Stand back - radiation alert! GC, You're going to start him talking to Biggie Tex about how repetitive the chat is here...
Do they make these for the 355?? Well just to be on the "really safe side" I will be changing mine every year....so I can be "very" freshened up....LOL Hahaha
Show off! I wish I'd done that when I had the opportunity. That's SUCH a COOL setup. Oh well, next time...
OK Here's my data point on the 348: 7 years and 23k additional miles since previous belts, factory water pump installed, Hill engineering tensioners (much , much better than the factory parts). Old belts looked good. This Aug for $5k. YMMV. Jeff Pintler 89 348tb, 86tr
lots of threads on this, but i'll keep it short. the 308/328 use a trapazoidal toothed belt, the industry switched from this style back in 1976 and moved to the curvelinear tooth. ferrari and few others kept using the old style belt. short life span, low torque and 'ratcheting' tooth jumping are problems for the belt style. i updated the design by using the new GT2 toothed belt and simple vernier scale adjustment, so you no longer have to pull the pin and bolt to adv/ret the timing.
I would think the most important thing is to immediately change the belts (and any necessary oil seals, tensioners) when you purchase a car. Then you can decide what intervals are right for you ... but to leave them as purchased is an enormous risk as you do not know the history/use of the car. Even when I buy Toyotas, I immediately change the timing belts, no matter what the mileage. Cars are cars, and cars that fail are a pain in the @rse ... doesn't matter what brand. Nobody looks/feels good standing on the side of a road trying to get help (add heavy rain, etc. to complete the misery). Pete
Wow....this is like a secret, magical solution. How did you get the parts for the conversion? Are they easily obtained or did you have to fabricate the system from scratch? Is it any more difficult to do than a regular DIY belt change? Even if one had a shop do it you'd save a ton in the long run! Ken
Interesting note. I bought my 83QV mondial 44k miles 10/12/06 with no records other than a speedo change at 17k. I got it home and imediately sought a belt change. Finally I did it my self in January 2006 and found a frozen tensioner bearing and the belts looked fine. Saturday I found records under the spare tire including the maint booklet. last two entries were 5/87 30k factory service and 1/89 37k factory service. No others except oil changes every 6 mths. Soooo it looks like the belts lasted 15k miles and 17 years. Irish luck for me. If I had procrastinated and drove to Boulder CO I would have probably lost one belt and disaster. I WILL change belts at recommended intervals as I have used up my portion of luck. Dave
Ken, i designed them from scratch with some input from the crowd here last yr. in all it took me about 6 months of design and fabrication, not to mention about $14k in materials and shop time. i made 10 sets which have all been sold. i worked with gates for the belt specifications, so this isn't a trial an error project. due to the high upfront cost, i can only make them in sets of 10. the installation is no different from the general cam job, only you go one step further and remove the lower drive and upper pullies to install the new adjustable ones. nick sells the pullies with belts and the new bearings, so you should get at least 5yrs out of them. personally i LOVE the quick adjustability, it was great when i was dyno tunning the supercharger.
Here are a couple of threads on it. http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92021 http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106182
Dang it Scott you beat me too it. Anyway, maybe the next time I have the engine out of my 348 we can do the same thing with those pullies?
I say 5 years and don't worry. Every 3 years is a hassle to leave the car at the shop for a month or more. Plus I don't drive it that much. I feel like the belt will last at least 5,000 miles. Plus I'm cheap. Well not really, but I'm not wasteful. Plus I don't think the 3 year interval is really necessary. Plus I am trying to get Brian Crall to respond with some fire. Plus I want to do it myself the next time and I have plans for 2.2 years from now, so it will probably wait until 4.2 years. Plus if I wait a few years the factory might change the interval back and then I would feel good. Plus, ummm, nothing! BT
Brian and I are thru talking about belts! LOL! He's rebuilding shot out 355 motors and I put both my cars up on concrete blocks behind AJ's barn............. There.....fixed that problem! Every five years, I'll replace the concrete blocks..........
are you sure? recent concrete technology suggests that 2.5yrs is about the max you can compress them without core support.
Belts shmelts; lets see a poll on how many owners can actually verify the valves have been adjusted on their 308/328/348/355.
I changed my Boxer belts two years ago, after 5000 miles,which is all the mileage the car had on it since 1983..when I examined the old belts, 20+ years later, they looked new, not brittle or damaged. I suppose where you store your car and how you drive make a big difference. I dont even think it is necessary to take the car to a dealer to change belts, even when engine has to come out. There are many mechanics who can service cars for more reasonable prices. Older cars do not have belts, like my daytona. Neither does a corvette. But modern F cars are so much fun to drive...and many dont have to have the engine out for a belt change...but, if you are worried about it, change your belts..if not, change them later.
Yes, but it depends on the atmopheric conditions, and how many times you open and close the doors. And dont forget your supposed to have them crack tested on an annual basis.
I dunno..the one under the tongue of my speedboat has been with me 7 years and it's fine! The older concrete is superior to the new mixes....see:Roman aquaducts. Good point on the valves, as hammering a sodium valve is more likely to make trouble!
I can't sit idly by any longer on this topic.... This information comes to me via a certified Ferrari mechanic who has worked for FOD, Norwood Performance and a dealer in California. He is certified up to and including the F50. When I dropped by with my 328 (timing belts last changed in 2001... 7000 miles put on since then), he told me there was a very distinct reason Ferrari recommended every 15k for changing the timing belts. Back in the '80s, the belts were very different from the belts we have today. The fiberglass reinforced belts of today last much, much longer. When first introduced, manufacturers recommended changing every 50K. Over time, the manufacturers have realized this is even conservative. Lexus is now up to 90k for recommended changing with these belts. I confirmed these were indeed the type of belts used during my 2001 15k maintenance at FOD... They certainly were! Ferrari was NOT trying to use "fear" back then to increase service revenue... the recommendation was justified with "old technology" belts. Times have changed... I have no fear of going 30K or 7-8 years on these belts with a visual inspection every year... Bottomline... Mine still look and feel brand new... and I am heading out on a full day road trip tomorrow!
your information is slightly off, the construction of the belts has not changed if you're buying the isoran ones, if you purchase a gates belt then the belt construction is different but not worse/better. automotive timing belts are not constructed of fiberglass cords but a blend of kevlar and polyester. fiberglass would not withstand the shock loads. Dayco uses Isoran a propriatory blend of kevlar and other poly materials. i did ALOT of reasearch when i designed the new belt and pulley setup. the reason for the short life isn't the belt construction but the belt design, the style of tooth is stressed ALOT more than the newer profiles. this information i recieved directly from Gates engineers and Dayco's Engineers, striaght from the horses mouth. Ferrari doesn't stipulate the life of the belt, the belt manufacture and it's engineers do. now if Ferrari decides to 'shorten' the life via a shorter interval to avoid costlier problems, that's thier choice. Gates and Dayco's engineers both agreed with the short life Ferrari has stipulated. another thing most forget is the timing case and tensioner bearings. they are subject to alot of stress, espcially the timing case bearings as they undergo HIGH side loads in both axial directions each and every time the engine revs' up and down. so although i've now designed a pulley that will use a 100k belt the bearings still need to inspected and addressed at the same intervals. you can always upgrade tensioner bearing to Nicks new ones and have the block and case remachined for larger bearings and then be fat and happy going 100k however this 'discussion' will go on ad nauseum even though the answer and reason has been provided. and belts still cost less $50!
