My car is back in action finally!

After 9 months of cashetomies to the Nth degree and constantly worrying about the car never going back together or being able to find the unobtainium parts Ferrari uses in that car it all culminated in me finally slipping back behind the wheel about 6pm yesterday. I spent months b*t*hing and moaning about the cost and listening to countless people tell me I was crazy to try and fix the car....BUT lets just say the instant I turned the key I forgot about it all.

Nothing and I mean nothing to me beats the sound of this car so just to hear it again made me happy. Pulled out of the shop (where the car had to be finished up because I got lost in the transmission rebuild at the end) being oh so careful to not scrape the car and headed down the street to get some fuel, then it was to the on ramp and a nice little run from second though third onto I-35W. Yep back in heaven again.

Of course I got home and figured out that I have my front tires rub on the inner fender well now so I have to fix that BUT never the less I haven't been this happy in a long time. Just to share my joy with everyone I took some pictures of my babies arrival back at home.

The T/A is going away (my first car ever) as I have to make space in the garage for some other projects so I had to get it in some pictures to remember it with the 348. The 348 looks like a Micro machine next to it.

Thanks to Daniel at Ricambi who literally bent over backward for me trying to get parts and everything else that I needed to get this thing back on the road. Also thanks to Rob at Delta Vee for the excellent workmanship in the suspension setup I have from him (shared with BillyBob) as in the 100 miles I have put on the car since setting everything back up it truly is the way the car should drive. Just like my little Rotax kart.

So now its off to roll the fenders when I get a chance because the nasty tire rub I am sure would cause me to cut a tire on the track and the last thing I want to do is lose a front tire on the track. Beyond that I have to change the oil, clean all the electrical connections, add my new Hill type-2 spacers in the back (assuming my fender rolling works) and then its off to rip up the track on June 2 and 3 at Mid-America. After that its a write up on my Delta Vee setup (which is awesome!!!!!!) and then FINALLY I can get around to my planned COPs conversion.

One last BIG BIG BIG thanks to everyone and their help (FBB and Ernie specifically), plugzit, Rob S, and of course my man Daniel.

A few pics for those who are interested showing the new setup off when I got it home yesterday.
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I screwed up a stupid spacers on the main shaft as I didnt check my clearances enough. Basically I needed a 4.7mm one instead of a 5mm one which came off the car. The result was to tight of a fit and to much preload on the shaft. The work was done by a excellent friend of mine (at the shop) and since I was globe trotting thanks to work allowed me to get it done in time for track season which was more important to me. No doubt I could have got it right but I just ran out of time thanks to god forsaken work. Either way it cost me little to get it back on the road.

Funny story on the spacer...I think Daniel ended up getting like 8 of them from Ferrari because they mismarked all the 5mm ones as being 4.7mm.

Now back to the tires. I am running 225/40/18's on the 355 rims. I think the problem stems from the fact that I had to add spacers to the front when I put my Brembo's on to clear the calipers. They are 15mm and I think if I had 10mm one on there I would be fine based on where I see the contact area on the times from the rubbing. The rubbing doesnt occur on the street just when I turn into my driveway over the curb but I think that it will rub under heavy turning loads.

 

Yeah she sits really low....I now have to not go in most steep driveways without literally going as slow as possible at as low of angle as possible.

I now have the Delta Vee setup and my ride height is 95mm in front and 85mm in the rear which I am going to crank down to 65mm on the track to get the rear end a little more planted. I have a set of 25mm type-2 spacers sitting around from Daniel that was going to put on the back BUT I am not sure they will fit now without me rolling the fenders on the back as well which I am not sure I want to do. We'll see tomorrow after I sleep on it a little more here.

Camber setup at the moment is -1.8 in the front and -2.7 in the rear but once I get a chance to get some smaller nuts on the forks I should be able to get out to -3.0 to -3.1 which will give me a good setup for a few of the tracks I drive. This year I am in data gather mode and next year I will be a lot better setup to turn in some fast times.

The more I look at the pics the better she looks as low as she is. I attached some more pics I just pulled off the camera. You can see the rubbing bent a little metal on the wheel well on the passenger side on the second picture right at the top of the wheel arch.
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Well I wish I could say it was because I was a "His Royal Highness" but I am just a lowly Kaiser from Bavaria.

 

Thanks man....as you can see the Brembo's are on the car and are rocking. Got about a billion different pad combos to try this year so it will be fun.

 

Before I go to bed here after a LONG night of work just wanted to say Daniel and Rob still rule.

 

355's actually. I didnt want rubber as wide as the 512's require in the back but I wanted the wheel base wider. I personally like the 355 wheel the best of any combo on a Ferrari so they were a natural fit and I can get a good selection of street and track tires for it.

 

Thanks Rob. Actually the suspension is a reworked original setup by Rob at Delta Vee (site sponsor). You can get the same ride height on a stock 348 but I would be hesitant with it because of the spring rates on the OEM setup.

It took me all weekend to finally get my wheels complete with spacers to fit under the fenders but I now have it all done and racked up a fricking speeding ticket testing out the suspension setup. Killer was it was for 7mph over the speed limit in a 55mph by a friends hobby farm where I was testing everything out.

Ah well its just all round off after the tranny cost.