F355 University

Indeed it was Loctited.

In the words of the shop looking at my alternator... "it's completely melted". Good news is that it should be good as new by end of day and the flywheel is on it's way back too.

Silver lining for m5guy is that while we've been essentially at a stand-still for the past couple days, John has been making progress on your engine. Valve covers are off, plugs are out, my guess is by now he's degreeing the cams. If you want the gold connector kit done, LMK, I could do it for a small fee... I am going to need some extra cash to pay my bill anyway.

 

Hi Everyone - sorry for no updates in a while. I was travelling the past week and busy, busy, busy at work.

Good news: The car is done, I picked it up Friday evening. Whoo-hoo. I really missed this car!

Bad news: It was Friday evening and not an open road to be found anywhere!! After taking the long road home and being frustrated every inch of the way, I parked it. However, I woke up early to post this up and get some seat time in my 'new' car.

Some initial impressions:

- What little opportunity I did have last night, I could tell that the car drives like it just took a double-shot of espresso. The car feels sharper, more responsive, and eager...chomping at the bit with a menacing snarl in it's throat. It really deserves the name I gave it on the license plate "RMPANTE"...it certainly is a *rampant*, wild beast of a horse now!!

- Oh, and the noises she makes now...I cannot even describe it...it's really rather frightening. Best I can do is "ear splitting trumpet of god". I'm running test pipes now until I can be sure whatever was causing the damage to the Cats is rectified...no sense melting another pair of expensive cats until I can be sure. Ran the gas analyzer on the car and everything looked as expected.

- Clutch pedal was light, much easier to actuate than before. Clutch seems to 'bite' earlier and is a bit more sensitive to stalling out. I suspect this behavior will moderate as the completely new clutch system 'beds' itself in over the next 50 miles or so.

- So far, no warning lights, oddball behaviors or anything troubling. I guess I scored 100% on my Gold Connector upgrade project.

- Since I was out of town, the Tech did the Helms O2 sensor harness upgrade and noted to me that the connectors were not gold. Dave Helms, could you please comment on the upgrade/benefit of the new harness/connectors? Also, the Tech also gave me feedback that we didn't have the right tool to pop the old connectors out.

- I asked the shop to perform a leakdown test as I had some concern that whatever was eating the Cats could have lead to engine wear (or vice versa, I suppose). The motor is very strong and leakdown was 2-4% across the board. Given that 2% is pretty much where the motor is at when it leaves the factory, I'm VERY satisfied.

- The alternator was completely rebuilt and main contact cable/wire had to be overhauled due to about 2-3 inches worth of oxidization.

- The targa panel looks awesome. I'm afraid to take it off and stow it now ... almost want to line the leather pouch/panel cover with microfiber or felt or something. Has anyone done this?

- Although the gear oil was not changed (I have been happy with how it shifts, even cold), I swear it is even smoother than before. How can this be, I dunno...

When I have all the invoices and parts sorted out, I'll post all of that info too. Sneak preview...all of this happiness has a price tag and it's worth every penny as near as I can tell so far.

Well, that's it for now. It'll be light soon here so I'm going to fire up the wild beast and head out for a drive!!!!!

 

Thanks for the clarifications Dave. Regarding seat-of-the-pants assessment, here's what I would say (a bit of a repeat from earlier post):

Car drives like it just took a double-shot of espresso. The car feels sharper, more responsive, and eager...chomping at the bit with a menacing snarl in it's throat. I'd also add that it feels like it is racing more freely up through the revs.

On the down side, 2 things are causing concern at the moment.
1) Car is difficult to start when bone-cold. This makes no sense to me, I re-conditioned the starter a few months ago, have a new battery, and just re-conditioned the alternator. Why is it being such a PITA to start??

2) On a drive yesterday, the steering got very heavy in the twisties (felt like steering a bobsled) and at the end of the 'run' I looked up to see smoke emanating from the engine bay...NOT GOOD!!! This is a real butt-clencher of a moment for any Ferrari owner. I pulled over within a couple hundred yards and shut her down. Best I can tell, I have a PS fluid leak that was generating the smoke and causing it to steer very heavy. The part that doesn't add up though is that the PS fluid level was fine. Could such a small leak creat that much smoke and horrible steering dynamics??

I'm taking it to the shop this morning to get it fixed.

 

1) cranking but not firing. Twist the key again and it fires immediately. Suspects are DME relay or fuel pump.

2) PS belt came off. Not sure if pump seized or if belt was installed incorrectly. Smoke was likely a result of pieces of belt laying on hot engine. Sure was spooky to have zero power assist though.

 

More like a member of Jamaican bobsled team but yeah...same thing.

 

Ok, got the car back last night...whew...for a little while it was looking like the engine was going to have to come out again.

1) Shop observed same behavior. Only happens on a bone-cold start. Cleaned all the relays, replaced a couple fuses ... we'll see if it behaves any better.

2) Some kind of spacer was 'missing' and a pivot bolt came loose...over about 50 miles of driving, the whole thing worked itself apart and tossed the belt off the rails. Thankfully, they were able to put it all back together with the engine still in the car and validate that no other damage was done. Still a mystery how this even happened since the pivot bolt is not something to fiddle with when doing the belt service in the first place.

 

I almost feel like I should start a new thread for this info but since it all has to do with my "major" major...I figured this is where it all belongs.

Let me also start by saying, my car was in good/great shape before I did all this work - strong motor, excellent cosmetically, all known issues addressed (headers, worn cylinder liners, valve guides, sticky dash, etc). What I believe I have now is a car better than factory fresh...

LABOR:
Shop Labor charges for standard 30k Service - $3,910
-- Remove engine and transmission
-- Replace timing belts and camshaft seals
-- Time camshafts to factory spec
-- Change all filters, fluids and spark plugs
-- Replace the front main seal
-- Flush the brake system
-- Charge the A/C system
-- Adjust the handbrake
Labor, strip and repaint valve covers in red wrinkle paint - $250
Labor, inspect and rebuild clutch and flywheel - $517.50
-- Uneven wear on disc and flywheel
-- Pressure plate spring rivets too close to clutch contact surface, not enough material to resurface and re-install safely
-- Flywheel sublet to be machined
-- New clutch pack ordered
-- Throw out bearing found to be worn and noisy
-- Hill Engineering Throw Out bearing and sleeve ordered and installed
-- Replace input shaft seals and throw out bearing and flange assembly
-- Re-assemble unit to complete
Labor, assist with Gold Connector upgrade - $690
Labor, assist with Coolant hose upgrade - $460
Labor, inspect and replace water pump bearing and seal - $287.50
Labor, inspect Cats, remove cats, re-install new cats - $345
Labor, diagnose and repair alternator and burned plastic terminal / main contact wire - $172.50
Labor, test exhaust emissions on gas analyzer - $57.50
Labor, final safety check - $57.50
-- Tire pressures
-- Torquing wheels
-- Check lights
-- Check fluid levels
-- Test drive
-- Detail vehicle
Labor, install fuel block recall - $57.50
Labor, leak down test (results 2-4% across all 8 cylinders) - $172.50

PARTS:
Tire Rack - 2 x Rear Michelin PS2s - $743.93
Scuderia Rampante 2.7 Motronic Gold Connector Kit - $729.95
Scuderia Rampante Coolant Hoses - $951.99
Scuderia Rampante O2 Sensor Option - $86.60
Fuel block kit - $128.65
Hill Engineering cam belt pulleys (2) - $424
Cam cover gaskets (4) - $68.39
Camshaft seal o-rings (2) - $11.94
Cam o-ring (4) - $9.20
Camshaft seals (4) - $131.68
Seal rings (8) - $8.40
Cam End Plate Gasket (2) - $27.04
Seal Rings (4) - $7.16
Seal Ring - $2.20
Timing Belt (2) - $271.58
Spark Plugs (NGK x 8) - $197.84
Fuel Filter - $46.97
Air Filter (2) - $91.08
Oil Filter - $31.30
P/S Belt - $19.20
Alternator Belt - $33.90
Alt Belt - $26.28
RH Belt Cover - $225
Clutch Kit - $925.86
Seal Ring - $47.95
Bearing and shaft - $239.95
Water Pump O-Ring - $13.53
O-Ring - $1.73
Crankshaft Seal - $57.07
Bushings (4) - $9.96
Screw - $3.49
ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid - $29.53
Hill Engineering Throw Out Bearing - $542
Hill Engineering Flange - $636
Seal Ring - $59.85
O Ring (3) - $75
O Ring - $1.80
Clutch reline - $250
Hyperflow Cats - $1,525
Engine Oil - $107.91
Coolant - $29.98
Hondabond sealant - $14.50
Brake cleaner (2) - $10.16
Wrinkle paint (2) - $23.98

MISC/SUBLET:
Refinish / paint targa top - $640
Machine flywheel - $160
Rebuilt alternator - $295
Various shipping charges - ~300

Sales Tax: $557.09

Grand Total: Approximately $17,800

...whew...

I should be good for 5 years ...heck, there's nothing left to replace!!!

PS I already told the wife...so none of you jokers get any funny ideas about blackmailing me. lol.

 

Guilty as charged...I plan to be buried in this car with various body parts stuffed in the Schedoni luggage. The Challenge wheels are in the will...kidding.

Let it never be said that I skimped on maintenance...However, I was very disappointed when a new Hyundai was not included for the price.

Scott...we have to swap keys next time we meet up for a drive. I want to drive that 308 of yours and you can get a sense of why I just poured a ton of cash into this beauty!

 

Thanks Fatso. Yeah, I nearly forgot why I went down this path in the first place...to learn a whole bunch along the way. I'm satisfied with how much I was able to do myself and learn about but I know I've barely scratched the surface. The costs were all part of the education process and the tuition was well worth it. When the invoice was tallied up, nothing phased me...I knew exactly why each and every thing was done.

Here's a excerpt from Adam Carolla's new book that I thought was funny...I think I'm just a notch above the guy with the cigarette now...

Chapter three: Where have all the fellas gone?
Far too many guys in their forties can’t turn a wrench or swing a hammer nowadays. But they have tons of opinions about the new Silver Surfer movie. It’s a sure sign of the pu--ification of America. What happened?

Forget about actually being a man’s man — guys don’t even bother to lie about being manly anymore. It used to be a fella would at least have enough dignity that when he was driving with the missus and the car wouldn’t start, even though he didn’t know what the f--- to look for, he’d say, “Pop the hood.” He’d stand there and stare at the engine for a while, set his cigarette on top of the air cleaner, and yell, “Try it now.” Of course the engine wouldn’t start, but at least he looked like a man. Now the guy says, “Call Triple-A. I don’t want to get my cuticles dirty.”

Greg, great to hear the car is doing well. I hope you get that CEL sorted soon. Did you do hoses? That was another big cha-ching.

 

Eric...you must drive this car now. I only wish you had driven it before the service to know the difference. Let me know when you want to burn up some dino juice.