My car is back in action finally!

RobM3 If you want a high res version of the one picture click here...it makes a better background than the 800x600 one you can post on here.

I assume this is the one you have as a background. If not let me know and I will get you the one you have.

http://www.trackpedia.com/photos/Ferrari_is_back_014.jpg

 

Glad to see you're mobile again. Um, what did you do besides that lowering?

 

He rebuilt the transmission.

 

But did he take pictures of the rebuild for the Brotherhood?!

 

ya thats the one I have ! car is so hot.

 

Damn right man...only wish I was on the coast to mix it up with you and Billy Bob. Of course he does have everything stripped out of the car while I still have creature comforts but from Erines statements the Pizza is negating the weight difference.

Once again thanks for the clutch shaft as well.

 

Here are two videos of the car. The first one is in action on the track last year from turn 9 at BIR (http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Brainerd_International_Raceway). The second is tonight in the garage.

http://www.trackpedia.com/photos/348_turn9_at_BIR.wmv

http://www.trackpedia.com/photos/348_tubi_nocats.wmv

I'll have more incar on the trackpedia site once I get it back on the track here June 2,3. I have 10 days across the midwest and LCMT up your way so just check the site or check back with me for them.

 

Just had to respond in order as reading the post sorry about the multiple.

Let see what havent I done to the car is more the question. Basically for the subject of the thread and getting it back as Ernie said it took me a hell of a long time to fix and transmission failure I had last year when what now appears to be both a main shaft and lay shaft bearing blew up. That then lead to a cashetomy on parts (thanks to Daniel I saved a bundle vs the dealer) and a very slow rebuild process. I also had Rob at Delta Vee rebuild my suspension and replaced all the bushings with Poly ES ones. This then lead to me setting the ride height lower (as can be seen in the pictures and was not possible with the old springs) and finally over the weekend here lead to me installing my 25mm spacers in the back from Hill Engineering by way of Daniel at Ricambi by performing a little body work with an angle grinder on the wheel wells.

Moral of the story...when I had it sitting in the garage all winter I just p*ssed and moaned about the cost, as soon as I fired it up I total forgot about it. Ahhh the power of a Ferrari engine note.

Over the past 3 years in my quest to make the car better as well as my little incident with the tranny I probably have enough in the car to have sold it and bought a 360 but the brotherhood is very strong with this one and he will not give into the power of the dark side.

 

I have scattered pictures of the rebuild since it took all winter. I am sure I can do a writeup with the help of FBB and Ernie on it for the brotherhood. I have a much better picture set of the Delta Vee suspension install as I did all that in a day. I can pull that together if people are interested.

 

Both!

 

That ferrari looks amazing lowered that low!

 

I'm thinking those mainshaft and layshaft bearings should be a maintenance item and changed when belts are changed. Those are the same bearings that failed in all our cars I think.(?) Not hard with the motor out anyway. Whaddyathink?

 

John I thought mine was low,that looks mean, the wheel rub is a pain though i folded the fender right up flat inside but had to have both wings resprayed,i hear what your saying about the costs of making these cars live with the later models, but who wants to drive a computer, keep up the good work,i hope to be kicking arse at Snetterton track on wednsday.

Andy.
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SICK !in the first video, the car isnt lowered , or is it ?
car sounds feirce !

Will you be coming up to Mosport raceway with the Ferrari club of Canada ?

 

that is one of the coolest 348s i have ever seen....i love the wheels and the brembos.....very sick

 

Completely agree. Thinking in my head here at the moment I dont remember if the races pull out from the inside or outside of the case but I remember the race being a regular circle and not conical so it must be either.

I think its a fairly easy thing to change at 30k services that can EASILY save you north of 10k. From now on I know I am replacing mine every 3-4 years.

 

Andy I have to tell you man you and FBB are pretty much my idols when it comes to this car so if it wasnt for you guys pushing the edge I wouldnt be either. I do completely agree with you that the 348 is a heck of a lot more fun to drive on the track than any of the newer cars. Even though I am still 40-80 HP down there are very few of them that can run away from me. Now I just need to get your individual TB setup and I will be money. I started rolling the fenders then cracked the paint then just said screw it and cut the lip off which is what I should have done in the first place. Now I have clearance just not a ton.

Next up on my list here is Hill skid plate install just because I do still drive this every so often on the street, then I have to start working on my COPs setup after I get a few track days in as I owe FBB a wiring harness for it when I get mine working.

 

First video is non lowered and you can actually see the passenger side unloaded pretty good going around T9 which is actually just about 85-95 mph on entry and then around 100-105 out from under the bridge.

Old suspension required me to lift coming into the turn where in the other race cars I have been lucky enough to drive you dont have to so I was jealous and had to see what I could do to fix that problem.

I wont be at Mosport this year but hope to make it next year. Its a long haul up to Canada so I will probably hit one track a year max.

 

I had my 348 lowered almost that much..............but it was pretty much unusable in the real world. I went to school in the midwest and I can't imagine there are many, if any roads, driveways, parking lots, etc., that you won't hit with that car. It looks great though!

 

I GET FIRST DIBS ON THIS CAR AS SOON AS HE IS READY TO SELL IT !

I AM DEAD SERIOUS TOO !

 

I was really wondering about that, I think they look nice a tad lower, but wonder if this car was to hit something, would that throw the tire into the fender. That could be a lot of damage???

I like reading John's posts, I think he is very up on things. I just can't believe that car can make it safely to the track and home again without damage. If he would have lowered it half as much, could that of been a happy median between what he is trying to accomplish on the track and usability on the streets.

 

Actually this would happen if I just lowered the car with the old suspension and didnt switch to the Delta Vee suspension setup. Basically the springs now are stiff enough that the front really can suck up just about anything with minimal dive. I would never recommend lowering a stock 348 on stock springs this low as your going to get wheel well rub big time on the upper fender well because the springs just arent stiff enough. On the track it might work but I would be worried. The picture below shows you how much dive I was getting out of the car last year on the track under very hard braking,

I think I might have gotten away with lowering it half as much and I can easily play with the ride height as it only takes a about 45 minutes to adjust all four corners. I set the car up this was with Rob S (from Delta Vee)'s input on how to make the car handle as best as possible for the tracks I am running. I can tell you that I have already put a good deal of shake down milage on the car here in on Sunday and it is a much MUCH MUCH MUCH better handling setup than before. The combo of Energy suspension bushings coupled with the shocks and springs makes turn in much quicker and more precise and the car is a lot flatter under high speed cornering. Yes I have to be careful on steep inclines but I just take them at a very easy angle and can usually get in without dragging anything.

I will have my full install report and overall impression written up next week in terms of road usage (I still dont think its much rougher than the OEM setup on normal roads...on bad roads you feel it) but I will have to save the track write up until June when I can actually get to the track again. Nice thing is the one I am going to is a handling track which means I should be able to really get a good idea of how well it works. I also have comparative lap times and lateral G/acceleration G information to compare it with. So hard data will really prove to me how much better it is rather than butt feel data. My butt data so far likes it a lot.

Here is the pic showing the dive.
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The 348 Brotherhood rules! Not guesses; real world data.

Love it.

 

You should have a front nose mask on the hood while at the track to prevent stone chipping.

 

I know a dear John letter, just kidding. I think I understand a little more about that suspension from your post to me. It is adjustable and very stiff. Can you control height and stiffness, or just height. That picture were your nose is diving, how fast are you going there? That is a dive because your hitting the brakes right? or is that cornering?