Hi guys, I've got a slow puncture on the drivers side rear of my '87 328 and rather than take it to a tyre fitter to replace the rear pair, I want to get the wheel checked out for corrosion to see if that is the cause. Anyway, step one is to take off the wheel and tyre but I'm not clear where the jacking point is. I've attached a couple of pics to show a) what I think is the jacking pint and b) my jack next to that point (which doesn't appear to fit). Can anyone help me out with a little guidance? Regards Paul Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's the jacking point, but it's been crushed by someone using a floor jack on it. You can try to bend that flange back to the vertical, or just use a floor jack at the rear of the car
Thanks Tillman. If I were the straighten the bent bits, particularly the one on the left of the pic, would the jack then fit in between? It looks awfully tight. Failing that, whereabouts on the rear of the car would I use a floor jack? Cheers Paul
Yes, it should fit. I use (and my mechanic uses) the frame rail that runs across the back of the car to the rear of the engine. If you place it in the center, you lift both rear wheels at the same time. Be careful, use jack stands and chocks! I've heard it said you can tweak the car by lifting from there, but I asked the guys at Norwoods and they didn't seem to think it was an issue. You can also lift closer to the suspension pickup points, there's a good area near the rear wheel.
Thanks again! What would you recommend as the best way I go about bending back the flange? A pair of pliers and brute force is the only option I can think of!
yup...and you'll want to use the longest pliers you can to get the leverage....which means you need to jack up the car first :-( Big vice grips help a lot. The result will be messy...it'll look a bit mangled and you won't be able to make it better....but it'll work.
Another thought I've had is that the jack itself may not be any orginal Ferrari fit - from my picture above, is it the same as the jacks any of you are familiar with from your 328s?
Looks the same to me too, but I would be careful about how you bend the metal back into shape. The metal might crack when you do it and since it's already "put in place", as long as you block the wheels, I would consider just using the jack where it is.
Plyers should be OK, however, if you use an adjustable crescent wrench set to the narrowest possible slot and work that over the bent flange then it should end up straighter and less chewed up (and will be easier on your hands).
