this it has a speed limit of 100 mph applied to it.

This is a car (not mine) with the FNA folding soft top fitted and a picture of it's internal frame showing the front clamps:
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This is the official Ferrari top on a car and a picture of its internal frame:
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for that info, the FNA one looks way more structurally competent than the F one.

 

That soft top is nice.
Definately a must have for the taller targa owners.

 

Totally agree, as I say, the official Ferrari version looks more "after-market" than the FNA version!

However, the reality is, when fitted to the car they both work as well as each other (the official Ferrari version has a safety warning not to exceed 100mph whereas the FNA version does not, but how often are you really going to drive over 100mph?).

The other difference is, the official Ferrari version can still be bought from dealers (Part No. 63380800), whereas the FNA version can only be found (rarely) 2nd hand.

As I say though, if you're a taller 348/355 owner and you can find a folding soft top (either version), it's well worth having!

 

TBH, I wouldn't want to get into casting aspersions on other member's characters, it's not why I joined this site and it also breaches the sites rules.

For some members, people not using the sites search facility first (or even using Google search first), is a major bugbear and they get annoyed by it.

For others, such as Myself, it's no big deal.

The thing is, encouraging people to use the search facility can be done in a much friendlier manner than a blunt:"Try doing a search for it!" post.

For Myself, I'd much rather post links to a couple of related threads to help start off the enquiries and then maybe mention that more threads can be found using the search facility.

I also find it funny when members take the time to post a reply stating that they can't be bothered to take the time to post any links to threads on the subject in question.

Posting the links to the relevant threads would take hardly any more time than it takes to post that you can't be bothered!

As I say, there are friendlier ways of achieving the same goal!

 

Guys, Guys, Guys.....wow, settle down. I wasn't trying to belittle, nor bully. Simply stating a fact that a quick search pulls up all kinds of information on this subject (how do I know? Because I've searched for it before) and without re-doing an entire new thread on the subject, the quickest way to answers is to read what's already been posted.

I wasn't trying to shame the guy or belittle him. There was nothing mean in my reply. A simple statement of fact.

Man, people are touchy this week aren't they? Sheesh. "Fchat doesn't need people like him." Wow, you make that statement based upon a 9 word reply of mine to one of your posts? You know nothing about me.

Anyway..

 

I just bought a folding soft top (63380800) for my 348. Had a friend of mine with a 3D printer print me off some spacers for under the front clamps as it was a little too tight.

I love it. And it does offer a bit more head room than the standard targa top. So much easier to take in and out since it's not as bulky when collapsed. Just gotta be careful or you can break the side parts which lock in place. BUT they can be welded and made stronger than the original (ask me how I know)

I believe FNA has 3 of them left for around $900 list... bought mine from a dealer who bumped it to 1100. Still worth it.

 

Agreed. I've had the same thing happen to me a couple of times here when all I was doing was trying to be brief.
Everyone, always keep in mind... plain written text has no "tone".
So if you're reading something that isn't explicitly belligerent, but you feel it was meant that way... remember that the tone you're hearing is the tone you've applied to it in your own head. That may well have not been the poster's intention at all.

If you re-read Brian's post, but picturing him saying it with a slight smile and a casual shrug you see it can just as easily be taken as "Oh hey, yeah, we've talked about that in the past a few times. Shouldn't be too hard to catch up on all the discussion with a quick search here. "

And another to make it clear this whole post was done with a slight smile and a casual shrug.

 

The trouble is, your nine word post comes across as being very abrupt and unfriendly!

If someone stopped you in the street and asked you for directions to a hospital would you just say: "It's a bit obvious - Try looking for the signs!"?

As I say, with the use of just a few more words, the exact same message could have been put across in a much more friendly manner! - I'll leave it at that.

 

Like I said, bj, normally, I'd send someone on the thread search if it was an appropriate subject - like how do you change your oil. But I thought this topic had a very simple and direct answer. My office does the same. We have all the guidebooks you could use, but several times a day someone posts a question they could easily have researched in a few minutes to our group and wastes time, bandwidth and server space. And the search engine here is not all that user friendly. It works, takes more than a few steps to get where you want to end up.