DIY Major on 355. Costs...

There has been some discussion about the cost of doing a DIY major in another thread, I’m 2 months into my major on my 1995 F355 M2.7 and so far I have spent EUR 3,748.29 on parts. Which at today’s rate works out to about GBP 3,300 or USD 5,400.

Here's the list to-date of what I’ve done/bought (bit boring, apologies) but gives an idea what's needed to do to keep my 16 year old 355 in tip-top shape:

Air filters
Fuel Filters
Oil filter
Engine oil
Transmission oil
Power steering fluid
Coolant
Radiator drain plug x1 and o rings x2 replace
Recover and refill A/C system
Flush & replace brake and clutch fluid
Drain and replace washer fluid
Accessory drive belt
PAS drive belt
Spark plugs x8
Cam belts x2
Cam cover gaskets x2
Cam cover o rings x6
Cam shaft oil seals x4
Camshaft pulley bolt o rings x2
Camshaft drive pulley o ring seals x2
Camshaft drive pulley ring nuts x2
Camshaft drive pulley circlips x4
Water pump seals x2 (large & small)
Rubber isolator for evap valves x2
Thermostat o ring
Engine front cover gasket
Front crankshaft oil seal
Engine rear main o ring seal (between gearbox and block)
Vacuum hoses throughout engine (approx 2m)
Copper washers x5 (engine and sump plugs)
Oil gallery o rings on cylinder head x12
Exhaust manifold studs x16
Exhaust manifold nuts x16
Gearbox inspection plate gasket large x1
Gearbox inspection plate gasket small x2
Stainless steel jubilee clips 22-35mm x17
Stainless steel jubilee clips 55-65mm x 4
Stainless steel cap nuts x24
Rebuilt bilstein rear dampers x2
CV joint gaiters x3
Rear left hand wheel bearing (came in at an eye watering €800)
1kg lithium grease (re-greased all bearings)
Voltage Regulator (alternator)
Voltage rectifier (alternator)
Clutch release bearing seals x3 + slider
Drive shaft triple seals
Shift shaft oil seal
½ Kg Kluber GLK 1301 flywheel grease
Gold Connector “Supremo” kit
Deck lid struts x4 (FR+RR)
New throttle cable
Hub nuts x4
Front brake air ducting
Wheel centre badges x4
A/C low pressure Schroeder valve
A/C high pressure Schroeder valve
Fuel filler splash/drip rubber

That’s more-or-less it so far. I am in no way complaining, actually the car has only cost me about €300 in maintenance over the last 5 years. So, it averages to around €800/year which I think is very reasonable for a 90’s supercar.

Jobs still on my to-do list include de-stickying the interior, repaint the wheels (potentially black) and possibly re-trimming the dash in alcantara.

Doing it yourself is very satisfying, and helps me detach for a few hours from the daily stress and politics of my professional life.

Sorry for the length of post.

Ciao, Bob.

 

Well, all I can say is ... you did it to yourself, Bob.

 

Wow! Kudos to you for doing it yourself. I would have to say that what you are doing if much more involved than a typical major.

 

Very nice work!

One question for you, I see you replaced the rear left (driver side) wheel bearing. What was your symptom that it needed to be replaced? I'm chasing down a noise in that area and am wondering if it's a bearing, but the wheel is rock solid, can't wiggle it at all when it's in the air.

 

Great work

 

thanks for the positive comments guys.

Regarding the wheel bearing, the symptoms were low droaning, classic bearing rumble.

It was a complete failiure, which I feel was entirely my own fault. I had previously changed a CV gaitor boot and due to work/time pressure I simply reused the hub nut. I knew at the time it was wrong and fully intended to put a new one on ASAP etc (they only cost €7). Anyway, I forgot about it and it undid itself. It's on the right hand rear, which means the tendency is to undo by itself. With the hub nut loose the bearing promptly came apart. The wheel had plenty of play. The race is knackered, in the pic below you can see the crevices in the track.

One thing I did notice was that the grease was completely waxed and was not offering any lubrication whatsoever. For this reason I have regreased the other wheel bearings and replaced all hub nuts for new.

EDIT: meant to say, that on a set-up like this, I would have put a left hand thread on the RHR hub. Plenty of vehicles do this and considering how much the bearing hub must have cost to tool and make I can't see why they didn't put a LH thread there!
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Excellent detail, thanks!!!!

 

how many miles this 355 have ?
just curious

 

It's done 50,000km. But it's not a mileage thing. Mechanically the metal parts are in tip-top shape. The main issues are dried-up seals, perished rubbers, cracked hoses, grease which has dried to wax etc. etc. After all, the car's 16 years old.

I had at least 2 leaking oil seals, maybe more, but there was so much oil & muck all over the place I just elected to change everything.

I've got stacks of pics, I post some up when I get some time...

 

Really looking forward to the photos...

Mike

 

Bob:

It's like looking in a mirror. I am the exact same way when I do mechanical work. I replace every washer, seal, nut, plug, etc. I also try to R&R everything. I figure since I already have it apart and I'm in there, I might as well.... The only thing that really scares me is tranny work. Although I did do some drilling on my 308 ZF 5 speed box to make the 1-2 shift easier. It worked like a charm, but kind of scary to perform.

Good luck and PLEASE keep us apprised.

Best,


Scott



Quick questions. Why did you just rebuild the rear dampers (were they leaking oil)? Do you feel the rebuilt rears will causes a disparity with the non-rebuilt fronts and the ECU?

 

if your bearing is on it's way out, but not to the point where it is disintegrating inside " i.e. the wiggle test", you can buy one of these
http://www.harborfreight.com/mechanics-stethoscope-41966.html

take the wheel off, remove the caliper and rotor, put the wheel back on. Have someone rotate the wheel for you. put yourself under the car, with the needle end of the stethoscope on the bearing hub, just outside of the bearing. If you hear any kind of grinding while the bearing is being rotated, there are 2 options.

1) grease the bearing, often times the grease in the bearings will "wear out" just like spaghetti_jet described his grease turning to "wax". Simply greasing the bearing will add lubrication and quite the bearing down a LOT.

2) if the greasing of the bearing does not help much, you have cough a bad bearing before any further damage is done.


if you don't want to go to harbor freight, and buy the stethoscope, you can also use a screw driver, and place the handle firmly against your ear. you need to create a sound short directly to your ear one way or another.


In the Navy, we would take "sound cuts" of all the bearings in the motors we were responsible for... similar to what i am telling you to do, the only difference being we had a 5k$ computer that would digitally record the sound, and do an analysis on each bearings sound to tell us if there was any change.

With the scope, you can check any bearing, from a water pump bearing to a wheel bearing.

Good luck, i hope this helps.

 

Mind blown smooth off!

 

I think wheel bearing grease x4 just got added to the winter laundry list.