Questions from a new 348 owner

Hello.

Just bought my first Ferrari (348ts -91) and have some questions for you that I´ll hove you ca answer.

1: Do Ferrari 360 rims (I think they are 18") fit my 348 without any problems? Any other problems with that?

2: Near the gearbox inside the coupe, there is a "sticky mess" were your supposed to leave keys/sunglasses. Also the doorhandles inside seams to be "sticky" or out of paint. How to fix?

3: Do you use spacers at your rear wheels? If so, witch one? What to think about?

4: Rear (and front) window have small areas witch is withe, like the glas separeted. What to do? Can you buy the rear window from your lokal carglass shop or is it special order?

5: The body have 2 small cracks, one just where the backwindow meet the wheelhouse, and one in the rear, at the same side. Both are about 16 mm long. What to do? Common? How to fix?

Lots of questions,

Regards Lars from Sweden

 

Hello and welcome for the forum Lars!

And congrats on your 348, you are going to love it. They are awesome cars.

They will fit straight on, but they will sit outside the front and rear guards because they are too wide.

You can have the rear hub of each 360 wheel machined so they can fit inside the guards nicely on the 348. This has been done many times by owners here in the 348 section.

You will need to remove those parts, clean them up and then re-paint or re-coat in plasti-dip.

It is a very time consuming and tedious job and here is some info and pics if you want to have a crack at doing it yourself.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/359291-ultimate-sticky-interior-fix-experiment-6.html

Or remove them and send them to the US to Fchatter Robbie. He has a business STICKYNOMORE which fixes this issue.

Robbie is a sponsor here on the forum and has done this job countless times. He does amazing work, but the postage cost from Sweden to the US and back again might be the killer here.

https://stickynomore.com/

I used to run the Hill Engineering rear 25mm bolt on spacers on my car.

Very very good quality and definitely the only ones I would use on my Ferrari. And I did, but I removed them and sold them not too long ago.

The rear wheel spacers were great, they filled up the rear guards with the standard 348 wheels making it look more aggressive.

If you don't fit the 360 wheels, definitely get some Hill Engineering wheel spacers for the rear end for your 348.

Available here-

Ferrari Parts, Accessories, and Performance Products - Ricambi America, Inc.

You will have to call to ask about the front and rear glass from your local windscreen shops.

I haven't chased front or rear glass for my car as I have not had the need to.

Sounds like the windscreens are showing signs of delamination, I have seen this before on other cars but not on a Ferrari.

If you don't have any luck local, they are available for sale from Ricambi America also.

But again the freight from the US to Sweden would be shocking. Try your luck local first.

Ferrari 348 (1989-1992) Parts : Table 121 - GLASSES AND GASKETS

Not sure about the cracks mate, but it sounds like body work to me.

Can you post some pics please so we can take a look at your car and also those crack.

We love seeing pics around here.

Congrats again and enjoy Lars.

 

I reckon it's the butressess.

It's very common on 348/355's and needs to be painted

 

Yes, I think you might be on the right track there man.

 

Thanks for great answers, really nice of you to help me. I´m a Porsche guy that just happends to buy a Ferrari (can´t stop looking at it..)

Also, shifting gears is quite "slow"/"hard" is it common?

Here is some pic of my new car, and the cracks. (I hade hope the pic´s was going to show...instead it just shows links..what wrong?)

 

In particular for second gear you need to let the gearbox warm up

You could also spend some time looking at the useful technical threads index at the top (along with oother existing threads) as there is already much knowledge here of the common issues such as wheel stickies & buttresses

 

Not a problem Lars, thank you for sharing pics.

Your car looks awesome! Looks to be in excellent condition too.

A very common quirk for this model. In your cold climate it will probably feel a little harder to select gears than say my warmer climate here in Australia.

I would drain that gearbox oil asap and refill with Redline Superlight Shock proof oil.

I changed to this gearbox oil back in December 2005 and my car shifts perfectly now.

Very very smooth shifts. I have done two gearbox oil changes in the 10 years of my ownership and 10,000 km's.

I will give the car a service again soon, will change the engine oil, gearbox oil and flush the brake fluid again.

Check my thread out, plenty of info and pics there for you so you can do it yourself.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q-sponsored-algar-ferrari/101885-pap348-gearbox-oil-change-10.html

I see the cracks now and unfortunately this is also a common quirk with this model.

I would just leave it, my car developed the same cracks and worse during my ownership and I am not worried about it. My cracks are HUGE in that area compared to your cracks.

I will have the car repainted one day and I will have them repair it then of course.

To "beef" that area up, the car can be stitch welded along the buttress from under neath with the inner wheel arch removed with the tyre off.

Your call, but it's a very minor crack in the paint so I would leave it alone Lars.

 

It's very easy to post up pics Lars.

When you make a new post, scroll down and look for the "manage attachments" box.

Click on that and upload your pics.

You will only have a set upload limit, so eventually you will not be able to post pics up without subscribing.

But if you are going to stick around for a while and contribute to this forum then it's money well spent Silver Subscribing.

You get unlimited picture uploads and you also get to access other sections which are also very good.

Plus a profile picture etc.

I have uploaded your pics for all to enjoy. Some great shots you took there Lars.

Cheers Pap
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Thanks for your help.

Here is my other car.
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Just to let you know, your front wheels are on the wrong sides! (the drivers side wheel should be on the passengers side and the passengers side wheel should be on the drivers side).

The front wheel spokes should match your rear wheels which are on the correct sides.

It's only a cosmetic thing and it bothers some more than others but I thought I'd let you know (it's kind of a 348 owners tradition around here to spot wheels that are on the wrong side of the car! )
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Lars, you have a p.m.
BR
Bertil

 

Thanks for the information. Got to change side of the wheels.

I didn´t know that at all..

 

I'm sure you probably already know all this but just in case:

Just be careful that the tyres are not directional (I can't quite make out the make and model of tyres you have fitted from the pictures).

If they are directional then swapping the wheels over will leave the tyres on the wrong way round on the wheels.

(To have the wheels and tyres on the right way round would mean swapping the tyres round on the wheels and then swapping the wheels over on the car).

If they're not directional then there's no need to swap the tyres round on the wheel, you just need to swap the wheels over.

As I've already posted, its only a cosmetic thing at the end of the day and 99% of people wouldn't even notice it TBH!

Great car BTW! - Enjoy it to the full!

 

If changing the gear box oil doesn't improve you're shifting, try this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mIvAhIBVzBA
It that link doesn't work, just go on YouTube and search "Ferrari 348 shift cable lubrication".

 

Great answer friends.

(And Bertil, thank you for the phone call, much appreciated)

I think I have lot to do next spring (I will not ge the hold of the car until then, winter is coming here and I put it away today)

By the way, the front tyers are original, from 1991 ...crazy...got to change tyers.

 

Cuba Cola?

 

Cuba Cola is an old drink my grandfather made here in Sweden in the -50:s.

Like Coca Cola, but locally made sort of..

Does it mean something else? Tell me if so.

 

interesting.
The Cuba part caught my eye. my parent where both Cuban migrants.
just wondering if there was a Cuban in Sweden. I've bumped into them even in India.

 

Cheers Phil.

Very cool!

 

another quality product from maranello ....